As with any format for any card game, the need to ban or unban cards is necessary. We've seen LSS' cadence on bans change dramatically in the past two years. Ever since some truly iconic cards such as Art of War and other effects which draw two were hit, they've maintained that
The March Banned Announcement has truly shaken the Silver Age metagame. This was LSS' intent. They see Bannings in CC as a chance to fine tune the format, whereas Silver Age bans are ones done to reshape and rethink the metagame to allow new strategies.
March Banned Announcement
- Aether Spindle is banned.
- Bracers of Belief is banned.
- Burn Up||Shock is banned.
- Lightning Press is banned.
- Sirens of Safe Harbor is banned.
- Steelblade Shunt is banned.
- Amulet of Ice is unbanned.
- Rake the Embers is unbanned.
- Rootbound Carapace is unbanned.
Unlike other Banned and Restricted announcements, there's very little explanation as to why they hit each card. They said it's up to us players to rethink the format with each metagame shifting ban. You can find the official statement on the mothership website.
The rest of this article is going to take some time to look at which decks are affected by these bans hardest. The unbans will talk at length about the deck(s) that benefit most with previously banned cards added to their toolkit.
Aether Spindle
This Wizard spell being hit in the March Banned Announcement takes away a lot of Kano's consistency. It's common practice to cover as much of an Aether Spindle as possible to prevent them seeing as much of their deck as possible. Being able to sculpt their next hand and their top deck gives them near perfect information.
Without this card, Kano is going to have to rely on a much faster gameplan, as it no longer has the space to set up and gain near perfect information about what's coming in their future.
Steelblade Shunt
This is a very pointed ban to target the Decimator Great Axe archetype that emerged after World Tour London.
The highly defensive midrange deck operates on converting defensively when it needs to, but can suddenly pair a Felling Swing with two blues to send 10, hard to block, damage.
The removal of Shunt utterly guts the deck's defensive capabilities. The archetype was already ticking down in play rate after London, and the removal of this potent defence reaction will leave the deck in obscurity. It's evident that LSS would rather Warriors be more proactive in this format, and, if given the tools in a format with distinctly fewer defence reactions, could be powerful of they get support into their weaker matchups like Wizard and Runeblade.
Sirens of Safe Harbor
I had personally called for the banning of this card, and I am not surprised that it's been hit. In terms of its total value, it has always been an above rate card, gaining the 1 point of life back.
I believe the deck most affected by this are the defensive decks - which have all been trending down since the season began - and Kayo. Kayo got even more upside in the form of the life when randomly discarding a red or yellow Sirens.
Truly ubiquitous cards that can go into any deck with minimal consequence needs to be controlled and curtailed.
Bracers, Burn Up and Lightning Press
I'm grouping these cards together because it's a very clear, and somewhat heavy handed choice made to remove Briar from her status at the top of the metagame.
The elemental Runeblade has been at the top of the metagame since the format's Project Blue early days alongside Fai, Chane, and Oldhim. The aggressive overlap and split damage, coupled with the variable game plan of going wide with lots of attacks at 0-for-4, or going tall on a single attack with Go Again off numerous buffs made her taxing for most players to handle.
Bracers of Belief created a respectable buff on a critical attack, to ensure the on hit draw of Snatch or another banned card.
Burn Up||Shock puts players in such a tricky spot, often overblocking to cover every single attack (including Star Fall) to stop an additional 4 damage. With the number of break points with Go Again that Briar presents, it's somewhere between impossible and hardly worth it to cover up all the damage on a Burn Up||Shock turn.
The on hits and damage are all able to land thanks to Lightning Press. The strictly better attack reaction can push through damage at any moment, even through disruption, and has been ending games since Tales of Aria.
These bans will dramatically affect Briar's overall meta dominance. This leads me to wonder if the upcoming Silver Age deck will be legal to use if it features some or all of these banned cards.
The Unbannings
It's worth noting that in this March Banned Announcement, there were some very significant cards that were brought into the format for the very first time. All of these cards were banned at the inception of Silver Age. They have not seen play in the format proper yet, and it's giving brewers a great deal of deckbuilding agency.
Amulet of Ice
Yet another powerful Ice Blue to include in Iyslander that will make the disruptive arcane from Aether Icevein.
The combination of ice fusing for the on board effect, and taking a card from the opponent's hand is a huge temp blowout that will do a great deal at bringing Iyslander further into the realm of playability, as well as bringing the slower, tempo versions of Ice Lexi into the potential format.
Rake the Embers
Dromai has been on the fringes of the format since its inception. She has the right combination of Red threatening attacks like Blaze Headlong to pressure an opponent alongside the rare dragons like Azvolai and Vynserakai.
The initial look at the format, where decks like Oldhim peaked, would have struggled against cards that are (to borrow a Magic the Gathering slang term) board states in a box. With how aggressive the format currently is and the current dominance of Kayo, this is a fine card to add to the card pool.
Rootbound Carapace
In a world where Sink Below and Fate Foreseen aren't allowed, yet Reduce to Runechant and Sigil of Suffering are welcome, who doesn't want more niche Defence Reactions?
In all seriousness, the reintroduction of a card still banned in Classic Construction allows the existence of some very powerful midrange decks. Florian and Verdance benefit best from this, being able to Decompose on defence, to get their powerful hero effects online.
The deck that could benefit best from this best may be Terra. The Earth Guardian had the overall best conversion rate out of any Guardian across Calling San Diego. It has a great deal of potential, being the best deck to utilise Doubling Season with the abundance of Might tokens, and that card pairs far better with Sprout Strength then Briar does. The deck gains access to a powerful defensive tool in Carapace.
Wrap Up
The Silver Age metagame is forever changed, and we can only imagine how it can develop from here.
Keep your eyes to fabtcg.gg for all the news in the world of Flesh and Blood TCG.
