If you want to play Magic: The Gathering, you need to know about the MTG banlist. It’s no good rocking up to your local game store with the most powerful cards you could collect, only to discover they’ve been banned. Because Magic: The Gathering is a game that’s constantly evolving, there are always new card bans to worry about.
In Magic: the Gathering, It’s inevitable, in fact intended, that some MTG cards are better than others. But when a card is so strong that it warps formats, it may be at risk of getting banned. When all the top MTG decks contain the same card, and you need to specifically plan answers for it when you build an MTG deck, Wizards usually reaches for the banhammer.
Wizards of the Coast updates the MTG banlist via the Magic website. These Banned and Restricted Announcements used to come every few months, but Wizards recently changed its banning strategy. Now Wizards is aiming for just one set of bans for all formats each year, coming before the third main set in the MTG release schedule.
Because Magic: The Gathering is a game that spans multiple formats, there’s no such thing as the MTG banlist. The Commander banlist is not the same as the Historic one, for instance. Instead, each format has its own list of banned cards, some longer, some shorter. If a card is put on the banlist for your chosen format that means you can’t play it, plain and simple. It can’t be in your deck, and it can’t be hiding in your sideboard.
The most recent update to the MTG banlist was December 4, 2023. Wizards of the Coast banned a whopping five cards at once, across multiple formats.
Below you’ll find a list of all the banned cards in Magic: The Gathering in 2024. Simply click on the format of your choice to navigate to the relevant section.
MTG Standard banlist
MTG Modern banlist
- Ancient Den
- Arcum’s Astrolabe
- Birthing Pod
- Blazing Shoal
- Bridge From Below
- Chrome Mox
- Cloudpost
- Dark Depths
- Deathrite Shaman
- Dig Through Time
- Dread Return
- Eye of Ugin
- Faithless Looting
- Field of the Dead
- Fury
- Gitaxian Probe
- Glimpse of Nature
- Golgari Grave-Troll
- Great Furnace
- Green Sun’s Zenith
- Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
- Hypergenesis
- Krark-Clan Ironworks
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den
- Mental Misstep
- Mox Opal
- Mycosynth Lattice
- Mystic Sanctuary
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Once Upon a Time
- Ponder
- Punishing Fire
- Rite of Flame
- Seat of the Synod
- Second Sunrise
- Seething Song
- Sensei’s Divining Top
- Simian Spirit Guide
- Skullclamp
- Splinter Twin
- Summer Bloom
- Tibalt’s Trickery
- Treasure Cruise
- Tree of Tales
- Umezawa’s Jitte
- Up the Beanstalk
- Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
- Vault of Whispers
- Yorion, Sky Nomad
For more on the Modern format, check out our MTG Modern guide.
MTG Commander banlist
Here’s the full MTG Commander banlist:
- Ancestral Recall
- Balance
- Biorhythm
- Black Lotus
- Braids, Cabal Minion
- Chaos Orb
- Coalition Victory
- Channel
- Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
- Falling Star
- Fastbond
- Flash
- Gifts Ungiven
- Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
- Griselbrand
- Hullbreacher
- Iona, Shield of Emeria
- Karakas
- Leovold, Emissary of Trest
- Library of Alexandria
- Limited Resources
- Lutri, the Spellchaser
- Mox Emerald
- Mox Jet
- Mox Pearl
- Mox Ruby
- Mox Sapphire
- Panoptic Mirror
- Paradox Engine
- Primeval Titan
- Prophet of Kruphix
- Recurring Nightmare
- Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
- Shahrazad
- Sundering Titan
- Sway of the Stars
- Sylvan Primordial
- Time Vault
- Time Walk
- Tinker
- Tolarian Academy
- Trade Secrets
- Upheaval
- Yawgmoth’s Bargain
MTG Legacy banlist
- Ancestral Recall
- Arcum’s Astrolabe
- Balance
- Bazaar of Baghdad
- Black Lotus
- Channel
- Chaos Orb
- Deathrite Shaman
- Demonic Consultation
- Demonic Tutor
- Dig Through Time
- Dreadhorde Arcanist
- Earthcraft
- Expressive Iteration
- Falling Star
- Fastbond
- Flash
- Frantic Search
- Gitaxian Probe
- Goblin Recruiter
- Gush
- Hermit Druid
- Imperial Seal
- Library of Alexandria
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den
- Mana Crypt
- Mana Drain
- Mana Vault
- Memory Jar
- Mental Misstep
- Mind Twist
- Mishra’s Workshop
- Mox Emerald
- Mox Jet
- Mox Pearl
- Mox Ruby
- Mox Sapphire
