One Of Four New 2022 Challenger Decks Contains Banned Card

Wizards of the Coast (WotC) revealed the four 2022 Challenger Decks set to be released on April 1, but the inclusion of three copies of a banned card in one of them is no April Fools’ Joke.

The 75-card Standard decks are ready to play out of the box at competitive local events. The four decks include: Mono-White Aggro, Dimir Control, Gruul Stompy, and Rakdos Vampires. The Mono-White Aggro deck contains three copies of Faceless Haven, which was banned in Standard on January 25, along with Alrund’s Epiphany and Divide by Zero. The contents of the decks were set before the Banned & Restricted List update, leaving WotC in a tough spot. This situation happened to come up many years ago with the War of Attrition Event Deck from New Phyrexia, which included two copies of Stoneforge Mystic. The solution then, and what will be used now, is the banned card can be played only if the deck matches the exact 75 from the Challenger Deck in tabletop play.

Check out the lists for the four decks below.

Mono-White Aggro

Mono-White Aggro❄ Challenger Deck

Wizards of the Coast

1st Place at Test deck on 02-08-2022

Standard

Creatures (30)

• 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 2 Skyclave Apparition
• 4 Luminarch Aspirant
• 4 Codespell Cleric
• 4 Clarion Spirit
• 4 Usher of the Fallen
• 2 Reidane, God of the Worthy
• 3 Elite Spellbinder
• 4 Monk of the Open Hand
• 1 Intrepid Adversary

Lands (23)

• 20 Snow-Covered Plains
• 3 Faceless Haven

Spells (7)

• 2 Kabira Takedown
• 3 Paladin Class
• 2 Fateful Absence

Sideboard

• 2 Maul of the Skyclaves
• 2 Portable Hole
• 2 Loyal Warhound
• 2 Sungold Sentinel
• 3 Cathar Commando
• 2 Selfless Samurai
• 2 Imperial Recovery Unit

Dimir Control

Dimir Control Challenger Deck

Wizards of the Coast

1st Place at Test deck on 02-08-2022

Standard

Creatures (6)

• 2 Iymrith, Desert Doom
• 3 Graveyard Trespasser
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror

Lands (26)

• 5 Snow-Covered Island
• 7 Snow-Covered Swamp
• 2 Evolving Wilds
• 2 Field of Ruin
• 4 Ice Tunnel
• 2 Hall of Storm Giants
• 4 Shipwreck Marsh

Spells (28)

• 2 Hero's Downfall
• 2 Jwari Disruption
• 3 Saw It Coming
• 3 Blood on the Snow
• 3 Crippling Fear
• 2 Baleful Mastery
• 3 Power Word Kill
• 1 Infernal Grasp
• 4 Memory Deluge
• 2 Thirst for Discovery
• 2 Parasitic Grasp
• 1 March of Wretched Sorrow

Sideboard

• 2 Duress
• 2 Negate
• 2 Bloodchief's Thirst
• 1 Saw It Coming
• 2 Ray of Enfeeblement
• 2 Siphon Insight
• 2 Bloodvial Purveyor
• 2 Mischievous Catgeist

Gruul Stompy

Gruul Stompy Challenger Deck

Wizards of the Coast

1st Place at Test deck on 02-08-2022

Standard

Creatures (22)

• 4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
• 1 Goldspan Dragon
• 4 Jaspera Sentinel
• 4 Briarbridge Tracker
• 2 Tovolar's Huntmaster
• 2 Halana and Alena, Partners
• 3 Ulvenwald Oddity
• 2 Twinshot Sniper

Lands (6)

• 2 Lair of the Hydra
• 4 Rockfall Vale

Spells (32)

• 10 Forest
• 8 Mountain
• 4 Abrade
• 1 Thundering Rebuke
• 4 Snakeskin Veil
• 4 Ranger Class
• 1 Light Up the Night

Sideboard

• 3 Thundering Rebuke
• 1 Froghemoth
• 3 Burning Hands
• 2 Tovolar, Dire Overlord
• 2 Lantern of the Lost
• 2 Kappa Tech-Wrecker
• 2 Twinshot Sniper

Rakdos Vampires

Rakdos Vampires

Wizards of the Coast

1st Place at Test deck on 02-08-2022

Standard

Creatures (25)

• 4 Immersturm Predator
• 2 Vampire Socialite
• 2 Florian, Voldaren Scion
• 4 Voldaren Bloodcaster
• 2 Dominating Vampire
• 1 Henrika Domnathi
• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 4 Voldaren Epicure
• 2 Sokenzan Smelter

Lands (18)

• 7 Swamp
• 4 Bloodfell Caves
• 2 Blightstep Pathway
• 2 Den of the Bugbear
• 3 Voldaren Estate

Spells (17)

• 6 Mountain
• 1 Village Rites
• 2 Infernal Grasp
• 2 Oni-Cult Anvil
• 2 Mukotai Soulripper
• 4 Voltage Surge

Sideboard

• 3 Duress
• 4 Abrade
• 2 Callous Bloodmage
• 1 Infernal Grasp
• 2 Anje, Maid of Dishonor
• 3 Falkenrath Forebear

The decks will be available worldwide in English. German, French, and Japanese languages will be available in their respective regions. The decks contain 60-card main decks, 15-card sideboards, and come with appropriate tokens.

Read the original article from WotC.