MTG’s next Standard ban list reportedly leaks early but it looks too good to be true

The Magic: The Gathering community has been left questioning a leaked list of cards supposedly getting banned on May 29 for the annual Banned & Restricted announcement after eight Standard cards were mentioned in a May 22 file dump.

Wizards of the Coast is changing how Standard rotation works in MTG, extending a card’s legality from two years to three starting this Fall. The purpose of the change is to allow players additional time with the cards in Standard and to revive the format at a local game store level for both casual and competitive players.

According to the leaked Standard ban list, which was posted by one Reddit user that reportedly obtained it from the B&R website backend, cards like Wedding Announcement, Plaza of Heroes, and Raffine, Scheming Seer are getting banned alongside cards everyone assumed were in the firing line—Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Invoke Despair. Also on the list were Reckoner Bankbuster, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, and The Wandering Emperor.

The release of Wilds of Eldraine will mark the very first time no cards rotate out of Standard. Instead, some are expected to be banned on May 29, according to WotC. But the leaked list has the initial appearance of a fake due to it claiming there are bans coming for cards many players, including us at Dot Esports, had only a small chance of getting chopped.

Related: All MTG Standard cards on the Banned & Restricted hot seat

Two MTG Standard cards didn’t make the list, though, leaving many in the Magic community wondering if the leaked list has some legitimacy; Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Bloodtithe Harvester are not supposedly getting banned.

Wizards not banning Standard’s most expensive card while trying to win back MTG players to the format is a logical business move, many say. And Bloodtithe Harvester was never really a broken card within the format until Rakdos and Grixis decks evolved into what they are today, much in part to Fable of the Mirror-Breaker.

The full leaked MTG Standard ban list was confirmed a fake by WotC during the MTGWeekly stream on May 23 by Blake Rasmussen. Players should be excited about the announcement on May 29, according to Rasmussen, and that the “leak was a fake.”

Players can tune into WotC’s official Banned & Restricted reveal on Monday, May 29. The card-playing world is expecting cards from multiple MTG formats to be banned.

Update May 24, 7:20am CT: Added Twitch clip of Rasmussen confirming the MTG Standard ban leaks were fake.