Top 10 Cards that Might Get Banned

[@CrisMW98]

I really wish they'd ban Karn from Pioneer. Being able to fetch whatever card answers the current board state is both powerful and frustrating (for the opponent). Add to that the ability to shut down artifact based decks and the fact the card is a x4 in one of the decks that has been Tier 1 for more than one year, it really makes me wonder why they haven't taken action already.

[@25_Cats_in_a_Trenchcoat]

He need it. Passive pushes it too far too

[@thefreshproduce]

learn to play around it noob

[@yaboi7324]

I don't agree that Karn is the problem. I have played A TON of pioneer and I have only seen 1 deck play Karn, and it's the deck that makes 8 billion mana. Karn actually adds something interesting to the game, a unique way to use your sideboard to impact the first game, with the restriction that it be filled up specifically with artifacts. Pioneer is not a format like vintage where everyone has a ton of mox in their deck and Karn will just shut them out of the game. The ONLY reason Karn is an issue is because MonoG can go grab any 25837753 mana artifact and play it like it's a 1 drop. If you spend 4 mana on something, it should be pretty impactful, and I don't think Karn oversteps his power level in pioneer. What does overstep its power level is when you can t1 elf, t2 old growth, [TURN 3] play nykthos, play elf, tap nykthos for 5, play kiora 2 mana up untap nykthos tap it for 6, play elf, play another kiora, untap nykthos, tap for 7, play cav 2 floating, draw a card, hit another nykthos put it in play, tap for 10 oh look I drew a storm the festival off kiora wooohooo isn't this fun for both of us? Nykthos is 10000000000% the issue imo and I have never cared about Karn less than I do when playing pioneer.

[@gabekeeter6415]

There's like 3-4 Tier 1 decks in Pioneer so it's not like there's some crazy imbalance, and if you wanted to shut that deck down, you'd probably be better off banning Nykthos instead

[@ciaosonoAlbertoG]

​@@gabekeeter6415The point isn't shutting mono green off, it's banning Karn while still having the deck be a possibility. Nykthos without Karn would be fine

[@laziepeon1209]

Was interesting to hear you take into consideration bans for the pauper format as most people don't usually acknowledge it when discussing lists like this. Your editing for your video was nice, but I think you should have used the back side of Valki's card "Tibalt, the Cosmic Imposter" over the token it generates. It would help people who don't know the card see what it did better and why it was a real threat of a combo.

[@takeshimoral8738]

Thank you for touching on pauper, and giving it the respect it deserves

[@GigaBoost]

He fumbled on explaining the rules though lol

[@GamerKilroy]

Agreed. I was super happy to see Synthetizer on the list.

[@nicolascasime9248]

​@@GigaBoostwhat do you mean? Pauper is a format were almost all cards are commons. But there are also uncommons. Even rares! As the lowest rarity is used, you can play with uncomoms/rares if at one time they were common

[@Dracomandriuthus]

​@@GamerKilroyWhy tho, Synth is pretty healthy for pauper

[@QuicksilverSG]

The irony of The One Ring is that it's optimally broken when you put four of them in a deck. You can then repeatedly reset your Burden Counter life loss simply by playing a new copy, either from your hand or the graveyard. There's so many of them around these days, WotC should simply errata away its laughable "Legendary" Artifact label. Either that, or make The One Ring truly singular - errata it to be Restricted in all formats.

[@DotHacker99]

There's cards that say you can have 9 or as many copies as you want in a deck so I don't see why they couldn't have added text saying "There can only be one copy of this in your deck". They don't like functional changes but they need to with this

[@Xoulrath_]

There's an even easier fix. It would be to make ALL Legendary cards be limited to one per deck. It wasn't as much of an issue before they really started pushing the card type thanks to Commander. But now it's just become a fucking joke. WotC is clearly going to continue to push Legendaries, and making a limit of 1 per deck per specific card name would make it easier for them to make future Legendary cards even more bonkers crazy without worrying about immediately disrupting the formats where they are legal to play. But money, so...

[@alwaysplaythegame]

​@@Xoulrath_That is the correct answer. I know it changes things but it would make Magic better as a whole.

[@stefanpaetrow6355]

WotC makes so much money with LotR that they will ignore the problem for the next 2 years. as long as they print it... and then.. surprise! ban it :p

[@echoesvayne9790]

I don't get why they didn't put the "there can only be one copy of one ring in your deck" on it for flavor alone... people could still blink it to reset it, but not just keep getting that protection... I use goblin welder to bin it or recurr it in my sauron deck

[@treederrpah6503]

4:22 the other side of tibalt cosmic imposter is a planeswalker, that's an emblem with the same name lmao. I'm surprised nobody is reviewing these videos.

[@Blight-Knight9]

I’m not surprised the 1 ring was here But I’m shocked orcish bowmasters wasn’t mentioned at all when it’s arguebly the stronger card

[@Atmapalazzo]

I'm assuming it didn't make the last for the same reason one ring is at the #10 spot

[@XenobladeXSupremacy]

The thing is, The One Ring can go into any deck because it is colorless. This means that format diversity would go down, which WotC does not want to happen

[@riddler356_fuck_you]

Bowmasters just slows down blue, and is easier to remove as a creature, i dont mind it myself

[@jshtng78]

@@XenobladeXSupremacy Removing The One Ring from being played in almost every format would be the most flavorful fate for the card so that's also a win for WoTC.

[@malakimphoros2164]

These cards do two different things. That said ban both. And Fury. And W6. And Ragavan too.

[@archwayglow]

My biggest issue with Sheoldred is she turns drawing cards in black, which is normally accompanied with a down side, an upside. Black normally needs to sacrifice life or permanents to draw cards. Sacrificing permanents is already used with cards that provide upside when they die, and Sheoldred just lets those decks stabilize against aggro decks. Changing life loss into life gain when drawing cards is self explanatory. She further makes the one ring even more of a nuisance.

