Wizards of the Coast has banned both Expressive Iteration and White Plume Adventurer from Magic: The Gathering’s Legacy format.
Izzet Delver, a Legacy mainstay, and Mono-White Initiative, newly enabled with powerful initiative cards from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate, have recently combined to make up more than 30% of the Legacy metagame. As such, Wizards is “choosing to ban one card from each deck to lower their respective win rates and metagame shares.”
In deciding to ban cards in both decks at the same time, Wizards said that they believe that “these two decks are holding each other in check, as well as stymieing additional metagame movement. Therefore, we’re choosing to impact both decks together.”
Expressive Iteration
“While we acknowledge and agree with the many Legacy players who enjoy the play patterns of Izzet Delver and similar archetypes,” Wizards said, “our data indicates a need to take the win rate and popularity of the deck down a notch to allow for more metagame diversity and innovation.”
“Our choice is to ban Expressive Iteration,” they continued, “as the card quality and quantity it provides allows Izzet Delver to easily adapt to stay on top of any changes in the metagame.”
Wizards hopes that the removal of Expressive Iteration will “reinforce Izzet Delver’s historical strengths (efficient one-for-one exchanges) and weaknesses (lack of sources of card quantity) in a way that leaves the deck more vulnerable in the metagame.”
Legacy Izzet Delver
| Ceatures (14) 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Dragon’s Rage Channeler 2 Brazen Borrower 4 Murktide Regent Spells (25) 4 Brainstorm 1 Flame Slash 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Ponder 4 Daze 4 Expressive Iteration 4 Force of Will Artifacts (2) 2 Mishra’s Bauble | Lands (19) 2 Flooded Strand 1 Island 3 Misty Rainforest 1 Mystic Sanctuary 2 Polluted Delta 2 Scalding Tarn 4 Volcanic Island 4 Wasteland Sideboard (15) 1 Meltdown 4 Pyroblast 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Blood Knight 2 Counterbalance 1 Court of Cunning 2 Force of Negation 1 True-Name Nemesis 1 Fury |
White Plume Adventurer
“Since the release of Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate, the initiative mechanic has had a large impact on the Legacy format and continues to rise in popularity,” Wizards said. “The current second most popular deck uses fast mana to power out an initiative creature, gaining an early advantage that’s difficult to recover from. To reduce the consistency and speed of this gameplay pattern, we’re choosing to ban the efficient three-mana initiative creature White Plume Adventurer.”
This isn’t the first time initiative cards from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate have been banned from one of Magic’s eternal formats. Last September, Wizards banned four Initiative cards from Pauper: Aarakocra Sneak, Stirring Bard, Underdark Explorer, and Vicious Battlerager.
Legacy Mono-White Initiative
| Creatures (22) 1 Walking Ballista 4 Archon of Emeria 2 Elite Spellbinder 4 White Plume Adventurer 2 Palace Jailer 4 Seasoned Dungeoneer 1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines 4 Solitude Spells (8) 4 Swords to Plowshares 4 Emeria’s Call Artifacts (8) 4 Chrome Mox 4 Lotus Petal Enchantments (4) 4 Touch the Spirit Realm | Lands +4 MDFCs (18) 4 Ancient Tomb 4 Cavern of Souls 4 City of Traitors 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire 2 Karakas 2 Plains Sideboard (15) 4 Chalice of the Void 2 Empty-Shrine Kannushi 2 Containment Priest 2 Aven Mindcensor 3 Faerie Macabre 1 Loran of the Third Path 1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines |