Field of the Dead has been banned from the Historic format in MTG Arena on Monday by Wizards of the Coast.
The ban announcement was made, stating that Field of the Dead has been removed from gameplay in the Historic format.
Jay Parker of the Banned and Restricted WotC team said it was removed from gameplay due to it being a “powerful force” in the meta.
Since its release in Core Set 2020, the unconventional land has terrorized multiple MTG formats. It used to create a 2/2 Black Zombie when a land entered the battlefield upon having seven or more lands in play already.
The recent additions to the Historic format include Cultivate, Explore, and Hour of Promise. They were created “extremely polarized,” and they matched up with Field of the Dead. The Banned and Restricted team might not be seen in the gameplay in the nearest future.
Parker further said the Banned and Restricted WotC team feels the trend is unlikely to change, having closely watched the progress of the deck.
This is not the first time that Field of the Dead will be suspended in Historic. It was later unsuspended before the addition of Jumpstart and Amonkhet Remastered. The two looked to be the answers to the detrimental land in the meta.
However, they were unable to diminish the power of the deck. Field of the Dead has power in either best-of-one or best-of-three gameplay. This makes the Banned and Restricted team ban Field of the Dead rather than suspending it again.
Parker said the decision to ban the deck was that it’s unlikely to be a healthy part of the format going forward, adding that the initial suspension was a wrong approach.
The ban of Field of the Dead, which is effectively August 24, is coming ahead of several major tournaments in the Historic format that will be holding the coming weeks. One of such is the 2020 Mythic Championship via MTG Arena.
