Wow There Were a Lot of Bans This Week!

The February 15 B&R Announcement was more like a bag of hammers rather than the usual single swing of the old ban hammer. While Standard was untouched, sweeping changes to Historic, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, and even Vintage will transform each of those landscapes.

We’ve already talked about Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath being banned. That move is going to open up a lot of strategies that weren’t previous viable (or at least attractive). But it was only the beginning…

Pioneer is Losing Multiple Staples and One of Its Pillars

On the one hand, both Balustrade Spy and Undercity Informer were banned. Goodbye Oops, All Spells!

But in the same stroke, Wilderness Reclamation and Teferi, Time Raveler were also banned in Pioneer!

Modern is Completely Transformed

• Field of the Dead! Gone! Goodbye Primeval Titan backup plan.
• Mystic Sanctuary! Gone! Sayonara attrition re-buy strategy.
• Simian Spirit Guide! Finally! He was always hanging out in sketchy neighborhoods, don’t you think?
• Tibalt’s Trickery… We hardly knew ya. Patrick makes the cogent argument that the alternative would have been banning twenty other cards… But not guaranteeing that the Trickery wouldn’t still ruin the format.

You might have noticed that Valki, God of Lies – slash – Tibalt, Cosmic Imposter is not on the list. No. It was not banned.

But was it effectively banned?

So What Happened with Tibalt, Cosmic Imposter?

A slight change to the Cascade rules means that when your Ardent Plea turns over Valki, God of Lies you have to play it as Valki, God of Lies. That is, you can’t get the five mana boost for free and on the spot.

Valki is not banned. Theoretically Tibalt, Cosmic Imposter isn’t either… But it’s a heck of a lot more difficult to get into play.

The great part about this rules change?

It’s kind of how the rules should work, don’t you think?

More here:

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Kaldheim Has Had Immediate Impact on Almost Every Format

Because Valki THEORETICALLY costs only two mana, it has become a favorite target of Violent Outburst and Demonic Dread in Modern.

Of course we know that those decks aren’t in it for the relatively unassuming Valki, God of Lies. Because, of course, there is a seven mana Tibalt, Cosmic Imposter on the other side!

Modern is going to need a re-alignment because of Kaldheim… And soon. The new set has had profound deck building impacts on Standard as well (but hopefully in some less degenerate ways).

Showdown of the Skalds is Powerful and Skill-Testing

In many ways, Showdown of the Skalds is like a better Escape to the Wilds.

While it does not allow you to play extra lands, Showdown of the Skalds costs less mana. This card kind of draws four cards… But it’s so much more. It can reward you for your deck building (playing a lot of cheap creatures lets you play more cards off the top before they disappear forever)… But it also rewards careful play. Having something already down, but also saving a high number of cheap follow-up plays is going to pay off the careful Skald.

Goldspan Dragon is Contributing to Every Color

According to Patrick, the three best cards for Standard from Kaldheim are:

• Binding of the Old Gods,
• Showdown, of the Skalds, and
• Goldspan Dragon (of course)

This card does everything!

• In Izzet (and to a lesser extent, Boros) Goldspan Dragon is sets up the mana to defend itself — even when you’re theoretically tapping out
• In Temur, it teams up with Cultivate and Beanstalk Giant to start the party early… And then follow up with Genesis Ultimatum!
• In Mono-Red, Goldspan Dragon teams up with Magda… It’s conveniently a Dragon, gives you something to do with your Treasure; and even makes additional Treasure (presumably to find additional copies of Goldspan Dragon)

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