Monday, January 13th saw the banning of Oko, Thief of Crowns; Mox Opal; and Mycosynth Lattice in Modern. This announcement was welcomed by cheers and jeers from the community, as well as more than one Oko meme. Oko has already proven himself a hazard to Standard, Brawl, and Pioneer. Mox Opal has long dodged bannings despite a very vocal populace calling for it. Mycosynth Lattice was a bit of a surprise for me, as I had not thought the decks running it were overly oppressive.
My previous article on the new Planeswalker grossly underestimated his power. I thought it was funny that he got put into a meme deck that actually put up results. But as time moved on, he showed up more and more, completely blanking Burn, shutting down Death’s Shadow, and producing artifacts for Urza. This last one was even mentioned by name in the official Banned and Restricted announcement Wizards put out. The Oko jokes continue, with the Professor (@TolarianCollege) tongue-in-cheek calling for his banning in Pauper.
Mox Opal. The UG Urza deck Oko showed up in was also mentioned in the reasoning for this banning. Not only is it free, fast mana but pushes up storm count, contributes to its own Metalcraft, and is used is many oppressive strategies. Its $100 price tag had many calling for a reprint, as even after it was put in Modern Masters 2 it still rose in price. Its Modern ban and the end of Masters sets means that it is very unlikely to see a reprint, though the price has dropped over the past few days. For you Commander players, wait a few months for the price to stabilize before picking them up.
Mycosynth Lattice is a fun card. Before the introduction of Karn, the Great Creator in War of the Spark, it was relegated to jank brews locking down the board with Stony Silence or blowing up lands with Ancient Grudge. However, because Karn was printed, Eldrazi, Tron, and Urza lists have thrown them both into the maindeck with little cost, and even freed up a sideboard slot in case you draw Karn before the Lattice. This high power with little cost allowed these decks to oppress the metagame without too much effort and the banning seeks to rectify that.
So what caused these cards to finally get cut? Well, Oko is a problem by himself, so it’s his own dang fault. Mox Opal’s banning, I feel, was caused by Urza. Its inclusion in Affinity and other decks has been around for years and hasn’t caused too much of a problem (although it has gotten close many times). Urza pushed it over the line, as even without Metalcraft it acts as a mana rock and a free spell for Paradox Engine, so copies aren’t even dead in hand. Mycosynth Lattice, as I stated above, was kicked out because of Karn. So why not ban Karn? Wizards wants Modern to be interactive, and Lattice can’t do that by itself; Karn can. It’s hate, a wish, and assistant finisher all in one that any deck can run. It’s good enough to be played, but not oppressive enough to get the banhammer.
Has the balance of Modern been restored? I believe these bannings have shifted it to a less oppressive meta, but balance? Maybe not. There are many other cards that people are calling to be banned, e.g. Ancient Stirrings. It seems that Wizards only looks at cards that oppress the meta, encourage repetitive gameplay, and allow high consistency. Is Ancient Stirrings next in line? Maybe. I didn’t think any of these cards would get the axe, so my record for predicting the future is really bad. The format will shake up after this, and we’ll see what falls out. Have a good whatever!
