DCI Banned and Restricted List Announcement

Sideboard Staff

Announcement Date: September 1, 2000

Effective Date: October 1, 2000

(Updated Banned/Restricted lists are at the bottom of this announcement)
Standard

No changes
Extended

No changes
Masques Block

No changes
Type 1

Channel is restricted (unbanned)
Demonic Consultation is restricted
Mind Twist is restricted (unbanned)
Necropotence is restricted
Type 1.5

(All cards on the Type 1 Banned and Restricted Lists are banned in Type 1.5)

Demonic Consultation is banned
Necropotence is banned
Explanation of Banned and Restricted List Changes
Type 1 and 1.5

Restrictions

Necropotence
Over the past 3 years, this card has become more and more dominant in the Type 1 format. While many more powerful cards have slowly become restricted, this card remained as the preeminent card drawing engine. The swing this card introduces to the game is on par with several cards that are already restricted.

Demonic Consultation
In a format where all the other "tutor" cards are restricted (Demonic, Enlightened, Mystical, etc.), Demonic Consultation stood out as a powerhouse. Especially, since Demonic Consultation was arguably more powerful than many of those other tutors.

Unbannings

Keep in mind that we are constantly monitoring all tournament formats, and trying to maintain as many viable deck archetypes (and thus as many cards) as possible.

Mind Twist and Channel
When these cards were first banned in 1995, Magic: the Gathering was a different game than it is now. In spite of the many cards that have been restricted, the speed of Type 1 has steadily increased over the years. This increase in speed is the result of the thousands of cards that have been added to Type 1 since Channel and Mind Twist were banned. In fact, Type 1 is fast enough now that these cards, while still powerful, no longer unbalance the game as they once did.
Standard
Permitted Sets

    Classic (Sixth Edition)
    Urza's Saga
    Urza's Legacy
    Urza's Destiny
    Mercadian Masques
    Nemesis
    Prophecy

Banned Cards

    Fluctuator
    Memory Jar
    Time Spiral
    Tolarian Academy
    Windfall

Extended
Permitted Sets

    Fifth Edition
    Classic (Sixth Edition)
    Ice Age
    Homelands
    Alliances
    Mirage
    Visions
    Weatherlight
    Tempest
    Stronghold
    Exodus
    Urza's Saga
    Urza's Legacy
    Urza's Destiny
    Mercadian Masques
    Nemesis
    Prophecy

In addition, the ten cards listed below, commonly referred to as "dual lands," are legal in Extended:

    Badlands
    Bayou
    Plateau
    Savannah
    Scrubland
    Taiga
    Tropical Island
    Tundra
    Underground Sea
    Volcanic Island

Banned Cards

    Amulet of Quoz
    Dark Ritual
    Dream Halls
    Earthcraft
    Lotus Petal
    Mana Vault
    Memory Jar
    Mind Over Matter
    Time Spiral
    Timmerian Fiends
    Tolarian Academy
    Windfall
    Yawgmoth's Bargain
    Yawgmoth's Will
    Zuran Orb

Masques Block
Permitted Sets

    Mercadian Masques
    Nemesis
    Prophecy

Banned Cards

    Lin-Sivvi, Defiant Hero
    Rishadan Port

Vintage/Type I
Permitted Sets

    All basic sets
    All extensions of the basic set
    All promotional cards released by Wizards of the Coast
    All limited-edition or large expansion sets

Restricted Cards

    Ancestral Recall
    Balance
    Berserk
    Black Lotus
    Black Vise
    Braingeyser
    Channel
    Crop Rotation
    Demonic Consultation
    Demonic Tutor
    Doomsday
    Dream Halls
    Enlightened Tutor
    Fastbond
    Fork
    Frantic Search
    Grim Monolith
    Hurkyl's Recall
    Library of Alexandria
    Lotus Petal
    Mana Crypt
    Mana Vault
    Memory Jar
    Mind Over Matter
    Mind Twist
    Mox Diamond
    Mox Emerald
    Mox Jet
    Mox Pearl
    Mox Ruby
    Mox Sapphire
    Mystical Tutor
    Necropotence
    Recall
    Regrowth
    Sol Ring
    Strip Mine
    Stroke of Genius
    Time Spiral
    Time Walk
    Timetwister
    Tinker
    Tolarian Academy
    Vampiric Tutor
    Voltaic Key
    Wheel of Fortune
    Windfall
    Yawgmoth's Bargain
    Yawgmoth's Will

Banned Cards

    Amulet of Quoz
    Bronze Tablet
    Chaos Orb
    Contract from Below
    Darkpact
    Demonic Attorney
    Falling Star
    Jeweled Bird
    Rebirth
    Tempest Efreet
    Timmerian Fiends

Mind Twist and Channel are removed from the Type I Banned List