Magic: The Gathering’s most memorable set of 2021 is likely Modern Horizons 2 for its increased power level and numerous homages to previous MTG mechanics. Cards like Murktide Regent, the Elemental “Evoke” Cycle, and Dragon’s Rage Channeler have all made a huge splash in competitive formats and there are numerous designs like Ravenous Squirrel and Sword of Hearth and Home that call back to designs of years past. At the crux of both lies one specific card that has taken over older constructed formats and sees playback to Vintage - Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. The card references both the plane of Kaladesh and the Dash mechanic but underneath its silly exterior is a value generation engine that has proven itself incredibly powerful. As 2021 has ended and players look toward the 2022 Magic set release schedule, Ragavan has become one of the landmark cards of the year, showing up in two of the top five Modern decks.
Recently, Wizards of the Coast has been criticized for the number of sets it’s been releasing the past few years. Each non-Standard MTG set seems to radically shake up older formats and causing decks to be prohibitively powerful and expensive. In the past, the Legacy and Modern metagames changed more naturally and at a slower pace. Now that newly-printed cards can be pushed past Standard’s power level, longtime players are having to overhaul their decks and spend more than ever to keep up with the constant flux of what’s tier one.
But is that reason enough to ban Ragavan? Perhaps, but the situation becomes a bit more confusing than that given Modern Horizons 2 as a whole only came out less than a year ago. Opposed to the most popular Magic cards of 2020 being older staples, these new MTG cards were released in June 2021 and have changed both Modern and Legacy dramatically. At one mana, Ragavan probably couldn’t get much more efficient, but there are also answers like Prismatic Ending and Unholy Heat that do deal with it the turn it’s the most effective. In a world where it was the only pushed card, it would probably get banned immediately, but the case gets much more complicated when considering the changes to the metagame. Comparing it to previous MTG bannings, it seems likely that the beloved monkey Ragavan will be banned in Legacy but not in Modern.
MTG's Ragavan Vs. Deathrite Shaman: Is the One-Mana Spell Too Pushed?
Around 2014, Deathrite Shaman was banned in Magic's Modern format due to having too much late-game power. The card was great in a variety of decks and in the words of Wizards itself, the card made Modern's Standard-like 60-card Magic deckbuilding more about the individual power levels of cards rather than the synergies between them. In 2018, Deathrite Shaman was also banned in Legacy mostly due to the same reasons. Its acceleration early paired with its game-ending activations made it an auto-include in nearly every midrange MTG deck in the format.
Ragavan is a different case from Deathrite Shaman, as Shaman’s power comes mostly from its flexibility. Both can generate mana and incredible amounts of value on their own, but Deathrite Shaman can act as a damage clock as well as incidental graveyard hate. Deathrite is a good threat early and late in the game while Ragavan can sometimes fall off later in the game. However, Ragavan’s card advantage matched with its stats mean it must be answered early and doesn’t need to be paired with anything besides removal, much like Hullbreacher when it was banned in MTG's Commander format earlier this year. Ragavan is rigid in what it can do, but basically, every red aggressive deck wants a copy, causing the format to be less diverse and making the case for a ban.
MTG’s Ragavan & Wrenn and Six: Is It A Similar Situation?
The Wrenn and Six card felt for a long time like it was too good for both Modern and Legacy. Both formats had the fetch lands to recur and many early-game creatures to destroy, but the card would only be banned in Legacy. There has been speculation that, due to the sales of Modern Horizons, Wizards did not want to ban the card in Modern even if it was too good, but there hasn’t been any confirmed evidence to support the claim. Both cards definitely have a high power level comparable to MTG's banned Uro card, but if price is a concern, Ragavan might still see the same fate.
In its original banning, Wizards of the Coast called out two specific interactions that made Wrenn and Six too powerful for Legacy in Magic: The Gathering - its ability to recur Wasteland, a land that destroyed the opponent’s mana, and its ability to shoot down every competitive one-drop in the format. Ragavan doesn’t have any broken interactions with specific cards, its effect and rate are just great when paired with most other competitive cards. Delver of Secrets decks are currently 21 percent of the Legacy metagame, with no other deck hitting a 10 percent share otherwise. Ragavan and Wrenn and Six both contributed to the power push of these Delver decks, so it would make sense that the team at Wizards remove Ragavan from Legacy without disturbing Modern.
Is Magic: The Gathering’s Modern Format Changing To Be More Aggressive?
As many players probably know from MTG's 15 non-Standard bans and rebalancings, Wizards of the Coast has taken a more aggressive approach to banning cards. The new philosophy for card designs is that it’s better to overshoot on power level than undershoot and that if a card outpaces others in terms of power level, it can be banned to make sure it doesn’t dominate. This ban strategy hasn’t seen much implementation in Modern, but the inverse seems to have happened instead. Since MTG cards like Murktide Regent, Unholy Heat, and the Elemental “Evoke” cycle are as efficient if not more so than Ragavan, there doesn’t seem to be a need for bans based on power level.
It’s an important part of a healthy metagame that some threats can be deployed before control decks can take care of them, but not so many that players with slower strategies can’t come back. The legendary Oko banning in Magic's Modern format is a testament to this - it presented an immediate threat early and so much so that many decks couldn't recover. However, with the speed of cards like Counterspell, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, and Unholy Heat, control and midrange decks have more stopping power than ever. Still, even when considering these powerful removal spells, it’s hard for control decks to keep up with Ragavan’s card advantage and mana generation in MTG. Perhaps Modern is in somewhat of an arms race that means Ragavan will stay unbanned and remain a role-player against the rest of the high-powered field.
Can MTG Safely Remove Ragavan From Modern and Legacy, & Does It Want To?
Just like before Modern Horizons 2, shaking up the meta with bans would cause some decks like Jund and Murktide Regent to become much less powerful, causing people who bought those decks to not be able to compete in FNM and Magic tournaments already struggling with attendance. In addition, it’s hard to cash out and trade cards in if they are banned in competitive formats. Removing a large part of the Modern metagame that people are settled into might be tough and heavily alter what decks people play. Since other decks are also tuned with the card in mind, there might be other replacements that have to be made outside of decks with Ragavan.
In addition, Ragavan is definitely a set seller for MTG - booster packs and bundles sell better when there are powerful and expensive cards to look forward to, so Wizards might have a vested interest in keeping the card playable in the format. While the card was definitely designed with playability in mind, if Ragavan does cause more problems in Modern and takes up more of a metagame share, it might make Modern Horizons 2 look like a misstep in the eyes of consumers like the Throne of Eldraine bans did in 2020. While this likely doesn’t factor too much into the banning discussion, it might still be a point of concern to both collectors and the company that’s invested time and resources into Ragavan.
There’s definitely still a concern that Modern is getting too expensive - what was once $600 to $700 for a tier 1 deck five years ago has turned into nearly double that for most of the metagame, according to MTGGoldfish. Plus, with all these pushed designs, new players wanting to enter the formats and discover fun decks might find that their cards are punished by people playing Ragavan and Unholy Heat. Even with a Ragavan ban, the format might be naturally restricted to competitive and online play, much like Magic Arena and the introduction of Alchemy.
The Magic: The Gathering Modern metagame is surprisingly diverse given the new cards having entered the pool, but Ragavan’s representation is still high, showing up in 15 percent of decks in the meta. At this point, it seems like what happened to Wrenn and Six will happen again. Legacy’s card pool will probably still be too good at protecting Ragavan and Modern will most likely have to adapt to a new game plan.
Source: MTGGoldfish