MTG Just Banned 7 Cards in Standard – Here’s Why

The tabletop game Magic: The Gathering has undergone numerous modifications recently, with certain formats experiencing either immediate adjustments from Wizards of the Coast through bans, or significant upheavals due to new releases. Among these, Standard format has been significantly affected, as it transitioned from a 2-year rotation period to a 3-year one, while also retaining Magic: The Gathering‘s Foundations set indefinitely and incorporating Universes Beyond into the format. On June 30, Wizards of the Coast unveiled the eagerly awaited Banned and Restricted Announcement, disclosing that a grand total of seven cards were banned from Standard play. These cards include:

Abuelo’s Awakening
Cori-Steel Cutter
Heartfire Hero
Hopeless Nightmare
Monstrous Rage
Up the Beanstalk
This Town Ain’t Big Enough

Regardless of whether it’s viewed positively or negatively, these prohibitions hold valid rationales and serve different purposes. The primary goal, as articulated by WotC, was to decelerate the pace of Standard play slightly while weakening overpowered decks. It’s likely that some cards on this list will not come as a shock to dedicated players, as they may have been included in ban lists previously or had a questionable reputation within the game before these prohibitions were enacted. The meta of Magic: The Gathering is poised for significant transformation due to these changes, but it’s intriguing at this juncture to understand the reasoning behind each card’s removal.

Abuelo’s Awakening – Why it Was Banned in MTG’s Standard Format

This card functions as an exceptional shortcut to incorporate Omniscience into Azorius Omniscience decks, and it has been excessively potent, bordering on overpowered, for quite some time. Abuelo’s Awakening sets a trend for affordable resurrection spells, which may prompt Wizards of the Coast to exercise caution when creating future spells that return permanents from the graveyard, ensuring they aren’t too inexpensive and avoid powerful combinations like this one. Restricting Abuelo’s Awakening due to its relationship with Omniscience appears logical since it would potentially limit WotC’s ability to produce high-cost artifacts and enchantments that could be cheaply cheated into play. Given that Omniscience has been a fixture in the game for several years, if not perpetually, following its reprint in MTG‘s Foundations, restricting Abuelo’s Awakening seems like a reasonable decision.

Cori-Steel Cutter – Why it Was Banned in MTG’s Standard Format

The card in question is remarkably powerful due to providing a creature with +1/+1, trample, and haste for only two mana costs, and generating additional value over time thanks to its Flurry ability. This means that the Cori-Steel Cutter is rarely traded one-for-one in battle because it’s often cast along with another spell during the turn, resulting in a 1/1 Monk with Prowess. The Izzet Prowess deck has proven to be incredibly strong and consistent, with over 40% of decks in the latest Pro Tour incorporating it. This card has forced players to either outpace this deck or have answers for Cori-Steel Cutter before it takes control of the game. Despite having been released with MTG’s Tarkir: Dragonstorm just a few months ago, it is already receiving a ban.

Heartfire Hero – Why it Was Banned in MTG’s Standard Format

For some time now, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has been monitoring this card closely, following its adjustment in Alchemy to transform it into a 0/1 instead. Prior to these changes, Heartfire Hero was considered one of the top 1-drops due to its unique feature, Valiant, which allows it to quickly gain +1/+1 counters and deal damage equal to its power to all opponents upon death. When paired with Monstrous Rage, this card turned into a formidable 5/3 with trample and a powerful on-death trigger, potentially dealing up to 9 damage in a single turn if blocked by a creature with just 1 toughness. With various combat tricks and cards like Manifold Mouse, mono Red aggro became overpowered in the Standard format of Magic: The Gathering. Given this, it seems wiser to ban both Heartfire Hero and Monstrous Rage rather than Manifold Mouse, if the goal was indeed to slow things down.

Hopeless Nightmare – Why it Was Banned in MTG’s Standard Format

Although not the most challenging card compared to others on this list, Hopeless Nightmare can be incredibly annoying to face due to strategies that return it to its owner’s hand from the battlefield or graveyard. This feature makes it a powerful 1-drop for Orzhov Pixie decks in Standard, with its discard ability being the deciding factor that sets it apart. Given its rapid damage potential and discard effect, it warrants a ban to preserve the balance of the current meta.

Monstrous Rage – Why it Was Banned in MTG’s Standard Format

For some time, this card has been in circulation, but it wasn’t until the introduction of the Bloomburrow Mouse package that it began to cause issues in Standard decks within Magic: The Gathering (MTG). When paired with Manifold Mouse, Heartfire Hero, and other cards, Monstrous Rage became the most effective combat trick in the game, arguably the best one ever, given its 1 CMC cost. It enhances a creature by giving it +2/+0, a +1/+1 counter, and trample. The new FF9 Vivi card from MTG synergizes particularly well with Monstrous Rage, making its ban potentially beneficial for the Standard meta in two ways: first, by weakening mono Red aggro, and second, by affecting Vivi as well.

Up the Beanstalk – Why it Was Banned in MTG’s Standard Format

Among all the banned cards in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), Up the Beanstalk is one of the most controversial because it’s incredibly strong, but not inherently unfair. However, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has stated that they also needed to ban it due to potential design challenges with other cards in the future. The fear was that if Up the Beanstalk remained unbanned and widely used, it could make creating new cards more difficult, as designers would have to avoid making cards that interact negatively with it. To prevent any unintentional issues, WotC chose to ban it before it caused problems. Notably, this card was already banned in Modern format in 2023, so its banning in Standard is not unexpected.

This Town Ain’t Big Enough – Why it Was Banned in MTG’s Standard Format

Frequently used in conjunction with self-bounce tactics such as Hopeless Nightmare or combined with Stormchaser’s Talent, This Town Ain’t Big Enough can significantly disrupt gameplay at the very least. It’s even more frustrating when it’s played in Izzet Prowess and has a reduced mana cost, making it a versatile card for self-bounce or tempo. Moreover, the banning of Monstrous Rage and Up the Beanstalk necessitates the banning of This Town Ain’t Big Enough as well to prevent Pixie decks from becoming too overpowering. Therefore, its absence seems justified.

2025-07-04 13:04