Locations
When Pioneer was first announced back on October 21st, one of the things they mentioned in the initial article was "we'll be watching it closely at its inception and banning cards on off-cycle dates. We'll be using Magic Online for data gathering and will be willing to ban cards if they are problematic early on."
They later clarified that the first such Banned announcement for Pioneer would take place on November 4th, earlier this week. Everyone assumed something would be banned, but no one really knew what. There was some pretty rampant speculation about cards - Deathrite Shaman, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise - but none that actually made much sense; all of those cards I mentioned are good, and have proven problematic in past formats, but without components like cheap cantrips and fetch lands, none of them are truly great. They're good, don't get me wrong! They'll likely always be good. But they haven't had a ban-worthy impact just yet, and most of them aren't even showing up in high numbers.
The cards that were banned, however, seem somewhat unexpected while also making total sense. And today I'd like to talk about those!
This was probably the card everyone was most confused about. They simply couldn't wrap their heads around it. Why was this one-mana enchantment that simply "cantripped" worthy of a ban? Well, that's a complicated question. A lot of times cards are powerful not because of what they do, but because of what they are as well. However, in this case, a lot of why Oath of Nissa was banned was because of what it did.
The first thing I want you to do is think of cards like Ponder and Preordain. These cards are banned in Modern, with Ponder even being restricted in Vintage. That's because being able to choose any card from your top three cards for one mana is a powerful effect! (I'm also looking at you, Ancient Stirrings, a card that has been in discussions about being ban-worthy for ages...) Oath of Nissa is an incredibly similar card to Ponder and Preordain, netting you a pseudo-selected card for one mana, but while the Blue decks want instants and sorceries for synergy, the Green decks want permanents on the battlefield for things like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Kethis, the Hidden Hand .
Not only does this add one devotion to the board, it also lets decks cast both Oko, Thief of Crowns, Saheeli Rai, and Teferi, Time Raveler with any mana they have available. This is a powerful way to circumvent the specific mana costs of powerful planeswalkers.
Another thing to consider was the Kethis, the Hidden Hand deck that was popping up here and there. Oath of Nissa is a card that manages to get every piece of the deck you might need, while also being a card that you can recast from the graveyard to dig even further, thanks to it being legendary. Additionally, future copies of the card would allow you to get copies into the graveyard for recasting or for exiling with Kethis's ability.
Ultimately, while Oath of Nissa wasn't on my radar, if you really look at all the angles, this is an immensely powerful card that is probably safe to ban, especially if you're trying to curb Green Devotion decks.
This poor friggin' cat. This thing just can't catch a break. But honestly, this is probably the card I was most sure about out of the three cards that were banned this week. Any sort of Splinter Twin combo with a three- and four-mana component (as opposed to, say, a four- and five-mana component, like Restoration Angel and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker) is just inherently unhealthy. You simply don't want to foster a format where you need to have an answer for a two-card combo on turn four or else you lose the game. While we do have some cards like Abrupt Decay, there aren't nearly as many as there are in a format like Modern. We also don't have the same caliber of counterspells available to us, without things like Mana Leak or Remand or Force of Negation. Most of the counterspells present in Pioneer are going to cost three or more mana.
Additionally, we also have Teferi, Time Raveler in the format, and if the White, Blue, and Red deck that is already playing Saheeli Rai and Felidar Guardian is also playing the White and Blue planeswalker, the combo simply gets that much more problematic to deal with. Saheeli combo also doesn't have to be a turn four combo. You could easily play it on turn six after playing a Teferi, Time Raveler on turn five, leaving you completely immune to any interaction.
I think it's completely safe to say that one part of this combo had to go, and I think Felidar Guardian is just a little more combo-able than a card like Saheeli Rai. Unfortunately, this does likely mean that Saheeli Rai will never see play again. RIP.
Okay, while some people thought Oath of Nissa was the weirdest card banned, I certainly thought Leyline of Abundance was. This card was definitely not on my radar, but just like the Oath, this is a card that adds two Green mana for Nykthos on turn zero, which is a big deal. It also lets your turn-one Llanowar Elves or Gilded Goose tap for two Green mana. And if you open on two Leylines and a Nykthos? Whew... The point is that Wizards wanted to curb some of the power, consistency, and ramp capabilities from the Green Devotion deck, and two of the cards on this list were aimed at doing so.
If you look at most of the Green ramp decks, of which there are two or three in each Top 8 it seems, the two cards that were ubiquitous and powerful four-ofs were Oath of Nissa and Leyline of Abundance. I think Leyline is a harmless enough card that with it gone, the Green decks can still survive, and no one is too upset about not being able to play it.
It's worth noting that the Green ramp decks are still likely to be very good; this just makes sure they aren't too good moving forward.
What's Next?
Well, we have our first three bannings and the next announcement will be next Monday, November 11th. I feel like the only card currently on my radar as being too powerful right now is Oko, Thief of Crowns, but he might not be ban worthy. Most decks I've seen only have him as a two-of. Arclight Phoenix is another one to watch, although again, while powerful, that deck might just be good and not broken, which is totally fine. One thing I definitely want them to keep an eye on are cards like Nexus of Fate and Wilderness Reclamation. While we have more tools than we did in Standard to deal with the two-card combo, I would hate to see a metagame full of one player taking turn after turn.
This is a brand new format, and I think we definitely want to avoid a single deck or card occupying a significant portion of the metagame, and I think these current bans helped that. I'm looking forward to seeing the information and events that follow, so we can get a clearer picture of how the format looks and what might be problematic moving forward, if anything.
Watching Pioneer unfold and take shape has been a blast, and I hope it's more accessible to everyone than a format like Modern, which can be extremely pricey at times. I would love to know what you all think about these bannings, and about the health of the format in general. Are there any cards you think are overperforming right now? Any cards that are underperforming? Let me know in the comments what you expect to see next week from the announcement, and we can talk about it next Wednesday.
I love you all and thank you so much for reading. Don't forget to use promo code FRANK5 for 5% off, and I'll see you guys next week!
Frank Lepore