- Mystical Tutor
- Necropotence
- Oath of Druids
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- Sensei’s Divining Top
- Shahrazad
- Skullclamp
- Sol Ring
- Strip Mine
- Survival of the Fittest
- Time Vault
- Time Walk
- Timetwister
- Tinker
- Tolarian Academy
- Treasure Cruise
- Underworld Breach
- Vampiric Tutor
- Wheel of Fortune
- White Plume Adventurer
- Windfall
- Wrenn and Six
- Yawgmoth’s Bargain
- Yawgmoth’s Will
- Zirda, the Dawnwaker
MTG Vintage banlist
Very few cards are actually outright banned in Vintage. These are:
- Chaos Orb
- Falling Star
- Shahrazad
Instead of a banlist, for the most part Vintage uses a restricted list. A card that’s restricted in Vintage can only appear once in your deck, including in your sideboard. There are a fairly large number of restricted cards in Vintage:
- Ancestral Recall
- Balance
- Black Lotus
- Brainstorm
- Chalice of the Void
- Channel
- Demonic Consultation
- Demonic Tutor
- Dig Through Time
- Flash
- Gitaxian Probe
- Golgari Grave-Troll
- Gush
- Imperial Seal
- Karn, the Great Creator
- Library of Alexandria
- Lion’s Eye Diamond
- Lodestone Golem
- Lotus Petal
- Mana Crypt
- Mana Vault
- Memory Jar
- Mental Misstep
- Merchant Scroll
- Mind’s Desire
- Monastery Mentor
- Mox Emerald
- Mox Jet
- Mox Pearl
- Mox Ruby
- Mox Sapphire
- Mystic Forge
- Mystical Tutor
- Narset, Parter of Veils
- Necropotence
- Ponder
- Sol Ring
- Strip Mine
- Thorn of Amethyst
- Time Vault
- Time Walk
- Timetwister
- Tinker
- Tolarian Academy
- Treasure Cruise
- Trinisphere
- Vampiric Tutor
- Wheel of Fortune
- Windfall
- Yawgmoth’s Will
MTG Historic banlist
The MTG Arena format Historic also has a unique approach to MTG card bans. Sometimes, a card is ‘suspended’ instead of banned.
This is sort of a holding cell for potential bans. While you can’t use a suspended card, Wizards says it plans to make use of the flexibility of a digital format to shuffle cards on and off the suspended list on a regular, and somewhat experimental basis. In contrast, full blown bans are intended to be more permanent and considered.
That said, there are no suspended cards in Historic at the moment. Here’s the banlist:
- Agent of Treachery
- Brainstorm
- Chalice of the Void (only in Historic Brawl)
- Channel
- Counterspell
- Dark Ritual
- Demonic Tutor
- Field of the Dead
- Gideon’s Intervention (only in Historic Brawl)
- Lightning Bolt
- Memory Lapse
- Meddling Mage (only in Historic Brawl)
- Mishra’s Bauble (preemptively banned before The Brothers’ War)
- Natural Order
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Omnath, Locus of Creation
- Pithing Needle (only in Historic Brawl)
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer (preemptively banned before March of the Machine)
- Runed Halo (only in Historic Brawl)
- Swords to Plowshares
- Thassa’s Oracle
- Tibalt’s Trickery
- Time Warp
- Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
- Veil of Summer
- Wilderness Reclamation
MTG Pioneer banlist
- Balustrade Spy
- Bloodstained Mire
- Expressive Iteration
- Felidar Guardian
- Field of the Dead
- Flooded Strand
- Geological Appraiser
- Inverter of Truth
- Karn, the Great Creator
- Kethis, the Hidden Hand
- Leyline of Abundance
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Once Upon a Time
- Polluted Delta
- Teferi, Time Raveler
- Undercity Informer
- Underworld Breach
- Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
- Veil of Summer
- Walking Ballista
- Wilderness Reclamation
- Windswept Heath
- Winota, Joiner of Forces
- Wooded Foothills
MTG Explorer banlist
- Expressive Iteration
- Field of the Dead
- Kethis, the Hidden Hand
- Leyline of Abundance
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Once Upon a Time
- Teferi, Time Raveler
- Tibalt’s Trickery
- Underworld Breach
- Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
- Veil of Summer
- Wilderness Reclamation
- Winota, Joiner of Forces
MTG Alchemy banlist
The Alchemy format had no banlist until July 2022. Wizards of the Coast can usually avoid Alchemy bans by altering the effects of cards, and does this regularly, to nerf dominant strategies. However, the first MTG Arena Alchemy ban took place on July 5, 2022. Here it is:
- Grinning Ignus
But since Strixhaven, School of Mages has now rotated out of Standard and Alchemy, it’s once again correct to say that there is no banlist for Alchemy.
