Wizards of the Coast (WotC), maker of Magic: The Gathering, bans cards when they are too powerful for a format or not fun to play against. These bans help keep players enjoying the game.
WotC maintains Banned and Restricted (B&R) lists for all formats with officially sanctioned play. In addition, the Commander Rules Committee maintains a B&R list for the Commander format.
Players cannot use banned cards at all in the formats that ban them. Vintage also has restricted cards. Players can use only one copy of a restricted card anywhere in a deck (maindeck or sideboard).
This page lists the banned and restricted cards for major Magic formats you might find at in-person events such as SCG CON. For the complete B&R lists, including for online-only formats such as Explorer, Historic, and Alchemy, please visit the WotC website.
Latest update: December 16, 2024 banning Jegantha, the Wellspring in Pioneer and Modern, The One Ring, Amped Raptor in Modern, Psychic Frog, Vexing Bauble in Legacy. Mox Opal, Green Sun’s Zenith, Faithless Looting, and Splinter Twin are all unbanned in Modern. The next Banned & Restricted announcement is scheduled for March 31, 2025.
Find Your Format
Commander
Banned Cards
- The 25 cards with the “Conspiracy” type.
- The nine cards that refer to “playing for ante.”
- The seven cards banned by WotC as “racially or culturally offensive.”
- Ancestral Recall
- Balance
- Biorhythm
- Black Lotus
- Braids, Cabal Minion
- Channel
- Chaos Orb
- Coalition Victory
- Dockside Extortionist
- Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
- Falling Star
- Fastbond
- Flash
- Gifts Ungiven
- Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
- Griselbrand
- Hullbreacher
- Iona, Shield of Emeria
- Jeweled Lotus
- Karakas
- Leovold, Emissary of Trest
- Library of Alexandria
- Limited Resources
- Lutri, the Spellchaser
- Mana Crypt
- Mox Emerald
- Mox Jet
- Mox Pearl
- Mox Ruby
- Mox Sapphire
- Nadu, Winged Wisdom
- Panoptic Mirror
- Paradox Engine
- Primeval Titan
- Prophet of Kruphix
- Recurring Nightmare
- Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
- Shahrazad
- Sundering Titan
- Sway of the Stars
- Sylvan Primordial
- Time Vault
- Time Walk
- Tinker
- Tolarian Academy
- Trade Secrets
- Upheaval
- Yawgmoth’s Bargain
Legacy
Banned Cards
- The 25 cards with the “Conspiracy” type.
- The nine cards that refer to “playing for ante.”
- The seven cards banned by WotC as “racially or culturally offensive.”
- The 36 cards that bring a sticker into the game.
- The 20 cards that bring an Attraction into the game.
- Ancestral Recall
- Arcum’s Astrolabe
- Balance
- Bazaar of Baghdad
- Black Lotus
- Channel
- Chaos Orb
- Deathrite Shaman
- Demonic Consultation
- Demonic Tutor
- Dig Through Time
- Dreadhorde Arcanist
- Earthcraft
- Expressive Iteration
- Falling Star
- Fastbond
- Flash
- Frantic Search
- Gitaxian Probe
- Goblin Recruiter
- Grief
- Gush
- Hermit Druid
- Imperial Seal
- Library of Alexandria
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den
- Mana Crypt
- Mana Drain
- Mana Vault
- Memory Jar
- Mental Misstep
- Mind Twist
- Mishra’s Workshop
- Mox Emerald
- Mox Jet
- Mox Pearl
- Mox Ruby
- Mox Sapphire
- Mystical Tutor
- Necropotence
- Oath of Druids
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Psychic Frog
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- Sensei’s Divining Top
- Shahrazad
- Skullclamp
- Sol Ring
- Strip Mine
- Survival of the Fittest
- Time Vault
- Time Walk
- Timetwister
- Tinker
- Tolarian Academy
- Treasure Cruise
- Underworld Breach
- Vampiric Tutor
- Vexing Bauble
- Wheel of Fortune
- White Plume Adventurer
- Windfall
- Wrenn and Six
- Yawgmoth’s Bargain
- Yawgmoth’s Will
- Zirda, the Dawnwaker
Modern
Banned Cards
- Amped Raptor
- Ancient Den
- Arcum’s Astrolabe
- Birthing Pod
- Blazing Shoal
- Bridge from Below
- Chrome Mox
- Cloudpost
- Dark Depths
- Deathrite Shaman
- Dig Through Time
- Dread Return
- Eye of Ugin
- Field of the Dead
- Fury
- Gitaxian Probe
- Glimpse of Nature
- Golgari Grave-Troll
- Great Furnace
- Grief
- Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
- Hypergenesis
- Jegantha, the Wellspring
- Krark-Clan Ironworks
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den
- Mental Misstep
- Mycosynth Lattice
- Mystic Sanctuary
- Nadu, Winged Wisdom
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Once Upon a Time
- Ponder
- Punishing Fire
- Rite of Flame
- Seat of the Synod
- Second Sunrise
- Seething Song
- Sensei’s Divining Top
- Simian Spirit Guide
- Skullclamp
- Summer Bloom
- Tibalt’s Trickery
- The One Ring
- Treasure Cruise
- Tree of Tales
- Umezawa’s Jitte
- Up the Beanstalk
- Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
- Vault of Whispers
- Violent Outburst
- Yorion, Sky Nomad
Pauper
Banned Cards
- All cards that bring a sticker into the game.