[@questionyourself718]

Good point. I thought the same last time somebody had sheoldred and a phyrexian arena out. So you draw more cards, have no drawbacks AND Stabilize against Aggro, at turn 4?? Seems fair..

[@ozmcsween]

@@questionyourself718she has no evasion from removal which is at an all time high for variety in literally every color

[@questionyourself718]

@@ozmcsween doesnt matter at all. "Dies to Removel" isnt an argument.

[@Xoulrath_]

They fix all of this by just limiting Legendary cards to one per deck per specific named card. Then Sheoldred doing something that Black normally can't do shows just how powerful she really is. It also keeps her for being a sure thing in every game becuase having a single copy in a 60 card deck means that you might not see the card for a dozen games. That creates the variation and diversity of play that card games are supposed to have. Too many decks in too many formats have simply become paint-by-numbers experiences. You aren't playing your opponent so much as you're just slamming down the cards in a predetermined order, and hoping to do so before your opponent can do the same.

[@Kei-ye8if]

While I do agree that, on paper, she seems to bend the color pie a bit, she's honestly not as bad as she sounds. Firstly, she's suuuuper slow. Secondly, and more importantly, there aren't a lot of Black drawspells in Standard rn. In fact, the only one I can think of at the top of my head is Phyrexian Arena, which is a 3 drop. Drawing into these 2 cards and 4 land drops is pretty hard, especially since they still need a few turns to generate value. Honestly, Shoeldred is less a problem and more the only thing giving Black a chance as Midrange this Standard.

[@Car-rp8dg]

Just wanted to hop in and say I LOVE these videos as the editing is great, the topic interests me, you talk about cards in a concise yet detailed way, and your videos aren’t extremely long however I also want to say that me (and my dad) really like the videos you’ve made about cards that might be broken/are broken (like this video or the video where you talked about cards that could be broken) great stuff :)

[@josephwodarczyk977]

There's a similar channel called nizzahon magic that you'd enjoy. They cover a lot of top performing cards using statistics.

[@brianmusgrave9451]

The irony that red getting absolutely drug for having a slight color pie break for unholy heat- just being good enough to actually play, and yet green is choking on all the card draw

[@silverstar6589]

This editing looks fantastic. Keep the good work!

[@jimmysmith2249]

The ring will not be banned until after it leaves printing, which lotr is evergreen; this means it will be legal for at least two more years. In fact, wotc even said they want it to be around for a while because it SHOULD be in as many decks as possible.

[@TheExarion]

17:03 was not expecting this in a Duel Logs/Mana Logs video, but I fucking love it

[@kalitaspkmtg788]

Unholy Heat should have dealt 4 damage instead of 6, and still would have been good.

[@Yoshi348]

I mean, as mentioned, that's what they nerfed the arena version to.

[@irishealy3993]

Heat is fine, and necessary fury is a much bigger issue

[@Xoulrath_]

​@@irishealy3993I'd only argue that Heat is "fine" in a world where Delirium couldn't be achieved as early as turn 1. That's the real issue, at least in my experience.

[@josephclites6971]

Some of these cards don’t have a chance of being banned…but I always enjoy hearing people make the case. Good video!!

[@tridentlli]

Urza's Saga is an enchantment as wel. This makes it easier to interact with than you make it out to be if it were just a land, enchantment removal works on it as well.

[@TheChayxxx]

Yeah i was gonna say are we gonna just pretend it doesnt have another easier to interact with card type? Bit also wizards making cards like this just validates my feeling that land destruction is a viable strategy and they need to print more. I dont mean that we need wrath or damnation but i mean how many times are they gonna put a broken ass land into standard and then pull an oops mah bad. *cough* faceless haven *cough*

[@discounthero9972]

It's always fun revisiting these after a BNR. About Urza's Saga, it's also an Enchantment so it's easier to interact with than a typical nonbasic land. You could also sideboard a Chalice of the Void to hate what it would tutor. Now it's even better with Mox Opal unbanned, which is kinda exciting to think about.

[@slimmortal213]

jegantha is just thrown into loads of decks because the companion cost is essentially nothing, but the actual impact it has on games in general is extremely low. I don't think I've ever seen a game decided by a jegantha companion in hundreds of historic/explorer games on arena the one ring and orcish bowmasters are both insane, I wouldn't be surprised to see them banned in the weaker formats

[@alpha34098]

Well, they just got nerfed for Arena today. Even so, Wizards can't simply ban them when they're still being sold on the Stores (including Arena's)

[@Xoulrath_]

As someone who runs Jegantha in my Tron deck, I've got to agree AND disagree. On the one hand, when I just can't get Tron on turn 3, I've got the ability to do something. Then typically two turns later, I'll have the ability to put down a 5/5 body, which is NOT insignificant. I have actually won games BECAUSE of Jegantha. On the other hand, I do not play the typical Tron deck. Sure, most of the staples for putting Tron together are there. But I actually run a weird hybrid 5C version, that is in part more readily accessible, again BECAUSE of Jegantha. I'm able to play a significantly diversified version of Tron that might not be competitive without Jegantha. But of all of the Companions that have seen play in Modern, she is definitely the least offensive. I don't think that a ban is necessary there. Whether or not she is a problem in Pioneer, I don't know, as I've barely been able to play any games of that format since it started.

[@airtempest8945]

I mean, Kaheera has the same problem where decks that run almost no creatures that just happen to be running something like Evoke Elementals and nothing else can just run Kaheera and then it changes the deck, since they're able to run a creature without actually running any. Jegatha has the same problem but for more random decks.

[@lila2772]

i really like the more in depth explanation! a little bit of a miss to only show the emblem and not the walker itself while talking about violent outburst into tibalt, but i really enjoyed the video overall!

[@tangentfox4677]

I love learning about this stuff because it's all over my head.

[@holyhandgrenade5]

Could you do a series on some of the most notable errata that have happened, why they were necessary, and their impact on the game afterwards?

[@holyhandgrenade5]

Whoops, I found the video you made 6 months ago!

