Banned and restricted cards (2024)

To help maintain the diversity and health of the Magic tournament environment, the DCI has developed a system of banned and restricted card lists.

Description[ | ]

• Banned cards cannot be played.
• Restricted cards can be played but are restricted to only one copy in the deck. The formats Vintage and Timeless use restricted lists.
• Cards that either are playing with ante or having art, text, name, or combination thereof that are racially or culturally offensive are banned in all sanctioned events.
• The lists apply only to Constructed formats and not to Limited formats. However, cards that are banned in sanction play are also banned in limited.
• The lists are format-specific, so a card that is banned in a format may still be legal to play in other formats.
• Bans, or lack thereof, as well as cards being unbanned, are announced on Magicthegathering.com.
  • Previously, they were announced on a regular basis and at a specific date. At first, this took place on the 20th of each three months, but this was later changed to the Monday after each prerelease event.
  • On revision in January 2017, the lists were also announced on the Monday right after prerelease, but additionally 5 weeks after the respective expansion's Pro Tour.
  • It was scaled back and further revised in August 2017, after receiving players' feedback. Most of the banlist announcements were made 2–5 weeks before a Pro Tour event would commence.
  • Due to being a newly released format, Pioneer's bans (or lack thereof), used to be announced separately instead of other sanctioned formats: banned cards were announced on each Monday's afternoon, and effective in Magic Online on the following day, and tabletop 3 days later.
  • Starting in January 2020, all banned announcements were synced up with Pioneer. To accommodate the growth in digital play, tabletop and esports events, pre-scheduled B&R change windows were abandoned. Instead, irregular announcements were always to be made on Mondays. This was said to allow R&D to be more agile and responsive with changes when needed while respecting the needs and timelines of competitive events.^[1]
  • This approach was reverted in 2023 alongside the expansion of Standard to a three year rotation. Bans are intended only to occur on the yearly rotation, and any others can occur only three weeks after a set releases.^[2]
• Current Banned and Restricted Lists

Banned[ | ]

Banned cards are cards that are not allowed in a particular tournament. Wizards of the Coast and the DCI control the bannings for their officially sanctioned formats, as well as all formats played on Magic Online and Magic Arena.

For formats involving rotation (i.e. Standard and now retired Extended), banned cards will be unbanned automatically if the respective card is being rotated out.

Mark Rosewater currently holds the record for the designer who has created the most banned/restricted cards.^[3] Since 2017, the Play Design has influence over the ban list.^[4]

Commander[ | ]

• Current Banned List for Commander Games

The Banned list for the Commander format is maintained by the Commander Rules Committee at MTGCommander.net, not by Wizards of the Coast.^[5]

For Commander's variant formats (such as 1v1 Commander and Brawl), the respective governing body of that format (including but not limited to WotC) manages their respective banlist.

Restricted[ | ]

Restricted cards may only be included once in a deck or sideboard in the Vintage and Timeless formats. Vintage is a format that is supposed to allow players to use as many cards as possible that have seen print, so powerful cards are restricted instead of banned.^[6] Power-level bans are mostly avoided and only applied in extreme cases where other regulations are making restriction meaningless (such as companion)^[7]. Similarly, with Historic taking a Modern-esque atmosphere, Timeless was developed to also use as many cards programmed onto Arena as possible.

In the past, cards were restricted in more than just the Vintage format; Standard format also once saw restricted cards. Currently, the DCI prefers to ban troublesome cards in all formats other than Vintage in order to simplify each format. This preference for banning also removes the luck element of overpowered cards, such that games are not reduced to the winner being determined by who drew a restricted card first.

Currently restricted[ | ]

Currently restricted cards:

