Maintaining a clear understanding of format legality is one of the most critical aspects of competitive Magic: The Gathering. Whether you are tuning a deck for a local Friday Night Magic, grinding the mythic ladders on MTG Arena, or registering for a regional tabletop qualifier, knowing which cards are legal determines your baseline success.
Wizards of the Coast manages format health through a centralized system of bans and restrictions to ensure no single strategy suppresses deck diversity or mechanical checking.
This comprehensive, regularly updated tracker provides an instant, vertical breakdown of every currently banned and restricted card across Magic’s premier competitive formats.
1. Standard Banlist
Standard is a rotating format utilizing the most recent premier expansion sets. Wizards of the Coast actively monitors this format to ensure aggressive, mid-range, and control strategies maintain an even distribution of viability.
The following cards are banned from Standard competitive play:
Note: The design panel continuously reevaluates Standard health following major mechanical expansions to ensure format diversity remains stable.
2. Modern Banlist
Modern is a non-rotating format allowing cards from Eighth Edition forward. Due to the massive card pool, the Modern banlist targets high-velocity enablers, toxic combo pieces, and cards that generate problematic temporal choke points during tournament play.
The following cards are banned from Modern competitive play:
3. Pioneer Banlist
Pioneer bridges the gap between Standard and Modern, allowing cards from Return to Ravnica forward. The banlist focuses heavily on restricting hyper-efficient dynamic combos and cards that restrict interactive gameplay loops.
The following cards are banned from Pioneer competitive play:
4. Commander / EDH Banlist
Commander is an independent, multiplayer singleton format managed externally by the Commander Rules Committee. The banlist is tailored specifically around maintaining social balance, casual play equity, and preventing un-interactive, early-turn game resolutions.
The following premium cards are banned from Commander play:
Note: Lutri, the Spellchaser is legal to include within your 99-card deck profile, but is explicitly banned from being designated as your deck’s Companion.
PreconForge Verdict: Bookmark and Stay Ahead
A sudden shifting of format restrictions can heavily impact both your tournament setup and the financial valuation of your secondary card collection. Bookmark this tracking portal as your definitive resource hub, and check back immediately following every official Wizards of the Coast scheduling announcement to ensure your decklists remain fully optimized and legal.
Which format structural updates are you tracking most closely this season? Let’s keep the metagame and formatting discussion moving forward!
