The History of the Banned and Restricted List, Part I | The Birth of the List (January 1994)

[@cymbaline4384]

I’m genuinely excited to see this series revived

[@NizzahonMagic]

Glad to hear it!

[@nekroz_of_super_dora3477]

I think the best way I ever heard Ante described was “The person who came up with Ante should be fired, and their job should be put up for Ante.”

[@keiyakins]

Ante is fun in a closed environment though. If you have a small pool of players and cards stuff changing hands works to shake up your meta.

[@jayabber7323]

And after being super happy that you opened a card, that's actually worth something, slam it into your jank deck, and you give it away 15 minutes later by sheer misfortune. Yay

[@Arvaniz]

Tell that to Richard Garfield. His idea. Maybe because he never intended the cards to be sold so ridiculously expensive, and maybe he also didn't intended for it to have pro tournaments. Maybe it was just a funny puzzle game of discovering new cards and interactions. Beyond that, what is CERTAIN (he said so explicitly) is that his favorite card is Shahrazad. That's the kind of whimsical fun he intended for the game, not the competitive serious type, nor the MTG finance guys speculating on immense card values. But well... that Magic is long gone. Sadly.

[@gregpenismith1248]

@@Arvaniz cool story, want a cookie?

[@camipco]

I think it's not so much that someone came up ante for mtg, it's that they didn't think to un-come-up-with-it. What I mean is that ante was standard for trading cards. That's like the whole thing kids did with baseball cards is flip them for ante. So ante was just the obvious pre-existing way to give the game stakes.

[@Beaudunk]

This was even more enjoyable than the top 10 lists. Great video.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@mattm7798]

Agreed. Top 10 XYZ MTG cards have been a bit played out. I would love more historical looks at MTG.

[@NizzahonMagic]

@@mattm7798 My top 10s are also historical looks at MTG. haha

[@andrewboyko8304]

I like the top 10s but I don’t think they have to be presented as a countdown to present the same narrative. You do good research and excellent commentary.

[@04happyjoey]

Shahrazad wasn't banned just for the troll factor alone. It also saw play in sideboards designed to stall out games for time if you won the first match. imagine loosing round one then having to play several nested sub games of magic, casting Shahrazad while in a sub game just to have it shuffled back in after loosing and have it cast again and again. That is the very definition of magic hell.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Sounds like trolling to me!

[@camipco]

Also, worth noting that Contract from Below is maybe the best card ever printed, being more than twice as powerful as Ancestral Recall.

[@wojtektaracinski7977]

Damn.... I still want to see Karn Liberated and Shahrazad played together

[@kingfuzzy2]

Casual play is unrestricted.

[@SphealTV]

I don't normally comment, but I watch all the top 10 videos. I am excited to see a return of this series and I will be more than happy to tune into this every time it's uploaded.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Glad to hear it!

[@TheRealDeadmanshand]

Chaos Orb, Falling Star, and Conspiracies still banned in vintage also.

[@Sweetguy1821]

Yeah pretty sure all dexterity based cards are a no go

[@TheRealDeadmanshand]

@@Sweetguy1821 Right. I named them.

[@markmarkson4455]

@@TheRealDeadmanshand Right. I named them.

[@KabukiKid]

Yeah... Chaos Orb and Falling Star were banned because of the dexterity element, which no judge wants to deal with. "Hey, that didn't flip over completely at least once!" "Yeah it did!" "Hey! That wasn't at least a foot above the table!" "Sure it was!" Even if the judge was a witness to it, it's just a nightmare outside of a casual game.

[@taliesine.8343]

That probably was changed in a later ban

[@soldierswitheggs]

Thanks for bringing this series back! It was my favorite back when it was on the other channel.

[@1gochisox]

I gotta say seeing vintage tournaments nowadays if there was an ante effect would be insane, someone loosing a black lotus to that, the salt would be real

[@Rorschachqp]

1gochisox back in 93, just buy another one for $2...it’s not like you lost a Nightmare or Shivan Dragon.

[@joshr408]

Glad you're continuing the series, bit bummed I'll have wait a few weeks for you to catch up with the ones you already did, but I'll be waiting with anticipation.

