Magic: The Gathering bans Oko, Once Upon a Time, and Veil of Summer from Standard

Wizards of the Coast banned the three most-overpowered cards in Magic: The Gathering Standard during today’s Banned and Restricted announcement. 

Since the release of the Throne of Eldraine set, Magic’s Standard metagame has been a hot mess. During today’s MTG Banned and Restricted announcement, WotC took an aggressive approach toward returning balance to the Standard metagame by banning the three strongest cards in Green: Oko, Thief of Crowns, Once Upon a Time, and Veil of Summer.

The trouble in Standard started with fall rotation and the release of Throne of Eldraine. Field of the Dead and Golos, Tireless Pilgrim decks first dominated due to removal for the zombies making lands rotate out. But close on its heels was Oko, Thief of Crowns and Green-dominant Food decks. 

On a competitive level, Field of the Dead ruled the meta at Mythic Championship V. Around 40 percent of the decks contained the zombie-producing land. But once it was banned, Green and Food took over. The takeover wasn’t a surprise, though, since Oko and Food archetypes were the second most-played decks at MCV. 

Oko and Food archetypes dominated the Magic Arena Mythic Qualifiers, consuming over 90 percent of the metagame. And at MCVI, almost 70 percent of the competitive field was playing some version of the Food archetype. 

Oko is now banned in Standard and Brawl. Bans in other formats include Wrenn and Six in Legacy and Narset, while Parter of Veils is restricted in the Vintage format. 

As of Nov. 18, all bans go into effect via MTG Arena and Magic Online, but not until Nov. 22 for tabletop. The next Magic Banned and Restricted announcement is set for Dec. 16.