[@spuriusbrocoli4701]

Ay, good calls on #3 & #2.

[@glasscat477]

hehehe this aged well, Violent Outburst just got banned

[@egoish6762]

I'm not sure black red midrange is still the deck to beat in standard, probably esper at this point or maybe even golgari

[@sagatario58]

Talking about Companion, I'd definitely agree that it's been a problem but I think that's less to do with the mechanic itself and more with the balancing. The companions who have been a major issue have all had very easy to fulfill restrictions, so it's really not a major cost to use. But some of the lesser played ones like Keruga, Zirda, or Obosh are fine because their deck building restrictions are actually pretty significant. I'd like Wizards to legitimately take a look at the mechanic again, but using more narrow and restrictive companion clauses to really make people have to think about their decks and to incentivize decks that aren't as common. On the custom mtg subreddit I saw a cycle of companions that all restrict you to only using basic lands of that color, which not only means being significantly harder to splash other colors, but even utility lands aren't an option. Something like that could make the mechanic really interesting while making sure decks don't just slap a companion into their sideboard because they could already fulfill its restriction.

[@lostalone9320]

Nah, it's just too risky. Companion is a mechanic that you either get PERFECT, or you end up banning it again. The key issue is that the companion themselves has to be worth the effort, but if they ARE actually good cards you always get to have them in hand when you want them. Even if the restrictions are more restrictive, as long as the companion is a card you want to play anyway, you will always get to play it. That's a huge problem; if the cards are good enough to use at all they will be used constantly because you can demonic tutor for them. I can totally see a cool Highlander type format where everyone has to use a Companion. That would be fun and cool, and the variation in power and restriction would be much more interesting. But not injected into random formats and just hoping that it won't be instantly miserable. And seriously, it WAS miserable.

[@Seergun]

Zirda is one of the banned ones actually.

[@evinmackie5764]

Couldn’t you use fade into antiquity to exile urza’s saga?

[@CreepyPastaSalad]

Yes.

[@markusrows1096]

Isn't Urzas Saga an Enchantment too? So a sideboard with an enchantment removal should be fine to deal with it.

[@wEakling1918]

Even then not every color can remove enchantments well

[@markusrows1096]

W, G, are well covered. Black has feed the swarm. So only If you Play U/R w/o any of the afore-mentioned colors you might run into trouble.

[@dillpickkle]

Although some formats lack good land destruction since Urza's Saga is also an enchantment wouldn't you just run enchantment removal? Especially when there are modal enchantment removal spells like Light of Hope, Feed the Swarm, Broken Wings, and even blue has things like Stern Dismissal to bounce Urza's Saga back to hand.

[@Hanmacx]

The problem there is that not all colors can remove enchantment

[@DotHacker99]

Honestly Urza's Saga isn't broken. It's definitely strong but it's not warping the format or games it's in.

[@DEVILONBOTHSHOULDERS]

saga is way too good in too many decks to get banned (basically it *increases* deck diversity) should be replaced with up the beanstalk IMO

[@brianmusgrave9451]

Get rid of beast within and rapid hydratization then get rid of unholy heat

[@EvolutionSTUD10S]

This aged well.

[@gerharddamm5933]

As a master duel player I can’t believe there’s a card that lets you play cards you own that aren’t in the current game…

[@WrennNsix]

Lmao right. After all the shit I’ve seen and played against in MD, that card made me jump from the seat xd

[@poemanx7297]

So, in the context of Karn, and most other "outside the game" effects, they typically mean cards that are in your side deck. They don't allow you to just, say, grab a card out of your trade binder, as the wording might suggest

[@djsedam123]

@@poemanx7297 it used to mean "Any card in your collection or exiled" so long as it met the requirements. People dragged several binders around with them to have spellbooks of cards for wishing until they errata'd it to mean "From your sideboard"

[@Xoulrath_]

​@@poemanx7297that's not technically true. In TOURNAMENTS, the ruling is that "cards outside of the game" are considered to be a part of your 15 card Sideboard. In ANY other type of play, that card CAN be ANY from your COLLECTION, including that trade binder that you mention lol.

[@wanimations7488]

Can you do top cards banned in every format by how good they would be if they weren’t banned in every format

[@link4585]

considering some of those cards are literally "play a separate game of Magic" yea no some of those cards will NEVER be unbanned

[@AFailedTuringTest]

Urza's saga is also an enchantment, cards like March of Otherworldy Light can exile it permanently for as little as one white mana. Disenchant also works.

[@laziepeon1209]

Not sure if you are trying to defend the insanely broken card that is Urza's Saga... But one of the issues is that this is a colorless card finding it's way into all types of decks because it creates "free" threats that can win you the game while also tutoring cards your deck is either built around (The Rack / Colossus Hammer) or 1 of utility cards like Pithing Needle.

[@Xoulrath_]

​@@laziepeon1209I've NEVER lost becuase of Saga. It's pathetically easy to deal with. So many cards simply exile target permanent from the game now that you don't even need to have enchantment removal. I'm not at all denying how insanely powerful it is. I've got a playset and I've seen it win games by itself. But it isn't broken. Broken cards make it such that the format HAS to warp around them or you lose. IF there weren't so many ways to deal with Urza's, then MAYBE that argument could be made about it. But the reality is that they did a pretty good job of keeping the card from simply being able to be thrown into a deck and generating value. It does have to be built around to truly see the power that it offers.

[@johnhayes7590]

I remember when flame slash was scary

[@peterbruno657]

If my opponent is playing a companion I should get to look at their deck prior to the game. Not that I suspect people are cheating the requirements (I play arena where it isn't possible) but to add an additional downside to playing one. The way it is worded it would make sense that somebody playing one would have to reveal their deck. I play Jengatha in my boros convoke deck bc it is a free roll. If I had to reveal my deck I'd take it out. I almost never pay the 3 to get it and I don't think I've ever cast it.

