Wizards pulled the pin and dropped the second biggest Standard ban list the format has ever seen, and Standard has been blown apart. Games aren't ending on turn 4, blocking is an actual part of the combat step again, and brewers are digging through their binders to see what cards have suddenly been unlocked. Seven cards banned was more than I thought would happen, and everything I hoped for. Wizards has shown that they truly are looking to curate the format.

What's next? We have less than a month of Final Fantasy Standard to play through before Edge of Eternities arrives and drops a Space Station on Magic. So, in that time, let's look at the cards that are shaping the format after this massive shakeup.

Honorable Mention: Temporary Lockdown and Pinnacle Starcage

This card has been #1 on my list a couple of times, but as rotation nears, and the landscape of Standard has changed after the bans, it's finally time to start sunsetting Temporary Lockdown, so small creature decks like Elves can finally-... wait, what's that on the Edge of Eternities spoiler... Pinnacle Starcage.

10. Dark Confidant

BOB!? In the Year of our Lord 2025? Sure enough, Dark Confidant is lurking around in the Mono-Black decks (where Cecil, Dark Knight also shines), Golgari decks, and even the occasional throwback, "Boomer Jund" style deck with old pal Liliana of the Veil. He may not be format defining, but he's showing that he's still got it. Greatness, at any cost, indeed.

9. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

Dimir feels like it won the post-ban lottery by proxy, as the only Tier 1/Tier 2 deck that didn't have anything banned (though I still think they should have looked hard at... another card on this list). Kaito is the best Planeswalker seeing play at the moment (though Elspeth, Storm Slayer is lurking in the shadows) and should continue to see play after rotation.

8. Yuna, Hope of Spira

Losing Up the Beanstalk hurts the Domain deck, but pairing Yuna with Zur gives the deck another way to tackle the format going forward. We're also starting to see other Yuna decks pop up, fueled by the Overlords from Duskmourn: House of Horror. Yuna looks like one of the breakout cards form Final Fantasy and should continue to see play even after rotation.

7. Overlord of the Mistmoors

My pick for the best Overlord in the format at the moment. It does a good job of slowing the Dimir decks down, providing multiple creatures with flying to slow down their assault, and comes down later to close out the game quickly. It sees play in the token decks, the Domain decks, Collector's Cage decks, and elsewhere. The card is all over the format.

6. Caretaker's Talent

Mono-White tokens was another big winner after the ban list. Enduring Innocence (which I could have listed here just as well) and Caretaker's Talent form the best card draw engines in the format, now that Up the Beanstalk is gone. I chose Talent here because it does a great job of fueling the token decks with cards in the early game and slamming the door later by pumping those tokens (especially in conjunction with Elspeth, Storm Slayer).

5. Insidious Roots

This is probably the most fun, "build around" card in the format. Roots decks have had a few dedicated fans since it was printed (shoutout to Ricky on the Crew3 Podcast), and it has slowly been refined to the point that it is making waves in Standard, where Eli Kassis piloted a Golgari version to an 8-2 record at the Pro Tour.

4. Enduring Curiosity

My pick for, "The remaining card should have been banned too," because it lacks the, "Once per turn" clause that keeps Enduring Innocence under control. It's powerful, hard to get rid of, and fuels the Dimir deck while showing up here and there in others. As long as there are playable, low-cost evasion creatures, I expect we'll continue to see this card until it rotates.

3. Ghost Vacuum

The haterest hate card in the format, whether it's casually snagging Enduring creatures or Mosswood Dreadnights before they can come back, battling Roots decks, or fighting the good fight against the Omniscience reanimator decks that refuse to go away. Even after rotation, this should still see sideboard, or even maindeck, play as cards like Roots and Yuna will still be here. We may even combine this with something like the newly spoiled Cosmogoyf to form an aggressive exile deck.

2. Stock Up

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Stock Up is an extraordinary "card draw" spell, and should remain so throughout its remaining Standard life (to the point that it may be a candidate for a ban in the future). Consult the Star Charts from Edge of Eternities may start to show up in some Standard decks, but I don't think Stock Up is going anywhere.

1. Vivi Ornitier

Vivi Ornitier was my pick for the best card in Final Fantasy and so far, I feel very comfortable with that choice. Vivi showed up in the Izzet decks that made up half of the top 8 at the Pro Tour, and even showed up as an innovation in Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa's Agatha's Soul Cauldron deck. Going forward, Vivi will fill the Cori-Steel Cutter shaped hole in Izzet decks in Standard. The card is too inherently powerful to stay on the sidelines.

The ban list was a necessary evil of a three-year Standard format, and it has opened the format to new and innovative decks in the way I hoped. Next up, our first rotation in two years, and I look forward to seeing how the format changes!

You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456 and on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/anakinsdad.bsky.social