Banned and Restricted Announcement – February 9, 2026

The Mana Forge Digest

Magic announces banned and restricted changes for Standard, Pioneer, Modern, and Legacy in February 2026, focusing on maintaining game balance.

Key points

• Kona, Rescue Beastie, Val, Marooned Surveyor, Dazzling Flameweaver, and others are rebalanced
• Eldrazi Temple is banned from Standard, Ajani, Nacatl Pariah from Pioneer, Crop Rotation from Modern, Scholar of the Lost Trove from Legacy
• My name is Carmen Klomparens, senior game designer on Magic's Play Design team, welcomes the first 2026 announcement

What you get

• Changes in card balance for popular formats
• Banning and unbanning of specific cards across different formats
• Opportunities to make changes without declaring future bans

Why it matters

These announcements aim to maintain game balance while giving players confidence that they can play with the acquired cards. The cadence shift allows more frequent format maintenance.

Details

Standard: Eldrazi Temple is banned, Scholar of the Lost Trove is unbanned

Pioneer: Ajani, Nacatl Pariah is banned, Magus of the Moon is unbanned

Modern: Crop Rotation is banned, Force of Vigor and Force of Negation are unbanned

Good to know

• Banning and unbanning decisions based on format needs
• Announcement for February 9, 2026, with a Twitch discussion scheduled for February 10, 2026 at 10 AM PT

Read the original on Wizards (https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/banned-and-restricted-february-9-2026) • Source: Wizards of the Coast