Wizards of the Coast updated their banned and restricted lists for Magic: The Gathering on March 11, 2023.
The most recent update to the banned and restricted lists mostly affected the Modern format. The new updates included the following changes:
- Violent Outburst was banned in the Modern format.
- Ponder was unrestricted in the Vintage format.
The ban of Violent Outburst affects two of the top decks in Modern: Temur Rhinos and Living End. Violent Outburst triggered a cascade effect at instant speed, which allowed these two decks to more easily protect their combos and win the game faster. This was too much for the Modern format, so they banned the card.
In Vintage, they unrestricted Ponder. WotC designers didn’t believe that this card being restricted had much of an impact on this fast all-or-nothing format, as not many decks were using it, so they just unrestricted it.
Wizards of the Coast recently unveiled product line details for Magic: The Gathering – Modern Horizons 3, a new Modern format booster set (see “Deets Unveiled“).
Source: ICv2
