Banned/Restricted ListHey Everyone, Here is the info we ...

[jhaggs]

Banned/Restricted List

Hey Everyone,

  Here is the info we have all been waiting for.  Very Very Interesting...thank god Workshop was left alone!

December 2003 DCI and Banned/Restricted Announcement

Announcement Date: December 1, 2003
Effective Date: January 1, 2004

Standard

No changes

Extended

Ancient Tomb is banned
Goblin Recruiter is banned
Grim Monolith is banned
Hermit Druid is banned
Oath of Druids is banned
Tinker is banned

Type 1

Burning Wish is restricted
Chrome Mox is restricted
Lion’s Eye Diamond is restricted

Type 1.5
(All cards on the Type 1 Banned and Restricted Lists are banned in Type 1.5.)

Burning Wish is banned
Chrome Mox is banned
Lion’s Eye Diamond is banned

Here is an explanation of the changes from Magic R&D:

Extended Bannings

Ancient Tomb
Years of watching constructed metagames evolve has taught us that efficient ways to generate fast mana are always a problem. Ancient Tomb simply adds too much speed to the environment.

Goblin Recruiter
Goblin Recruiter’s ability to stack an arbitrarily large portion of your deck allows goblin-based combo decks to kill as early as turn 2. That’s too fast for a healthy environment and the Recruiter is one of several casualties of our effort to eliminate realistic turn 2 kills from the environment.

Grim Monolith
Grim Monolith has to go for essentially the same reasons as Ancient Tomb. Things happen too quickly when the available mana acceleration cards are this good.

Hermit Druid
The current crop of reanimator decks are winning the game by turn 2 and they all depend on dumping their entire library into the graveyard with Hermit Druid. The Druid simply does too much, too fast.

Oath of Druids
In our effort to make sure games last more than two or three turns, we felt we needed to get rid of Oath of Druids in addition to fast mana and combo enabling cards. Oath of Druids effectively ends the game on turn 2 against almost all creature decks, making it essentially impossible to have a healthy environment as long as this card is legal.

Tinker
Tinker is both a tutor and a mana accelerator, so we’ve been worried about it for years. The recent release of Mirrodin added many powerful artifacts to the environment and put Tinker decks over the top (as evidenced by Pro Tour New Orleans).

Type 1 Restrictions

Burning Wish
Most “tutors” are restricted in Type 1 because it defeats the purpose of restricting a card if you can play four copies of an efficient way to go get it. Since the most powerful cards in Type 1 are sorceries (Yawgmoth’s Will, Timetwister, Balance, Mind Twist, etc.) it was possible to play the equivalent of four copies of any one of these simple by moving it into your sideboard. Interestingly, Cunning Wish was left off the restricted list because the one extra mana combined with the fact that Type 1 has less powerful instants than sorceries means it does not appear to be a problem.

Chrome Mox
Time has shown that fast mana is even more powerful in Type 1 than in other formats.

Lion’s Eye Diamond
Some fast mana cards are easier to abuse than others, but recent advances in deck design have shown that even the drawback on Lion’s Eye Diamond isn’t severe enough to balance a zero-mana artifact that gives you three mana.

For a more in-depth explanation of the reasons behind these bannings and restrictions, tune in to Randy Buehler’s “Latest Developments” column on magicthegathering.com this Friday (December 5th).

[PhOeNiX]

Wow. They really went the extra mile to neuter Long. I predicted just Lion's Eye Diamond, Chrome Mox, and Spoils of the Vault.

[jhaggs]

Here are some of my first reactions to the DCI update.

1.  Long.dec loses 6 to 9 cards (depending on what version you are playing).  This pretty much kills it.

2.  They restrict chrome mox and not spoils of the vault.  Mox was restricted based on precedent, so why wouldn't spoils fall into the same category.  

3.  They restrict Lion's Eye Diamond and not Mishra's Workshop.  Both cards have draw backs, both cards are mana accelerators, yet one gets the axe and the other survives.  This seems inconsistant.

4.  What happens to madness?  Damn, I love that deck.  Can the Diamonds be replaced?

5.  I thought the opinion about sorceries was very interesting.  However, restricting Burning Wish was something that I just didn't see coming...

I guess we'll have to wait until Friday to get Randy's breakdown.

