MTG Ban Update Adds More Cards, but Standard Still Stays Unchanged

The latest round of Magic: The Gathering card restrictions is live, bringing eight additional cards under the ban hammer across three different play formats. Brawl is getting hit the hardest this time, with six cards added to its list.

As has been the pattern in recent ban updates, the most notable outcome is that Standard remains untouched—no new cards are being removed from the format. That’s true even as players continue to push for changes aimed at curbing deck pressure from strategies like Izzet Prowess, along with ongoing annoyance around cards and mechanics such as Badgermole Cub and Earthbend.

The Memes Begin As Standard Receives No Bans, Again

Community reaction didn’t take long. Within minutes, players on Reddit were already joking that “Standard is thriving,” while another comment labeled the situation “embarrassing,” pointing out that not a single card has been banned from the format this round.

To be fair, it’s getting increasingly difficult to square the lack of Standard action with the current competitive landscape. Izzet Prowess keeps showing up at the top tables, and while most people didn’t expect a sweeping Standard overhaul, the expectation was that at least a couple of cards—somewhere around the two to three mark—might end up on the chopping block.

MTG ban updates are usually scheduled every four to six weeks, but there’s no promise that bans will actually land in every format during the year. At the current pace, it’s looking possible that Standard could go the entire stretch of 2026 without any bans at all.

Badgermole Cub is among the cards discussed this cycle, though it has no direct connection to Izzet Prowess. The two-mana creature (1G, 1C) enters the battlefield and triggers Earthbend for one, transforming a land into a 1/1 creature that can still be used for mana. After that, the Cub also doubles the mana you can generate from mana dorks, meaning it can supercharge ramp strategies. In the right builds—especially ones that can search their deck for creature cards such as Ouroboroid—this kind of ramp plan becomes a headache for opponents to deal with.

Still, there’s a counterpoint. Some players argue that the real issue with these decks shows up mostly in Standard best-of-one, where there’s less room to respond. In best-of-three matches, they say, it’s easier to adjust and answer the most dangerous threats from those archetypes. Whichever side you land on, one thing is clear: the loudest voices in the community are increasingly frustrated by the ongoing lack of bans and by the continued strength of a select set of strategies.

The most recent Standard card ban happened in November 2025, when Vivi Ornithier, Screaming Nemesis, and Proft’s Eidetic Memory were removed from the format.

Brawl Sees Six Bans Following Competitive Launch

The format seeing the most changes in this update is Brawl. The following cards are being removed from the casual, Arena-only version of the format.

• Force of Will
• Subtlety
• Wash Away
• Ugin’s Labyrinth
• Time Warp
• Temporal Manipulation

It shouldn’t be surprising to see these cards targeted in casual Brawl. They’re all extremely strong picks that can swing games hard when they line up with the right decks and combinations. Much like the distinction between Commander and cEDH, Brawl is intended to be a more relaxed, entertaining format rather than a purely optimized competitive battleground. Running into constant availability of top-tier power cards clashes with that casual philosophy.

Looking ahead, it’s expected that Brawl and Competitive Brawl will be handled differently on future ban lists, reflecting the split in what players are trying to get out of each mode. The expectation is that the most powerful cards and combo lines should remain in the Competitive format unless they become outright game-breaking.