Lion's Eye Diamond

Standard	Rotated out on November 1, 1998
Pioneer	Not Legal
Modern	Not Legal
Legacy	Unbanned since September 20, 2004
Vintage	Restricted since January 1, 2004
Commander	Game Changers since February 11, 2025
Pauper	Never Banned
Oathbreaker	Banned since April 4, 2019
Extended	Rotated out on October 20, 2002

View on Scryfall

Timeline

• October 8, 1996 - Released
• January 1, 2004 - Status changed to Restricted in Vintage
• January 1, 2004 - Status changed to Banned in Legacy
• September 20, 2004 - Status changed to Unbanned in Legacy
• September 1, 2008 - Status changed to Banned in Commander
• September 20, 2011 - Status changed to Unbanned in Commander
• April 4, 2019 - Status changed to Banned in Oathbreaker
• February 11, 2025 - Status changed to Game Changers in Commander

Rationale

Historically, Lion's Eye Diamond was restricted and later banned in formats such as Type 1 and Type 1.5 due to its efficient capability to generate fast mana, which was deemed too potent for the competitive environment. This pattern continued in the Commander format, where the card was banned for enabling potent combo strategies using cheap components. Following its unbanning in the Commander format, the card was subsequently placed on the Game Changers list because its zero-mana artifact ability remains highly valuable for creating powerful mana acceleration and combo opportunities, which players might otherwise struggle to balance.

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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