Summary

Effective Date: Immediately, June 2nd, 2025
Next B&R: July 25th, 2025

Summary: Dissonant Fractal is added to Category 3. Crystalline Mirror is moved to Category 2. Lost in Thought is moved to Category 2. Scepter of Lumina is removed from the watchlist entirely. Mercenary's Blade is added to Category 1.

The Watchlist only contains cards that were either previously legal in the Standard format or are currently legal for Standard.

See the entire list of banned cards here.

Proxia's Vault

As a reminder, Proxia's Vault is a new way we're addressing specific meta issues by releasing cards that players are allowed to proxy, even for use in competitive events. Proxia's Vault is being updated to allow cards to be proxied indefinitely as long as the card is in Proxia's Vault. The policy guide will be updated accordingly. Read about the Proxia's Vault policy here:

Watchlist

Category 3

This category will contain all cards that are banned and restricted, proving to be too powerful or too impactful, and limiting tournament deck diversity and meta health. Currently, Baby Gray Slime, Crystal of Empowerment, Corhazi Outlook, Dissonant Fractal, Erupting Rhapsody, Icebound Slam, Sword of Avarice, and Reckless Conversion are banned.

We have seen many top players preferring water Fractal based decks for their ability to quickly and consistently create advantageous gamestates, largely in part to cards like Dissonant Fractal. As a result, deck diversity has fallen lower than we would have liked, and many other potential strategies are being pushed out of the metagame in favor of these decks.

As the card pool increases, we believe strategies like this that rely heavily on one particular card type will be much better kept in check. At this current moment, however, Dissonant Fractal has proven to be an essential tool that pushes the height of decks that use it to the extreme, to a degree that other decks can’t quite match.

Much like other category shifts, we will continue to monitor the health of phantasia decks both now and in the future as Distorted Reflections releases.

Additionally, we would like to provide some clarity about the direct addition of Dissonant Fractal to Category 3 without previously being on the watchlist. Our philosophy regarding the watchlist is that it is a tool that we use to notify players which cards we identify as problematic either to the current health of the game or limiting in a way that it inhibits future set designs. We would like to be able to use this list to help players infer our plans regarding balance changes and ban decisions. However, it should be noted that in the case of cards proving to be too powerful or meta warping, we are not against taking action and moving cards directly to Category 3.

As a result, Dissonant Fractal is banned, effective immediately.

Category 2

This category contains cards that we consider very problematic and are heavily watched for potential future legality changes and category shifts. This category currently has three cards with the addition of Crystalline Mirror and Lost in Thought. Scepter of Lumina is no longer considered problematic and has been removed from the watchlist altogether.

Originally, Crystalline Mirror was added to the list as we felt regalia destruction did not fit water's identity. In addition, we have pushed for additional phantasia support, lowering the bar and improving consistency for Mirror's ability. We are continuing to monitor this card, with close attention to its place in the meta at the World Championships.

Lost In Thought was a card we had hoped would be better checked with the additional graveyard interaction in Abyssal Heaven. This card has proven to be powerful even against those cards, and allows strategies that maximize its potential to win any game through raw card advantage. While we do still notice a strong presence of this card, we will continue to look at how the meta develops before determining the future of the card on the watchlist.

Category 1

This category consists of cards that we don’t consider problematic in the current environment, but are unhealthy for future balance and game design space. This category currently has four cards.

Mercenary’s Blade is being added to Category 1. This card has proven to be an incredibly versatile tool in many different types of Assassin decks, which is limiting for future card designs. Preparation counter based strategies have access to many different payoffs, but largely those cards are in the main deck and must be drawn. This card being able to convert one preparation counter into a weapon allows for an on demand regalia card for very little cost.

While it isn’t currently a card that causes concern, we will be monitoring this card in the future for potential category shifts, should it prove to be impacting the potential design of Assassin cards negatively.

That's all for this B&R update! The next update will be on July 25th, 2025!