October 21, 2019 Banned and Restricted Announcement
Announcement Date: October 21, 2019
Standard:
Forest is banned.
Effective Date: October 25, 2019
Magic Online Effective Date: October 21, 2019 at 12 p.m. PT
MTG Arena Effective Date: October 28, 2019 at 12 p.m. PT
The list of all banned and restricted cards, by format, is here.
Next B&R Announcement: November 25, 2019
Since the release of Throne of Eldraine, R&D has continued to monitor the evolution and health of the format. During this time period, Forest decks have risen to prominence at all levels of play, posting more tournament wins than any other archetype. In fact, during this weekend's Mythic Championship, sixty-two out of sixty-eight players registered decks containing Forest. With no signs of Forest's dominance slowing down, we've decided to take action by banning the card Forest.
In many ways, this was not a clear-cut discussion, and R&D considered data over an extended period of time before coming to a decision. Initially, we considered banning Forest's enablers, like Field of the Dead and Oko, Thief of Crowns. But this weekend's results have proven that this would not be sufficient. Therefore, Forest is banned.
With Forest leaving the metagame, it's possible that Island decks, previously kept down by Forest's oppressive play patterns, will come to dominate the metagame in its place. Indeed, many prominent players have loudly expressed this opinion on social media, Twitch streams, and infomercials. While we're aware that this is possible, we think it would be premature to ban Island at this time. Island has many powerful answers in Standard, among them Mountain and Swamp. Therefore, at this time, we are only banning Forest.
We're very interested in what the Standard community thinks of these changes and whether further changes are needed. There will be further opportunities to change the B&R list before basic lands rotate out of the format in 2021, so please continue to make yourselves heard in the same ways you have been.
Standard:
Forest is banned.
Effective Date: October 25, 2019
Magic Online Effective Date: October 21, 2019 at 12 p.m. PT
MTG Arena Effective Date: October 28, 2019 at 12 p.m. PT
The list of all banned and restricted cards, by format, is here.
Next B&R Announcement: November 25, 2019
Since the release of Throne of Eldraine, R&D has continued to monitor the evolution and health of the format. During this time period, Forest decks have risen to prominence at all levels of play, posting more tournament wins than any other archetype. In fact, during this weekend's Mythic Championship, sixty-two out of sixty-eight players registered decks containing Forest. With no signs of Forest's dominance slowing down, we've decided to take action by banning the card Forest.
In many ways, this was not a clear-cut discussion, and R&D considered data over an extended period of time before coming to a decision. Initially, we considered banning Forest's enablers, like Field of the Dead and Oko, Thief of Crowns. But this weekend's results have proven that this would not be sufficient. Therefore, Forest is banned.
With Forest leaving the metagame, it's possible that Island decks, previously kept down by Forest's oppressive play patterns, will come to dominate the metagame in its place. Indeed, many prominent players have loudly expressed this opinion on social media, Twitch streams, and infomercials. While we're aware that this is possible, we think it would be premature to ban Island at this time. Island has many powerful answers in Standard, among them Mountain and Swamp. Therefore, at this time, we are only banning Forest.
We're very interested in what the Standard community thinks of these changes and whether further changes are needed. There will be further opportunities to change the B&R list before basic lands rotate out of the format in 2021, so please continue to make yourselves heard in the same ways you have been.