Let’s Talk About The November 10th Magic: The Gathering Bans
Let’s be honest with each other: playing Standard for the last few months has been a difficult experience to say the least. Am I right?
You couldn’t sleeve up a new deck for your local game store night or booting up Arena without knowing you’d be playing against the Viven Cauldron deck at least three times.
Well, Wizards of the Coast finally heard our complaints and they’ve dropped the ban hammer we’ve all been waiting for.
This is a big one, so let’s break down what happened and what it means for your collection.
What Got Banned?
This was a sweeping update, hitting six different formats. But the centerpiece, of course, was Standard. WotC took out the entire top of the metagame by banning Vivi Orniter, Profit’s Eidetic Memory, and Screaming Nemesis.
Banning Vivi Ornitier was the obvious move. The Final Fantasy hero was the core of the Viven Cauldron problem. For only three mana, he created a devastating loop where you’d use his ability to make mana, cast more spells, make more mana, and ping your opponent to death.
WotC said they banned him because he was “more likely to create future balance problems”.
But they didn’t stop there. They also banned Proft’s Eidetic Memory. This was the gas for the deck, a one-card game plan that WotC rightly compared to the previously banned Up the Beanstalk. It was too much value for too little cost.
And in what I can only call a 4D chess move, they also banned Screaming Nemesis. They knew that Mono-Red, the only deck that could really compete with Cauldron, would just become the new bully.
This is fantastic! It’s a true format reset that opens the door for all kinds of new, creative decks.
This was a big update elsewhere, too. Legacy players, pour one out for Entomb and Nadu, Winged Wisdom.
In Pauper, the High Tide trial unban was declared a failure and it’s back in jail.
And in Brawl, a ton of fast mana like Chrome Mox and Mana Drain were banned to protect the format’s casual and fun feel.
The Losers
If you’re holding copies of Vivi Ornitier, you’ve seen the price crash from its $58 peak. Here’s my advice, don’t panic-sell it to bulk. Unlike a normal banned card, Vivi is a Final Fantasy collectible and a top-tier Commander. He will absolutely have a much higher price floor than other banned cards.
Cards like Proft’s Eidetic Memory and Nadu, Winged Wisdom are different stories. Proft’s has little value outside of Standard and is now bulk.
Nadu is now banned from Modern and Legacy, putting it in the Vintage-only club with some of the game’s most broken cards. Despite its popularity in Commander, its value is going to collapse.
The Winners
Now let’s look at some of the biggest winners to come out of this ban.
First, the biggest winner is Agatha’s Soul Cauldron. This was the other half of the Cauldron combo, and it dodged the ban.
As a Mythic from an older set, its price has exploded, jumping from a $25-$30 floor to over $65. Collector’s versions are even higher, with extended arts hitting $147. If you have these, you’re in a great spot.
Now, the new No. 1 deck is Dimir Midrange. This was the best deck that wasn’t banned, so it’s the new king. It’s already taking over the metagame.
Keep a very close eye on its key Mythic, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, which is already climbing from the $10-$12 range to over $18.
Here are some of my speculative picks. I’ve already spoken on this in a previous article, but I’m personally watching go-wide decks like Mono-White Tokens.
I think they are perfect for going against Dimir’s one-for-one removal. Cards like Regal Bunnicorn look like a fantastic pickup right now.
Also, in WotC’s own article, they pointed to a new all-in Mono-Red deck that plays Slickshot Show-Off.
This is the fresh start Standard needed. I’m personally excited to sleeve up something new. What are you building for your next Friday night Magic?