[@LunarWingCloud]

I love seeing these types of videos. Please keep this going, I saw on Aether Hub but the series was sadly not continued. Can't wait to see you hopefully go the distance on your own channel!!

[@clearlypellucid]

You forgot to mention during the Manipulator section that it was also a rule that tapped blockers did no damage. So you could attack and, if your opponent blocked, you could tap the blocking creature to turn what might have been a trade into a 0 for 1.

[@mattm7798]

Hmmmm, but wouldnt the creature already be tapped from attacking?

[@clearlypellucid]

@@mattm7798 The rule only applied to blockers. Tapped attackers still did damage.

[@clearlypellucid]

@@nathans5259 Yup. That rule went away before Revised came out, at the same time they got rid of mono artifacts and poly artifacts.

[@Rorschachqp]

You’re correct. That’s how it used to work. Plus Nettling Imp and Royal Assassin combos.

[@blacktimhoward4322]

I like learning about the titular topic, but as someone who's always been confused af about the various formats I'm also excited to be getting the history of those as you go along.

[@TimmytheSorcerer]

It's so interesting to look back at these restrictions. Knew most of them, but the Icy was new info. Love playing that card in my oldschool 93/94 decks. 👍

[@jaredt2590]

Taking an extra turn in general is really powerful. You get your creatures set up and attack, blockers are chosen then you play time walk and get to attack again where nothing can be blocked unless there are untapped creatures left over from your last turn on their side that weren't destroyed. Throw out an over run on the turn before you take an extra and you can easily win the game on your extra turn with enough damage on your side.

[@oliverwithington4892]

This is shaping up to be a fascinating series. Your methodical and analytical style suits it so well. Cannot wait for part 2

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor]

13:51 Actually, aren't Conspiracies, Chaos Orb and Falling Star banned in Vintage as well?

[@FalseOracle617]

Conspiracies are universally banned outside of sealed

[@JBergmansson]

Came here to say this!

[@KaneYork]

The latter cards are referred to collectively as "dexterity cards".

[@brendanpowell9953]

This is awesome! Thanks so much, Nizzahon! I’m really interested as to seeing this series with a great insight as to why certain cards are banned.

[@rpriske]

Back in the day my favourite card was Bronze Tablet. I loved ante. BUT we played with a small circle of friends and cards were just kind of passed around. Nothing was lost forever.

[@mazerinthemage2395]

Falling Star and Chaos Orb are also banned in vintage with Shahrazad and Ante Cards.

[@SpektralJo]

And the conspiracy cards

[@matpoliquin]

Not sure if you mentioned this already but Rukh Egg was at the origin of the 4 cards per deck restriction because otherwise you could fill your deck with only Rukh Eggs and discard one per turn to create your free 4/4 flyer!

[@NizzahonMagic]

Rukh Egg was part of it, but so was Channel-Fireball.

[@GOAToatoat]

I am super excited to see this series continue.

[@MrBunt]

Icy Manipulator was even stronger under the very old rules of magic. Not only did Artifacts lose their ability when tapped, but also blocking creatures did no damage, when they became tapped after blocking.

[@aidennoir597]

Ante sounds miserable and I would absolutely not play if it was still part of the game.

[@frodothehobo9938]

To be fair, magics creator, richard garfield. Had rock bottom expectations for this game. He was not expecting cards to be worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars today. He was thinking you were gonna ante your 50cent black lotus and the worst case scenario is you just buy a new one at the shop. For 50 cents.

[@wojtektaracinski7977]

@@frodothehobo9938 we should discover alternate dimension travel, so we can access the timeline where magic never catch on and Black Lotus is worth 50 cents. Imagine how rich a person who discover that would be.

[@HellScream107]

I heard competitive card players gambled with their very souls in ancient egypt. Opps, wrong TCG.

[@n3croticism]

Even back then, nobody played with ante. I never met anyone that wanted to play with ante and I never asked to, either.

