DCI Banned and Restricted List Announcement
Announcement Date: September 1, 2000
Effective Date: October 1, 2000
Standard
No changes
Extended
No changes
Masques Block
No changes
Type 1
Channel is restricted (unbanned) Demonic Consultation is restricted Mind Twist is restricted (unbanned) Necropotence is restricted
Type 1.5 (All cards on the Type 1 Banned and Restricted Lists are banned in Type 1.5)
Demonic Consultation is banned Necropotence is banned
Explanation of Banned and Restricted List Changes
Type 1 and 1.5
Restrictions
Necropotence Over the past 3 years, this card has become more and more dominant in the Type 1 format. While many more powerful cards have slowly become restricted, this card remained as the preeminent card drawing engine. Quite simply, the swing this card introduces to the game is on par with several cards that are already restricted.
Demonic Consultation In a format where all the other "tutor" cards are restricted (Demonic, Enlightened, Mystical, etc.), Demonic Consultation stood out as a powerhouse. Especially, since Demonic Consultation was arguably more powerful than many of those other tutors.
Unbannings
Keep in mind that we are constantly monitoring all tournament formats, and trying to maintain as many viable deck archetypes (and thus as many cards) as possible.
Mind Twist and Channel When these cards were first banned in 1995, Magic: the Gathering was a different game than it is now. In spite of the many cards that have been restricted, the speed of Type 1 has steadily increased over the years. This increase in speed is the result of the thousands of cards that have been added to Type 1 since Channel and Mind Twist were banned. In fact, Type 1 is fast enough now that these cards, while still powerful, no longer unbalance the game as they once did.