Sensei's Divining Top

Standard	Rotated out on October 20, 2006
Pioneer	Not Legal
Modern	Banned since August 12, 2011
Legacy	Banned since April 24, 2017
Vintage	Never Banned
Commander	Never Banned
Pauper	Never Banned
Oathbreaker	Never Banned
Extended	Rotated out on July 1, 2010

View on Scryfall

Timeline

• October 1, 2004 - Released
• September 20, 2008 - Status changed to Banned in Extended
• July 1, 2010 - Status changed to Rotated in Extended
• August 12, 2011 - Status changed to Banned in Modern
• April 24, 2017 - Status changed to Banned in Legacy

Rationale

Sensei's Divining Top has been banned in Legacy, Modern, and Extended due to its high impact on match flow and format stability. In Legacy, it was deemed a primary component of the Miracles strategy, whose combination with *Counterbalance* allowed it to dominate the format, alongside concerns that its frequent activation significantly slows down match play, contributing to tournament delays. In Modern, the card was explicitly banned as part of a comprehensive banlist designed to stabilize the format against overwhelmingly powerful blue control strategies. Historically, the card's frequent use was cited as a problem in the Extended format because its constant activation was capable of bogging down games, thereby lengthening match times beyond historical norms.

This summary was generated by gemma4 on September 14, 2026. It has not yet been reviewed by a human editor and may contain some inaccuracies. Learn more.

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