[@TheSquareOnes]

@@wojtektaracinski7977 Since someone has to be that guy, I'll just point out that if you achieve alternate dimension travel* that probably also means that you're now unfathomably wealthy by virtue of being the person that achieved alternate dimension travel. *That is safe and functional rather than just turning you into a giant tumor or trapping you on the other side obviously, so I don't get counter-that-guy-ed.

[@Miscegenist]

Awesome stuff. So glad you started this ‘j back at the earliest days of Magic, what was powerful, feared, etc.) Love the Shahrazad entry

[@slyrax4154]

I heard somewhere that Dingus Egg's restriction was partially due to the strange wording that didn't make it clear whether a land was "lost" when it was discarded (such as from Hypnotic Spectre). This makes sense when you consider that Rukh Egg had similar confusion.

[@austindmunday]

Nizzahon is the best MTG content on youtube

[@Nr4747]

Fun fact: The (imho) most powerful Magic card of all time is also an ante card and would have probably needed a ban (not just restriction) anyway for power level reasons: Contract From Below. It allows you to discard your hand and draw 7 new cards for only 1 black mana, completely turbo-charging fast combo decks (that are playing tons of free mana cards anyway) and finding your restricted copies of cards in Vintage (if it were legal there).

[@harkingmadwing5112]

Your videos are great, my dude. Always a pleasure to hear a Magic content creator that isn't hateful and doesn't rely on unfunny memes. Cheers!

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@researchinbreeder]

Nizzahon Ante'd his Aether Hub video and lost in the personal standards department, so he had to replace that video in his library with this shiny new one (it's foil).

[@Rorschachqp]

Ali From Cairo + Spectral Cloak was as commonly talked about as Channel + Fireball.

[@HaydenX]

Dexterity cards are also banned in Vintage...Chaos Orb, Falling Star, etc.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Ah yes

[@lonsmithicus]

WRONG-Everyone played 1 Braingeyser. It was always and still is quite good with Sol Ring.

[@NizzahonMagic]

I am basing this on deck lists from Worlds 1994 and 1995, etc., at which Braingeyser wasn't played

[@mattm7798]

Also a note on Ante...wasn't the game originally envision as being much more traded? The famous reason why the power 9 was so good is they didn't expect people to be running 4 of them(or alot more before the 4 limit was instituted).

[@CollaredBarkDog]

Glad to see this series return

[@aur0n823]

Came across this in my KZbin feed. You’ve earned yourself a new subscriber!

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@adderall3676]

Yay finally! I've been waiting for one of these for years!

[@anarchond]

I remember when most of these cards were allowed. Man, back then taking an extra turn wasn't really a big deal nor was it game ending at all.

[@NizzahonMagic]

It was, though. That's why Time Vault and Time Walk got restricted. Haha

[@Rorschachqp]

No one played Armageddon back in 93. A few played it in Serra Angel or white weenie decks. Dingus Egg got restricted due to straight up LD decks having success in an early tournament...Ice Storm, Stone Rain, Sinkhole.

[@mtgpackrat7945]

My vote for #10 on the power list is Mox Diamond. Sure you have the drawback of having to discard a land card but being able to tap for one of any color sure seems powerful enough for me.

[@NizzahonMagic]

You can make that argument I guess, but it is from Stronghold, not in the set the original power 9 are in, and not even a thought in someone's mind when this B & R announcement was made. Also not restricted. Haha.

[@danielbakergill]

Just picking up this series. Glad to find your channel; these are some fun lists.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@lyraharrow3005]

Oh sick. I immediately got Woolen Sleevelet vibes from the video style, specifically “History of Banned Weapon’s Part 2”.

[@lyraharrow3005]

Oh, wow, newest by quite a bit.

[@cherrybansx7398]

I really like mtg videos like this where i can enjoy it with my very limited knowledge of the game. Great video as usual keep up the good work :D

[@ClexYoshi]

My favorite video series of yours is here now! Sorry things didn't work out with you as an Aether Hub affiliate.

[@fidly4]

Shaharazad isn't banned in oathbreaker! Guess who just found their signature spell.

[@swag66_]

You sick fuck

[@entothechesnautknight1762]

Ahh, glad to see this come back!

[@michmich066]

Shoulda mentioned the best ante and one of the best black cards ever, Contract from Below.

