Magic: The Gathering's Standard metagame has been severely stifled in recent months by Izzet Cauldron decks leveraging Vivi Ornitier and Agatha's Soul Cauldron, commanding over 40% of the winner's metagame share—peaking at 54% in Arena Championship 9 and SCGCon Orlando's Day 2—while dominating Top 8s and forcing the field to revolve around countering their explosive mana ramp and uninteractive scaling.
Today's Banned and Restricted announcement delivers a comprehensive shakeup across multiple formats—including Standard, Pioneer, Legacy, Pauper, and Brawl—with over ten cards banned to dismantle dominant combos, curb aggressive overperformers, and promote healthier diversity, effective immediately
Here is the complete list of newly banned cards:
Standard
Vivi Ornitier is banned.
Screaming Nemesis is banned.
Proft's Eidetic Memory is banned.
Pioneer
Heartfire Hero is banned.
Modern
No changes
Legacy
Entomb is banned.
Nadu, Winged Wisdom is banned.
Vintage
No changes
Pauper
High Tide is banned.
Alchemy
No changes
Historic
Force of Negation is pre-banned.
Frantic Search is pre-banned.
Mystical Tutor is pre-banned.
Entomb is pre-banned.
Dark Depths is pre-banned.
Timeless
No changes
Brawl
Strip Mine is banned.
Mana Drain is banned.
Chrome Mox is banned
Ancient Tomb is banned.
Standard: Dismantling the Dominant Combo
Standard receives the most significant changes, targeting the Vivi Ornitier/Agatha's Soul Cauldron combo that dominated tournaments with explosive mana ramp, ping damage, and overwhelming board scaling. Wizards opted to ban Vivi Ornitier over Agatha's Soul Cauldron due to its higher potential for future abuse. Proft's Eidetic Memory was hit for providing uninteractive card advantage that fueled both the combo and non-Vivi Izzet decks like Jeskai Oculus. Screaming Nemesis curbs Mono-Red Aggro's unblockable pressure and life-denial, preventing it from becoming the post-ban boogeyman.
Pioneer: Curbing Red Aggro
Heartfire Hero joins prior bans like Monstrous Rage to slow Pioneer's Mono-Red decks, promoting archetype diversity.
Legacy: Ending Reanimator and Combo Exploits
Entomb—a reanimator staple—is finally banned after years of debate, while Nadu, Winged Wisdom is axed for its effortless combos.
Pauper: Reinstating High Tide Ban
High Tide is rebanned after a trial period, as its storm combos overwhelmed the format despite adjustments.
Brawl: Eliminating Fast Mana and Disruption
Amid Brawl's surge in popularity via the Metagame Challenge, bans target unfair acceleration and denial: Strip Mine for mass land destruction, and Mana Drain, Chrome Mox, Ancient Tomb for enabling Turn 1-2 commanders.
These adjustments restore balance before new cards arrive, with Wizards acknowledging 2025's challenging Standard cadence but reaffirming intervention for clear outliers. The next update is February 9, 2026.
Upcoming: Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender
Universes Beyond: Avatar: The Last Airbender™, the next Standard-legal set, arrives soon with exciting new bending mechanics—Airbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Waterbending—that let players manipulate the battlefield in flavorful ways, such as animating lands with Earthbending or tapping for aggressive bursts with Firebending. Prerelease events begin November 14, offering first battles with Aang and elemental mastery.
Look ahead to Lorwyn Eclipsed, Magic's first in-Multiverse set of 2026 releasing January 23, returning players to the iconic plane of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor with tribal synergies, transforming cards, and new products like Draft Night—Prerelease events January 16–22
Source: Official Magic: The Gathering website (magic.wizards.com)
