September 20th: DCI Banned and Restricted List Announcement

So for those paying attention today is the quarterly period where wizards of the coast decides to change how they do specific things and if specific cards should be banned and unbanned as usual, so without further ado let's find out what wizards of the coast decided to unban or ban perhaps.

Standard, Legacy and Extended: No Changes

Well this isn't too expected, standard didn't need to be changed and legacy's way too diverse a format to have anything changed, considering legacy has Land Tax back from the last B&R list announcement and extended's a dead format pretty much.

Modern: Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle is Unbanned

This is nice, meaning we just say saw this card rise from a 2 dollar card, to a 5 dollar card literally over night due to this announcement, it's going to be interesting to see if Valakut stays controllable when the next B&R announcement hits.

Vintage: Burning Wish is Unrestricted

Whoa, this is perhaps the bigger of the two, wizards just went and unrestricted this beast for this format, so meaning we will probably start seeing it a lot more but there are very few vintage tournaments these days to speak of.

So apparently the banned and restricted list announcement is moving to a specific day after the prerelease of a new set, starting of course with Gatecrash, the set prerelease's will have a announcement the Monday after each one as of now, meaning we no longer have to worry about specific dates of course, as well there was a few changes to the rules and that stuff, read them at the following link below.

Wizards Ban List Announcement

It also has a explanation behind each unbanned card this time around, but that's all she wrote, until next time this is vergil signing off.

EDH Banned and Restricted List Announcement: September 18th, 2012

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of the emporium, where it's a special evening edition since the recent Banned and Restricted list for the format of Elder Dragon Highlander was announced so without further ado let's take a look see at the announcement

Unbanned: Kokusho, the Evening Star

OH MY FUCKING GOD, finally thank you commitee they made my day glorious again, Kokusho is one of those cards i've wanted to play with for so long, thank goodness, oh happy day.

Banned: Primeval Titan and Worldfire

Finally my prayers are answered, both the busted goddamn spells from 2 core sets are gone, Prime Time is just mean and Worldfire is stupid in Jhoira and any deck that runs red, seriously this is ridiculous.

Banned as a Commander: Kokusho, the Evening Star

So they had to balance it somehow, this is the best way to do so, bringing back koko and banning it as a commander is a nice touch to give us more reason to play commander, overall i like this announcement, for the full reasoning as to the announcement, please see the link below.

http://forum.mtgcommander.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12253

Till next time this is vergil signing off for now.

Quarterly Bannings Period: My Predictions

Hello everyone and welcome to this super long edition of the emporium, over the course of this article i will be explaining my take on the Quarterly banning period, what i believe will be banned and what i know will be banned for each and every format, so without further ado let's begin.

Now with every March, June, September and December there are the quarterly bannings and unbanning periods in magic, where specific cards can get banned or unbanned depending if the format is healthy enough, let's start with the most popular format that people play, Standard.

Before you go all meta haywire on me about this here are the two cards i believe should be banned tonight in standard.

The first candidate tonight should be Delver of Secrets, i believe wizards of the coast made a mistake with this particular card in question, a 1 drop that can literally turn into a 3/2 flyer is nothing to scoff at and considering we've seen it in the top 8 of almost every event to date, it's due to get the banhammer simply because of how broken it is right now, even without the New Phyrexia and M12 Spell base to back it up, players are going to just run the M13 stuff, it's warped the format so badly it's either you player Delver or don't win, it's that simple.

Now a lot of people will debate with me on this second choice, Snapcaster Mage, Zac Hill called it a mistake card printed as it is, if you know wizards even said they messed up with this guy, it's a big oopsies on their part i'm afraid to say. So you get a 2/1 with flash, ok, i'll just reuse my counter spell aka Dissipate and flash him in, flashing back that spell in response to your titan, it's literally that stupid, it makes 16 counter spells 20, 20, 24, etc, etc. In my humble opinion Snappy here was the most broken card printed in recent memory and has been seen fighting alongside the first choice Delver.

