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The July 13, 2020 Banned and Restricted announcement is live! Here's the full list of cards in every format.
Historic
Agent of Treachery is banned (from suspended)
Winota, Joiner of Forces is banned (from suspended)
Fires of Invention is banned (from suspended)
Nexus of Fate is banned
Burning-Tree Emissary is suspended
Pioneer
Oath of Nissa is unbanned.
Due to the unbanning of this once very powerful card in the format, we can expect immediate demand increase.
Modern
Arcum's Astrolabe is banned.
This 1-mana artifact from Modern Horizons is finally making an exit in Modern, a staple in several tier 1 decks and supporting a near "55% match-win rate" for some. Due to its prevalence and efficiency, it was noted that they are keeping an eye on it in Legacy as well.
Pauper
Expedition Map is banned.
Mystic Sanctuary is banned.
Tron's high win rate and high metagame share in Pauper have led to the removal of Expedition Map, significantly hindering Tron decks ability to find its lands as consistently. Blue decks leveraging Mystic Sanctuary to create looping game states will now need to look elsewhere to make it work.
Notable Takeaways
Aside from the ban list changes, it was hinted that Standard decks leaning on a UG ramp package featuring Growth Spiral were on notice, and will be closely examined as the Standard metagame evolves. Related cards include Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath and Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse.
Missing from the discussion is the unbanning of cards like Splinter Twin and Birthing Pod, which had seen quite a bit of discussion in the week leading up to the announcement.
The bans take effect as follows:
Tabletop Effective Date: July 13, 2020
Magic Online Effective Date: July 13, 2020
MTG Arena effective date: July 16, 2020
Link to the full article by Ian Duke on the mothership.
