Banned and Restricted February 9, 2026 — Historic hits, Timeless Necropotence, Alchemy rebalances

February 9, 2026 — Wizards dropped the first Banned and Restricted announcement of the year. Paper formats got a pass: Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Pauper all see no changes. The action is on Arena. Historic gets four bans and seven unbans. Timeless restricts Necropotence. Alchemy gets 13 card rebalances. If you play digital, your deck might need a second look.

Historic — four out, seven back in

Banned: Eldrazi Temple, Ajani, Nacatl Pariah, Crop Rotation, Scholar of the Lost Trove. Play Design cited Eldrazi as the dominant high-rank strategy, powered by Temple and Ugin's Labyrinth; they banned Temple to keep Eldrazi playable without pushing out slower decks. Boros Energy lost Ajani. Crop Rotation enabled too much consistency for combo. And the Persist-into-Scholar line — reanimating Scholar of the Lost Trove as early as turn two and ending the game — was the most popular deck to reach Mythic in Best-of-One Historic. So Scholar is gone.

Unbanned: Magus of the Moon, Harbinger of the Seas, Force of Vigor, Force of Negation, Endurance, Wilderness Reclamation, Agent of Treachery. Historic has shifted toward higher power and more interaction; the format's early "no free spells, no land lock" philosophy is being relaxed so that answers can keep up. Expect more diversity and more games that don't end on turn two.

Timeless — Necropotence restricted

One change: Necropotence is now restricted. The classic black enchantment that lets you pay life to stock your hand was too dominant in Timeless. One copy still allows the archetype; multiples were warping the format. So you get one. We're not calling a top or a bottom on the card's price — it's a Commander staple regardless. Below you'll find a chart for the Iconic Masters printing.

Alchemy — 13 rebalances

Thirteen digital cards were rebalanced. The headliners: Kona, Rescue Beastie and Val, Marooned Surveyor got nerfed. Kona plus Omniscience was setting a turn-four (sometimes turn-three) deadline in Best-of-One Alchemy; Kona's mana cost went up. Val plus Trelasarra, Moon Dancer was the top creature combo in Historic; Val's cost went from two to four and the damage trigger was bumped to 2 per opponent (from 1) so she stays relevant in Brawl while dropping out of optimized Historic. The rest of the changes are a mix of buffs and tweaks: Dazzling Flameweaver, Marshland Hordemaster, Charged Conjuration, Tempest Trapper, Sanguine Soothsayer, Polterheist, Valiant Emberkin, Ethrimik Imagined Friend, Network Marauder, Prototype X-8, Sliver Weftwinder. Full details are in the MTG Arena announcements.

Standard, Pioneer, Modern — no changes

Standard is in a good place. Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed had a Top 8 with seven different decks; Badgermole Cub is big but posted below 50% non-mirror win rate on Day One. Pioneer and Modern also see no changes. Legacy's Dimir Tempo is the top dog but within bounds. Vintage and Pauper are unchanged. So: paper stays as is; Arena gets the shakeup. Scroll down for the Scholar and Necropotence charts. Until next time — may your formats be healthy and your reanimator targets be legal.