Magic: The Gathering ban list August 2024

Mar. 13, 2024

Here’s the latest list of MTG cards banned in each format

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If you’re hoping to go head to head with fellow Magic: The Gathering players at a local tournament or event, you’ll probably put a lot of effort into making your deck more powerful. But what if I told you your deck could be too powerful to play? Bad news: if it contains any cards from the MTG ban list, you’ll have to go back to the drawing board.Magic: The Gathering has an active community and a scene that is constantly evolving and changing. This is part of why it’s one of thebest card games. As part of this, if certain cards are majorly disrupting the balance of the game or producing an over reliance on a singular metagame. they can be banned in sanctioned play.

They may still be fair game in casual games with friends, but don’t expect to show up to your local game store with a deck full of banned cards and get away with it.

There are particular cards which are banned across all forms of sanctioned play due to theirracially or culturally offensive contentbut outside of these exceptions, the cards that wind up being subjected to a ban or restriction differ from format to format. Here are the full ban lists for each Magic: The Gathering format.

As a format that solely encompasses the previous three years of MTG’s catalogue, Standard has a relatively short list of banned cards. This list includes:

Vintage allows for almost all printed cards from Magic: The Gathering’s thirty-plus year history, with the following exceptions:

All cards that use the sticker or Attraction mechanic

AerialephantAmbassador BlorpityblorpboopBaaallerina_____ Balls of FireBioluminary_____ Bird Gets the WormCarnival CarnivoreChicken TroupeClandestine ChameleonCommand PerformanceDone for the DayFight the _____ FightFinishing MoveGlitterflitter_____ GoblinLast Voyage of the _____LineprancersMake a _____ SplashMinotaur de Force_____-o-saurusPark BleaterPin CollectionPrize WallProficient PyrodancerRobo-Piñata_____ _____ RocketshipRoxi, Publicist to the StarsScampireStiltstriderSword-Swallowing SeraphTicketomaton_____ _____ _____ TrespasserTusk and WhiskersWicker PickerWizards of the _____Wolf in _____ Clothing

Coming AttractionComplaints ClerkDeadbeat AttendantDee Kay, Finder of the LostDiscourtesy ClerkDraconian Gate-BotLifetime" Pass HolderLine CutterMonitor MonitorMyra the MagnificentPetting ZookeeperQuick FixerRad RascalRide GuideSeasoned ButtoneerSoul SwindlerSpinnerette, ArachnobatSquirrel SquattersStep Right UpThe Most Dangerous Gamer

All cards that have the card type Conspiracy

All cards that reference “playing for ante”

Restricted cards are cards which you may only have one copy of in both your main deck and your sideboard. At it stands, Vintage is the only Magic: The Gathering format with a restricted list.The restricted card list for Vintage consists of:

Like Vintage, Legacy allows for players to use cards dating all the way back to 1993. However, it has significantly more card bans. The banned cards in Legacy are:

All cards that use the sticker or Attraction mechanic

All cards that have the card type Conspiracy

All cards that reference “playing for ante”

These cards are banned in sanctioned Commander games and can’t be used a player’s Commander or be present anywhere in their deck or sideboard:

All cards that have the card type Conspiracy

All cards that reference “playing for ante”

As each block uses different sets, each block in the Block MTG format has its own list of banned cards. These are:

Innistrad-Avacyn Restored

Mirrodin

Masques

Urza

Tempest

Mirage

Ice Age

The list of legal cards in Pauper includes cards that are of Common rarity. What it doesn’t include are these banned cards:

All cards that use the sticker or Attraction mechanic

This non-rotating format is only playable on MTG Arena, and has the following cards on its ban list:

Timeless is the digital-only equivalent to Vintage. As such, it has a relatively short ban list.

This twist on Commander only allows for Standard legal cards. As well as this, the following cards are banned in Brawl:

This MTG Arena exclusive format, like Pioneer, permits cards from as far back as Return to Ravnica. These are the cards on the Explorer ban list:

There are currently no cards specifically banned in the Alchemy format.

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Abigail is a Tabletop & Merch writer at Gamesradar+. She carries at least one Magic: The Gathering deck in her backpack at all times and always spends far too long writing her D&D character backstory. She’s a lover of all things cute, creepy, and creepy-cute.

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