Banned and restricted cards/Timeline

The DCI announces bans and restrictions of cards for their sanctioned formats with the release of new sets, as they take effect when the new sets becomes legal in formats. Previously, such announcements were made around the 20th of a month every three months, with these changes taking effect on the 1st of the following month. Currently the announcement will be made 5 weeks after each Pro Tour (in normal cases, Monday). The following is a list of these announcements and their changes in chronological order. Formats which are not mentioned have seen no changes made to them in the respective announcements.

1994

The concept of formats doesn't yet exist as of this time. Vintage (Type 1) and Standard (Type 2) will be introduced in 1995.

January 25th

Formation of the original DCI banned/restricted list. Ali from Cairo, Ancestral Recall, Berserk, Black Lotus, Braingeyser, Dingus Egg, Gauntlet of Might, Icy Manipulator, Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Orcish Oriflamme, Rukh Egg, Sol Ring, Timetwister, Time Vault, and Time Walk are restricted ("Limited"). Ante cards and Shahrazad are banned. Use of cards from any of the expansion sets (at that time Arabian Nights) are banned unless the referee consents to their use (this would later be changed to allowed "unless expressly disallowed by the Judge prior to the event").

February 23rd

Orcish Oriflamme and Rukh Egg are unrestricted.

March 23rd

Channel, Copy Artifact, Demonic Tutor, Regrowth and Wheel of Fortune are restricted. Icy Manipulator is unrestricted. Time Vault is banned.

May

Candelabra of Tawnos, Feldon's Cane, Ivory Tower and Library of Alexandria are restricted. Dingus Egg and Gauntlet of Might are unrestricted.

June 13th

Mishra's Workshop is restricted.

August

Chaos Orb, Falling Star, Mind Twist, Mirror Universe, Recall, Sword of the Ages, Underworld Dreams are restricted. For flavor reasons, all Legendary cards (of type "Summon Legends" -then called Legends- or "Legendary Land") were restricted. Divine Intervention is banned.

October 10th

Maze of Ith is restricted.

1995

Creation of Standard (then called "Type 2") on January 10th, inheriting banned and restricted lists from Vintage. Legal standard expansions are then the most current basic set (Revised Edition at the time) and the latest 2 Magic expansions only (The Dark and Fallen Empires). Unlike in Vintage the Judge cannot ban cards from any such legal expansion.

April 19th

• Vintage: Balance is restricted. Fork is restricted.
• Standard: Balance is restricted. Fork is restricted.

October

• Standard: new deck construction rules. Standard (Type II) can be composed of cards from the most recent edition of Magic The Gathering (Fourth Edition at the time), white border extensions (Chronicles) and all available limited edition expansions (Ice Age, Fallen Empires and soon Homelands).

November

• Legendary cards are unrestricted.
• Vintage: Zuran Orb is restricted. Channel is banned. Chaos Orb is banned. Falling Star is banned.
• Standard: Zuran Orb is restricted. Channel is banned.

1996

February

• Standard: Mind Twist is banned. Black Vise is restricted.
• Vintage: Mind Twist is banned. Black Vise is restricted.

April

• Standard: Feldon's Cane, and Recall are unrestricted.
• Vintage: Time Vault is unbanned. Ali from Cairo, Black Vise, and Sword of the Ages are unrestricted.

Card Errata

• Time Vault now adds a time counter to itself when a turn is skipped for its cost. Taking an extra turn requires the removal of a time counter.

May

Legacy is created (then called Type 1.5). "Type I.5 tournament decks may be constructed from Magic: The Gathering cards from the Limited (first edition, with black border) series, the Unlimited (second edition), Revised (third edition), Fourth Edition, any Magic: The Gathering expansion (unless expressly disallowed by the Judge prior to the event), and promotional cards released by Wizards of the Coast in magazines or through books." There are no restricted cards. The list of banned cards is the sum of all cards that are either restricted or banned in Vintage or Standard.

July

• Standard: Land Tax is restricted.
• Legacy: Land Tax is banned.

October

• Standard: Hymn to Tourach and Strip Mine are restricted.
• Legacy: Fastbond and Strip Mine are banned. The Judge can't disallow any Magic expansion anymore.
• Vintage: Fastbond is restricted. The Judge can't disallow any Magic expansion anymore.

1997

January

• Standard: new deck construction rules. New editions of the Basic Set replace old versions and are permitted in Standard play 30 days after the release date of the new edition. New stand-alone expansions (e.g. Ice Age, Mirage) replace previous stand-alone expansions and are permitted in Standard play 30 days after the release date of the new edition. Limited-edition expansions are replaced 30 days after the release date of the next limited-edition expansion which has a release date of more than 10 months later than the release date of the outgoing limited-edition expansion.
• Standard: All cards on the restricted list are moved to the banned list.