[Diddler]

I'm a little suprised that Burning Wish is going to be restricted.  I thought that Yawgmoth's Will would get banned before that happened...  I'm glad they left Dark Ritual alone (as expected), I heard too many people say "axe ritual" for my comfort (Sui player here).  I'm glad the DCI doesn't listen to everyone...

[centroles]

i agree with you on all counts jhaggs. my biggest surprise however was that they did nothing about dragon.

last round, they got rid of entomb to weaken it for both vintage and 1.5. It came back A LOT stronger than before both in vintage and 1.5. I was sure some thing was going to get the ax, maybe by restricting the dragon itself since they felt that the previous version,the weaker one, was strong enough to warrant neutering.

instead of slowing down the format like i wanted. they effectively made dragon and workshop decks the undisputed champions of vintage both able to win or completely shut out the opponent turn one or two.

maybe now academy rector variants will make a come back.

i have mixed feelings on spoils of the vault. it definately helps out both mask and dragon a LOT in both vintage and 1.5. and since both decks are left untouched, these two decks, dragon in particular, will probably completely decimate the rest of 1.5

but on the other hand, i don't see spoils itself being an abusive card. it's risky and kinda cool. but i wouldn't say abusive. in short i wish they did something about workshop and dragon too but i'm glad they left spoils alone. i kind of also wish chrome mox didn't have to go. it wasn't used in any powered decks, just played as a cheap mox replacemnt in budget decks. with both lion's eye and chrome mox gone, budget combo doesn't have a chance.

just out of curiosity, when's the next round?

[Lord_Drazinus]

I am not too happy with the restrictions. I am a budget player, and cannot afford a full set of workshops, and was hoping it would get the axe, prices fall a little, amd I would get one. But my backup plans are now ruined, I was going to either make Egg'Cademy(needs Burning Wish) or Budget Madness(needs LED) sometime in the future. So now, not only will it be harder for me to make TnT better because workshop ISN'T restricted, but I also cannot make the 2 other dekcs I had wanted to try. I am also surprised that they lift dragon alone! I thought that bazaar or the dragon itself would possibly be restricted.

[jhaggs]

Quote I'm glad the DCI doesn't listen to everyone...

Diddler,

   I do think that the DCI does actively pay attention to this site and some of the type 1 writers (Smmenen).  Long.dec hasn't been consistantly winning tournaments yet it takes a major major hit.  The sheer volume of publicity that the deck recieved was enough to make the DCI stand up and notice.  I think this month's resctictions is a clear indicator that the DCI looks to certain areas of the web for its information about type 1.  
    If Smmenen didn't write those starcity articles, if themanadrain.com didn't have the "Perfecting Long's Buring Desire" thread, would we have seen buring desire or LED get restricted?

I think we need to restrict Smmenen [/joke]

[Tha Gunslinga]

Hot damn!  None of my decks are affected, as I've been running only a single LED in my Academy deck for a while now.  I have a pile of now-worthless Hermit Druids, and of near-worthless LEDs, but nothing worse.  Tomb will be down to .50 or so soon, and Monolith will be back down to 4-5.  Bazaar may hit 100+ soon, depending on how Dragon.dec does.  Lucky I sold my Burning Wishes!

[Moridar]

LED give 3 mana of any color to play any spell or effect.  This allowed a combo deck to run (Long.dec)

Workshops are 3 colorless mana for Artifacts.  Can only be used for casting artifacts.

I know it is obvious but I have to say it.

[Tha Gunslinga]

Quote (Moridar @ Dec. 01 2003,11:06)LED give 3 mana of any color to play any spell or effect.  This allowed a combo deck to run (Long.dec)

Workshops are 3 colorless mana for Artifacts.  Can only be used for casting artifacts.

I know it is obvious but I have to say it.

Also, you can play multiple LEDs within a single turn, but only one Workshop per turn (without Exploration/Fastbond).

[Moridar]

Quote (jhaggs @ Dec. 01 2003,13:55)

I think we need to restrict Smmenen [/joke]

He is restricted... There better be only one of him.

[snotball007]

Wow, seem to hate out long.dec. So much for trying out a B/R reanimator deck in T1. Still dont understand the chrome mox restriction..........go logic.

I still think it is funky with extended. They just killed three decks  

[Smash]

W00t. Everything I could have hoped for.

Workshop is balanced, WOTC sees that. Rock on.