[@KabukiKid]

Since when is drawing 7 new cards for one black mana busted? ;-)

[@hailtothevic8846]

Please keep the series alive this time !

[@NizzahonMagic]

I will!

[@lordPiety123]

You make some of the best MTG content on the web. Thanks for that!

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@andrewboyko8304]

Story time with Nizzahon? I’m in!

[@nocapsrage]

So hype for this series! Love your content

[@DavidP089]

I love my alpha Sol Ring. It's fun to use in edh and see people's reaction. I love MTG.

[@lucien134]

Finally! Was super hyped for this series

[@sagacious03]

Neat analysis video! Thanks for uploading!

[@crovax1375]

I remember playing at school when ante cards was a thing. It always turned out that whoever had the cheapest cards always wanted to play for keeps

[@hyperonmonster]

Which is interesting mechanically. Do you play cheap cards so you don't risk anything or stronger cards so you have a better chance of winning? It's great in the video game "Shandalar" but in real life, it's just way too feel bad and doesn't make sense.

[@crovax1375]

@@hyperonmonster most kids in the lunchroom really didn't have a large pool of cards to begin with. So when you did get a valuable card you would end up having to play it in your deck. The biggest catch 22 for the ante cards, like Jeweled Bird, was that those cards wasn't worth playing at all. Because a lot of those cards didn't really help you win a game, but rather made losing less painful

[@hyperonmonster]

@@crovax1375 For sure. Ante is really stupid in practice, I didn't mean to make it sound like I disagreed. I can just see what their thought process was when they made the (very stupid) mechanic. I wasn't a kid when mtg came out, I was a kid when yugioh came out and they had something very similar to ante in the anime, and of course, we played the game just like the anime because we didn't know any better. It was interesting, very stupid, but interesting (made for an entertaining anime tho).

[@AutumnIntoSummer]

Love this! Can't wait for the vid that covers Falling Star and Chaos Orb... that idea has to be the most laughable

[@TetsuRiken]

Sharazard even has a troll face like it's singing the song

[@ashtheelder5144]

I remember Ante tournaments - not DCI registered, but at LGSes.

[@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor]

Hopefully I'm not banned from requesting this top 10 list on other videos. But well, gimme top 10 vintage cards!

[@cutlervanalstine2984]

@juter4397 probably force of will before mind sculptor

[@camipco]

Why no stats for the "power 11"? I mean, obviously we all know they're very good. But it would be interesting to see them for comparison, and see which have the best numbers.

[@The_Nerd_King]

The power 9 should come back!😉👍

[@discflame]

There are also legal reasons with reprinting the power 9. Since they are so expensive, people who own, say, a Black Lotus could file a class-action suit and have an easy case against WotC and Hasbro for knowingly and intentionally devaluing what they have.

[@The_Nerd_King]

@@discflame oh yeah, that! Ok then just make them legal and don't reprint them? Or Make them legal and reprint them in a set that almost doubles there's value (somehow).

[@lyraharrow3005]

Well done with the video. Turning on notifications for your channel, I’m excited to see the rest.

[@lyraharrow3005]

Oh. They were already on. Welp.

[@NizzahonMagic]

@@lyraharrow3005 Turn em on twice!

[@lyraharrow3005]

Nizzahon Magic oh, I actually did.

[@sdfkjgh]

I've been going card-by-card through The Reserved List, rating their reprintability. It's stupid how many cards are decent to never-should've-printed-it, would-rather-drink-raw-sewage-than-allow-it-to-ever-see-the-light-of-day-ever-again. For anyone interested, it's here under No Reservations II: magicseteditor.boards.net/board/18/mtg-lounge

[@soldancer]

I've been reading through these posts, and they are great. Informative and funny, it's a nice trip down memory lane for an old player like me.

[@cutchyacokov]

I had no idea that ante cards were banned so early. Why was WoTC trolling me with banned cards, like Tempest Efreet, in some of the packs that I bought in 1995? I hadn't even heard of this game when they were all banned!

[@gregames4843]

Agree. Tempest Efreet is a weird one.