May

• Ice Age block: Thawing Glaciers and Zuran Orb are banned.

June

• Standard: Zuran Orb is banned.

July

• Standard: new deck construction rules. Standard decks can be composed of cards from the most recent edition of Magic: The Gathering (then 5th Edition) and all sets from the two most recent "blocks" of expansions (at the time the Ice Age block which originally contained Homelands instead of Coldsnap, and the Mirage block).
• Extended: Extended, announced in May, is now officially sanctioned. Initial banned list is made of Cards from Limited Edition, Unlimited Edition, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, and Legends which have not been reprinted, ante cards, and additionally: Demonic Tutor, Balance, Fastbond, Regrowth, Black Vise, Ivory Tower, Serendib Efreet, Braingeyser, Sol Ring, Juggernaut, Strip Mine, Channel, Kird Ape, Mana Crypt, Maze of Ith, Wheel of Fortune, Mind Twist and Zuran Orb are banned.
• Vintage: Black Vise is restricted.
• Mirage block: Squandered Resources is banned.

October

• Extended: Hypnotic Specter is banned. Juggernaut is unbanned.
• Vintage: Candelabra of Tawnos, Copy Artifact, Feldon's Cane, Mishra's Workshop, and Zuran Orb are unrestricted.

1998

July

• Extended: Land Tax is banned.

December

• Standard: Tolarian Academy and Windfall are banned.
• Extended: Tolarian Academy and Windfall are banned.
  • Braingeyser is unbanned.
• Legacy: Stroke of Genius, Tolarian Academy and Windfall are banned.
  • Feldon's Cane is unbanned.
• Vintage: Stroke of Genius, Tolarian Academy and Windfall are restricted.

1999

March

• Standard: Dream Halls, Earthcraft, Fluctuator, Lotus Petal, Recurring Nightmare and Time Spiral are banned. Memory Jar is banned retroactively in mid March.
• Extended: Memory Jar is banned. This was retroactively added to the March 1st bannings as an emergency ban in mid March.
• Urza's block Constructed: Time Spiral, Memory Jar, and Windfall are banned.
• Legacy: Candelabra of Tawnos, Copy Artifact, Maze of Ith, Zuran Orb and Mishra's Workshop are unbanned.
  • Time Spiral and Memory Jar are banned.
• Vintage: Maze of Ith is unrestricted.
  • Time Spiral is restricted.

June

• Standard: Mind Over Matter is banned.
• Extended: Time Spiral is banned.
• Urza block Constructed: Gaea's Cradle, Serra's Sanctum, Tolarian Academy and Voltaic Key are banned.

Card Errata

• The errata issued for the “free” creatures (“When <this permanent> comes into play, if you played it from your hand, …”) applies to two additional cards: Karmic Guide and Treachery.

August 1st

• Extended: Yawgmoth's Bargain is banned.

Card Errata

• Iridescent Drake receives the same erratum as the "free" creatures. It should read, "When Iridescent Drake comes into play, if you played it from your hand, return target enchant creature card from a graveyard to play enchanting Iridescent Drake. (You control that enchantment.)"
• Lion's Eye Diamond should read, "Sacrifice Lion's Eye Diamond, Discard your hand: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool. Play this ability as an instant." This erratum causes Lion's Eye Diamond to function as it did under Fifth Edition rules.
• Lotus Vale should read, "When Lotus Vale comes into play, you may sacrifice two untapped lands. If you don't, sacrifice Lotus Vale. If you do, Lotus Vale gains 'T: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool.'" This erratum causes Lotus Vale to function as it did under Fifth Edition rules; you can't tap it for mana without first sacrificing two untapped lands.
• Scorched Ruins should read, "When Scorched Ruins comes into play, you may sacrifice two untapped lands. If you don't, sacrifice Scorched Ruins. If you do, Scorched Ruins gains 'T: Add four colorless mana to your mana pool.'" This erratum causes Scorched Ruins to function as it did under Fifth Edition rules; you can't tap it for mana without first sacrificing two untapped lands.

September

• Extended: Dream Halls, Earthcraft, Lotus Petal, Mind Over Matter and Yawgmoth's Will are banned.
• Vintage: Divine Intervention and Shahrazad are unbanned.
  • Ivory Tower, Mirror Universe and Underworld Dreams are unrestricted.
  • Crop Rotation, Doomsday, Dream Halls, Enlightened Tutor, Frantic Search, Grim Monolith, Hurkyl's Recall, Lotus Petal, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Mind Over Matter, Mox Diamond, Mystical Tutor, Tinker, Vampiric Tutor, Voltaic Key, Yawgmoth's Bargain and Yawgmoth's Will are restricted.
• Legacy: Divine Intervention, Ivory Tower, Mirror Universe, Shahrazad and Underworld Dreams are unbanned.
  • Crop Rotation, Doomsday, Dream Halls, Enlightened Tutor, Frantic Search, Grim Monolith, Hurkyl's Recall, Lotus Petal, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Mind Over Matter, Mox Diamond, Mystical Tutor, Tinker, Vampiric Tutor, Voltaic Key, Yawgmoth's Bargain and Yawgmoth's Will are banned.

