EMERGENCY Standard Bans: Turn Three One-Shot Combo Banned on MTG Arena

Last updated on October 23, 2024

Leyline of Resonance | Illustration by Sergey Glushakov

In a surprise Banned and Restricted Announcement, Wizards of the Coast has banned Leyline of Resonance, but only on MTG Arena in best-of-one Standard and all of Alchemy. This is the second time ever that WotC has banned a card in Arena-only Standard, with the first being Nexus of Fate in 2019.

This addition to the ban list has come from out of nowhere. The next announcement wasn't scheduled until mid-December, marking this the first emergency ban and restricted announcement this year.

WotC explained that while they love “fast and fun Magic,” this combo disrupted normal play and was instead just “fast without the fun.”

They also confirmed that the data collected since Duskmourn‘s release indicated that “The number of Best-of-One Standard Constructed games ending before turn four has essentially doubled” and that they “didn't feel comfortable waiting until December 16 to make this change.”

How Does the Combo Work?

The target, Leyline of Resonance, is a critical combo piece in a popular one-shot that can occur as early as turn 2. The combo involves attacking for well over 20 damage using Turn Inside Out and Heartfire Hero.

Source

There are even different variations to the combo that are all either lethal or do just under 20 damage as early as turn two! Thanks to the high number of potential opening hands and the combo's redundancy, it's no surprise that twice as many games have ended in the first three turns since Duskmourn‘s release.

However, the data specifically points to issues in best-of-one matches, not best-of-three. This card doesn't have the same potency post-sideboard or without the hand-smoothing algorithm that comes in best-of-one. As a result, WotC have made the decision to restrict this ban to MTG Arena's best-of-one format only, and not any best-of-three or paper play.

Nexus of Fate and Looking Ahead

Nexus of Fate | Illustration by Mike Bierek

The last time that Wizards of the Coast made an emergency ban announcement like this one was all the way back in 2019 for Nexus of Fate. Similarly to the situation with Leyline of Resonance, Nexus of Fate was not just an incredibly powerful card, but a uniquely one-sided and un-fun card that created annoying gameplay loops.

When you look at these two cases, it's clear that the straw that breaks WotC's back is when a card is not just incredibly dominant in a meta, but when that card is particuarly unfun or creates unfun gameplay situations that result in less Magic being played.

It's also clear that WotC is much more likely to pull the trigger on these one-off emergency bans when the scope of the ban is limited to MTG Arena or best-of-one. Nadu, Winged Wisdom created similarly unfun and unskippable gameplay loops in Modern and dominated the meta and tournament structure, but it remained legal until the next scheduled Banned and Restricted announcement.

So, while some may see this as a positive indicator that Wizards of the Coast is feeling more comfortable with breaking the emergency glass in dire situations, the history of their actions and stated reasoning tell a different story.