Identified as a major power outlier in Historic's Boros Energy decks - a two-drop that is nearly impossible to trade against profitably, responsible for many wins on the back of its transformation and many more simply by attacking and blocking.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Edge of Eternities, following Historic's philosophy of preventing fast mana, which tends to limit viable strategies in the format.

Pre-banned for power balance reasons when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3, joining the allied Khans of Tarkir fetch lands already kept out of Historic while remaining playable in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena in the Secrets of Strixhaven Mystical Archive as a transgressive, swingy spell that violates Wizards' format heuristics on land destruction. Wizards allowed it might be acceptable for the most competitive players but did not want the effect in Historic queues at less-competitive levels.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Wilds of Eldraine's Enchanting Tales bonus sheet, one of six Enchanting Tales cards proactively banned in Historic for their raw power.

Pre-banned when Khans of Tarkir came to MTG Arena alongside the launch of Timeless; Wizards kept the fetch lands out of Historic to preserve it as a more curated, balanced format while making them legal in Timeless.

Suspended in July 2021 amid the dominance of blue-red decks fueled by Mystical Archive additions, with Brainstorm the most notable culprit. The suspension shifted the metagame in a healthier direction, so it was moved from suspended to banned.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Strixhaven's Mystical Archive bonus sheet; Wizards kept a handful of Mystical Archive cards out of Historic for power level reasons.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena as an Aetherdrift Special Guests card; Wizards noted that Moxen are generally dangerous in fair formats, so it is cautious about where it allows them to be played.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Outlaws of Thunder Junction's Breaking News bonus sheet; free spells threaten Historic's defining game pace, so Commandeer was banned to maintain it.

Wizards judged the constraints Crop Rotation places on Historic's design space to be simply too large; it had previously fueled Lotus Field Combo, and the concern grows as more powerful lands are added to MTG Arena.

Pre-banned upon its arrival on MTG Arena, never becoming legal in Historic, to avoid destabilizing the format. Wizards judged the Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage combo too consistent and noninteractive a win condition for Historic.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Strixhaven's Mystical Archive bonus sheet; Wizards kept a handful of Mystical Archive cards out of Historic for power level reasons.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena in the Secrets of Strixhaven Mystical Archive as a free counterspell widely applicable to blue decks, violating Wizards' heuristics on free spells. Wizards judged its pairing with threats like Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student and Psychic Frog too much for Historic.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Strixhaven's Mystical Archive bonus sheet; Wizards kept a handful of Mystical Archive cards out of Historic for power level reasons.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Lorwyn Eclipsed as a centerpiece of creature combo in formats like Modern (with Vizier of Remedies). Wizards said its combos might fit Historic's power band, but repeatedly activating it to generate mana makes for a poor play experience.

Eldrazi became the most dominant strategy in the high ranks of Historic, in a variety of flavors all powered by the ramp from Ugin's Labyrinth and Eldrazi Temple. Wizards banned Eldrazi Temple as the narrower of the two lands.

Pre-banned upon its arrival on MTG Arena, never becoming legal in Historic, to avoid destabilizing the format. With enablers like Persist and Necromancy available, Wizards judged it too powerful and consistent at enabling turn-two or turn-three reanimation.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena as one of Reality Fracture's Special Guests - Wizards said some of the set's secrets were simply too dangerous to be left unchecked.

Its matchups are extremely polarized, and its strength against slower decks pushed the whole format toward aggressive strategies. With new additions like Cultivate and Hour of Promise steadily raising the deck's popularity, it was banned to bring greater diversity to the Historic metagame.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena on the Arena Powered Cube bonus sheet, one of four cards Wizards kept out of Historic for their power level, ability to accelerate mana, and/or status as free spells.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic, though they remain playable in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic, though they remain playable in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic, though they remain playable in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic, though they remain playable in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic, though they remain playable in Timeless.

Pre-banned when Khans of Tarkir came to MTG Arena alongside the launch of Timeless; Wizards kept the fetch lands out of Historic to preserve it as a more curated, balanced format while making them legal in Timeless.

Its combo with Sigardian Evangel generates an arbitrarily large number of creatures, and competitive builds were already near the top of best-of-three play. Wizards banned it to keep that kind of turn-two-to-three combo out of Historic, reserving it for Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena in the Secrets of Strixhaven Mystical Archive - perhaps the most powerful counterspell ever printed, letting any deck with blue cards answer threats at any time. Wizards aims to keep Historic slow enough that Force of Will is not needed to keep proactive strategies in check.

