MTG B&R Update

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

Yesterday's much anticipated Ban and Restricted Announcement brought no changes at all to Magic: the Gathering fans.  To some, this was welcome news while others are vocal about the domination of standard constructed by two decklists - that of Mardu Vechicles and and the Saheeli combo.

Personally, we thought the January Banned and Restricted announcement hitting Reflector Mage was pretty much spot on, but this delivered a real kick in the kackers to Smuggler's Copter pilots who we think was unjustified as there were answers for.  Although quite impossible to prognosticate accurately, we think standard would indeed be a much more diverse environment if the Copter were still with us.

To that end, we do not think there are many good answers to the Saheeli Rai / Felidar Guardian combo which wins games on turn 4 quite regularily.  Other than getting an Authority of the Consuls out early or having a fog effect (like Commencement of Festivities) immediately followed up with a board-wipe (like Fumigate) the chances of surviving until the next turn is slim to none, and Slim just left Town.


We are hopeful that this does breed creativity but do fear that diversity is not to be found until Amonkhet is released.  Further reading is encouraged - pop on over to Matt Sperling's article over on ChannelFireball.  While there, also have a look at this week's Standard Format Power Rankings.

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