Deathrite Shaman

Standard	Rotated out on September 26, 2014
Pioneer	Never Banned
Modern	Banned since February 7, 2014
Legacy	Banned since July 6, 2018
Vintage	Never Banned
Commander	Never Banned
Pauper	Never Banned
Oathbreaker	Never Banned
Extended	Never Banned

View on Scryfall

Timeline

• October 5, 2012 - Released
• February 7, 2014 - Status changed to Banned in Modern
• July 6, 2018 - Status changed to Banned in Legacy

Rationale

Deathrite Shaman was banned in Modern due to its high efficiency across all stages of the game, which allowed strong attrition-based decks to maintain dominance, thereby reducing room for future innovation. In Legacy, the card's power level and versatility led to its ban; its powerful mana-fixing capability allows decks to transition between multiple colors and play up to four colors, while its flexible nature provides inherent graveyard disruption that protects against diverse strategies. Overall, its combination of consistency and power contributed to a reduction in format diversity, leading to its ban status in multiple formats.

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.

Does this look accurate? | Yes • No • Submit a Correction • Don't ask me again