MTG Says It Won't Ban Nadu or Grief Yet In Controversial Announcement

Nadu, Winged Wisdom and Grief will not be emergency banned, according to a new announcement from MTG. Players will have to wait until the next regularly scheduled B&R announcement on August 26, 2024.

In a video posted yesterday, MTG made this announcement on X (formerly Twitter) in response to an outcry from players who expected Nadu to be banned in Modern and Grief in Legacy.

Watch the announcement below:

Fresh from today's WeeklyMTG, Blake addresses the next Banned and Restricted announcement date, gives a peek into the process behind the curtain & discusses the potential for future changes to the philosophy. pic.twitter.com/9DFKGCxkYH
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) July 23, 2024

The news came as players have been anticipating Nadu to be banned ever since it completely dominated Pro Tour MH3. The deck was so consistent that the winner of Pro Tour MH3, Simon Nielsen, even said during his trophy award ceremony that players should not invest in Nadu, as the deck will be banned.

Yeah, I don’t know. I mean… this deck is just crazy stupid and I’m glad I got to play it before it’s gone because it’s gonna be gone. Don’t invest.
Simon Nielsen

The expectation of a Nadu ban is so widespread that the card’s price fell from around $20 at its peak to below $2 on TCGPlayer.

Obviously, this price doesn’t make sense for the namesake rare in the best deck of the Modern format. It’s clear that players expect the deck to be severely nerfed or banned and aren’t interested in investing.

When MTG officially announced there would be no Nadu ban until August 26th, many in the MTG community scrutinized the decision. Here are some of the most-liked community reactions on X.

One of the biggest criticisms from players is the confusion this gives the current and upcoming Modern RCQ season. This means that players may have to buy and playtest with or against decks that will become banned in a month.

The decision not to ban Nadu was so unpopular that Todd Anderson ran a poll on X with 2,000 votes, and over 90% of players believed it should be banned.

This is in stark contrast to other cards or decks people want banned, such as Amalia, which only received 64% in favor of a ban in Pioneer.

Todd Anderson poll on Amalia Ban in pioneer

While the majority of the MTG community expressed the need for an emergency ban, a few players supported maintaining bans only on the scheduled B&R dates.

Corbin Hosler support for no Nadu emergency ban

As stated, the next B&R update is scheduled for August 26, 2024. Will Nadu be banned, or will Shuko take the axe? Will Grief finally be banned in Legacy? We will find out at that date.