The next round of Magic: The Gathering card bans has just taken place, as eight new cards are now banned in just three formats. Brawl sees the highest number from this round, with six more cards now added to the naughty list.
The biggest highlight, as has been the case in recent ban cycles, is that Standard has seen no bans at all, despite repeated calls for key bans to thwart the dominance of decks like Izzet Prowess and the general nuisance of cards like Badgermole Cub and the Earthbend mechanic.
Memes start by default getting no bans again
It's only taken minutes for the community to react to the lack of Standard bans, with users on Reddit already sarcastically commenting that “Standard is rampant!” while another calls it “embarrassing” that no cards have been banned from the format.
Admittedly, the decision not to change the standard format is becoming harder and harder to understand, especially as the Izzet Prowess archetype continues to dominate at the highest level. While no one expected sweeping changes to the default ban list, there was an expectation that somewhere in the area of two to three cards could be on the chopping block.
MTG bans are usually announced every four to six weeks, but there is no guarantee that bans will actually take place in any given format throughout the year, and it looks likely that there may be no standard bans in 2026 at the current rate.
Among these cards, but not one that has anything to do with Izzet Prowess, is Badgermole Cub. This two-mana creature (1G, 1C) enters the deck and Earthbends for one, turning a land into a 1/1 creature that can still be tapped for mana. The kid then doubles the total mana you can drain from mana dorks (aka, mana creatures). This leads to unprecedented mana ramp, and in the right decks where you have the ability to search your deck for creature cards like the deadly Ouroboroid, this archetype is a real problem to play against.
The counter to this argument is that these decks are a problem primarily in Standard best-of-one, and in best-of-three games it's easier to make adjustments to deal with the main threats from these archetypes. Regardless of what is true, one thing is clear: the most vocal segments of society are growing tired of the lack of prohibition and the continued dominance of select archetypes.
The last standard card ban was in November 2025 with Vivi Ornithier, Screaming Nemesis and Proft's Eidetic Memory being removed from the format.
Brawl sees six post-competitive bans
The format with the most bans in this announcement is Brawl, which has the following cards removed from just the temporary Arena-only version of the format.
- The power of will
- Subtlety
- Wash away
- Labyrinth of Ugin
- Time shift
- Temporal manipulation
It's not a huge surprise to see these cards removed from casual Brawl, as these are very playable cards that, if used in the right combos, are huge game changers. As with the differences between Commander and cEDH, Brawl is supposed to be a more fun and less competitive format, so running into endless high-level cards is in direct conflict with the casual mantra.
I expect that both Brawl and Competitive Brawl are treated very differently in lane lists due to the difference in player intent, and that more powerful cards and combos should be left in the Competitive format unless they are completely game-breaking.
- Franchise
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Magic: The Gathering
- Original release date
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August 5, 1993
- Designer(s)
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Richard Garfield