- All cards that bring an Attraction into the game.
- Aarakocra Sneak
- All That Glitters
- Arcum’s Astrolabe
- Atog
- Bonder’s Ornament
- Chatterstorm
- Cloud of Faeries
- Cloudpost
- Cranial Plating
- Daze
- Disciple of the Vault
- Empty the Warrens
- Fall from Favor
- Frantic Search
- Galvanic Relay
- Gitaxian Probe
- Grapeshot
- Gush
- High Tide
- Hymn to Tourach
- Invigorate
- Monastery Swiftspear
- Mystic Sanctuary
- Peregrine Drake
- Prophetic Prism
- Sinkhole
- Sojourner’s Companion
- Stirring Bard
- Temporal Fissure
- Treasure Cruise
- Underdark Explorer
- Vicious Battlerager
Pioneer
Banned Cards
- Amalia Benavides Aguirre
- Balustrade Spy
- Bloodstained Mire
- Expressive Iteration
- Felidar Guardian
- Field of the Dead
- Flooded Strand
- Geological Appraiser
- Inverter of Truth
- Jegantha, the Wellspring
- Karn, the Great Creator
- Kethis, the Hidden Hand
- Leyline of Abundance
- Lurrus of the Dream-Den
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Once Upon a Time
- Polluted Delta
- Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord
- Teferi, Time Raveler
- Undercity Informer
- Underworld Breach
- Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
- Veil of Summer
- Walking Ballista
- Wilderness Reclamation
- Windswept Heath
- Winota, Joiner of Forces
- Wooded Foothills
Standard
Banned Cards
There are currently no banned cards in Standard. All previously banned cards rotated out with the August 2, 2024 Standard rotation.
Vintage
Banned Cards
- The 25 cards with the “Conspiracy” type.
- The nine cards that refer to “playing for ante.”
- The seven cards banned by WotC as “racially or culturally offensive.”
- The 36 cards that bring a sticker into the game.
- The 20 cards that bring an Attraction into the game.
- Chaos Orb
- Falling Star
- Shahrazad
Restricted Cards
- Ancestral Recall
- Balance
- Black Lotus
- Brainstorm
- Chalice of the Void
- Channel
- Demonic Consultation
- Demonic Tutor
- Dig Through Time
- Flash
- Gitaxian Probe
- Golgari Grave-Troll
- Gush
- Imperial Seal
- Karn, the Great Creator
- Library of Alexandria
- Lion’s Eye Diamond
- Lodestone Golem
- Lotus Petal
- Mana Crypt
- Mana Vault
- Memory Jar
- Mental Misstep
- Merchant Scroll
- Mind’s Desire
- Monastery Mentor
- Mox Emerald
- Mox Jet
- Mox Pearl
- Mox Ruby
- Mox Sapphire
- Mystic Forge
- Mystical Tutor
- Narset, Parter of Veils
- Necropotence
- Sol Ring
- Strip Mine
- Thorn of Amethyst
- Time Vault
- Time Walk
- Timetwister
- Tinker
- Tolarian Academy
- Treasure Cruise
- Trinisphere
- Urza’s Saga
- Vampiric Tutor
- Vexing Bauble
- Wheel of Fortune
- Windfall
- Yawgmoth’s Will