While many MTG players knew about today’s ban announcement, few suspected that there would actually be changes across Magic’s various formats. With new decks emerging out of nowhere in recent weeks in both Modern and Standard, it seemed like there was already plenty for players to work with. Even outside of these formats, the situation seemed relatively balanced, so many expected no changes across the board.
Surprisingly, however, it seems Wizards of the Coast doesn’t share that opinion. Between bans and unbans, eight different MTG cards are affected by the May 18th announcement.
Bans in Modern
Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury is banned in Modern. Lotus Field is banned in Modern.
Of all the MTG formats impacted today, Modern’s changes are the most impactful. With two bans and two unbans hitting the format, the metagame is forced to shift right as the RCQ competitive season begins.
Having been a central pillar in several of the best Modern decks, Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury is the more relevant of the two bans. Combined with Arena of Glory, Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury could hit the battlefield as early as turn four, generating an 18-point life swing out of nowhere. Without persistent graveyard hate, Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury could continue to escape from the graveyard, giving decks like 
Energy, Domain Zoo, and Jeskai Blink a lot of staying power.
According to Wizards of the Coast, while Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury is intended to target Energy, the discussion doesn’t end there. They also noted that every other aggressive or midrange deck in the format either adopts Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury and Arena of Glory, or disappears entirely. To break up this combination and put a slowdown in front of Boros, Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury is leaving Modern.
With Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury out of the format, Wizards felt it necessary to also target something from Amulet Titan. Considering this deck was already under observation for logistical issues in tournaments, this isn’t incredibly surprising. Lotus Field is notoriously a central part of Amulet Titan’s loops with Aftermath Analyst, allowing Titan players to continuously sacrifice and reanimate all their lands after producing mana with them.
Given that, with Amulet of Vigor or Spelunking, this land effectively taps for three mana upon entering, it also significantly accelerates the pace at which Primeval Titan can be cast. To slow down Titan decks and remove the current version of the combo with Aftermath Analyst, Lotus Field is leaving Modern.
Unbans in Modern
Violent Outburst is unbanned in Modern. Umezawa’s Jitte is unbanned in Modern.
To be fair, the Modern bans alone would be enough to shake the metagame to its foundations, but Wizards decided to go further. Despite its recent return thanks to Lorwyn Eclipsed, Violent Outburst is being unbanned to give a boost to Living End. As Wizards notes, Violent Outburst was banned in a completely different Modern metagame, before Modern Horizons 3, but this unban still seems quite risky.
Thanks to Force of Negation, Violent Outburst will now allow Living End to cast protected copies of its central card, and then follow up with another sorcery-speed attempt on its own turn. It’s an extremely difficult sequence to get around and could easily lead the deck to take over the format. It’s worth noting that Crashing Footfalls also has a chance to return to Modern with this unban, potentially taking advantage of a metagame full of graveyard hate.
Finally, Umezawa’s Jitte is unbanned today, but it may not have a major impact on the metagame. In current Modern, the card seems exceptionally slow, even if Wizards still appears a bit hesitant about this unban. As they point out, the play patterns enabled by Umezawa’s Jitte are, to put it lightly, not fun.
Essentially, whoever connects first with this card will be able to pick off small creatures for the rest of the game, and this could become a problem. Despite this, even if decks capable of circumventing the equip cost, like Colossus Hammer, might get a boost, Umezawa’s Jitte still seems too slow for current Modern.
Bans in Legacy
Undercity Informer is banned in Legacy.
Similar to Amulet Titan in Modern, Oops, All Spells had been on Wizards of the Coast’s watchlist for some time. After the boost it received from Modern Horizons 3 in the form of new MDFCs, this deck had become frustratingly consistent at producing turn one kills in Legacy. Despite this, the deck’s imperfect win rate and its status as a Legacy staple had kept it in the format until today.
Now, in Wizards’ words, Oops, All Spells’s win rate and play rate have increased, and the deck is having a visibly negative effect on the metagame. For this reason, Wizards has decided to ban Undercity Informer from Legacy.
It should be noted that, while this hit is huge for Oops, All Spells’s consistency, it won’t completely kill the deck. Between Goblin Charbelcher and Balustrade Spy, Oops, All Spells is still more than capable of functioning, but it will be much worse than before. This was Wizards’ goal: to transform the deck into a more “opt-in” experience for its hardcore fans, rather than something capable of unhealthily influencing the metagame.
It’s worth noting that, while not yet intervening, Wizards also highlighted the new Urzatron decks in Legacy as potential power outliers. The deck is still too new, but, in their words, “if it maintains its win rate and its metagame share growth much longer, we will explore what options we have to keep Legacy healthy.”
Unbans in Pauper
Bonder’s Ornament is unbanned in Pauper.
While Pauper remains quite healthy, Bonder’s Ornament is being unbanned to support slow control decks. Thanks to new decks like MonoR Madness, Pauper has become significantly faster than it was at the time of Bonder’s Ornament’s ban, making this experiment seemingly quite safe. While it could support decks like Urzatron or potentially Turbo Fog, Wizards isn’t even sure this card will see play. Regardless of its impact on Pauper, Wizards will recheck the format on August 10th.
Bans in Pioneer
Cori-Steel Cutter is banned in Pioneer.
While Pioneer seems healthy on Magic Online, the same is not true on MTG Arena. There, Izzet decks remain an overall huge power outlier, prompting Wizards to intervene on the color combination.
Similar to Standard, there are many different Izzet decks in Pioneer, but among them, Cori-Steel Cutter appears to be the clear power outlier. Thanks to its ability to continuously produce threats, Cori-Steel Cutter invalidates strategies that try to interact with the limited number of creatures in 
Prowess.
Without this card, Wizards believes that Izzet decks will remain competitively viable, but at a more appropriate power level. Considering that Prowess had been considered a problem in Pioneer for quite some time, Cori-Steel Cutter has finally run out of its extra time.
Bans in Alchemy
Sewer-veillance Cam is banned in Alchemy.
Apparently, the Alchemy nerf of Vivi Ornitier was broken by Sewer-veillance Cam. Turning Vivi Ornitier into a tap ability may have reduced its efficiency with Agatha’s Soul Cauldron, but it still created a problem when Vivi Ornitier had access to untapping tools. Combined with Boomerang Basics, Sewer-veillance Cam could untap Vivi Ornitier multiple times in a turn, creating Storm-like combo sequences.
This led Vivi decks to become a clear power outlier in MTG Alchemy, and banning Sewer-veillance Cam seems to be the easiest way to solve the problem. Vivi Ornitier, in its rebalanced version, is quite popular in Brawl, which made the ban of Sewer-veillance Cam the best way to address the issue without affecting multiple formats.
The Rest
Although this is the end of the bans and unbans across the various MTG formats, Wizards still discussed their considerations for other formats. Standard is probably the most relevant, with Wizards clarifying that they are well aware of the Izzet vs. Badgermole Cub duality. Despite this, thanks to the current evolution that Standard seems to be undergoing, the decision not to make bans appears correct.
In addition to this, Wizards of the Coast also announced the launch of a new matchmaking system for Brawl. Unlike previous systems, players will now be matched exclusively based on the perceived power level of their Commanders. They also announced future plans for competitive Brawl, but details on the format will not be communicated for at least a few weeks.
Overall, these bans seem quite positive, with the unban of Violent Outburst being the only decision causing some concern. Fortunately, if any of these decisions prove to be a mistake, we won’t have to wait long for a course correction. After such an unexpectedly eventful ban announcement, the updated one on June 30th seems even more likely to be quiet. That said, as this announcement shows, predicting the future remains impossible.