2000

March

• Extended: Dark Ritual and Mana Vault are banned.

June

• Masques block constructed: Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero and Rishadan Port are banned.

September

• Vintage: Channel and Mind Twist are restricted (unbanned).
  • Demonic Consultation and Necropotence are restricted.
• Legacy: Demonic Consultation and Necropotence are banned.

2001

March

• Extended: Necropotence, Replenish, Survival of the Fittest and Demonic Consultation are banned.

December

• Vintage: Fact or Fiction is restricted.
• Legacy: Fact or Fiction is banned.

2002

No changes were made during the year.

2003

March

• Vintage: Berserk, Hurkyl's Recall and Recall are unrestricted.
  • Earthcraft and Entomb are restricted.
• Legacy: Berserk, Hurkyl's Recall, and Recall are unbanned.
  • Earthcraft and Entomb are banned.

June

• Vintage: Gush and Mind's Desire are restricted.
• Legacy: Gush and Mind's Desire are banned.

September

• Extended: Goblin Lackey, Entomb, and Frantic Search are banned.

December

• Extended: Goblin Recruiter, Grim Monolith, Tinker, Hermit Druid, Ancient Tomb, and Oath of Druids are banned.
• Vintage: Burning Wish, Chrome Mox, and Lion's Eye Diamond are restricted.
• Legacy: Burning Wish, Chrome Mox, and Lion's Eye Diamond are banned.

2004

June

• Standard: Skullclamp is banned.
• Mirrodin block constructed: Skullclamp is banned.

September

• Extended: Metalworker and Skullclamp are banned.
• Vintage: Braingeyser, Doomsday, Earthcraft, and Fork are unrestricted.
• Legacy: Format becomes independent of Vintage.
  • Unbanned : Braingeyser, Burning Wish, Chrome Mox, Crop Rotation, Doomsday, Enlightened Tutor, Fact or Fiction, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Mox Diamond, Mystical Tutor, Regrowth, Stroke of Genius and Voltaic Key.
  • Banned : Bazaar of Baghdad, Goblin Recruiter, Hermit Druid, Illusionary Mask, Land Tax, Mana Drain, Metalworker, Mishra's Workshop, Oath of Druids, Replenish, Skullclamp and Worldgorger Dragon.

December

• Vintage: Stroke of Genius is unrestricted.

2005

March

• Standard: Arcbound Ravager, Disciple of the Vault, Darksteel Citadel, Ancient Den, Great Furnace, Seat of the Synod, Tree of Tales, and Vault of Whispers are banned.
• Vintage: Trinisphere is restricted.

June

• No changes in any non-online format.

September

• Extended: Aether Vial and Disciple of the Vault are banned.
• Legacy: Imperial Seal is banned
• Vintage: Imperial Seal and Personal Tutor are restricted. Mind Over Matter is unrestricted.
• Two-Headed Giant: Erayo, Soratami Ascendant is banned.

October

• Legacy and Vintage: Starter Level sets Starter 1999, Starter 2000, Portal, Portal Second Age, and Portal Three Kingdoms become legal.

December

• No changes in any non-online format.

2006

March

• Mirrodin block constructed: AEther Vial, Ancient Den, Arcbound Ravager, Darksteel Citadel, Disciple of the Vault, Great Furnace, Seat of the Synod, Tree of Tales, and Vault of Whispers are banned.

June

• No changes to non-online formats.

September

• No changes in any format.

December

• No changes in any non-online format.

2007

March

• No changes to non-online formats

June

• Vintage: Gifts Ungiven is restricted. Voltaic Key, Black Vise, Mind Twist, and Gush are unrestricted.
• Legacy: Flash is banned. Mind Over Matter and Replenish are unbanned.

September

• Vintage: Shahrazad is banned.
• Legacy: Shahrazad is banned.

December

• No changes in any non-online format.

2008

March

• Extended: Rotation of the format has been modified.

June

• Vintage: Brainstorm, Flash, Gush, Merchant Scroll, Ponder are restricted.

September

• Extended: Sensei's Divining Top is banned
• Legacy: Time Vault is banned.
• Vintage: Time Vault is restricted. Chrome Mox, Dream Halls, Mox Diamond, Personal Tutor, and Time Spiral are unrestricted.