[@Rodrigo-ly3pg]

So glad to see you are making magic content now

[@ihellspawn]

If they ban Fury The One Ring can stay since DnT, Humans, aggro decks and even possibly Spirits will keep it in check for sure. Also Brazen Borrower will be back in the format. The community always seem to target cards with high price tags. First was Monkey and then Solitude when MH2 came out. The One Ring should not see the hammer since in November some new LoTR product is set to be release and that is one of the chase cards. Honestly for me the issue in the Format is Fury, the rest of the decks are well balanced. I really didnt get why the mention of murktide. Murktide decks in modern have a high chance of wiffing due to the low land count. You do not know how many mulls to 5 I have needed to take just to get scam to 3 cards. When the deck works like a charm it does, but it is not always the case.

[@Xoulrath_]

I'd honestly love to see Wizards actually update their ancient rules. We need a complete overhaul. The game has changed so much since the last major revision, which I belive was 6th Edition. There have been tweaks here and there, but nothing major. With Legendary cards becoming more and more a focus thanks to Commander, and them being pushed because of it, we really need to see Legendary cards actually be Legendary and limited to one per deck per named card. That change fixes The One Ring, W6, Ragavan, Sheoldred, and so much more. With regards to cards like Fury, I do believe that it's oppressive. That said, I'd rather see it restricted to one per deck. I've mentioned multiple times across multiple discussion since 2019 when I got back into the game that I'd love for Modern to have an actual Restricted List instead of a Banned List. It would largely remove problem cards, while allowing players to use the cards that they like. There are a number of other rules changes that I'd love to see as well. In addition, there are a ton of rules issues that create unnecessary problems for the game as a whole that I'd like to see addressed, but that's far too long a discussion to be had here lol.

[@ihellspawn]

@@Xoulrath_ Yeah , I am a believer of limiting cards just like Vintage. It would be great for both players and the game.

[@Chxmx69]

I really wish they wouldn’t just ban anything at all and everyone would quit stop being a fucking baby and just play the game

[@kentharris1820]

you should have what format in the title I assume its modern but who knows Edit: Now it seems like your talking about every format but I come from a commander format so i was a bit confused on power lvl on some cards

[@stevenashley27]

The Ring is seeing a ton of play in Omnath decks in modern, which have been putting up the best results with The Ring. If it gets banned, that would be the deck to get it banned

[@diabeticmonkey]

Certainly wouldn’t be the first time it got something banned.

[@arsenalfanrichi]

Apart from the omission of Nykthos I think it's a great list! Really nice explanations too, Evoke elementals have been a barrier to me bothering playing Modern, sadly. All the amazing low mana creatures available in modern, just for them all to be turned off by Fury, Grief and Solitude

[@baileylaviolette543]

As a Sheoldred enjoyer myself, Sheoldred needs a ban

[@AwakenedAvocado]

It was from the start

[@denisskenderovic3707]

"Run removal" does sound cliché at this point- but it actually is the only right answer. She doesn't deserve a ban at all, imo.

[@fwmlp]

I am also a Sheoldred enjoyer and I would love seeing she banned just to not have to hold a removal myself when seeing black mana on turn 1

[@AwakenedAvocado]

@@denisskenderovic3707 did you just assume Sheoldreds gender?

[@Dodgerific]

Honestly, same lol

[@melvinshine9841]

It will be interesting to come back in a year or so and see how many cards on this list got sent upstate. I don't play Magic, but Karn just seems like a potentially obnoxious floodgate.

[@Xoulrath_]

It's only a matter of time.

[@travismurtland3257]

I have a deck where Sheoldred is a fairly early blocker (mid-long range) that eventually goes infinite if I untap with a specific card in play

[@shinkirou7095]

Video idea, maybe you could cover the cards that are banned in all formats because of controversial/offensive artwork, names, etc? You could explain what exactly the issue is with the card, and maybe delve on if the cards would be any good even if they were unbanned

[@EmeraldCrowley]

Seconded, most of the cards are pretty obvious why they're banned but there are some where I would love to know if there's a more specific story (Crusade being the big one for me)

[@chicco5033]

​@@EmeraldCrowleydefinetely because religion. If I recall correctly there's another card called "Jihad" on the banlist for the same reason. Both terms mean "holy war".

[@EmeraldCrowley]

@chicco5033 Ahhhh that makes sense

[@fernandobanda5734]

Wizards themselves have not clarified the issue with each card, so anything except the obvious would just be speculation.

[@malakimphoros2164]

​@@chicco5033Cathars Crusade is not banned, it even has the name of an IRL religion in it. It's the effect that caused it to be banned. It must be something about white supremacy. Tivadar's Crusade being basically a goblin ethnic cleansing is fine tho.

[@DerekScottBland]

Minor nitpick, when you mention "making as much mana as possible with bounce lands," bounce lands don't make extra mana since you have to return a land to your hand to play one. So turn 1, basic land, turn 2 bounce land, turn 3 basic land you have 3 mana available just as if you played a basic land 3 turns in a row. The use of bounce lands is to have access to more colors of mana, not more mana. Violent Outburst should get the banhammer because it hinders card design. Any card designed has to be viewed through a lens of "can it be abused by Violent Outburst," which used to be one of the key reasons to ban a card.

[@jshtng78]

Some players do definitely appreciate having 1 specific card be always available and playable even in a 60 card 1v1 format just because of the character on that card. If Companion isn't the way to do that, is there another way it could be done that is balanced?

[@malakimphoros2164]

Play Brawl

[@Xoulrath_]

​@@malakimphoros2164so you don't have an actual solution? Just say that then.

[@malakimphoros2164]

@@Xoulrath_ The solution is to play Brawl.

[@Xoulrath_]

@@malakimphoros2164 that isn't a solution. You're either obtuse or trolling. Brawl is Commander Lite and an entirely different playstyle than pretty much EVERY other 60 card format.

[@ericlizama8552]

I enjoyed the video! Two things I will mention; first, the card shown for Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor was the emblem he created, not the backside of Valki. Second, Rakdos (black-red) Midrange is no longer a meta deck in Standard, tho Esper Midrange and Esper Legends are.

