Ever since the summer of 1993, Wizards of the Coast's card game Magic: the Gathering has been a tabletop staple. Now, expert players from Canada and the United States, Brazil, Poland, Japan, China, and many other nations compete at the highest level and show the rest of us what this game can really offer.
This means using the strongest and coolest cards and strategies, but sometimes things get out of hand. A certain card may warp a format to the extent that every other deck is forced to either use that card or work extremely hard to counteract it. If this happens for too long, the only option is to ban that card. Every constructed Magic format, including Standard, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and even Commander, has its own custom-tailored banned and restricted lists. While banned cards are completely barred from their respective formats, restricted cards are limited to a single copy in any given deck and sideboard.
Update April 18th, 2023: This list of banned and restricted cards has been expanded once again with new entries from similar Lists to show everyone all of Magic's banned and restricted cards in a single, definitive list.
16 Black Lotus
Banned in Legacy & Commander, Restricted in Vintage
Black Lotus is easily the most iconic and powerful Magic: The Gathering card of all time. It's the king of the famed "Power Nine," dating back to 1993's Alpha set, and it's simply far too good at what it does: boosting the player's mana.
Decks that use Black Lotus can potentially win on their very first turn, which is no fun for anyone. Black Lotus is banned in almost all the formats it would otherwise be legal in, and one of the only ways to play it is in Vintage, where it's merely restricted.
15 Mental Misstep
Banned in Modern & Legacy, Restricted in Vintage, Legal in Commander
The New Phyrexia set was packed with jaw-dropping cards, from Karn Liberated to Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to Batterskull. But the cruel power of Phyrexia took things too far with the simple counterspell Mental Misstep.
If the player can spare two life points, this card is free to cast, and free spells are one of the most powerful effects in Magic. The low mana curves present in Modern, Legacy, and Vintage make countering a one-drop for free an absurdly powerful proposition. Commander is a much slower format by comparison, so Mental Misstep is far less powerful there.
14 Skullclamp
Banned in Modern & Legacy, Legal in Vintage & Commander
This card enabled the over-the-top Affinity strategy during the 2003-2004 Standard season, and that deck drove many players to quit Magic temporarily because the meta was so grossly warped. Artifacts like Skullclamp were the main culprit. Skullclamp's actual value as an equipment is negligible. Instead, it's the fact that it allows the player to draw two cards when an equipped creature dies that pushes it over the top
The potential card advantage is unreasonable for a single mana investment, especially since the -1 to Toughness makes it extremely easy for the player to kill their own creatures on command. Skullclamp was banned in its own Standard back in 2004, along with concurrent Block Constructed, and it was on the preliminary banlist when Modern premiered back in 2011.
13 Oko, Thief Of Crowns
Banned in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Historic, & Explorer, Legal in Vintage & Commander
At first, this 3-drop Planeswalker was poised to be a strong part of the Standard meta when Throne of Eldraine arrived in the format. But It turned out to be far more powerful than anyone could have expected, and it was swiftly banned in Standard, as well as several other formats.
Oko's abilities are very strong and flexible, and its low casting cost and cheap loyalty costs made it scarily aggressive. While it was relatively rare to see cards banned in Standard before the release of Magic the Gathering: Arena, the sheer volume of games being played today means that players identify key strategies much faster. As a result, the metagame quickly settles into clear winners and losers This has led to more bans in Standard than ever before.
12 Tolarian Academy
Banned in Legacy & Commander, Restricted in Vintage
In the Magic lore, Tolaria was an advanced magic school run by the legendary planeswalker Urza. Urza embodies everything about blue mana, from time control to magnificent artifice. Tolarian Academy does match his vast power level, but in game terms, it went too far.
Being legendary does too little to slow down Tolarian Academy's awesome ability, and any deck that can play a lot of artifacts will get its hands on way too much mana far too soon. Some spells and abilities allow players to untap a land easily, and that makes Tolarian Academy even scarier.
11 Birthing Pod
Banned in Modern, Legal in Legacy, Vintage, & Commander
Anyone who played Modern Magic in the early to mid-2010s will remember Birthing Pod either with fondness or horror. It may be green, but the powerful Phyrexian mana mechanic means that any deck can wield it at the cost of just 2 life. Birthing Pod's ability is quite powerful in any context, but when a deck is specifically built to take advantage, it becomes nearly impossible to beat.
Pod decks were ludicrously consistent, as they were essentially able to choose each turn's creature rather than rely on the luck of the draw. When combined with powerful enter-the-battlefield and death effects, sometimes on the same creature, Birthing Pod decks were a value engine of titanic proportions.
10 Umezawa's Jitte
Banned in Modern, Legal in Legacy, Vintage, & Commander
The Champions of Kamigawa set is known for its low power level, which was overcompensating for the overpowered Mirrodin block. Only a few popular cards in this block proved worthwhile, and Umezawa's Jitte is one of them.
It should be clear right away why Umezawa's Jitte is banned in Modern: it does too much. In any color, a player can equip this onto a creature and rack up charge counters fast. From there, the player can easily pump the creature, gain life (probably the weakest ability), or weaken another creature. Modern couldn't handle such a card, and it was banned as part of the format's initial list.
