MTG

Gotta love an announcement of an announcement 😜 Judging from TCGPkayer listings it looks like a lot of people think Fury is getting banned in Modern which I’d be totally in favor of.

I didn’t watch the Weekly MTG stream but they apparently went pretty in depth on thoughts which is kinda cool. Here’s a comprehensive summary from someone else FWIW:

overview on b&r philosophy

• next ban window dec 4
• non-rotation windows are for all non-standard formats. no plans to majorly change standard until rotation happens
  • exception reserved for felidar guardian ofc
• major philosophy for all formats is "fun, replayability, variety of decks"
• fun is the first priority, data points:
  • discussion with players/wotc
  • playtesting and watching results
  • asking different kinds of players
• when they discuss b&r, there is a meeting with format experts that look at what's fun and not fun, and also open threads about individual cards/items. they discuss in a group meeting about said cards, and ask in a larger discussion group about potential packages and ripple effects if particular cards get banned
• a lot of consideration given to when tournaments are happening when it comes to considering b&r - they want to avoid rug pulls, but there's a line. want to avoid making players scramble ahead of big changes
  • "maybe [scam] was close but not quite over it, it's a bit subjective"
  • (regarding pio changes upcoming) "we're trying to minimize impact", and this stream is also a way to help ease that change
• "we have considered [functional errata] at times, but it is a nuclear option"
• (regarding how much product sales factor into b&r)
  • "I would say very little, again our main goal with the format is that they're fun and replayable and you enjoy doing them"
  • "fun is paramount over what the booster pack de jour is; point to omnath, point to oko"
  • maximizing fun for the most amount of people (net fun e.g land destruction)

pioneer

• pioneer is the one most effected by standard releases, given there isn't additional supplements are printed into it. since there isn't a direct endpoint, these changes are going to be looking to care take the format.
• discussing monoG, possibly discover combo decks. discussed t3 kills
• mentioned that WOE didn't change much for pio, but LCI was a huge shift
• there will be pioneer ban(s)
• there will be pioneer unban(s)

modern

• with modern, preordain unban went well and they might be trying to find more opportunities for unban. given direct print sets + standard, the format has more oomph which is intentional. they have been actively tracking LTR cards and scam since PT barcelona, and wanted to wait and see what evolved after that (scam still dominant)
• discussing fury, undying effects, beans, OBM - lots of discussion on gatekeeping 1 toughness
• they hear "free splinter twin", but they consider it to be too much of a risk. "some people have fun with it, but more people don't"
• there will be modern ban(s)

legacy/vintage

• legacy/vintage bans look at community first and foremost. winrates are looked at, but what community is finding fun/unfun is very very important
• lots of discussion on legacy deck variety, and how formats stand out from each other
• seem to be enjoying vintage a lot, they bring up the fact that there aren't really enough players to explore the format fully
• keeping an eye on eternal weekend
• no changes for legacy
• no changes for vintage

historic

• we'll learn more about fetches next week (either mon/tue) from the arena team

misc

• sept 8 b&r shouldn't have happened - weird timelines/cadence, team didn't have enough time to think about it and not enough data (middle of season), wanted to see full picture before taking actions - didn't want to kneejerk react to barcelona. Blake specifically fucked this up (he keeps the calendar) and he says it was his fault that went out at all
• modern RCQ season has been most attended since starting RCQs
• (paper) standard play rates are at their highest since the pandemic
• they want to do these sorts of public talks (either on stream or at minimum an article) more frequently, especially during the large rotational b&r
• they discussed errata, restriction, and "pair banning" saheeli + felidar guardian back when they were in standard

There will not only be bans for pioneer, but also unbans! I have no clue what they're thinking of unbanning, it'll be an interesting b&r for sure

I for one welcome a ban or two :P