Pre-banned upon its arrival on MTG Arena, never becoming legal in Historic, to avoid destabilizing the format. Wizards judged the effectively free spell a combo enabler whose risk should be kept out of the format.

Pre-banned when the Modern Horizons 2 evoke elementals arrived on MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic.

Banned when MTG Arena reverted its rebalanced version to the original tabletop printing (September 22, 2026). Wizards took a harder stance on Boros Energy alongside the Guide of Souls ban, calling the archetype a power outlier in Historic since its inception and too prominent in Timeless to also be as prevalent in Historic.

Pre-banned when the Modern Horizons 2 evoke elementals arrived on MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic.

Banned when MTG Arena reverted its rebalanced version to the original tabletop printing (September 22, 2026). Wizards took a harder stance on Boros Energy alongside the Galvanic Discharge ban, calling the archetype a power outlier in Historic since its inception and too prominent in Timeless to also be as prevalent in Historic.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Wilds of Eldraine's Enchanting Tales bonus sheet, one of six Enchanting Tales cards proactively banned in Historic for their raw power.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Wilds of Eldraine's Enchanting Tales bonus sheet, one of six Enchanting Tales cards proactively banned in Historic for their raw power.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena in the Secrets of Strixhaven Mystical Archive as an overall power outlier - a land offering one-mana card advantage to decks built around it. Wizards said drawing even one card off it is powerful, and many Historic strategies were poised to exploit it.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Strixhaven's Mystical Archive bonus sheet; Wizards kept a handful of Mystical Archive cards out of Historic for power level reasons.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Outlaws of Thunder Junction's Breaking News bonus sheet, which Wizards said brought some clear power outliers to the format.

Pre-banned for power balance reasons when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3, joining the allied Khans of Tarkir fetch lands already kept out of Historic while remaining playable in Timeless.

Suspended in October 2021 after emerging as nearly a must-include in high-performing blue decks and the most played nonland card in the Historic Arena Open. Blue decks in Historic remained strong, so it was officially moved from suspended to banned.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena as one of Reality Fracture's Special Guests - Wizards said some of the set's secrets were simply too dangerous to be left unchecked.

Pre-banned when The Brothers' War retro artifacts came to MTG Arena: a free, self- replacing cantrip that reduces variance and that every deck could run four of at no meaningful cost. Wizards said that would cost Historic variety in both gameplay and decklists and strictly advantage strategies that recur it.

Pre-banned for power balance reasons when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3, joining the allied Khans of Tarkir fetch lands already kept out of Historic while remaining playable in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena in Arena Anthology 2 - Wizards said it would make too much impact on Historic.

Pre-banned upon its arrival on MTG Arena, never becoming legal in Historic, to avoid destabilizing the format. Wizards judged the efficient redundancy it offers to noninteractive strategies undesirable for Historic.

Banned when MTG Arena reverted its rebalanced version to the original tabletop printing (September 22, 2026). Wizards gave no Historic-specific reason beyond noting that many rebalances were made with Historic in mind and that the reverted cards are significantly more powerful.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Strixhaven's Mystical Archive bonus sheet; Wizards kept a handful of Mystical Archive cards out of Historic for power level reasons.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Wilds of Eldraine's Enchanting Tales bonus sheet, one of six Enchanting Tales cards proactively banned in Historic for their raw power.

Nexus of Fate decks rose to become Historic's most-played deck, starving out other options and warping the format around itself with play patterns that prevent the opponent from playing at all. Already banned in best-of-one since the format's creation, it was banned outright with no prospect of safe reintroduction.

Suspended in December 2019 for having a problematic win rate and reducing format diversity, then upgraded from suspended to banned as a powerful card that is difficult to interact with in an advantageous way.

Suspended in December 2019 for having a problematic win rate and reducing format diversity, then upgraded from suspended to banned as a powerful card that is difficult to interact with in an advantageous way.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Lorwyn Eclipsed for its mostly non-interactive applications, notably a cheap, easy-to-assemble instant-win combo with Grindstone. Because both pieces are artifacts, the combo gains great consistency from tutors and recursion.

