Black Lotus

Standard	Not Legal
Pioneer	Not Legal
Modern	Not Legal
Legacy	Banned since May 1, 1996
Vintage	Restricted since January 25, 1994
Commander	Banned since April 22, 2005
Pauper	Never Banned
Oathbreaker	Banned since June 19, 2018
Extended	Not Legal

View on Scryfall

Timeline

• August 5, 1993 - Released
• January 25, 1994 - Status changed to Restricted in Vintage
• May 1, 1996 - Status changed to Banned in Legacy
• April 22, 2005 - Status changed to Banned in Commander
• June 19, 2018 - Status changed to Banned in Oathbreaker

Rationale

Black Lotus has been classified as banned or restricted across multiple major competitive formats since the game's inception. Its status on various banlists is consistently attributed to its profound ability to accelerate the game and generate excessive resources in an early stage. Due to this intense power and potential to destabilize game balance by enabling rapid and insurmountable turns, the card has maintained a long history of being prohibited from sanctioned play.

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