DCI(TM) BANNED AND RESTRICTED LIST ANNOUNCEMENT
Announcement Date: March 1, 2000
Effective Date: April 1, 2000
STANDARD
No changes
EXTENDED
Dark Ritual is banned Mana Vault is banned
MASQUES BLOCK
No changes
TYPE 1
No changes
TYPE 1.5 (All cards on the Type 1 Banned and Restricted Lists are banned in Type 1.5)
No changes
WATCH LIST UPDATE
All cards have been removed from the watch list.
EXPLANATION OF BANNED AND RESTRICTED LIST CHANGES
In considering the Extended format, we took into account the proliferation of certain combo decks, such as the increasingly popular Necro-Donate deck. Data was analyzed from Pro Tour(TM) - Chicago, recent Qualifier tournaments and Grand Prix events. Although many cards were considered (including Necropotence, Donate, and Demonic Consultation), it was decided that it was more important to deal with the core of the problem: fast mana. Dark Ritual and Mana Vault both provide mana too easily, allowing certain combo decks to win much too quickly. Removing these two cards from the environment allows combo decks to exist, but decreases the speed at which they can win, balancing the decks in relation to the rest of the field. This decision also allows other interesting, balanced deck types to exist within the format.
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