9 Yawgmoth's Will
Banned in Legacy, Restricted in Vintage, Legal in Commander
Blue is probably the worst offender when it comes to overpowered Magic cards, but black also has its fair share. Yawgmoth's Will can be an absolute terror when played right, especially since it exists in the color that cares most about the graveyard.
Being able to pay three mana to cast anything from the graveyard for a turn essentially translates to drawing a huge number of cards at a very low cost, but without the randomness that comes with actually drawing the cards. Card advantage is a huge factor in Magic, and Yawgmoth's Will grants it in spades.
8 Mana Drain
Banned in Legacy, Legal in Vintage & Commander
The set Legends isn't known for offering many powerful cards to the Magic library. It's mainly made up of clunky, multicolored legendary creatures. But then there's Mana Drain, easily the set's best card.
Mana Drain a counterspell for just two blue, the same cost as the actual card called Counterspell. The fact that it gives the caster a ton of mana in return makes it miles better than the already pretty powerful Counterspell. Mana Drain is exceptionally strong, and most other Magic counterspells cost far more and do far less.
7 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
Banned in Modern, Legal in Legacy, Vintage, & Commander
Ironically, Hogaak was printed for Modern Horizons to breathe new life into the format. Unfortunately, it did so a little too well. An 8/8 with Trample is far from overpowered, but it is Hogaak's unusual casting mechanics that really push it over the edge.
No mana can be spent to cast Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis. but with Delve and Convoke, casting it is very easy, and it can even be cast from the graveyard. Being a black/green hybrid card makes the Convoke part even easier to handle. This led to Hogaak being banned in Modern despite being designed specifically for the format.
6 Splinter Twin
Banned In Modern, Legal In Legacy, Vintage & Commander
Splinter Twin is a fairly powerful red card that, in the right deck, allows the player to win the game right then and there. On its own, Splinter Twin is an impressive enchantment that lets the player attack or block with disposable copies of the enchanted creature, but the card can do more.
In the right blue/red shell, Splinter Twin allows for turn 4 wins or even turn 3 wins now and then. This card's inclusion in the Modern format also homogenized the meta with blue/red decks. WotC chose to ban this card rather than Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite to shut down that combo for good.
5 Lurrus Of The Dream-Den
The Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths set introduced the concept of companions, which almost operate like Commanders since they can be cast from a unique zone. The rules of companion later got nerfed for gameplay balance, but even the nerfed version of Lurrus is simply too much.
The pre-nerf Lurrus was one of Magic's very best creatures, and its companion conditions are lax in formats such as Legacy and Vintage. That, combined with its incredibly potent graveyard-based ability, led to it getting banned in various formats such as Vintage.
4 Treasure Cruise
Banned In Modern & Legacy, Restricted In Vintage, Legal In Commander
MTG has always had powerhouse blue cards that can draw many cards or take extra turns, with Time Walk and Ancestral Recall being legendary examples. Ancestral Vision is a somewhat balanced Ancestral Recall, but then 2014's Khans of Tarkir came along with Treasure Cruise.
Treasure Cruise, as a mere common, can use the delve ability to shave away mana in its casting cost, potentially down to just U. No matter the mana paid, the effect is to draw three cards, which can lead to ridiculous situations. There was no way Wizards would allow this new Ancestral Recall to run free in Legacy and Modern for long.
3 Summer Bloom
Banned In Modern, Legal In Legacy, Vintage, & Commander
Summer Bloom is a green sorcery that's fairly powerful in its own right, especially in land-heavy decks in formats such as Commander. Playing extra lands can really speed up a deck, but in the Modern Primeval Titan/Amulet of Vigor deck, Summer Bloom was downright excessive.
That deck was capable of turn 3 wins with Summer Bloom, and that goes against Wizards' "turn four" rule for the format. So, instead of banning Primeval Titan itself, Wizards merely nerfed the deck by banning Summer Bloom. Now, Amulet Titan decks can still thrive, but they aren't turn 3 game-winners anymore.
2 Griselbrand
Banned In Commander, Legal In Modern, Legacy & Vintage
Griselbrand is a powerful black creature that can pay 7 life to draw that many cards, and with a 7/7 lifelink body, Griselbrand can easily pay for several sets of cards with that effect. This creature is a popular reanimation target in the Modern format, such as Grishoalbrand decks.
Commander players can't do that, though. Griselbrand is banned in that format since the high starting life totals and slow pace make Griselbrand even more effective. Besides, players could make Griselbrand their commander and thus have too easy access to it.
1 Gitaxian Probe
Banned In Modern & Legacy, Restricted In Vintage, Legal In Commander
At first glance, Gitaxian Probe seems perfectly modest, a little blue sorcery that can look at an opponent's hand and then cantrip. However, this Phyrexian card, in the right decks, becomes over-powered. For one thing, casting it for 2 life makes life a little too easy for Storm decks, and that's not all.
Gitaxian Probe also made it easy for Death's Shadow decks to guarantee their next attack would be safe, which removed the random chances and risk factors associated with Magic: the Gathering. For these reasons, Gitaxian Probe was banned from Modern.