MTG Bans (Complete List Including 2026 Updates)

In the world of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), "Diversity" isn't just a buzzword; it's a survival mechanic. If one deck becomes the only viable way to win, the game stagnates. To prevent this, Wizards of the Coast maintains a living document of Banned and Restricted cards, which they update frequently.

Whether you're a Modern grinder, a Commander socialite, or an Arena Alchemy enthusiast, keeping up with these changes is mandatory.

Below is the complete list of every card currently prohibited or restricted on MTG across all major sanctioned formats as of March 2026.

1. Standard Banned List

Standard is currently in a high-velocity phase for the MTG Bans list of 2026. To keep the "Best-of-One" and "Best-of-Three" metas healthy, the following cards are prohibited.

Card Name	Notes
Abuelo's Awakening	—
Cori-Steel Cutter	—
Heartfire Hero	—
Hopeless Nightmare	—
Leyline of Resonance	Banned in MTG Arena Best-of-One only
Monstrous Rage	—
Proft's Eidetic Memory	—
Screaming Nemesis	—
This Town Ain't Big Enough	—
Up the Beanstalk	—
Vivi Ornitier	—

2. Modern Banned List

The Modern MTG banlist allows cards from Eighth Edition to the present. Because the card pool is so deep, the ban list is extensive to prevent "Turn 0" or "Turn 1" wins that bypass player interaction.

Card Name (A - G)	Card Name (H - N)	Card Name (O - Z)
Amped Raptor	Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis	Oko, Thief of Crowns
Ancient Den	Hypergenesis	Once Upon a Time
Arcum's Astrolabe	Jegantha, the Wellspring	Ponder
Birthing Pod	Krark-Clan Ironworks	Punishing Fire
Blazing Shoal	Lurrus of the Dream-Den	Rite of Flame
Bridge From Below	Mental Misstep	Seat of the Synod
Chrome Mox	Mycosynth Lattice	Second Sunrise
Cloudpost	Mystic Sanctuary	Seething Song
Dark Depths	Nadu, Winged Wisdom	Sensei's Divining Top
Deathrite Shaman		Simian Spirit Guide
Dig Through Time		Skullclamp
Dread Return		Summer Bloom
Eye of Ugin		The One Ring
Field of the Dead		Tibalt's Trickery
Fury		Treasure Cruise
Gitaxian Probe		Tree of Tales
Glimpse of Nature		Umezawa's Jitte
Golgari Grave-Troll		Underworld Breach
Great Furnace		Up the Beanstalk
Grief		Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
		Vault of Whispers
		Violent Outburst
		Yorion, Sky Nomad

3. Vintage Banned & Restricted

Vintage is the only format where "Power" is rarely a reason for a ban. Instead, cards are Restricted to one copy.

Banned in Vintage (Technical & Content Bans)

• Mechanical Bans: Chaos Orb, Falling Star, Shahrazad.
• Draft/Set Bans: 25 "Conspiracy" cards, All Sticker and Attraction cards.
• Policy Bans: 9 "Ante" cards, Racially/Culturally offensive art/text cards.

Restricted in Vintage (Max 1 Copy)

Ancestral Recall	Flash	Mox Pearl
Balance	Gitaxian Probe	Mox Ruby
Black Lotus	Golgari Grave-Troll	Mox Sapphire
Brainstorm	Gush	Mystic Forge
Chalice of the Void	Imperial Seal	Mystical Tutor
Channel	Karn, the Great Creator	Narset, Parter of Veils
Demonic Consultation	Library of Alexandria	Necropotence
Demonic Tutor	Lion's Eye Diamond	Sol Ring
Dig Through Time	Lodestone Golem	Strip Mine
Lotus Petal	Mana Crypt	Thorn of Amethyst
Mana Vault	Memory Jar	Time Vault
Mental Misstep	Merchant Scroll	Time Walk
Mind's Desire	Monastery Mentor	Timetwister
Tinker	Tolarian Academy	Treasure Cruise
Trinisphere	Urza's Saga	Vampiric Tutor
Vexing Bauble	Wheel of Fortune	Windfall
Yawgmoth's Will

4. Legacy Banned List

Legacy is the home of the "Brainstorm wars." While it allows almost everything, these cards proved too efficient for the 60-card format.