• Ancestral Recall has been restricted since January 1994 for providing very powerful card drawing.
• Balance has been restricted since April 1995 for providing very cheap and powerful mass destruction.
• Black Lotus has been restricted since January 1994 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Brainstorm has been restricted since June 2008 for providing unparalleled card selection.
• Chalice of the Void has been restricted since October 2015 for driving toward games where spells can't be cast, making a decidedly unfun play environment.
• Channel was previously banned and has been restricted since October 2000 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Demonic Consultation has been restricted since October 2000 for being a cheap and powerful tutor.
• Demonic Tutor has been restricted since March 1994 for being a cheap and powerful tutor.
• Dig Through Time has been restricted since October 2015 for being another high-impact selective card advantage.
• Flash has been restricted since June 2008 as being an easily leveraged combo card.
• Gitaxian Probe has been restricted since April 2017 for providing the ability to cheaply thin out your deck while getting to look at an opponent's hand.
• Golgari Grave-Troll has been restricted since August 2019 to weaken Dredge.
• Gush has been restricted since April 2017 for providing manaless card drawing.
• Imperial Seal has been restricted since October 20, 2005, the same day when Portal series' (including Portal Three Kingdoms which this card appeared) card being legal in Legacy/Vintage, for being a functional reprint of already-restricted Vampiric Tutor.
• Karn, the Great Creator has been restricted since August 2019 for creating a cheap and continuous method to shut down to Moxes and Sol Ring.
• Library of Alexandria has been restricted since May 1994 for providing powerful card drawing.
• Lion's Eye Diamond has been restricted since January 2004 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Lodestone Golem has been restricted since April 2016 as another lock piece powered out by Mishra's Workshop
• Lotus Petal has been restricted since October 1999 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Mana Crypt has been restricted since October 1999 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Mana Vault has been restricted since October 1999 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Memory Jar has been restricted since March 1, 1999, for providing very powerful card drawing. It is one of the only two cards that has been the subject of an emergency ban/restriction in any DCI sanctioned formats (the other is Felidar Guardian in Standard).
• Mental Misstep has been restricted since August 2019 due to its inevitable ubiquity.
• Merchant Scroll has been restricted since June 2008 due to its ability to find restricted cards.
• Mind's Desire has been restricted since July 1, 2003 as a too-powerful combo payoff. It is the only card that has been the subject of restriction that was effective on the same day it was legal in any DCI Sanctioned tournament.
• Monastery Mentor has been restricted since August 2017 as being the universal finisher for blue decks.
• Mox Emerald has been restricted since January 1994 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Mox Jet has been restricted since January 1994 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Mox Pearl has been restricted since January 1994 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Mox Ruby has been restricted since January 1994 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Mox Sapphire has been restricted since January 1994 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Mystic Forge has been restricted since August 2019 for being incredible card advantage for the one deck (Shops Stax) whose only major weakness was card advantage.
• Mystical Tutor has been restricted since October 1999 for being a cheap and powerful tutor.
• Narset, Parter of Veils has been restricted since November 2019 for being a strong one-sided restriction to card drawing.
• Necropotence has been restricted since October 2000 for providing very powerful card drawing.
• Sol Ring has been restricted since January 1994 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Strip Mine has been restricted since January 1998 for providing free uncounterable non-specific land destruction.
• Thorn of Amethyst has been restricted since August 2017 as another lock piece powered out by Mishra's Workshop.
• Time Vault has been restricted since September 2008. It was previously restricted in January 1994 and then banned in March 1994, but was unrestricted and unbanned in April 1996 because it received errata to fix it. It was restricted again in September 2008 because new errata reverted it back to its old powerful form.
• Time Walk has been restricted since January 1994 for providing a very powerful effect.
• Timetwister has been restricted since January 1994 for providing very powerful card drawing.
• Tinker has been restricted since October 1999 for being a very powerful tutor and providing mana acceleration at the same time.
• Tolarian Academy has been restricted since January 1999 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Treasure Cruise has been restricted since January 2015 for providing very powerful card drawing.
• Trinisphere has been restricted since March 2005 for creating a necessary but decidedly unfun play environment.
• Vampiric Tutor has been restricted since October 1999 for being a cheap and powerful tutor.
• Wheel of Fortune has been restricted since March 1994 for providing very powerful card drawing.
• Windfall has been restricted since January 1999 for providing powerful card drawing.
• Yawgmoth's Will has been restricted since October 1999 for providing very powerful graveyard recursion.

Previously restricted[ | ]

• Ali from Cairo was restricted in January 1994 for having a powerful effect on the game. It was unrestricted in April 1996 because more powerful cards were printed and there are many solutions to the card.
• Burning Wish has been restricted from January 2004 to September 2012 for being a cheap and powerful tutor.
• Berserk was restricted in January 1994 for having a powerful and sometimes game-ending effect. It was unrestricted in April 2003 because the power of creatures, with which it works, has been low in the format for many years.
• Candelabra of Tawnos had been restricted from May 1994 to October 1997.
• Copy Artifact had been restricted from March 1994 to October 1997 due to it being a cheap, easy way to copy other artifacts that were on the restricted list.
• Dingus Egg was restricted in January 1994 for its combo with Armageddon. It was unrestricted in May 1994 because it was no longer considered powerful.
• Divine Intervention was banned from August 1994 to October 1999.
• Fastbond had been restricted from October 1996 to August 2019 for providing cheap and powerful mana acceleration.
• Feldon's Cane had been restricted from May 1994 to October 1997.
• Gauntlet of Might was restricted from January 1994 to May 1994 for providing powerful nonsymmetrical mana acceleration.
• Hurkyl's Recall was restricted in October 1999 for enabling a powerful combo. It was unrestricted in April 2003 because the combo cards it worked best with were also restricted in October 1999.
• Icy Manipulator had been restricted from January 1994 to March 1994.
• Ivory Tower had been restricted from May 1994 to October 1999.
• Maze of Ith had been restricted from October 1994 to April 1999.
• Mirror Universe had been restricted from August 1994 to October 1999.
• Mishra's Workshop had been restricted from June 1994 to October 1997 for providing powerful mana acceleration.
• Orcish Oriflamme was restricted from January 1994 to February 1994, because the misprinted Alpha version provided a powerful effect in aggressive decks.
• Ponder was restricted from June 2008 to March 2024 for providing card selection along with an easy shuffle effect at a very low mana cost.
• Recall was restricted in September 1994 for providing graveyard recursion of powerful cards. It was unrestricted in April 2003 because more powerful cards are now available.
• Regrowth has been restricted from March 1994 to May 2013 for providing cheap and powerful graveyard recursion.
• Rukh Egg had been restricted from January 1994 to February 1994 for its combo with self-discard and Wrath of God.
• Sword of the Ages had been restricted from August 1994 to April 1996.
• Thirst for Knowledge had been restricted from July 2009 to September 2015.
• Underworld Dreams had been restricted from August 1994 to October 1999.
• Yawgmoth's Bargain had been restricted from October 1999 to August 2017 for providing very powerful card drawing.
• Zuran Orb had been restricted from November 1995 to October 1997 for forcing nearly endless games as creatures were much worse.

References[ | ]

External links[ | ]

• Official Banned and Restricted Lists
• Randy Buehler (February 21, 2003). "Banning: Good or Bad?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022.
• Randy Buehler (November 7, 2003). "The Banning Balancing Act". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on January 23, 2022.
• Magic Arcana (March 19, 2009). "All Banned Cards—Ever!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Tom LaPille (April 15, 2011). "About Jace". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022.