Old School MTG: Why Are Cards Banned and Restricted in Old School MTG? Part 4

In this part of the series, let's take a look at the categories of cards that are on the banned and restricted list and how they are grouped. There is not a unified banned and restricted list for all Old School formats, but there is a general consensus around many of the cards that appear on the various lists. This series of posts is about why these cards appear on these lists and how nostalgia plays a role in those inconsistent decisions.

Banned Cards

We do not use ante for organized tournament play. All cards that reference ante are banned.

• Bronze Tablet
• Contract from Below
• Darkpact
• Demonic Attorney
• Jeweled Bird
• Rebirth
• Tempest Efreet

Note: Ante cards are banned simply because players generally agree that playing with ante is unfun, despite it being part of the game when it was originally designed.

Fast Mana

Cards that allow players to work around the “one land per turn” rule can lead to games that are inherently unbalanced by reducing the opportunity for counterplay. Cards in this category are restricted.

• Black Lotus
• Mox Emerald
• Mox Jet
• Mox Pearl
• Mox Ruby
• Mox Sapphire
• Sol Ring

Card Advantage

Individual cards that allow players to work around the “one card drawn per turn,” especially at rates that are wildly unbalanced to the cost, can lead to games that are inherently unbalanced by reducing the opportunity for counterplay. This includes cards that produce the inverse effect (e.g. Mind Twist). Cards in this category are restricted.

• Ancestral Recall
• Braingeyser
• Library of Alexandria
• Mind Twist

Restricted Card Access/Reuse

Cards that allow players to work around the “restricted card” rule by effectively granting access to more copies of these cards can lead to games that are inherently unbalanced by reducing the opportunity for counterplay. These cards are restricted.

• Demonic Tutor
• Regrowth

Ubiquitous

Cards that would otherwise appear in every deck and reduce the opportunity for deck and playstyle diversity are restricted.

• Chaos Orb

Note: The same argument can be made for a card like Mishra's Factory, a colorless land that appears as a four-of in many decks in the format.

Degenerate Combinations with Other Cards

Cards that are not problematic individually, but where in combination lead to uninteractive games, reduce the opportunity for counterplay, or lead to a low effective winning turn are restricted. The issue is with consistency of producing the degenerate effect. Through restriction, these degenerate combinations manifest less frequently. 

• Balance
• Channel
• Mana Drain
• Time Vault
• Time Walk
• Timetwister
• Wheel of Fortune

Card-by-card explanation of Degenerate Cards

Balance - Control-style decks can engineer game states where Balance becomes a Wrath of God and Mind Twist for a total of 2 mana. In multiples, the card can be used in combination with fast mana and The Rack to create a deck with a low effective winning turn.

Channel - In combination with fast mana and X-costed direct damage spells, Channel can be used to create a deck with a low effective winning turn.

Mana Drain - Control-style decks can use Mana Drain to counter a strong threat and then use the mana on the following turn to effectively win the game.

Time Vault - In combination with Twiddle, Time Vault can be used to take multiple turns in a row. This combination of cards produces an overwhelming amount of card advantage with no opportunity for counterplay.

Time Walk - This card is undercosted for the effect. At worst, it replaces itself and provides a full untap for a total of 2 mana. At best, it can be used in combination with other cards to produce multiple turns in a row with limited opportunity for counterplay. It also effectively breaks the “one land per turn” rule at a very low cost, albeit by giving the player more than one turn in which to play lands.

Timetwister - In combination with fast mana, this card can be used to reduce the effective winning turn for one player with limited opportunity for counterplay. If this card is cast early in the game, it is also possible to effectively stop your opponent from playing depending on the cards they have redrawn. Consider a turn 1 Timetwister on the play in combination with fast mana. The opponent redraws a new hand of 7 cards that may not contain a playable spell/mana mix. In this case, the opportunity for a mulligan has already passed, locking the opponent into that hand and producing an effective win for the caster.

Wheel of Fortune - Similar to Timetwister, this card in combination with fast mana can reduce the effective winning turn for one player with limited opportunity for counterplay. 

Why Are Cards Banned and Restricted in Old School MTG: Part 1
Why Are Cards Banned and Restricted in Old School MTG: Part 2
Why Are Cards Banned and Restricted in Old School MTG: Part 3

Why Are Cards Banned and Restricted in Old School MTG: Part 4