Today saw the second Banned and Restricted announcement of 2026 for Magic: The Gathering. Following years of egregiously drawn out periods of poor gameplay in both 2025 and even 2024, Wizards has updated the schedule to include seven announcements in 2025.

The last update was shortly after the release of Lorwyn Eclipsed and took place on February 9. As such, it's only been a little over a month since we saw any changes and the consensus has been that most formats seem like they're in a pretty good place overall.

This led to only MTG Arena-exclusive formats being impacted last time and we're seeing the same thing happening once again with this update. Only Historic saw any changes, though a few formats included notes regarding a handful of cards on watchlists for potential updates going forward.

As has become standard with these updates, Wizards provided plenty of information on their thoughts for every major format. As such, this means there is plenty to discuss with regards to today's B&R update.

Let's jump in and see what they had to say.

No Changes to Standard

As expected, things kicked off with no changes to Standard.

By and large, the format has proven to be diverse and fun, with plenty of churn and metagame shifts that make for a healthy format.

As an example of this, the article noted that during the last announcement, Badgermole Cub decks featuring Nature's Rhythm and Craterhoof Behemoth were on top of the format. Now we see a different Badgermole Cub dominating in Mono-Green Landfall, which has been continuously ranking high among the top decks for some time.

It was also noted that while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wasn't making a tremendous impact, it was enabling some new decks along the way. The Rakdos Rummaging deck was specifically called out here, citing Cool but Rude. Other examples of this not mentioned in the article include combo decks using cards like Spicy Oatmeal Pizza, indicating there is plenty of space yet to be explored within the format.

Wizards did acknowledge that they're a little concerned about the intensity of the early game in the format and are looking to address this in the future. For now, though, the format continues to be fun and diverse and nothing is changing with Secrets of Strixhaven right around the corner.

No Changes to Pioneer

Pioneer also saw no changes.

With no major paper events and only a digital scene to speak of, Wizards noted that there was a heavy increase in Red-based Aggro strategies across the board. Despite this, things seem somewhat balanced between them and they don't want to make any changes at this time.

Greasefang decks were called out as an interesting alternative for those wanting more of a Combo experience as opposed to an Aggro one.

While no other archetypes were mentioned, it was noted that there is still a healthy diversity of archetypes that anyone can play and it's worth trying out. Though there is truth to this, many players still would like to see more support for the format with a bit less emphasis on hyper-aggressive decks.

No Changes to Modern

No changes for Modern was an expected outcome of this announcement. With the Regional Championship Qualifier season around the corner and a healthy diversity of top archetypes, it made sense to just about anyone who played the format.

Wizards noted how old archetypes were seeing a resurgence thanks to new cards. In particular, Living End was called out, owing to the power of cards like Formidable Speaker and the Evoke Elementals from Lorwyn Eclipsed. Wistfulness in particular got a bit of shine thanks to its ability to deal with Urza's Saga decks fairly handily.

Additionally, both Boros Energy and Amulet Titan were called out once more as decks that Wizards continues to watch. However, with the diversity and upcoming RCQ season, no changes are expected in the coming future unless things get wildly out of control.

No Changes to Legacy

Following the last few B&R updates, many players have been continuing to expect and hope for changes to Legacy. In particular, there is a desire from many players to ban Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student // Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar as well as key cards from the Oops, All Spells deck.

However, no changes were made to the format.

Dimir Tempo - the core shell for Tamiyo - and Oops, All Spells were both noted as seeing a decline in win rates and meta share in recent weeks. Decks like the classic Death & Taxes as well as a Boros/Mardu Midrange deck inspired by Modern Energy lists were both called out.

Thanks to one of the deepest card pools in the game, Legacy continues to be a format that thrives on the diversity front. While many players would still like to see some changes made, Wizards is still seeing a lot of shifts taking place and doesn't want to adjust things at this time.

No Changes to Vintage

Vintage is arguably one of the most stable formats in the game. Yes, you are frequently doing some of the most broken things possible in Magic, but so is everyone else, which tends to balance things out.

