The long tyranny of one of Magic: The Gathering's most powerful cards has finally come to an end in Standard, as Wizards of the Coast announced the Standard ban of Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath after the card's completely overwhelming dominance of the game's most accessible format. Magic: The Gathering features a banned and restricted list that helps cultivate the style of gameplay the game's designers want in each format, allowing them to remove problematic cards as they begin to threaten diversity or create unhealthy archetypes.
While Magic: The Gathering Standard banned list updates are becoming increasingly commonplace, that's only been over the past few years as the team at Wizards of the Coast has really pushed the limit of what powerful card design can look like. The most recent set, Zendikar Rising, was supposed to scale back a bit on power level, and while cards like Omnath have already found homes across formats, for the most part, it appears that philosophy has succeeded so far. However, players will always fixate on powerful cards as the objects of their ire when they're playing less optimal decks, and Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath was more widespread in Standard than any card save perhaps Oko, Thief of Crowns in recent memory.
That's why Wizards of the Coast finally pulled the trigger on removing the powerful titan in a new Standard banned list update. In a post on the official Wizards of the Coast website, the team explained why it had to ban Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, and while it makes sense that they tried to wait and see if cards printed to naturally hold the card in check would work, players will be quite happy with a Standard format that can finally breathe again. The official post also alludes to the fact that Omnath will be watched more closely moving forward.
While the Uro ban from Wizards of the Coast would have made sense at any point in the card's life cycle, now is a particularly important time. Zendikar Rising's first major Standard tournaments, hosted by Star City Games, have just taken place over the weekend and watched by thousands of viewers, who tuned in to see Uro put on a nearly unbeatable performance in conjunction with Omnath, Locus of Creation. Omnath and Uro decks put up an obscene winning percentage across the weekend and, even on a second day with a major target on its back, players simply joined the powerful deck rather than try to beat it, with 6 of 8 Top 8 competitors in the Star City Games Online Tour Season Championship playing the deck.
Of course, while the new Magic: The Gathering banned list announcement will inevitably shake up Standard, there are some issues that still need addressing in the eyes of players. For one, Uro is prevalent in nearly every format its legal in, with a pronounced influence on Pioneer, Modern, and Legacy. Omnath, Locus of Creation is also beginning to see play in Modern and Legacy, so it's also looking like a diversity threat long-term. This may just be the first step on a journey that sees both cards get the Oko, Thief of Crowns treatment, but for now, the Magic: The Gathering Uro ban in Standard will make tournaments in that format more watchable, provided a new dominant strategy doesn't emerge just as quickly as this one did.
Source: Wizards of the Coast