[@NormalTheBand]

"Today in vintage ... Shaharazad and the ante cards are the only cards that are banned" Great video but i was curious if you were going to correct mistake from the last one. There are now 37 Banned cards with Chaos Orb and Falling Star coming in the next B&R update and conspiracy cards recently

[@FalseOracle617]

Because Conspiracy, both sets, were designed for draft. Half the cards don't work out of draft.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Yeah, I forgot qbout the dexterity carda

[@NormalTheBand]

@@FalseOracle617 Yeah but the other half of the cards are legal. Counsel's Judgment, Leovold, Dack Fayden, and Palace Jailer are all legit. They don't want to ban the sets, so the cards particular cards are on the ban list

[@catman1259]

And now Lurrus is banned... 🙃

[@jonathanantonioaguirregonz110]

Thank you for doing this again

[@nicholashodges4048]

This is so well done!! Thank you sir!!!

[@108108qwerty]

This is a brilliant idea, well done

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@oliverwilson11]

keen to see more of this series :)

[@Link202]

This will be great series of videos, looking forward to it!

[@AidanWR]

I recently saw a deck that uses Dingus Egg, so I thought it was funny that he mentioned that it's not used in current decks

[@NizzahonMagic]

Well, I can't know every single deck that people are playing on their kitchen table or LGS! I just mean no GP or PT Top 8s, which is amusing since there was so much concern about it.

[@AidanWR]

@@NizzahonMagic I don't expect you to, but it was a Commander's Quarters deck that I saw recently, and just thought it was funny that that card ended up in both videos. Never would have expected that card to be restricted, but it was at the beginning of Magic

[@Redfoxe]

I will look forward to more of these videos!.

[@SpitefulAZ]

A lot of these cards I've never even heard of.

[@austinthomas2383]

love it there is a whole list of cards I want to see just to find out why

[@ICA_Ghost]

13:54 im new to magic and this totally confuses me. on the mtg website there is a huge list on banned cards for vintage. when i google if sol ring is banned it says that the card is only legal in commander wich means it is banned in vintage or not???

[@NizzahonMagic]

Almost nothing is banned in Vintage, only restricted.

[@ICA_Ghost]

Nizzahon Magic oh yeah my bad... turns out that you cant trust google like that.

[@kairussell7372]

I can't believe you've got 35,00 sub's. I've been a sub since the 1,400 - 2,000 sub range. I feel like a proud parent lol. Cheers

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks for being around so long!

[@kairussell7372]

@@NizzahonMagic no problem. I wanna say it was origins draft that was the first video I saw from you? You've been doing this for a while now. Thanks for the reply

[@kairussell7372]

I just looked it up, origins draft #1 was there years ago? I wanna say that was the video but it might have even been before that though... The years really start blurring together after 23 lol.

[@T_Peazy]

This was great. Loving new content.

[@East_TX_LCR]

Yay new-ish series from my favorite voice

[@captainkarnage9874]

Makes you wonder why they kept printing ante cards even after they originally banned them

[@PlumZaplook]

The production for a Magic can be quite long, even back in the mid 90s, so it could be that some ante cards worked themselves into other sets because they were created before or around the ban. Alternatively some designers could have liked the mechanic and wanted to keep using it in sets even though those cards could only be used in casual play. The last set with ante was Homelands; Homelands was famously designed by people who had not worked in game design before and were a separate team from the main Magic team of the 90s, this would explain why they would make the seemingly strange decision to print ante cards after the rest of Magic's designers had given up on the mechanic.

[@z.s.7992]

The shahrazad is so flavorful though. It really encapsulates how her story went.

[@wojtektaracinski7977]

If the actual story would follow the card effect, the Sultan would get bored to death halfway through and go play Paper-Rock-Scissors instead.

[@OrbGoblin]

If you're ever wondering why they restricted power 9 & ante, play Shandalar!

[@wojtektaracinski7977]

I mean: play Shandalar in general, because it's a good game overall. But yeah, the cheese in that game was all-too-real.

[@GuerillaManifesto]

The problem with Shahrazad, wasn't that it would take games too long to play out...as you could simply "concede" the secondary game. But two mana to force an opponent to lose half their life is PRETTY damn busted.

