Lurrus of the Dream-Den has been officially banned in a Magic format.
With controversies trailing the creation of Companion cards in Standard, Lurrus becomes the first Companion from the Ikoria to be axed.
The development left Lari of Behemoths set WotC left alone in the most popular format, as the ban also affected four cards across three formats.
This is the first time Lurrus of the Dream-Den will be banned in two Magic formats alongside its newly-released MTG card.
The companion also suffered the same fate in Legacy. With these bans from the two formats, they could also be axed from Standard and other Magic formats.
Speaking on the development, WotC said its focus on changes has been on Legacy, Vintage, and Brawl, and it is continuing to watch the evolution of the metagame in other formats, which includes Standard, Pioneer, and Modern.
It added that if the changes become necessary in other formats, they will be provided separately in a future announcement.
There have been several complaints from casual players and pros that state companions through the multiple formats have created an unhealthy meta.
Reacting to the complaints, WotC feels the created Standard format is a diverse and dynamic metagame.
Over the weekend, the six most-played decks at the Red Bull MTG Arena Untapped qualifiers each contained a companion, except for Temur Reclamation.
WotC further stated that the Banned and Restricted team is aware of concerns about a large number of companions played in multiple archetypes.
On the complaints from some players about concerns of the frequency at which they encounter decks using companions across several formats, WotC said it is not seeing problematic win rates in Standard, Pioneer, or Modern from decks using companions at the moment but it is looking at overall metagame share and potential for repetitive gameplay.
This means that players calling for the bans of companions in Standard and Modern will have to wait.
This is because WotC said it is yet to see signs of long-term health issues resulting from a high metagame share of companion decks.
It further said that further steps would be taken, which might include changing how the companion mechanic works.
It, therefore, said that for the time being, metagames have to evolve more with time before it can be decided if there is a need for changes.
Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed
