Also:
VintageWelcome back!
Yes, we're going to call it “Vintage� from now on.
Many cards were discussed for restriction in this format, but in the end we decided to keep all the current cards legal and actually expand the format ever-so-slightly by removing some of the less egregious cards from the list.
The following cards are unrestricted in Vintage:
Braingeyser
Doomsday
Earthcraft
Fork
Braingeyser is expensive and slow. If you can generate infinite mana, there are better cards to kill with. Doomsday was at one time the centerpiece of a bizarre combo deck that could set up an eight-card library and go off with Timetwister, generating infinite mana. That hardly seems like the best thing going right now in Vintage. Earthcraft was only restricted in the first place to help balance Type 1.5 (which presents a fine argument for why the two lists needed to be separated). And Fork has the drawback of costing and not doing anything productive on its own.
As with any time we unrestrict cards, this announcement comes with the caveat that if we were wrong in judging their impact (or lack of it) on the format, we reserve the right to re-restrict them.
1.5 B/R ListWhat's on there:
Ante cards and dexterity cards: These two categories include cards like Contract from Below and Chaos Orb. It is generally accepted that cards such as these have no place in tournament Magic.
The Power Nine and other cards that are restricted in Vintage on their own merits: This section includes stuff like fast mana (Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Channel, Tolarian Academy, etc.), card drawing (Wheel of Fortune, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Windfall, Necropotence, etc.), and lots of other cards that have proven to be problematically strong, such as Strip Mine, Dream Halls, Mind Twist, Balance, Mind's Desire, and Yawgmoth's Will.
Dominant cards that have been considered for restriction in Vintage: Here's where the list departs from what it was previously. Some cards exist at power levels that are on the brink of acceptability for even Vintage, which makes them dominant in “Type 1.5.� Worldgorger Dragon, Bazaar of Baghdad, Mishra's Workshop, Mana Drain, and Illusionary Mask all fit into this category. Note, too, that the power level of many of these cards, combined with their scarcity, presented a major barrier to entry to the format for many players.
Cards that are/were banned in Extended: Not every card that has ever been banned in Extended is banned in this new format, but we felt the most powerful ones had no place here. These include Earthcraft, Goblin Recruiter, Hermit Druid, Land Tax, Oath of Druids, Replenish, and newly exiled Skullclamp and Metalworker. With “1.5� now a little less like Vintage and a little more like Extended, it makes sense that the banned list is a compromise between the two. Most of these cards are very cheap combo enablers that are hard to defend against.
What's not on there:
The second-tier fast mana cards: We left off cards like Ancient Tomb, Dark Ritual, Mox Diamond, and Lotus Petal to give aggressive creature and combo decks the tools they'd need to battle control. Time will tell if this is too much fast mana, but it is a good place to start.
The second-tier tutors: Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Demonic Consultation may be banned, but Mystical and Enlightened Tutor are both legal.
Various other powerful cards: Fact or Fiction, Survival of the Fittest, Regrowth, and Goblin Lackey are all extraordinarily powerful cards that we decided to make legal. We want to keep the format healthy and balanced without making it overly weak and without having a banned list that is five pages long. These cards (as well as a few others) will be on our radar as this new format finds its legs. Hopefully they will add excitement without upsetting the proverbial apple cart.
There you have it. Hopefully these changes make you happy and tempt you to give one or more of these formats a second look. Our goal is long-term health for all of our formats, and I believe we've taken some great steps in accomplishing that with this announcement.
