To Ban or Not to Ban: February 2020
by Micah Dewey
The Magic the Gathering World Championship recently finished, and there was a total of five different archetypes represented. This sixteen player tournament, and ultimately their final deck selections, has shown how top heavy the current standard meta-game is. I expect there to be a banned and restricted announcement coming shortly, now that Worlds has concluded.
I am going to look over the top three cards that could see a ban, and try to make arguments for and against banning them.
- Wilderness Reclamation
Argument for Banning: This card has been part of the standard meta-game since it was released in Ravnica Allegiance. It has also been a key card in decks such as: Simic Nexus, Turbo Fog, and more recently Temur Reclamation. It allows you to use your lands multiple times per turn order, and the only other card that really has a similar ability is Fires of Invention, which is #2 on this list. They go together in this decision and I believe they will either both will get the hammer, or neither will. Very strong card against any deck not running Blue for Counter Magic.
Argument Against Banning: Temur Reclamation was not the WC winning deck, and because of that, I would argue that there are many decks that can beat it. (as long as they run blue). It is a simple four mana enchantment with no innate protection. You could realistically be dead against some decks by turn 4 especially if you’re on the draw.
- Fires of Invention
Argument for Banning: Similarly to Wilderness Reclamation, this card is a four mana Enchantment that must be answered immediately. It was run in the 2nd place deck in the WC, and has been a pretty solid red card since it’s release in Throne of Eldraine. The combination of cards that make this such a powerful card are the Cavaliers, printed in M20, yet those are basically fair cards. The issue really comes down to a pretty consistent turn five or six combo kill through creatures. Would that be fine if it was less consistent? Probably.
Argument Against Banning: I do think that Fires is a less oppressive card than Wilderness Reclamation only because it doesn’t allow you to play anything on your opponent’s turn. It has even less protection than WR simply due to this factor. Is a turn 5 or 6 combo kill really that bad? I don’t think so. This is just the most consistent way to do it right now.
- Embercleave
Argument for Banning: Okay, so this one I had a hard time determining if it belonged at #1 or #3, or even entirely off the list. The case against is quite simple, in mono-red or Gruul decks, this can result in a turn 3 or 4 win. Pretty easily. It also feels right now that either your deck has an Embercleave or has to be able to beat an Embercleave, usually though board wipes, and/or bounce effects.
Argument Against Banning: Cavalcade of Calamity decks “don’t require” Embercleave and can effectively do the same thing. (win by turn 4) Also, Embercleave is also probably one of the easiest cards to stop, providing you have a deck that can stop it. It doesn’t usually go under counter magic, and can be removed at instant speed by a card from Alpha, currently legal in Standard, Disenchant.
I am still torn on what order these really should go in, I think that the likelihood of these being banned are about 50/50. I do think that if Reclamation goes Fires will get banned as well. Embercleave is probably the least likely, but could get banned out of nowhere as well. I personally think that if I was in charge of the Banned and Restricted committee (or whatever it’s called) I would ban Wilderness Reclamation and Embercleave, and leave Fires unbanned to see what happens.
If you agree or disagree I would love to hear your comments below, you can follow me on twitter @x5ofspadez and can get in touch with me there. Until March, have a great week.
