Announcement 28/08/2026
Ban List E17b

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Ban List E17b :

Previous Ban List : E17a

Empty the Warren
Experimental Synthesizer
Fall from Favor
Frantic Search
Gitaxian Probe
Glacial Chasm
Glimmerpost
Goblin Bushwhacker
Grapeshot
Hopeless Nightmare
Imperial Recruiter

Invigorate
Kraark-Clan Shaman
Library of Alexandria
Mental Misstep
Merchant Scroll
Mystic Sanctuary
Narcomoeba
Painter’s Studio/Defaced Gallery
Peregrine Drake
Reckless Bushwhacker
Sadistic Glee

Hello, Peasant community,

Zeta Set came as quite a surprise. It quickly generated a lot of discussion, and its 27 downgrades, ranging from highly impactful to largely anecdotal, could significantly shake up the Peasant format.

After discussion, we have decided on the following changes:

Bans

Narcomoeba is banned.
Doomsday is banned.

Why such a quick announcement?

As a Committee, we want the format to be able to evolve without requiring action from us every month. At the same time, we also want players to have enough time to test and refine their decks before the biggest tournaments.

Several important paper tournaments for the community will take place later this year, most notably the French Cup. We therefore feel compelled to act quickly following the release of these new cards, in order to give the metagame time to stabilize before the French Cup and avoid having to make an emergency decision just a few weeks before the event.

Will the set be legal?

We do not want to arbitrarily exclude certain sets while allowing others when we have access to the information needed to determine the rarity of the cards they contain.

We will therefore not change the rules: the set will be legal. After all, we already accept card rarities from products that do not even contain boosters. In our view, it would therefore be inappropriate to exclude this set.

What considerations led to our decision?

We want to be fully transparent about the questions and concerns we have had regarding the Zeta Set.

It is difficult for us to test and assess the impact of these cards on the metagame in such a short amount of time. Our current decisions are therefore based on preliminary testing and theoretical considerations. This necessarily means that we must remain open to revisiting some of these decisions in our next announcement.

We know that uncertainty can be frustrating, and we hope that the choices we have made will prove to be the right ones for the metagame.

Which cards were discussed by the Committee?

Narcomoeba

We believe that moving the card to common would make the LSD deck and its fast starts too consistent. The deck is already highly functional with only three copies of Narcomoeba, while its uncommon slots are already fully allocated. This change would free up uncommon slots that could be used to further improve its starts, while also allowing the deck to play an additional Narcomoeba and one or two copies of Cabal Therapy to protect itself once its library is in the graveyard. In addition, it would open up the possibility of playing decks such as Cephalid Breakfast or Hermit Druid decks running no basic lands at all.

In order to avoid warping the format around LSD and creating a situation where it would become necessary to run extremely fast answers to this strategy, we have decided to ban the card.

Decision: Narcomoeba is banned.

Dig Through Time

The card is extremely powerful, and we already have Treasure Cruise on the banlist. Fortunately, there is a significant difference in rarity between the two cards, and Dig Through Time cannot simply be included through a splash.

There is now strong competition for blue uncommon slots. We do not believe the card will warp the format, but it is difficult for us to predict the actual impact of introducing such a powerful late-game card selection engine into the format.

Decision: Dig Through Time is not banned.

Baleful Strix

Baleful Strix has already been played in the format as an uncommon, and was also a very prominent card in Legacy a few years ago.

We know that this card will be particularly popular in blue-black decks, but it does not prevent players from executing their strategies and therefore does not seem harmful to the metagame. We nevertheless understand that a card like this can shift the balance of power between different decks.

Decision: Baleful Strix is not banned.

Price of Progress

Price of Progress was already played in the sideboards of red decks when it was an uncommon. It will certainly see more play now that it is common.

It can serve as a safeguard against certain mana bases, particularly those of Tron and artifact decks. It will also give red some additional tools following the recent bans.

Decision: Price of Progress is not banned.

Doomsday

Combo cards need to be monitored particularly closely. This was the most difficult decision for us to make. We were unable to demonstrate that this card would allow players to build combo decks that are too powerful compared to those currently existing in the format, especially given the drawbacks involved in going through Doomsday to initiate the combo. However, despite the time we gave ourselves to assess it, we were unable to convince ourselves that the card was safe for the format.

We therefore do not feel comfortable, for now, taking the risk of leaving this card in the format.

Decision: Doomsday is banned.

Dispatch

Long-time players will remember the period when Swords to Plowshares was common due to a mix-up on Gatherer.

We know that a common removal spell capable of exiling a creature for one mana is particularly powerful. However, Dispatch does have a condition, albeit a minor one, which can limit its inclusion in certain decks, and the format at the time was not dominated by a removal spell of this quality.

This should allow white to reclaim its place as a color with access to high-quality removal.

Decision: Dispatch is not banned.

A Decision Open to Reassessment?

We are aware that these decisions may prompt reactions and disagreements within the community.

During the last express ban, which took place before a French Cup, we know that the decisions made at the time divided the community considerably and were not universally well received. We do not want to repeat that situation without learning from it.

That is why the cards concerned by this announcement will be discussed again before our next announcement. We will take the time to observe their absence from or presence in the format, the consequences of these decisions on the metagame, as well as feedback from the community, in order to determine whether it would be relevant or worthwhile to reconsider either of these decisions.

However, the proximity of the French Cup also means that we need to make a decision now. We would rather make a potentially more drastic decision at this point, even if it means revisiting it in the coming months, than allow the format to develop towards a potentially unhealthy metagame in the run-up to this event.

The French Cup is indeed a particularly important event for the community and, for some players, the only major tournament they attend during the year. In this context, we believe it is preferable to intervene now and accept the possibility of reassessing our decision later, rather than risk having this event take place in an environment that we might consider problematic without having taken action.

These decisions should therefore not necessarily be understood as permanent. Our primary goal is to protect the play environment in the run-up to the French Cup, and then take the necessary time to observe the new metagame and determine, with greater hindsight, whether it would be appropriate to reconsider our decisions.

We hope to see you all at the French Cup, with plenty of enthusiasm!

The Peasant Committee