To anyone who wanted spoils restricted.. give me a freaking break.
It ONLY gets unrestricted cards. Most tutors are broken by getting restricted cards. Add to this the high chance to kill yourself... and it is about the perfectly balanced tutor for B.

[skycreatoR]

Quote (Moridar @ Dec. 01 2003,11:09)

Quote I think we need to restrict Smmenen [/joke]

He is restricted... There better be only one of him.

Hahahaha, that is so funny because its true!





 

[twn_domn]

geezz, so..., R&D axe long.dec because Steve's article?    

So..., is everying going for Stacker/WMud now?  Prophets, time to make ur prediction.

[TimeBeing]

I really thought they would hit BoB, to slow Dragon down. I mean LoA is restricted, and BoB Draws more cards when ever you want. And the set back is just good for dragon,

I think Dragon is going to be a big deck the next 4 months.

[Smash]

Quote (TimeBeing @ Dec. 01 2003,11:24)I really thought they would hit BoB, to slow Dragon down. I mean LoA is restricted, and BoB Draws more cards when ever you want. And the set back is just good for dragon,

I think Dragon is going to be a big deck the next 4 months.

Dragon doesn't win on turn 1. You can play crap from seal of removal to crypt to STP to stifle to stop it. Dragon is OK in the metagame, turn 1 wins are apparently not (which is OK with me).

[Razvan]

Dragon is a good deck, and heck, it's good even without Bazaar.

People were wondering how madness can survive? Bazaar! Heh.

I think everyone knew that LED was going to be restricted. It's a bit shocking about Burning Wish (although they did have good reasoning). Chrome Mox is a 'meh' kinda restriction. I doubt either way that many people would put it in a T1 deck anyhow.

And yes, I was sort of expecting them to ban Yawgmoth's Will, but I doubt they will ban any other card from now on, unless it's a printing error.

[MadManiac21]

I'm not a big fan of what they did. Then again, I do play in the NE meta, where bluecards.dec reigns supreme, so long does not run totally amok. I'm sad to see LED go; I think I will become one of the crusaders to get it UNrestricted. Yes, it added three mana, yes its a free artifact. But it kills madness, one of the coolest decks around. Plus, Long.dec WAS NOT totally dominating. I guess WotC didn't care; they simply hate on the turn 1 and 2 kills. I find this a poor excuse, as there are plenty of hate cards against combo, and it forces decks to adapt. Plus im pretty sure any deck that says "Cast draw 7, pop LED" kinda dies when the opponent taps blue producing lands or pays a life and removes a card from their hand.

The bigger point of this post; New all time high number of users at once today! Most likely due to people seeking the B&R list.

[SummenSaugen]

I don't think the problem was the first or second turn kill.  It more has to do with how masturbatory the combo is.

Dragon evades this, since every type of hate except hand rape hurts it.

[xrizzo]

The changes made are all warranted.  Burning Wish is probably acceptable without LED, but in principle, is eligible for restriction.

I am glad nothing happened to yawgwin, dark ritual, or cunning wish.  At this point, those are all solid in their standing.  (cunning wish is eligible because it is a tutor, but not strong enough yet)

I am amused that Workshop is still around.  I don't think it is incredibly broken in the decks that use it, but by principle (which seems to be what was used to restrict chrome mox) this card is still dangerously close to restriction.  This leads me to believe that the next two sets in the mirroden block will not have incredibly distorting artifacts.  (I could be way off though)

[cssamerican]

Well, it was obvious they ment to kill Long for good. I did not like the fact the DCI made the restriction in order to kill a deck that was not even dominating tournaments. It almost feels like they are telling us what to play. I especially did not like that the LED was hit, which totally destroys a fun deck (Madness) to cripple a deck that was not even posting tournament wins of late. Then Chrome Mox? And that hurts what, Parfait? Resticting cards on principle is stupid especially when it is not even on a consistant basis. The only good that came out of this restriction at all, is now my favorite deck (Venguer Masque) is a little stronger in the new metagame.

I can't beleive they did not touch Dragon, it is the undisputed best deck now. And before people say "What about prison decks" remember Dragon owns Prison, and if memory serves me correctly it does fairly well against control. Guess we know what most people who want to win will be playing.

And once again nothing gets unrestricted. This is what I hate about restrictions they are pratically permanent. Why are some cards even on the list? Fork anyone?