Thanks to this inherent balance, bans - or rather, restrictions - tend to be rarely ever needed for the format. As a result of this, as well as a handful of newer cards making a splash in the format in an inoffensive way, no changes have been made at this time.

No Changes to Pauper

Now we enter my wheelhouse with Pauper. As a member of the Pauper Format Panel, I have a hand in the decisions for these updates, and can speak quite a bit toward them.

By and large, the format seems quite balanced at this time. As Gavin notes in the article, Tolarian Terror decks are some of the highest performing decks we have our eye on. Despite this, the format seems fairly balanced on the whole in terms of power levels.

Paupergeddon took place this past weekend and saw a remarkably healthy Top Eight. Only one deck showed up twice (Grixis Affinity) and it featured some unusual choices in Golgari Pestilence/Gardens and Ruby Storm. The whole event was won by Elves as well. All in all, a great showing for the format's current diversity.

The supply issues of Utrom Monitor were also called out as being "not ideal." While nothing was said regarding the paper supply issues, it was revealed that an increase in pull rates would be coming for Magic Online on April 1st. Additionally, it was revealed that on March 25, Pauper would enter the rotation for the upcoming Magic Online Championship Series (or MOCS) season.

Lastly, the Pauper Format Panel noted that we were eyeballing a possible trial unban for Bonder's Ornament. The card was tremendously strong in the past thanks to Tron and a variety of Midrange archetypes abusing the card. However, this was the result of a much slower format, and now that it's gotten a lot faster, it could be reasonable today.

The Panel would love to hear your thoughts on this card, so please be sure to let us know where possible on social media.

One Card Banned in Historic

The one actual change came for the Historic format, with Food Chain being banned from the format.

Food Chain is a card that has famously been broken in the past by a variety of cards. The most notable of these include cards like Misthollow Griffin, Eternal Scourge, and Squee, the Immortal.

In Historic, however, you could use the card in combination with Sigardian Evangel as a cheap option. Not only would this generate you infinite mana, but it would also tap down everything your opponents control. This leaves you to open to dominate the game however you see fit, which creates an unfairly warping situation in the format. As a result, Food Chain is now banned.

Wizards is has also noted that they're continuing to keep an eye on the cards previously unbanned, particularly Magus of the Moon and Harbinger of the Seas. For now, though, they're happy with how the format has adjusted to accommodate these cards.

No Changes to Other Digital Formats

Each of the other MTG Arena-exclusive formats got a brief mention with no changes accompanying each of them.

Alchemy was noted to be quite fair with no major power outliers for the most part. However, the digital-exclusive Aquatic Subtlety decks were on the radar for potential bans in Best-of-One play specifically in the future.

Timeless was noted to have seen the format stabilize with a number of powerful decks taking over in the wake of Necropotence's restriction. Mardu Energy is currently the leader, though Show and Tell, Reanimator, and Mono-Red Stompy were all called out as major players as well.

Finally, Brawl was noted as adapting well with the new commanders from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Between this and the matchmaking changes being made, they're continuing to explore ways to improve the format going forward. They also noted that another competitive Brawl event will be coming soon.

Conclusion

Very little of this update was unexpected, which bodes well for the health of Magic's various formats as a whole right now.

With the increase in Banned and Restricted announcements in 2026, we'll have plenty more opportunities to tackle potential changes in the coming months. May 18th is the next announcement date, which will allow every format some time to adjust following the release of Secrets of Strixhaven.

Additionally, tomorrow on the official Magic Twitch page, the WeeklyMTG stream will be covering this week's updates. Host Blake Rasmussen will be accompanied by guests from Play Design as well as likely someone from the MTG Arena team to discuss the one ban and the why behind the lack of bans for other formats.

Paige Smith

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/themaverickgirl.bsky.social

Twitch: twitch.tv/themaverickgirl

YouTube: TheMaverickGal