Banned and Restricted Announcement - June 29, 2026
Wizards of the Coast announced new card bans affecting Legacy, Pauper, and Canadian Highlander in their June 29, 2026 update. Standard, Pioneer, and Modern remain untouched as their metagames continue to evolve naturally.
- Candelabra of Tawnos is banned in Legacy.
- Seeker of Skybreak is banned in Pauper.
- Six cards, including Force of Will, are banned in Canadian Highlander.
- No changes were made to Standard, Pioneer, or Modern.
Standard, Pioneer, and Modern Hold Steady
The competitive landscape across constructed formats remains healthy following recent adjustments. Standard has reached an impressively diverse state with multiple deck archetypes taking down major tournaments. High-performing options like Four-Color Control, Mardu Discard, Azorius Momo, and Dimir Excruciator have successfully carved out positions alongside dominant strategies utilizing Badgermole Cub and Izzet shells. Despite concerns over early-game speed, the presence of new tools like Tablet of Discovery has kept the metagame fluid.
Pioneer and Modern are similarly showing promising trends. The ban of Cori-Steel Cutter helped stabilize Pioneer's ecosystem, while Modern continues to adapt well following earlier bans. Modern Affinity has surged in popularity utilizing tools like Kappa Cannoneer and Weapons Manufacturing, while decks running Quantum Riddler, Consign to Memory, or Teferi, Time Raveler are holding their own. Unbanning Violent Outburst has reinvigorated Living End without overpowering the format.
With Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes approaching, the design team decided against intervention in these formats to allow players to naturally combat top-tier strategies using established sideboard options.
Legacy Target: Candelabra of Tawnos
In Legacy, action was required to address the rise of Colorless Tron decks. These builds leveraged fast mana and land untapping engines to dominate high-level tournaments, including taking both top spots in a recent Showcase Challenge. Rather than targeting lands, the play design group chose to remove the ultimate combo accelerator from the format.
Candelabra of Tawnos has officially been banned in Legacy. The artifact enables degenerative turns and leaves very little room for counterplay when combined with lands that generate extra mana. Banning it allows Tron strategies using cards like Planar Nexus to exist at a more reasonable power level.
The rest of Legacy remains dynamic, with Reanimator, Sneak Attack, and various white aggro options thriving. Designers noted they are keeping a watchful eye on Flow State and The Fantasticar across Eternal formats, but no further bans were necessary today.
Pauper Banning and Canadian Highlander Overhaul
Pauper has seen the removal of Seeker of Skybreak to prevent repetitive, highly resilient infinite untap combos that detracted from interactive gameplay. Eliminating this creature forces combo players to seek less efficient routes while preserving format health.
Canadian Highlander received a massive shakeup aimed at curbing high-efficiency countermagic, free spells, and extra turn engines. A total of six cards were banned: Force of Will, Subtlety, Wash Away, Ugin's Labyrinth, Time Warp, and Temporal Manipulation.
These target bans aim to reduce the stifling presence of low-cost interaction and repetitive extra-turn loops, opening up space for creative deck construction across the Canadian Highlander scene.