MTG Brawl banlist
While Brawl uses Standard-legal cards, the regular Standard banlist doesn’t apply. Instead, here’s the MTG Brawl banlist:
- Chalice of the Void
- Drannith Magistrate
- Lutri, the Spellchaser
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Omnath, Locus of Creation
- Runed Halo
- Sorcerous Spyglass
- Winota, Joiner of Forces
- Pithing Needle
MTG Pauper banlist
- Aarakocra Sneak
- Arcum’s Astrolabe
- Atog
- Bonder’s Ornament
- Chatterstorm
- Cloud of Faeries
- Cloudpost
- Cranial Plating
- Daze
- Disciple of the Vault
- Empty the Warrens
- Fall from Favor
- Frantic Search
- Galvanic Relay
- Gitaxian Probe
- Grapeshot
- Gush
- High Tide
- Hymn to Tourach
- Invigorate
- Monastery Swiftspear
- Mystic Sanctuary
- Peregrine Drake
- Prophetic Prism
- Sinkhole
- Sojourner’s Companion
- Stirring Bard
- Temporal Fissure
- Treasure Cruise
- Underdark Explorer
- Vicious Battlerager
MTG Timeless Banlist
Like Vintage, Timeless has a Restricted list as well as a banlist. Or perhaps that should read instead. Currently the Timeless banlist has zero cards on it. Instead, there are a handful of restricted cards, which can only appear in your deck once. The Timeless restricted cards are:
- Channel
- Demonic Tutor
- Tibalt’s Trickery
Universally banned MTG cards
There are a number of cards that, for various reasons, have been banned across all formats. These include the following 25 cards from Conspiracy, which can only be used in limited play:
- Adriana’s Valor
- Advantageous Proclamation
- Assemble the Rank and Vile
- Backup Plan
- Brago’s Favor
- Double Stroke
- Echoing Boon
- Emissary’s Ploy
- Hired Heist
- Hold the Perimeter
- Hymn of the Wilds
- Immediate Action
- Incendiary Dissent
- Iterative Analysis
- Muzzio’s Preparations
- Natural Unity
- Power Play
- Secret Summoning
- Secrets of Paradise
- Sentinel Dispatch
- Sovereign’s Realm
- Summoner’s Bond
- Unexpected Potential
- Weight Advantage
- Worldknit
Then there’s a list of nine cards that refer to ‘ante’. This was a way of playing Magic, back in MTG’s earliest days, where you would essentially ‘gamble’ your cards on the outcome of a game. It was largely unpopular and soon scrapped, the following cards banned across all formats:
- Amulet of Quoz
- Bronze Tablet
- Contract from Below
- Darkpact
- Demonic Attorney
- Jewelled Bird
- Rebirth
- Tempest Efreet
- Timmerian Fiends
The MTG banlist also includes a number of cards that have been deemed racially or culturally insensitive. This is a universal ban that applies to sanctioned tournaments in all formats, and the cards’ images were removed from Wizards of the Coast’s database in 2020. The seven cards currently banned for being culturally or racially insensitive can be found here.
Are MTG Arena bans different?
Card bans affect MTG Arena just as they do paper Magic – so the above MTG banlists apply to Arena too. The main difference is, when your rare cards get banned in MTG Arena, you get something back for it.
When cards you own on MTG Arena are banned, you get wildcards back of an equal rarity, which you can then spend on new cards. It’s a pretty good deal – in fact, in a funny way you could say that (as well as MTG Arena codes), card bans are one of the main free sources of wildcards on the platform.
Source: Wargamer