A lot of people however namely the Cardboard Witch in her most recent article as seen Here have been in a heated debate over Snappy and the potential incoming ban, because as she had inherently stated below

No, I don't think banning these cards is a good idea because as a general rule I am against the banning of anycards in Standard.  While I'm fairly certain people will get over a ban on Ponder or Delver of Secrets I am particularly opposed to banning Snapcaster Mage a mere 9 months after it's release

So in a sense she clearly stated she is opposed to the simple fact that even if Snapcaster Mage is banned in the current meta, she doesn't like the fact that Snappy is a huge potential candidate for the quarterly banning period this time around simply due to how it's performed in the past 9 months since it's been out to date. Now i wanna go off topic here and talk about another card that slipped heavy under Wizards's radar, Bloodbraid Elf  you know the 3/2 4 drop that cascades into pretty much anything it wanted to back in the day, during the entire time it had existed in standard due to Jund, as The Cardboard Witch had clearly stated

Anyone who's ever played against Bloodbraid Elf can tell you the card is overpowered, idiot proof and ultimately absolutely no fun to play against; it's the very definition of a "negative play experience"

Now anyone who's ever played against this card can agree with this particular statement, the elf was a completely Negative play experience simply due to how it turned out to be, but did wizards ban it while it was in standard, unfortunately no, they didn't to my memory anyways, but last june they went and banned perhaps the unnecessary pair Stoneforge Mystic/Jace the Mind Sculptor when they were due to rotate in 3 and a half months, so what makes me think that wizards won't do this again, let's look a little farther back at Lorwyn Block when Ponder was banned, with Ponder back, wizards may do it again for 3 more months and cause players to get all pissy because if they do end up banning Ponder once more, it will somewhat resemble the last June bannings of Stoneforge/JTMS once again.


Overall in the standard format honestly, i'm expecting either one of three bannings, Ponder is banned, don't know why it's only got 3 months left in it's standard existence, Snappy is banned, because wizards openly admitted to making a mistake with this card, Delver is banned, just because of consistency and the fact he's basically too good for his mana cost. Let's move onto one of my favorite formats, Elder Dragon Highlander


Over the past month and a half since the release of Avacyn Restored i've been seeing more and more of this guy, Griselbrand.

To be honest with you it's making me sick to my stomach to see him almost every time i'm on Cockatrice, here are the reasons i believe this guy should be auto banned from the format, as a general and a card.


1) Yawgmoth's Bargain - This is already banned in 2 different formats, Legacy and Commander, this guy is basically that on a body with flying and lifelink, sure his mana cost may be different then Bargain, but none the less, being able to draw 7 as a response to any form of removal is stupid, i mean there are more decent mono black generals out there and this guy doesn't even deserve to be in this format as i care.


2) Easy to Ramp Into - Black has too many easy to access cards in this format, Cabal Coffers/Urbog, Tomb of Yawgmoth make it so you can churn this guy out as early as turn 6, draw 7, reloading your hand and equipping either Greaves or Boots to grant him haste, as well as Hexproof/Shroud, How about Nirkana Revenant on the field, all swamps essentially generate 2 mana off her, making it almost too easy to generate the necessary amount of mana to cast this guy, even if your not playing him as a general.


3) Tutors Galore - With Black having access to perhaps the best tutors in the game, Vampiric, Diabolic, Demonic and of course Increasing Ambition to name a few, there are too many easy ways to get this guy into your hand, which in all honestly makes me worried for the health of the format.


So i implore you please ban him tonight, i am quite tired of seeing him even as a card and he's the most broken thing to come out of Avacyn Restored, but i'm not done.


If your gonna ban one legendary, there's another that needs to be rebanned, of course i'm talking about Rune -Tail, Kitsune Ascendant

Isn't there a reason Erayo is banned as a general, if that is banned then i believe this should be rebanned as a whole allow to me to state the reasons why.


1) It was already banned prior - Yes 4 years ago this was on the banned list at the time Kokusho was put there in the format, it was already a broken record as a whole, it's just how much do i need to remind you people that when this was not banned white was very much too overpowered as a whole.


2) It auto flips when it enters - This and perhaps other enchantments can be used to basically make a invincible shield to protect yourself during the entire game, creating a stall deck essentially which drags the game out too long, making it a not very fun experience for your opponents if your playing this as a general.


So please, committee please re ban this card, for the love of all things, it deserves to stay on the banned list, even as a banned general.


Unbanning wise i believe it's time Kokusho, the Evening Star was allowed back in the format, even as a card, not a general, you can restrict him as a general for all i care, but we want him back, he's what's known as a Silly Six-Drop in the format for a reason, besides if all the other Kamigawa dragons are legal, why shouldn't this one be, hmm.


Modern wise i believe there shouldn't be any bannings, same goes for legacy, unless you wanna ban Delver in both those formats too, that'd be nice, anyways that's my take on the bannings for this quarter, if you of course have thoughts, post em in the comments below, this is vergil signing off.