Ancestral Recall	Flash	Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Arcum's Astrolabe	Frantic Search	Sensei's Divining Top
Balance	Gitaxian Probe	Shahrazad
Bazaar of Baghdad	Goblin Recruiter	Skullclamp
Black Lotus	Grief	Sol Ring
Channel	Gush	Sowing Mycospawn
Chaos Orb	Hermit Druid	Strip Mine
Deathrite Shaman	Imperial Seal	Survival of the Fittest
Demonic Consultation	Library of Alexandria	Time Vault
Demonic Tutor	Lurrus of the Dream-Den	Time Walk
Dig Through Time	Mana Crypt	Timetwister
Dreadhorde Arcanist	Mana Drain	Tinker
Earthcraft	Mana Vault	Tolarian Academy
Entomb	Memory Jar	Treasure Cruise
Expressive Iteration	Mental Misstep	Troll of Khazad-dûm
Falling Star	Mind Twist	Underworld Breach
Fastbond	Mishra’s Workshop	Vampiric Tutor
Mox Emerald	Mox Jet	Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby	Mox Sapphire	Mystical Tutor
Nadu, Winged Wisdom	Necropotence	Oath of Druids
Oko, Thief of Crowns	Psychic Frog	Vexing Bauble
Wheel of Fortune	White Plume Adventurer	Windfall
Wrenn and Six	Yawgmoth's Bargain	Yawgmoth's Will
Zirda, the Dawnwaker

5. Commander (EDH) Banned List

The Commander list on the MTG Banned and Restricted Announcement official page focuses on preventing "fast-mana" blowouts and cards that make the social experience miserable.

Ancestral Recall	Fastbond	Lutri, the Spellchaser
Balance	Flash	Mana Crypt
Biorhythm	Golos, Tireless Pilgrim	Paradox Engine
Black Lotus	Griselbrand	Primeval Titan
Chaos Orb	Hullbreacher	Prophet of Kruphix
Channel	Iona, Shield of Emeria	Recurring Nightmare
Dockside Extortionist	Karakas	Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn	Jeweled Lotus	Shahrazad
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant	Leovold, Emissary of Trest	Sundering Titan
Falling Star	Library of Alexandria	Sylvan Primordial
Time Vault	Time Walk	Tinker
Tolarian Academy	Trade Secrets	Upheaval
Yawgmoth's Bargain	Nadu, Winged Wisdom

6. Pioneer & Pauper Banned Lists

We know this is huge, but the MTG bans are also huge, and we had to list all of them here for you. Check them now:

Pioneer Bans	Pauper Bans (Commons Only)
Amalia Benavides Aguirre	Aarakocra Sneak
Balustrade Spy	All That Glitters
Bloodstained Mire	Arcum's Astrolabe
Expressive Iteration	Atog
Felidar Guardian	Basking Broodscale
Field of the Dead	Bonder's Ornament
Flooded Strand	Chatterstorm
Geological Appraiser	Cloud of Faeries / Cloudpost
Heartfire Hero	Cranial Plating / Cranial Ram
Inverter of Truth	Daze / Deadly Dispute
Jegantha, the Wellspring	Disciple of the Vault
Karn, the Great Creator	Empty the Warrens
Kethis, the Hidden Hand	Fall from Favor
Leyline of Abundance	Frantic Search
Lurrus of the Dream-Den	Galvanic Relay
Nexus of Fate	Gitaxian Probe / Grapeshot
Oko, Thief of Crowns	Gush / High Tide
Once Upon a Time	Hymn to Tourach
Polluted Delta	Invigorate
Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord	Kuldotha Rebirth
Teferi, Time Raveler	Monastery Swiftspear
Tibalt's Trickery (Arena Bo1)	Mystic Sanctuary
Undercity Informer	Peregrine Drake
Underworld Breach	Sinkhole
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath	Sojourner's Companion
Veil of Summer	Stirring Bard
Walking Ballista	Temporal Fissure
Wilderness Reclamation	Treasure Cruise
Windswept Heath	Underdark Explorer
Winota, Joiner of Forces	Vicious Battlerager
Wooded Foothills

7. MTG Arena: Historic, Timeless, & Brawl

Arena-specific formats move faster than tabletop. Here is where the digital meta stands.

