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by Da Sarge Banned/Restricted List: The Vision/Mirage Sequel Boy, did i get alot of people upset about my article on the Banned/Restricted list back in January. The card that caused the biggest controversy was ... (drum roll please) ... Balance. But I digress, for those of you who did not read my article (shame on you), the cards I talked about were Stripmine, Black Vise, Ivory Tower, Land Tax and of course Balance. These cards were placed on the Banned/Restricted list by WotC for Type II because they were considered too powerful.... HA. I received alot of e-mail from people about these card, and what I would like to do is give the results of the e-mail I received and my thoughts about it. First the results: Stripmine 85% say it should not be banned or restricted 10% say ban it 5% did not care one way or the other   Black Vise 90% say restrict it 10% say ban it   Ivory Tower 83% say restrict it 10% say ban it 7% did not care one way or the other   Land Tax 80% say restrict it 20% say ban it   Balance 57% say restrict it 43% say ban it   95% say I'm out of my mind to suggest no restrictions at all 5% say I should be committed about my opinions on Balance Does anybody see something strange here? This opinion poll suggests that none of those cards should be banned. In fact, stripmine scares no one. The e-mail came from as far away as Holland and Brazil. If this informal opinion poll is true, who is really scared of these cards, and why are they banned? If it is the pro's who are complaining I would really be surprised. They are supposed to be the best. If they are the best I would think they can figure ways to beat these cards. Could it be new players? I tend not to think so. If for nothing else then there are so many cards on hand to use they would still be learning and watching from the current crop of players in there area. That only leaves the players that have been at the game for a couple of years. If that is true I would think it would only be a certain group of seasoned players. This bothers me for two reasons. First being, it tells me that this group has the potential to be the real power in the game a few years from now, but does not want to put up with something the can cause them problems. The second reason is that not only does WOTC go along with this train of thought, but is also helping it along. Don't believe me?? Read on................... Of the cards mentioned above, I won't even talk about Black Vise and Ivory Tower. Everybody seems to be happy that they both were restricted at the time. That leaves the other three: Land Tax, Stripmine, and Balance. The biggest connection about these three were that they could change the land advantage around. But with Mirage and Visions out, should a re-look be taken at these cards. I think so and I will prove it. Land Tax I'm not impressed -- the certain seasoned player group is sure scared of this one for no reason. Land Tax lets you put three BASIC lands in your HAND. Guess you can't play those neat Vision Lands. You know, like Jungle Basin, Dormant Volcano, etc. In fact, Visions gives us Summer Bloom which for the cost of 1G (hmmm, isn't that the same casting cost as Balance only with a different color) lets you put up to THREE additional lands in PLAY. That's right, no restriction here. Dual lands, Vision lands, Maze of Ith, Arena. Anything goes here. Yeah, I know Land Tax is an enchantment -- so what. Tell me it's not easier then ever to get rid of enchantments. The natural enemy of Land tax is Summer Bloom. But Land Tax gets banned because it's too powerful. What a laugh... Stripmine Those that agreed with me on this are still laughing. They refuse to believe that this is a power card. I agree with them. Now that Mirage/Visions are out banning this seems that much sillier. Why you say? Well, not only will Summer Bloom quickly give you the advantage. The natural enemy of a stripmine is Rampant Growth....Someone out there is saying that taking land away quickly is bad. But being able to put it in just as quickly is good. Be real people. Balance This is a card that makes both players even in every way, except for artifacts. Yet this is bad. But thanks to Mirage/Visions we have Eye of Singularity. We ban Balance because it can turn around the game in one turn, but invent Eye of Singularity, which is an enchantment and stays in the game. There is something really wrong here. I will give you five really good reasons not to ban those cards. Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Eye of Singularity, Equipose and Tithe. In fact the tutors of any color are a good reason not to ban Balance. The tutors (depending on the color) will bring any card you want to the top of the library. Yeah I know, you can use those same cards to bring Balance, Stripmine and Land Tax to top also. So what? What's the big deal? My problem is that why ban these cards when you knew that you would invent cards like this anyway. It seems to me like WotC is deciding how we should play. Or is it that certain group of seasoned players who feel they can't win unless ceertain cards are banned. If WotC is thinking about banning/restricting cards, then more players should be involved . What I mean is that WotC should print in the Duelist what cards are on the hit list and let people write or e-mail in. But it can't be a simple yes or no. Those players have to explain whay they should or should not be banned/restricted. I truly believe that the players need to get more involved in the dynamics of the game. We play the game, we sure pay enough to play it. Shouldn't we be more involved in the evolution of the game???? Don't get me wrong, I think that Visions and Mirage are the greatest expensions yet. I really think that WotC out did itself above and beyond the call of duty. I believe Phasing and Flanking were truly a stroke of genius. It put new life into a game that was great to begin with. But that dosen't mean we should get rid of cards just because they make the game a little harder. Restrict yes, Ban No. What bothers me is that with all great cards that came out in Mirage and Visions, which ones of those will be banned or restricted? And who will have the final say???       That's My View And I'm.......       DA’ SARGE       Email: n***s@r***p.com   All commentaries are the opinions of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Beyond Dominia [ Back to April 1997 Table of Contents ] [ Back to Beyond Dominia ] Magic: the Gathering is a Registered Trademark of Wizards of the Coast