Wizards of the Coast has banned the card Leyline Resonance for BO1 matches on MTG Arena. This nasty enchantment was part of a combo that could win the game by turn two. Incentivized by the way MTG Arena’s in-game economy is structured, fans were using this deck to rack up wins as quickly as possible, leaving frustrated opponents in their wake.
This comes just seven days after the company announced it was keeping an eye on the card, responding to the droves of irate fans who were calling for it to be placed on the MTG banlist. Despite not being particularly good in terms of winrate, players were using it to chainsaw through as many games as possible and earn their daily dose of coins.
Wizards correctly observes that the people running this deck weren’t actually playing Magic. “Either folks playing Leyline of Resonance decks concede with their initial hand because they’re dissatisfied with the draw and are unable to mulligan down to a winning solution, or they win within the first few turns of play,” the article explains.
It says that “fast without the fun undermines the purpose of playing the game,” and draws comparisons to the time Nexus of Fate was banned in BO1 for the opposite reason: because it was too crushingly slow.
The lightning fast Leyline of Resonance combo was actually spotted by fans before Duskmourn even came out, but it took a while for Wizards to take action.
Though the card was put on notice last week, Wizards explains it needed to ignore the complaints and wait to be certain. “We wanted to be sure that the problem shared with us by some of our most-engaged players had the data to support it, and that the data continued to support it even after the meta settled.”
Well that data is in, and the card’s been deemed too problematic to stay. And don’t worry, even though it remains legal in BO3 matches if you owned copies of this card on MTG Arena, you’ll still be getting your rare wildcards.
Interestingly, the card is banned in all Alchemy constructed formats pending a rebalance to make it more fair. Paper legality has not been impacted: you can play Leyline of Resonance at Friday Night Magic to your heart’s content.
For more Magic: The Gathering content, check out our guides to the MTG release schedule, and our list of the best MTG Arena decks.
Source: Wargamer
