May 18th Banned and Restricted Announcement

Last up to date on May 18, 2026

Flow State | Illustration by Genel Jumalon

Yet one other B&R It’s upon us, of us. We speculatedand now now we have some solutions. The banhammer has skipped Standard as soon as once more, however we have got some main adjustments to Modern, Pioneer, and even Pauper.

commonplace

Pioneer

Modern

Pauper

Alchemy

Legacy

Standard Skip

As a shock to some, WotC declined to ban (or unban) any playing cards in Standard this time round. This might shock you since Standard is filled with Izzet decks, they make up virtually 45% of the meta, however that is not the complete story.

Those decks have but to really win something, and there are nonetheless a number of distinct methods throughout the colour pair. Multiple management, landfall, and tempo methods are nonetheless successful tournaments and making prime 8s, together with Momo, 4C (Jeskai Black), Mardu Discard, and others.

It’s Pronounced “Djee-Tay”

This little sword was an absolute wrecker again within the day. It’s been banned in Modern for effectively over a decade, and it was pre-banned in Historic when it first hit MTG Arena.

Will it see play in Boros Energy? Probably not, particularly with Phlage gone, so it is gotta be OK within the format…proper?

Wrap Up

Yowza! That was loopy. Standard is filled with Izzet decks, however there’s been no ban. That is not that shocking, although, since these decks have but to say victory at a premier match and are literally 3 very distinct methods.

Several iconic Modern playing cards are actually playable as soon as extra, and for the primary time ever, Umezawa’s Jitte is unbanned.

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Eli Weinberg

Eli Weinberg is an actor, freelance author, and avid MTG participant. He hosts month-to-month Commander meetups in SoCal together with his collective Infinite Loop