Announcement 13/08/2023
Ban List E13 :
Atog
Channel
Chatterstorm
Disciple of the Vault
Experimental Synthesizer (Ban)
Fall from Favor
Kraark-Clan Shaman
Mystic Sanctuary
Deban : Balustrade Spy
Announcement :
Dear players, we want to keep you informed of the last decisions taken by the Peasant Committee, related to the banlist changes. This decision followed multiple tests made by us these last months and according to the feedbacks of the community members in the French gathering "Gro'Pez #2" in Bergerac. In the previous announcement, we promised to give news after the event, and here it is. These decisions were made after deep consideration, keeping the goal of maintaining a healthy, balanced and stimulating game environment for all the players of our community.
Committee members
First of all, we have to announce a modification in the committee members' list: the departure of Nestalim (Maxime H.) who had been a committee member since 2021. Unfortunately, he cannot be dedicated to the format like before due to his job. We are thankful for his work through the Peasant community in Clermont-Ferrand and for organizing and refereeing in French Cups these last years. The number of committee members goes down to 5, which is a normal size of the committee. Therefore, we are not planning to hire new members as of now.
Evolution de la banlist
Back to the topic, our findings are the following: the current metagame seems pretty much balanced, we can find all kinds of strategies in dominant archetypes. However, the pressure from the Kuldotha archetype widened the gap between the decks that can fight against it and those that cannot. In order to ensure the diversity of the format, the following decision has been taken:
Experimental Synthesizer is now banned. We decided to ban it due to its impact on the metagame's dynamics. The high proportion of Kuldotha decks limits the diversity of decks by the speed and the resilience of its strategy. This decision aims to reduce the second wind of the deck in late-game while not destroying its current game plan, in order allow a wider range of archetypes to emerge and compete. We keep a close eye to the Kuldotha archetype in case it would still be too smothering for the metagame.
We agree that this choice can also affect other archetypes, notably Storm, Boros Synthesizer and KCI. We understand your fears and we ensure that the consequences on these archetypes were taken into account in the ban process. We trust the community to adapt and innovate in the choice of cards and strategies to improve these decks. Finally, the three of them have enough resources to reshape while staying competitive in this new context.
We also announce the unban of Balustrade Spy. This choice is the continuation of the last banlist change that targeted Dark Ritual and Simian Spirit Guide. Balustrade Spy was the key card of the deck Oops All Spells, able to win regularly on turn 1 or 2, but with a huge variance. The speed of the pack made it impossible to interact with if it starts, with the exception of Faerie Macabre and Foil, which forced opponents to apply a strategy of aggressive mulligan, which is also impossible without an appropriate sideboard.
Even though Dread Return and Lotleth Giant got recently downgraded in Commander Masters, we tested Oops All Spells and the deck is not currently playable without Dark Ritual and Simian Spirit Guide. Furthermore, the recent addition of Generous Ent offers an interesting choice to the deck One Land Spy, much more resilient but slower (which means vulnerable to interactions), that was a secondary victim of this ban. We tested an updated version of One Land Spy to ensure that the deck would not be problematic and the conclusion is that the deck is similar to other Peasant combo decks, with its pros and cons.
Ban/unban perspectives
During our announcement on August 1st, 2022, we stated that five cards were considered for being banned or unbanned after the French Cup 2022, those cards were:
- Experimental Synthesizer, Monastery Swiftspear, Glacial Chasm, Galvanic Relay (for a ban)
- Ephemerate (for an unban)
We want to update our thoughts, for a potential banlist update after the French Cup 2023.
With the ban of Experimental Synthesizer, we expect a change in the metagame in the upcoming months and so we keep an eye on Monastery Swiftspear.
Nothing to report for Glacial Chasm.
We are lifting surveillance on Galvanic Relay. A year of observing proved us that the explosiveness of the archetype Storm was strongly impacted by the ban of Dark Ritual (and now Experimental Synthesizer). The change from Dark Ritual to Seething Song also led the deck to be much weaker against Counterspells and less flexible with its mana. Galvanic Relay has always been an excellent card, but we considered it is now part of the deck game plan without being as oppressive as before. However, the surveillance on Demonic Consultation is maintained.
Ephemerate is still subject to discussions for an unban but we prefer to wait for a post-Synthesizer metagame to stabilize before taking a proper decision.
We are considering Atog and/or Krark-Clan Shaman as candidates for an unban. The Affinity archetype is no more dominating as it was before, and an unban of one of those creatures might strenghten the deck without being as oppressive as it was.
Those reflexions will be filled with tests after the French Cup 2023 to evaluate the impact these changes could impact the game environment. It doesn't mean that the status of these cards will be modified.
We are aware of the importance of maintaining a constant vigilance to guarantee an optimal equilibrium. Your feedbacks are always welcome and we thank you for your support of the Peasant community.
Greetings, the Peasant Committee