[BreathWeapon]

I think the absence of Long will seriously hurt Dragon. Now every one can turn their MD and SB to deal with Dragon in full force. If anything, more people will be playing Dragon with the absence of Long ... making more targets for your SB Hate. WOTC didn't need to neuter Dragon, by cutting the legs out from under Long.dec ... they put a huge bull's eye on Dragon's head. Two birds, one stone. Rector will probably fall prey to all of the additional Dragon hate in the format as it tries to sneak back into the environment. The smart money is on Mask coming back in a BIG way, hello Vengeur. I imagine Isochron Scepter and Bloodmoon are going to be HUGE in the new play environment as well.

Does anybody think that Death Wish is worth a shot in combo? I'm thinking Rector for Future Sight and Death Wish the Will from the SB maybe? Madness is dead, so thats one less fast clock deck you need to worry about. Thoughts?

[mouth]

Woah. PTQ Kobe is in 5 days, extended format. With Tinker.dec securely bound and gagged, I'm thinking of taking that nifty Japanese Helix deck, but the precedence for speed in the format is completely up in the air now. That is to say, there is no precedence for speed in 1.x.

The T1 restrictions all make good sense to me though. Burning Wish and LED being restricted hits Long.dec enough that Yawg's Will can remain unbanned. While it is a sick card, possibly the sickest, it's a staple in Suicide/Mono-B and Keeper, and for generations, people will know the joy of top-decking Will for the win. Or 'til the next round of B/R.

It's a shame that Madness gets man-handled out of it's most synergistic card. Also, it's interesting that Dragon was left alone, seeing as how the infinite loop is a bastardization of everything R&D works towards.

[EDIT]: Hey, uhh, thanks for pointing that out Jacob... broken Tinker it is.

[pox_Master]

Dragon seems to be the combo standard that the DCI will allow. It is extremely vulnerable to various forms of hate but still is extremely fast and resilient. I think the DCI is using Dragon as he way they will allow future combos. Long was overpowering so it got axed. Basically, any combo will be allowed by the dci as long as multiple colors have ways to stop the combo.

[Jacob Orlove]

Keep in mind that these restrictions don't go into effect until January first.  

[Lactose]

I wish they hadn't restricted Chrome Mox.
They just printed it and it wasn't doing a thing except give budget players a little hope.

I really don't think restricting Burning Wish was necessary. They already got LED, and it's not like TPS runs more than one anyhow.
Then again, I'm a big Shining fan, so it's not like I'm not biased.
(Edit: And apparently Smennen was saying he was going to replace LED with ESG, so..)
Man, I was really hoping they would ban Will.
And unrestrict some cards.

Quote I can't beleive they did not touch Dragon

Meh, it might be the best deck the most often, but that won't make it dominating. Especially not when people tune sideboards even more at it.

Quote (BreathWeapon @ Dec. 01 2003,15:17)Two birds, one stone

::coughWISHANDLEDMAKESTWOcough::

[jhaggs]

cssamerican,

  Good post.  You addressed alot of my concerns as well.  I am finding it difficult to phathom how the DCI can resctrict mox based on principle, yet do not apply the same precedent standards to Spoils.  If principle is one avenue for restriction they should stay consisitant.  

  I am also a little confused over the LED restriction while leaving workshop alone.  I was personally favoring that both would be left alone.  However, how do you restrict one mana accelerator and not the other?  I realize that LED can be dropped in addition to a land card on turn one, but considering that the mirroden block is about artifacts,  workshop becomes extremely vaulable.    I wonder why one mana accelerator was left alone...

[twn_domn]

Perhaps the principle is that artifact mana accel. == bad/evil/unfair while Workshop is a land?

[BreathWeapon]

Ya know, I think I am going to have to jump on the, "They should have banned Yawg Win" train. Burning Wish isn't really abusive without it, and you could have kept both Lion's Eye Diamond and Chrome Mox in the enivornment for Madness.

I think it is a fundamental R&D mistake to keep a restricted card in the format that truely DEFINES the game. Do we really want to play in a format where top decking Will = Win? Seriously, it is the only restricted card in the format that people place on their defines the environment list ... that just seems wrong. Hell, its not like anyone loses anything major out of the deal, its a 6 dollar card for Christ's sake. You had might as well replace Time Twister on the P9 list with Yawgmoth's Will ... ranting is fun.

As far as Spoils of the Vault, it speeds your deck up by a turn at a 8-15% of auto losing ... I can live with that.