Magic: The Gathering Banned And Restricted Card Lists

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: March 11, 2024, banning Violent Outburst in Modern and unrestricting Ponder. The next Banned and Restricted announcement will take place on May 13, 2024.