[@NizzahonMagic]

You're wrong.

[@GuerillaManifesto]

@@NizzahonMagic I see my attempt at sarcasm didn't make its way through my comment. Ah well.

[@caramelvampires]

Fantastic video, looking forward to the next part!^^

[@hggfhh4449]

Gauntlet of might is Like chaos moon without the downside.

[@marcovenosta9950]

This is crazy cool interesting stuff, keep it up!

[@The_Nerd_King]

This is a great video and a good series!👍 Keep it up

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@atticusshadowmore3263]

As far as I am concerned, there is a power 12, the 9, sol ring, time vault, and lighting bolt

[@NizzahonMagic]

I don't think we can include Lightning Bolt in there, it is demonstrably more fair than the rest.

[@aklepatzky]

Man i love this channel

[@Ouja]

Being able to kill you with a Shanodin Dryad on turn 7 after I Voltroned it with Aspect of Wolf, Wyluli Wolves and Berserk, using my Gaia's Leige to make sure there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it. That's why it was banned. 20 years later, and I still use the same combo, albeit with different cards because it works. As far as Ali from Cairo, it was beyond broken. Your removal cards then were Terror (black), Unsummon (Blue), Desert Twister (green), Swords to Plowshares or Wrath of God (white). Unless you played Red, Ali from Cairo would mess you up.

[@foyoGames]

Funny how Shahrazad reads like your average Yugioh card

[@TheItalianoAssassino]

As a Yugioh player, that's not true at all, though it would be hilarious to have a Shahrazad-type card in Yugioh.

[@foyoGames]

@@TheItalianoAssassino @Wolf. "Reads like", with the paragraphs I mean

[@guylortie5238]

WHY?!? Why did KZbin only showed me this now??

[@NizzahonMagic]

Haha. You have 8 more parts to watch and more coming!

[@slayerofmankind]

Love the video but still wondering when am I going to get my play set of one with nothing

[@NizzahonMagic]

Why would you get them? It sitll isn't played anywhere.

[@slayerofmankind]

@@NizzahonMagic rakdos base deck kn modern and a cycle deck in vintage plus it is still yet to be fully broken but I know there is a card in the future that will make it even better but for now the card U consider to be awful is also working its way into a hazart deck where u can aggro out to the will plus the fact that some spark cards are also being used in a new form of dredge/zombie mill resurrection theme deck but thats just the tip of the ice berg plus since that day from years ago it has not only tripled in value it keeps rising for newer cards hint hint are going to cause a rift in both vintage and modern and u can look it has been in a few tournaments with decent results but it soon will have a explosion so I'm only say I would like u not to spend too much on those play sets of it that's my only worry for I know it will end up a 20+ card and more then 30 in foil

[@slayerofmankind]

@@NizzahonMagic also I love the mill into u had so do u plan on doing any like that for the other themes and abilities

[@slayerofmankind]

@@NizzahonMagic I would love to see u make some more of those artistic intros big thumbs up homie and good luck on the million mark I believe u will hit it before Xmas this year

[@NizzahonMagic]

@@slayerofmankind Your grasp on reality is troubling

[@ZergrushEddie]

Shahrazad is a bittersweet banning. Considering she is the a key player in the One Thousand and One Nights and the expansion is called Arabian Nights, it is a shame that she has to get the axe; it'd be like having to ban Brothers Grimm from an expansion all about fairy tales. Even better, the effect works REALLY well with how the mythical figure 'kept the game going' for so long so the flavor is on point. However... that is a terrible effect that should never have been made. If people want to play another game of Magic, they can just play another game of Magic.

[@HE13272326]

I never knew there was an Ante mechanic :0

[@Ajani413]

I really enjoyed this video. Keep up the great work

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!

[@Coeurebene1]

Rukh Egg, ah the nostalgia :)

[@Volkain10]

Yes I've been waiting for this!!!!!!!!

[@MrMisterMiester]

Chaos Orb was not mentioned?

[@NizzahonMagic]

Wasn't banned in first announcement. That comes in the next video

[@Shmandalf]

Well put together vid, earned a sub buddy!