Blake Rasmussen and Gavin Verhey hosted today’s episode of Weekly MTG and unveiled the Pauper Banned & Restricted announcement, revealed the Aquarius Secret Lair Drop, and announced the release delay for Unfinity.
The duo started things off stating that due to ongoing supply chain issues, the release of Unfinity will be delayed until the second half of 2022. The set was originally slated to come out on April 1. Rasmussen said that no other sets should be delayed. Read the official announcement from Wizards of the Coast.
Next, Verhey delivered the Pauper news. With the announcement of the formation of the Pauper Format Panel last week, the group got to work and banned three cards: Atog, Bonder’s Ornament and Prophetic Prism.
Verhey explained that Affinity was the most played deck by more than double in the format and offered undesirable play patterns. While the panel looked at the bridges from Modern Horizons 2, Disciple of the Vault, and Deadly Dispute as possible targets. they landed on only Atog so that the deck can live on in different forms.
While Tron doesn’t boast the highest play rate, it did post a higher win rate than Affinity in Magic Online leagues. Verhey specified that the deck had almost no bad matchups after sideboarding, so some action needed to be taken. The panel wound up on the two cards the deck plays that allows it to play spells of all colors. Other cards they looked at included Moment’s Peace, Mystical Teachings, Crop Rotation, Ghostly Flicker, and Ephemerate.
The bans will go live tomorrow on Magic Online, so the weekend’s Challenges will offer a fresh format for competitive players. Read the official announcement from WotC here and check out the Good Morning Magic video by Verhey that elaborates on the decisions. Rasmussen also said that there will be a scheduled Banned & Restricted List announced on Tuesday that will cover all other formats.
Rasmussen and Verhey also showed off the second sign in the Astrology Lands Secret Lair series. Check out the Aquarius drop, featuring an Island illustrated by Jeanne D’Angelo.
The Astrology Lands: Aquarius is available in four different order options. The non-foil edition includes five Islands for $29.99 while the foil edition costs $39.99. Foil and non-foil bundles are available that include five copies of the drop, costing $119.99 for non-foil and $159.99 for foil. Orders will be available at the Secret Lair site.