Historic

With all the others remaining as is, the latest in the MTG bans list is "Food Chain" as the official list got an update on 23 March, 2026:

• Pre-Banned: Dark Depths, Entomb, Frantic Search, Mystical Tutor.

• Fully Banned: Ajani, Nacatl Pariah, Ancient Tomb, Arid Mesa, Blood Moon, Bloodstained Mire, Brainstorm, Channel, Chrome Mox, Commandeer, Crop Rotation, Dark Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Eldrazi Temple, Field of the Dead, Flare cycle (Cultivation, Denial, Duplication, Fortitude, Malice), Flooded Strand, Food Chain, Fury, Grief, Intruder Alarm, Land Tax, Lightning Bolt, Mana Drain, Marsh Flats, Memory Lapse, Misty Rainforest, Natural Order, Necropotence, Nexus of Fate, Oko, Once Upon a Time, Polluted Delta, Ragavan, Reanimate, Scalding Tarn, Scholar of the Lost Trove, Show and Tell, Sneak Attack, Solitude, Spreading Seas, Strip Mine, Subtlety, Swords to Plowshares, Thassa's Oracle, Tibalt's Trickery, Time Warp, Uro, Veil of Summer, Verdant Catacombs, Windswept Heath, Winter Moon, Wooded Foothills.

Timeless & Brawl

• Timeless (Restricted): Channel, Demonic Tutor, Necropotence, Tibalt’s Trickery.

• Brawl (Banned): Agent of Treachery, Ancient Tomb, Chalice of the Void, Channel, Chrome Mox, Demonic Tutor, Drannith Magistrate, Field of the Dead, Gideon's Intervention, Lutri, Mana Drain, Meddling Mage, Natural Order, Nexus of Fate, Oko, Phyrexian Revoker, Pithing Needle, Runed Halo, Sorcerous Spyglass, Strip Mine, Tainted Pact, Ugin the Spirit Dragon.

8. Specialty Formats (Block, Two-Headed Giant, Oathbreaker)

• Two-Headed Giant: Erayo, Soratami Ascendant.

• Oathbreaker: Ad Nauseam, Ancestral Recall, Balance, Biorhythm, Black Lotus, Channel, Chaos Orb, Dark Ritual, Doomsday, Emrakul (Aeons Torn), Expropriate, Falling Star, Fastbond, Griselbrand, High Tide, Jeweled Lotus, Library of Alexandria, Limited Resources, Lion's Eye Diamond, Mana Crypt, Mana Geyser, Mana Vault, Moxen (All), Natural Order, Painter's Servant, Primal Surge, Saheeli the Gifted, Shahrazad, Sol Ring, Sundering Titan, Sylvan Primordial, Time Vault, Time Walk, Tinker, Tolarian Academy, Tooth and Nail, Trade Secrets, Upheaval, Yawgmoth's Bargain.

Why Do These Bans Happen?

The goal of a ban is rarely to "punish" a deck. Instead, it is to solve one of three issues:

1. Homogeneity: If every deck must run  The One Ring to be competitive, the game loses its variety.
2. Uninteractive Play: If a deck wins on Turn 2 consistently (like  Leyline of Resonance combos), players don't get to actually "play" Magic.
3. Logistics: Cards like  Shahrazad are banned simply because they make tournament rounds last five hours.

Pro-Tip: If you're building for a local event, always check if they use "House Rules"; some local game stores (LGS) allow certain "banned" cards in casual Commander pods.

Final Thoughts for the Competitive Player

MTG Banned lists can feel like a headache, but they are the reason Magic is still thriving after 30+ years. They force innovation and ensure that every tournament is a fresh puzzle to solve.

Need help replacing a banned card in your favorite deck?

Drop a comment below and let's look at some budget or meta-friendly alternatives!