Pre-banned when Khans of Tarkir came to MTG Arena alongside the launch of Timeless; Wizards kept the fetch lands out of Historic to preserve it as a more curated, balanced format while making them legal in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena on the Arena Powered Cube bonus sheet, one of four cards Wizards kept out of Historic for their power level, ability to accelerate mana, and/or status as free spells.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena on the Arena Powered Cube bonus sheet, one of four cards Wizards kept out of Historic for their power level, ability to accelerate mana, and/or status as free spells.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with March of the Machine's Multiverse Legends bonus sheet - the only Multiverse Legends card not legal in Historic on release, though it remained playable in Historic Brawl.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Outlaws of Thunder Junction's Breaking News bonus sheet, which Wizards said brought some clear power outliers to the format.

Pre-banned for power balance reasons when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3, joining the allied Khans of Tarkir fetch lands already kept out of Historic while remaining playable in Timeless.

Banned over the extreme polarity of the Scholar combo deck, which used efficient reanimation to enable very fast, noninteractive wins, especially in best-of-one play.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena on the Arena Powered Cube bonus sheet, one of four cards Wizards kept out of Historic for their power level, ability to accelerate mana, and/or status as free spells.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Murders at Karlov Manor; with all of the set's additions to Historic, Wizards felt it was a little too powerful right out of the gate, while remaining legal in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Wilds of Eldraine's Enchanting Tales bonus sheet, one of six Enchanting Tales cards proactively banned in Historic for their raw power.

Pre-banned when the Modern Horizons 2 evoke elementals arrived on MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic.

Banned when MTG Arena reverted its rebalanced version to the original tabletop printing (September 22, 2026). Wizards called it an efficient way to cheat large Vampires into play without paying their mana costs, and chose to remove Sorin rather than act on Vein Ripper, Saint Elenda, or the next powerful Vampire.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Wilds of Eldraine's Enchanting Tales bonus sheet, one of six Enchanting Tales cards proactively banned in Historic for their raw power.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Edge of Eternities, following Historic's philosophy of preventing land destruction, which tends to limit viable strategies in the format.

Pre-banned when the Modern Horizons 2 evoke elementals arrived on MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; Wizards is cautious of cards that can be cast for free with alternative payments, believing they are too fast for Historic.

Pre-banned when it was added to the Arena Powered Cube prize packs; Wizards gave no card-specific reason.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Strixhaven's Mystical Archive bonus sheet; Wizards kept a handful of Mystical Archive cards out of Historic for power level reasons.

Banned when it came to MTG Arena, matching Historic's existing Time Warp ban. Wizards said Historic is not the place to force multiple turns in a row.

The printing of Tainted Pact turned Thassa's Oracle into a fast two-card combo that dominated high-level Historic play. Wizards banned it due to the power of the combination and the expectation it would cause more problems as Historic added new cards.

Banned when MTG Arena reverted its rebalanced version to the original tabletop printing (September 22, 2026). Wizards expected the tabletop version to become an auto-include in most Historic decks thanks to its card draw and damage prevention, threatening the format's deck diversity.

Throes of Chaos dramatically boosted the hit rate of the Tibalt's Trickery combo, raising the deck's win rate and popularity. Wizards judged it unlikely that Historic could safely include a combo of that speed and consistency.

Jeskai Turns decks built around Time Warp dominated the Strixhaven Championship, and ladder data showed the deck had very few bad matchups. Because its play patterns prevent the opponent from playing the game, Wizards banned it rather than wait for the metagame to adjust.

Decks built around Uro were the most played in Historic for a long stretch, and its steady dominance showed it was too powerful for the format. It was banned outright, without a suspension, to increase diversity at the top of the metagame.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena in the Secrets of Strixhaven Mystical Archive as a quintessential one-mana combo enabler, unmatched in speed and efficiency for decks like Reanimator and Aquatic Subtlety Combo. Wizards allowed it in Timeless but suspected it may need to be restricted there too.

Suspended in December 2019 for having a problematic win rate and reducing format diversity, then upgraded from suspended to banned as a powerful card that is difficult to interact with in an advantageous way.

Pre-banned for power balance reasons when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3, joining the allied Khans of Tarkir fetch lands already kept out of Historic while remaining playable in Timeless.

Pre-banned when Khans of Tarkir came to MTG Arena alongside the launch of Timeless; Wizards kept the fetch lands out of Historic to preserve it as a more curated, balanced format while making them legal in Timeless.

Pre-banned when it came to MTG Arena with Modern Horizons 3; it affects the opponent's lands in a way Wizards is cautious of in Historic and was judged above the format's power level threshold.

Pre-banned when Khans of Tarkir came to MTG Arena alongside the launch of Timeless; Wizards kept the fetch lands out of Historic to preserve it as a more curated, balanced format while making them legal in Timeless.