December

• Announcement schedule moved from the 1st of every 3rd month to the 20th of every 3rd month.
• No changes in any non-online format.

2009

March

• No changes except for online formats.

June

• Vintage: Thirst for Knowledge is restricted. Crop Rotation, Enlightened Tutor, Entomb, and Grim Monolith are unrestricted.

September

• Legacy: Dream Halls, Entomb, and Metalworker are unbanned.

December

• No changes in any non-online format.

2010

March

• No changes to any format.

June

• Change to the Extended rotation.
• Extended: Sword of the Meek and Hypergenesis are banned.
• Legacy: Mystical Tutor is banned. Grim Monolith and Illusionary Mask are unbanned.

September

• Vintage: Frantic Search and Gush are unrestricted.

December

• Legacy: Survival of the Fittest is banned. Time Spiral is unbanned.

2011

June

• Standard: Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Stoneforge Mystic are banned.
• An exception to the above is introduced, making the War of Attrition event deck legal for Standard constructed play if the decklist has not been modified. The deck contains two copies of Stoneforge Mystic.

August

• Modern: Becomes a sanctioned paper format from an online format. The initial ban list is: Ancestral Vision, Ancient Den, Bitterblossom, Chrome Mox, Dark Depths, Dread Return, Glimpse of Nature, Golgari Grave-Troll, Great Furnace, Hypergenesis, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Mental Misstep, Seat of the Synod, Sensei's Divining Top, Skullclamp, Stoneforge Mystic, Sword of the Meek, Tree of Tales, Umezawa's Jitte, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Vault of Whispers.

September

• Extended: Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Mental Misstep, Ponder, Preordain, and Stoneforge Mystic are banned.
• Modern: Blazing Shoal, Cloudpost, Green Sun's Zenith, Ponder, Preordain, and Rite of Flame are banned.
• Legacy: Mental Misstep is banned.
• Vintage: Fact or Fiction is unrestricted.

December

• Modern: Punishing Fire and Wild Nacatl are banned.

2012

March

• Innistrad Block Constructed: Intangible Virtue and Lingering Souls are banned.

June

• Legacy: Land Tax is unbanned.

September

• Modern: Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle is unbanned.
• Vintage: Burning Wish is unrestricted.

2013

January

• Modern: Bloodbraid Elf and Seething Song are banned.
• Pauper (Magic Online): Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, and Invigorate are banned.

May

• Modern: Second Sunrise is banned.
• Vintage: Regrowth is unrestricted.

September

• Pauper: Cloudpost and Temporal Fissure are banned.

2014

February

• Modern: Deathrite Shaman is banned. Bitterblossom and Wild Nacatl are unbanned.

June

• Legacy and Vintage: Cards with Conspiracy card type are preemptively banned.

2015

January

• Modern: Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, and Birthing Pod are banned. Golgari Grave-Troll is unbanned.
• Legacy: Treasure Cruise is banned. Worldgorger Dragon is unbanned.
• Vintage: Treasure Cruise is restricted. Gifts Ungiven is unrestricted.

March

• Pauper: Treasure Cruise is banned.
• Singleton: Skullclamp is banned.

September

• Legacy: Dig Through Time is banned. Black Vise is unbanned.
• Vintage: Chalice of the Void and Dig Through Time are restricted. Thirst for Knowledge is unrestricted.

2016

• Modification of Magic Tournament Rules: The 34 cards that play with ante or have the Conspiracy card type (both banned in all Constructed/Eternal Format) are simplified into two entries in respective ban lists.

January

• Modern: Splinter Twin and Summer Bloom are banned.
• Pauper: Cloud of Faeries is banned.

April

• Modern: Eye of Ugin is banned. Ancestral Vision and Sword of the Meek are unbanned.
• Vintage: Lodestone Golem is restricted.

November

• Pauper: Peregrine Drake is banned.

2017

• Announcement schedule changed to Monday following each expansion's prerelease event as well as fifth Monday after the Pro Tour of respective expansion. The schedule was scaled back in June 2017, so that banlist changes will no longer occur right after prerelease.

January

• Standard: Emrakul, the Promised End, Smuggler's Copter, and Reflector Mage are banned.
• Modern: Gitaxian Probe and Golgari Grave-Troll are banned.

April

• Standard: Felidar Guardian is banned. The initial announcement was that there would be no changes to Standard; an addendum banning Felidar Guardian came two days later.
• Legacy: Sensei's Divining Top is banned.
• Vintage: Gitaxian Probe and Gush are restricted.

June

• Standard: Aetherworks Marvel is banned.

August

• Vintage: Thorn of Amethyst and Monastery Mentor are restricted. Yawgmoth's Bargain is unrestricted.