Wizards of the Coast updated its Magic: The Gathering Banned and Restricted Lists today by banning cards from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, which had just been officially released on May 15, 2020.

Bannings are quickly becoming the norm at WotC for Magic: The Gathering, but usually they wait till after the set has been out more than only few days. In this case of Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, WotC came right out of the gates and added a few newly released cards to their Banned and Restricted Lists:

  • Drannith Magistrate and Winota, Joiner of Forces are banned in the Brawl format.
  • Lurrus of the Dream-Den and Zirda, the Dawnwalker are banned in the Legacy format.
  • Lurrus of the Dream-Den is banned in the Vintage format.

All of the banned cards are from the new Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths set, and are found randomly in the rare slots of standard booster packs.  Banning rare cards from brand new sets has the potential of affecting sales of sealed product as well as singles beyond the point where the announcement is made because the banned cards have a more limited use as far as tournament play.

This is one of a few gaffes WotC has made with Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (see "WotC Will Pull 'Spacegodzilla, Death Corona' Card from Reprints of Upcoming 'Magic' Set").