[@zoo7154]

oops i wrote this whole comment saying why rakdos is still the best modern deck then noticed u said standard lmao

[@questionyourself718]

Golgari Midrange, Esper Legends, Esper Control, Dimir Fairies, Dimir Control, Mono Black Aggro, Mono Black Midrange, Orzhov Midrange are ALL Meta and use between 2-4 copies of her, depending on the deck. Sheoldred needs to be banned.

[@ceronmachtdinge]

Considering Pauper: I expect Writhing Chrysialis to be banned from pauper play as well. That card is just too strong in this format and is so frustrating to play against. Toughness 4 so it is bolt safe Colorless so it cant even be protected, prismed or COP:Red against generates value even if it is countered, and has reach. Fairies approve. Ramps and saves against edicts. gets huge regularily. Basically is a sideboard card against any deck which has no infinite combo.

[@VeGiTo3Po2]

I was expecting fable of the mirror breaker to be on this list. It's a very powerfull card in modern, and sees play in a variaty of decks, from rakdos scam to 5c creativity. This goes to show how powerfull it is eventho its a 3 mana spell in modern. The problem comes in pioneer, where a 3 mana spell ain't really that expensive, as with urza saga, there's no good way to answer fable, and you have to deal with it, or it will run away with the game. This is a problem for midrange decks in pioneer, where in te match up usually wins the deck who manage to play more fable of the mirror breakers, and unless its counter there is no reason not to stick a fable in place.

[@alpha34098]

Fable is banned in Standard by the time of the Video. This is about cards that get the posibility of being banned (in any format) but are not banned currently

[@Kei-ye8if]

I play a deck with Sheoldred, and lemme tell u, she's an amazing creature to have in Black right now, but she's not close to being as broken as she seems This Standard has removal seeping out the ears. Anytime I play Sheoldred it's pretty much a cointoss whether or not she gets removed once I pass turn. At that point all I got was a 2 life burn for 4 mana. And even if she does survive, unless I drew the perfect hand and have my draw engine out before turn 4, or my opponent did, all she's doing is giving me a 4 life swing every turn (cuz at that point, boards are usually developed, so you're not risking attacking with her), which is pretty fair for a Legendary 4 drop. The ideal scenario in which Sheoldred is the deciding factor of the game is when me and my opponent both have our draw engines out for the lategame topdeck war, and they don't draw into their removal. This happens like 10% of my games.

[@johngalbicsek5567]

Replace experimental synthesizer with Orcish Bowmaster and Im with you. Surprised you didn't meant Sheoldred's synergy with the one ring, as the life gain from draw practically wipes out the downside. Speaking of the one ring, it's pretty funny to me that the legend rule actually helps it, as casting a new copy is one of the best ways to reset your burden counters if youre having trouble keeping up. But yeah, between Sheoldred, 1Ring, and Bowmasters, it feels like everyone in MTGA is pretty much running either Black or a combo with black (including me, rocking white in it for boardwipes like white suns twilight and some seal aways as its one of the best things I found to get rid of Opps 1Rings) and whoever gets their 1Ring first ends up running away it most the time. One honorable mention for a card thats still kind of low key but I think will start to get more outspoken hate in the future is Palantir of Orthanc. At first I thought it was only good for decks with big mana stuff in them, but now I find myself putting it in everything and being glad I did. With that said, not sure I'd put more than one or two in a deck as with the legends rule its not a card you want 2 of in your hand as its rarely removed and thus one will be a "dead card". And Ill die alone on my hill knowing few others agree but paradox engine needs to go. Not for balance issues, but fun factor. The card may as well say "Your turn last 20 mins, and your opponent will probably scoop even if playing half to all your deck doesn't win outright"

[@AwakenedAvocado]

Palantir is great .I put it in mono red dragons and have had success knocking 10 + life on the second activation its nuts. You have to learn to use it and eapecially the reason it can hit big is because the opponent doesn't understand the mechanics of the card.

[@brainpower45]

Don't get me wrong, I don't like Urza's Saga as a card, but the argument that it can't be interacted with is disingenuous. There are TONS of 1 and even 0 mana interactive spells which can deal with it, from Haywire Mite, to Force of Vigor, to March of Otherworldly Light, to Boseiju, Who Endures as a completely uncounterable way to deal with it. Not to mention Bloodmoon/Spreading Seas. I personally believe that Urza's Saga is a major problem as a card, but there ARE ways to answer it. The issue is that those ways are too format warping for a healthy meta.

[@bramd4423]

Not to mention it's an enchantment on top of it being a land, meaning enchantment removal works too. White has plenty of that, not least being cards like Light of Hope, a one White mana instant from Ikoria where you can choose to gain life, put a counter on a creature, or destroy an enchantment.

[@brainpower45]

@bramd4423 Right, that was my point. You can play your regular main-deckable removal for enchantments and just incidentally get to stone rain your opponent.

[@brandonbrooks779]

Haywire mite getd played in thr same decks as Urza's saga ironically

[@kristianfagerstrom7011]

I would actually be OK with the one ring if it was a max 1, or if playing the second copy didn't allow you to dodge the damage from the counters. It's the fact that the only thing that kills the one ring is the second one ring, that makes you immune for a second turn that is so frustrating.

[@KristopherSims]

How is grief not on the list but fury is?

[@joshuagriffith9191]

Because a turn one 8/4 that kills your turn one creature is more powerful?

[@cwu1]

Do agree with the One Ring and Murktide Regent, want to add ban Nadu, Winged Wisdom from all formats. If anyone still remember Oko, Thief of Crowns? That's what Nadu feels like to be on the other side of. They ended up banning that real quick, I have a hunch that both were untested printings.

[@coledavidson5630]

Why is it that on Arena all LOTR cards are banned in standard?

