Magic: The Gathering hands out two major bans for Standard and Modern formats

A new set of bans have been handed out to Magic: The Gathering Standard this weekend. One card that was most predicted to catch a ban was The Meathook Massacre, which turned out to be true. A ban was also revealed for the Modern format, Yorion, and Sky Nomad.

Depending on the game's format, these bans will go out on different dates, but Wizards of the Coast explained why both cards got banned in Magic: The Gathering.

---

Magic: The Gathering bans The Meathook Massacre and Yorion, Sky Nomad

The Meathook Massacre, before the Standard Rotation, was in nearly every single deck that remotely splashed in black. It’s a mighty Legendary Enchantment, offering value in several ways.

It can be a powerful board wipe and a cheap one, depending on the strength of the creatures in play. It also offers life gain and drains for creatures leaving the battlefield. You don’t even need to use its first effect of dealing -1/-1 to all creatures.

It can be played for two black mana, and you can use its passive drain/life gain effects throughout the game. It was one of the most powerful black cards in the format, disrupting gameplay in a major way.

Ian Duke, Magic: The Gathering’s principal game designer, wrote about it in the Wizards ban announcement that it will ultimately help Standard remain a fun format. Duke said that the next major expansion will have tools to control the board.

“With The Brothers' War on the horizon, we anticipate the new cards entering the format to provide tools for other decks and color combinations. In the meantime, we expect this little shakeup will help keep Standard enjoyable and trending toward an even healthier spot going forward as the card pool expands.”

Yorion, Sky Nomad also caught a ban regarding the more static Modern format. Though Modern has been in a pretty good place recently, the decision was made to ban Yorion anyway.

It was a powerful part of the 4-color Omnath decks, a powerful deck that a vocal part of the Magic: The Gathering audience disliked. It’s been one of the most potent decks for a very long time, and so the Magic: The Gathering team decided that Yorion, Sky Nomad had to go.

He was mighty in Standard as well. When it enters play, you can exile any number of nonland permanents that you both own and control. Then, at the end of your turn, return them to play. This allowed for devastating flicker combos to trigger for several decks.

The Meathook Massacre will be banned in MTG Arena on October 13, while in tabletop/MTG Online, this happened on October 10, 2022. Yorion, Sky Nomad also saw a ban on October 10, 2022, for both tabletop and Magic: The Gathering Online.