[@seifyk]

Urzas Saga is an Enchantment. Big part of the reason new Boseiju is so good

[@THESUP3RULTRA]

Great vid

[@hetarthpatel8297]

3:33 The prof. Used this combo with the 6th Doctor instead in his latest Doctor Who Shuffle up and Play episode literally a few hours after this video was posted. BROKEN🤣🤣🤣

[@Icious82]

Grief is more likely to be banned than Fury. The play patterns are awful.

[@blueredlover1060]

Both probably should be, as it is.

[@DotHacker99]

I disagree, while grief sucks to play against just like Thoughtseize, it doesn't warp the entire format like Fury or W&6

[@blueredlover1060]

@@DotHacker99 Grief is Thoughtseize with Rebound, without the life loss, on a 4/3 Menace body for the low low cost of 1 mana and 2 cards. That shouldn't be a thing.

[@DotHacker99]

Grief by itself is strong but but an entire deck giving it a bunch of undying triggers is problematic. Fury is more problematic since it eradicated an entire arctype from the format

[@blueredlover1060]

@@DotHacker99 All the Evoke Elementals are design mistakes and should probably be banned.

[@sawyermifsud852]

One Ring and Reckoner Bankbuster (in standard( have shown that WOTC didn't learn its lesson from Smuggler's Copter. Strong, colorless, and repeatable card draw breaks format diversity.

[@dark_rit]

Companions getting banned in vintage is because restricting them does nothing at all as they can still be ran in the companion slot since you don't have to draw them as you have them every game. If you had to draw into lurrus and such it would be a restriction target at most and is worse than a lot of other restricted cards.

[@ebbandfloatzel]

More or less I think the only card here I agree with is Fury. The evoke elemental cycle are all game warping in comparison to everything else on this list. They were by far the biggest mistake of Modern Horizons 2. Delver was an overtuned fair deck that gets broken by unfair card draw in the format. But the Evoke cycle prop up toxic play patterns, many times in unfair ways. Ah yes, getting double Thoughtsiezed stripping away answers and they simply get a beater on board too? Sounds cool. Oh, you cleared my board and are left with an actual damage threat too? Haha.. Yeah... _EXILED_ my creatures and you have a life linking stabilizer!? Heck even endurance is an overstatted menace that becomes gate keeper against graveyard decks... Subtlety is basically the only fair one. You also heavily up-talked how scary Urza's Saga is, when it has "Enchantment" tagged on for Force of Vigor and a ton of other cards so they gain the text "Strip Mine the Urza's Saga Player and Laugh."

[@nlb137]

Can't enchantment destruction take out the saga as well?

[@oriorb]

This is technically true, but currently the best enchantment removal in most formats is Haywire Mite... solely because it's tutorable by Urza's Saga. It's the same problem as Bowmasters, the best answer is itself. The only other removal spell that really even competes is Force of Vigor, which is unplayable because it can't answer The One Ring. See the problem?

[@alicepbg2042]

If the one ring ever gets banned, they need to include a clause that the "true" one ring is not banned. One person has it, and they can choose to use it. I think it was post malone that bought it, but i never really checked.

[@ryankerr3625]

Demolition Field against Urzas Saga?

[@diabeticmonkey]

The One Ring needed to go immediately. I understand their push for it, but good lord. Sheoldred doesn’t even seem as bad, seeing as you can’t slot her into literally any deck like the ring. Violent Outburst doesn’t need to be hit. I feel like Footfalls has a good place in modern.

[@thefreshproduce]

incorrect as fuck - Sheoldred is in more competitive decks no one gives a shit about the one ring ruining your casual friday night games

[@Atmapalazzo]

"Because it's always Emrakul" lol

[@dathoodieguy7121]

You need to specify what format you speak on for each card. Because this was just confusing

[@dave-kt7sj]

The problem with pitch spells is that to make them reasonably fair, you need to keep the card advantage higher than 1. Grief is a 2 for 1 using the evoke cost, and a 3 for 2 using scam. Still fair on card advantage. Fury is often a 2 for 2 using the evoke cost and can be a 2 for 4 or 3 for 8 using scam. Pyrokinesis also has the first problem, but it's basically a strictly worse version of fury, and it doesn't hit planeswalkers.

[@malakimphoros2164]

How is getting 2 Thoughtseizes and a creature on the board for 1 mana fair?

[@dave-kt7sj]

@@malakimphoros2164 It costs 3 cards from your hand, which means that it's fair in terms of cards. You lose 3 cards, they lose 2 cards. Maybe since you keep the creature it's actually 2 for 2, which isn't nearly as fair, but keep in mind that you need 2 specific cards + any black card, so like all combos, it's down to luck. Fury is a flat 2 for 2 usually *without* the combo, and can clear up to 4 1/1s, which is why it's such a problem overall. That's one of the reasons that Bowmasters, rhinos and Fable are so powerful. They are 1 card each, but you get 2 creatures out of them, which makes any removal much more difficult.

[@Xoulrath_]

​@@dave-kt7sjit's not "fair" at all, and your card math is bad. It WOULD be fair, if not for cards like Ephemerate and Feign Death. The issue is who gives a fuck that you're giving up one card to pay the "cost," when you then get to have COMPLETE knowledge of your opponent's hand, strip them of a card, bounce the Evokemental, get ANOTHER card, and then get a 3/2 or 4/3 body with MENACE on board? Not the person playing them, that's for sure. And the person getting hit with it doesn't care that you used all of THREE cards because you did so while getting FULL knowledge of their hand, ripping TWO cards from said hand, and then have ONE of those cards left on board, aka CARD ADVANTAGE. With Ephemerate, the card disadvantage that SHOULDNhappen is even further removed if you take advantage of Rebound. This argument of Grief being a 2 for 1 in your opponent's favor was used two years ago when MH2 released. It's only true in a vacuum. In a vacuum, all of the Evokementals are fine. The ISSUE is that the game isn't, nor has it ever, been played in a vacuum. That's why cards get broken to begin with. Things that even the best designers and playtesters couldn't have hoped to see in thousands of games, players will find with millions of games. But when you ignore the obvious, like Evoke on bodies that are far more powerful than Mulldrifter, and cards like Ephemerate and Feign Death, then yeah, its easy to understand why one would believe that the Evokementals create card disadvantage when playing them.

[@dave-kt7sj]

@@Xoulrath_ ok so the undying mechanic with grief is 3 cards, and at worst makes you spend 3 cards (2 discard, 1 removal). That's not card advantage. That's a hymn, thoughtsieze, dark ritual, but easier to find. With ephemerate, sure that's card advantage. Getting hand information is very good though. Keep in mind you need 2 a+b card combos, with maybe 4 of a card and 8 of b card. There's plenty of instant win combos with 2 or 3 cards (plus mana) so I don't necessarily think it is as terrible as fury.

[@Theycallmetomu]

UMM ACKTUALLY- Yeah, Kaya's emblem-in addition to being hard to pull off-only works on Legendary cards. Though I guess that means it would work on Karn...

[@InquisitorSinCross]

Why brother pulling out Karn with Kaya's emblem when you can infinitely loop Karn's Temporal Sundering for unlimited turns? Also, it's not THAT hard, but requires more cards to be present on your side of the board to get the emblem in one turn (any Doubling Season effect)

[@Theycallmetomu]

@@InquisitorSinCross Because I'm playing Historic Brawl, and Karn's Temporal Sundering isn't in Kaya's colors (nor is Doubling Season) but yes, that's a pretty interesting wincon in an Atraxa deck.

[@InquisitorSinCross]

@@Theycallmetomu I'm running this combo in my Atraxa Superfriends EDH deck. Haven't succsessfuly pulled it out yet :)

[@Theycallmetomu]

@@InquisitorSinCross Cleave 0 In my experience, extra turn spells are very good [in superfriends decks.]

[@Theycallmetomu]

(I tend to prefer something like the graveyard recursion Tamiyo + Displacer Kitten + Time Warp because it only requires blue/green to pull off and is a bit more universally usable, but Time Warp is a pretty pricey card. Though I don't really play IRL games anymore, so maybe I should sell my copy somehow)

[@jackdeth2004]

It's probably because the shop I play at only has Commander on Fridays, but I never see anyone playing a deck with a companion, so I'm not sure who these people are that are complaining about them.

[@milesrinesmith141]

The problem with The One Ring is in the text box they didn't say a deck can only have one in it. In The Lord of the Rings there was one ONE one ring.

[@U1TR4F0RCE]

Just errata it for only allowing one the one ring

[@zenmaster8826]

Ugh.. why do I keep seeing this comment from people? Do you not know what a legendary is? Do you really think there are 4 wrenn and sixes or 4 karns running around flavorwise? It’s the same

[@stschnorr4306]

No. They should make it a leyline so that every player gets to slap it on the board turn 0 every game.

[@anannoyedpanda]

​@@zenmaster8826Ban the card.

[@GeoQuag]

@@zenmaster8826 unrelated to flavor, if they had added a clause like “you can’t cast this card if you already control a different copy of it” would work for flavor reasons AND resolve the worst fact about the ring that the best way to avoid the beginning of turn burn is by playing another one.

[@ClockworkEngineer]

Agatha's Cauldron. Cheap infinite combos shouldn't exist in Standard. They're gonna do the typical Wizards thing and ban cards around it instead of the actual problem.

[@thewinkersshow575]

Urza's saga might be one of the healthiest cards in modern right now. Allows artifact decks to exist and enables decks that are based on cheap artifacts (i,e, food, the rack, hammertime, lantern, etc.). The toolbox aspect and construct aspect both encourage interesting gameplay and deckbuilding. There is also a lot of interesting counterplay (haywire mite, dress down, blood moon, etc.).

[@Xoulrath_]

Agreed. Anyone that still thinks that Urza's Saga needs to be banned hasn't actually built a deck that uses it. To truly maximize the power of the card, it absolutely HAS to be BUILT around. Yes, it is powerful, and it CAN win games on its own. But that can be said about a lot of cards. We can't just ban them all. Saga is definitely a plus for Modern, and definitely promotes deck diversity for those that want to explore rather than jaut copy/paste the latest meta net deck.

[@Audentior_Ito]

I'll admit to not playing modern, but other than their cards - Karn is assuredly the worst! A four mana "answer everything" button is just wayyyy too good. Not to mention, unlike Sheoldred, there's basically no counterplay unless ya' (literally) counter him while he's being played. Plus, being colorless & fetching mostly colorless wishes, the deckbuilding cost is shockingly low.

[@joshuagriffith9191]

Modern is a super fun format, with a big of a high barrier to entry. It is much cheaper than it use to be with most meta deck sitting between $800 and $1000 where the it use to be $1200-$1400ish dollars.

[@Tooldruid]

Unholy Heat? Not a chance…it’s far from broken. Requires other conditions to be met and isn’t nearly as versatile as lightning bolt as it can’t go dome. Most of the other picks are debatable. Grief/Fury in Modern would be the most obvious and Karn/Sheoldred in Pioneer. The others are highly unlikely imo.

[@GameUnCrafter]

The problem with Sheoldred in standard is that if your deck has any black mana at all, you should be playing 3 or 4 copies. Period. And it loses any sense of fun after... 3 years (?) Before rotation.

[@Xoulrath_]

Which is why Legendary cards should be limited to one per deck. It's actually fucking ridiculous that they haven't addressed this already, as they continue to push these cards to absurd levels. But, oh right, money.

[@andreaghiretti8189]

Rakdos hasn't been the main standard treath in months. It's been replaced by various esper and 4 color decks.

[@xXSamir44Xx]

He said Lord of the Rings was the most recent set when he wrote the video. Clearly this wss written a while ago.

[@marcinduda87]

Looool what are you smoking and who sells you that I want to know because you put urza saga first and you don't even see any decks in top 8 with urza saga... Btw you can kill saga because it's enchantment..... I'm serious man you don't know anything about any format... But gratz vid is nicely edited

[@laneorlaine]

If murktide gets banned imma cry. I was surprised you didn’t touch on any of the efficient white removal like solitude, pending and binding but I guess exiling shit for cheap is what white does

[@WCMRFILY]

Cool video for the most part, but Saga is not as big of a bogeyman as you make it out to be. You kind of just ignored half of the type line and forgot to mention that it's an Enchantment as well as a land. It gets heavily punished by Force of Vigor, Wear and Tear, March of Otherworldly Light, etc etc, which all become above rate land destruction spells when targetting an Urza's Saga. Urza's Saga doesn't even make it to the top 50 most played cards in modern and you placed it at the top of your list, while The One Ring is the 7th most played card in the format (seeing play in nearly a third of all decks as of today) and you placed it 10th.

[@chaosky9]

So it doesn’t mention the formats, saga is likely to get restricted in vintage before anything else. Also saga is a top 5 card in modern. Saga decks wouldn’t exist without saga. It’s probably as important as the ring is the format

[@ted8162]

@@chaosky9saga is a good card, but calling it a top 5 modern card is just not true

[@briar9395]

The interaction between Cascade and Suspend spells bothers me a bit. It always seems to me like a card that doesn't have a casting card at all shouldn't be able to be hit by Cascade, because that's obviously not the same as a card having a casting cost of 0. But I guess it's just been ruled otherwise?

[@Xoulrath_]

Bad game design. I've been complaining about the lack of any real rules updates for a while now. The game rules need a complete overhauling with how much has changed over the years. Things like you mention could be easily fixed by but a few lines of text. A great example of the inconsistency within the rules would be to look at two examples using Cascade. A Suspend card like Mox Tantalite for example, has a "zero" mana cost, but I can't go and get it with Urza's Saga because the "0" is printed next to the Suspend cost, and not on the top left corner. So even though it's cost is "zero," I can't grab it with Urza's. I can of course Cascade into it all day long, but it's useless to me then. There are also those cards that would have you Suspend them for so many turns, and have an effect that is incredible, all for a low mana cost based on what the effect does. The true "cost" of those cards is SUPPOSED to be in time. Yet Cascade just says, "Nope, no need to wait! Have all of the power right now for the same mana or less!" They had to make a change to Cascade when Valki released because of how the rule worked then. It's painfully obvious that the ruleset hasn't kept up with the changes of the game.

[@HughLeFitness]

Agree with all except unholy heat. Yes 6 damage is a lot but there is a delirium requirement and also there are already better removal in the format like prismatic ending and fatal push so having an almost hard removal for red isn't too bad.

[@milesrinesmith141]

Delirium is not hard to get to.

[@fernandobanda5734]

Red not being able to remove high toughness creatures is something key to the color. It can have efficient answers to small creatures (Lightning Bolt) but it shouldn't have efficient answers to 6-toughness creatures.

[@JakeTheJay]

Urza's Saga is pretty busted, but can't you use enchantment removal on it since it's an enchantment? I think it's a little easier to interact with than the video made it out to be, but just because a card has answers doesn't mean it's fair. Card should probably go anyways

[@coledavidson5630]

Sheoldred in standard has never felt oppressive to me tbh. Not all that hard to deal with imo

[@jasonferris4589]

Synthesizer is definitely powerful in pauper, but not ban worthy imo. Lotus petal and Monastery swiftspear, however, should get banned in pauper.

[@ThymeTwister]

Mastermind's Acquisition can fetch any card from exile or your sideboard

[@robertmatheis3239]

Honestly I never understood the fact that in later chapters of urzas saga you can still use earlier chapters it makes a little sense if like urborg or yavimya or what ever are out but the fact you can be like going to chapter three of urzas and be like i tap it for mana when no other saga does this😊

[@ted8162]

It’s because it says “it gains this ability”

[@robertmatheis3239]

@@ted8162 sorry just reread the card and was confused by what you ment. It says "gains" now it makes sense ty

[@alpha34098]

Mana Logs puts a video of cards that should be banned, considering Nerfed Versions from Alchemy/Historic and having the One Ring in 10th place. Just days later, The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters receive a Alchemy Nerf

[@Shoyro]

Green is becoming a plague in Commander. People say Blue is the strongest (it's now the weakest), but green is playing almost anything you can think of, from STAX to Token Aristocrats. Add in Green's ramp gimmick and this is definitely setting up so many problems. Many won't believe me, but i ask those players who play Commander this: Does your LGS have someone that is very strong and is NOT using Green in some way?

[@malakimphoros2164]

I'll bite. lololol Tymna Kraum, Tyvit

[@TooSirTeen]

You guys know that you can target Urza's saga with enchantment removal as well? Which every Deck runs at least in sb. Besides that I really don't see any reason why Urza's Saga is on this list. The only two cards on this list, I would consider as banworthy are Karn and Ring. Maybe. But most likely not.

[@Xoulrath_]

So much removal just targets permanents now that you might already have a maindeck answer.

[@danielgraves13]

"only 2 other cards can retrieve cards from exile" you forgot Kaya the Inexorable

[@elmaestroalberto1786]

The one ring is fine. It hits the board until turn 4. If it hits faster, you need to ramp into it which means you are building your deck around it and that’s already restrictive. The problem is that modern right now is slow. It’s not a turn 4 meta anymore. If that was the case, the ring would be useless. Murktide regent can be dealt with by using graveyard hate.

[@Xoulrath_]

Yeah, when I heard Murktide on the list, I loled.

[@DarkSaiyan104]

Next video: Top 10 Cards with “You Lose the Game” in Their Text.

[@AFailedTuringTest]

Um... actully. Mirror of Fate can grab up to 7 face up exiled cards into your library. Now it's usully not used for that, but it can.

[@ozmcsween]

Where is leyline binding

[@bragbarella1123]

No bowmaster ban?

[@Conradd23]

Urza's saga is definitely not the biggest problem in modern right now...