Wotc Bans Thassa's Oracle in Historic
Standard forum
Posted on May 23, 2021, 12:16 p.m. by Mtg_Mega_Nerds
First of all, I know this is a historic discussion, but standard was the closest to it so I am putting it in that forum. Anyways, several days ago Thassa's Oracle was banned in historic due to the large amount of Tainted Pact decks being played. I honestly feel that they should have banned Tainted Pact instead. First of all, this can still be done with Jace, Wielder of Mysteries , albeit slower. There are other decks that use Thassa's Oracle as well, and I think that they aren't dominating the meta anyways. What are your thoughts? Should wotc have banned Tainted Pact instead?
xtechnetia says... #3
Oracle is the correct ban.
- The goal is not to outright kill decks (usually), just to bring them in line. With the Oracle ban, the Pact decks can still exist, they're just now reliant on a slower, more interactive wincon.
- Oracle itself is very poor design. "When this enters the battlefield, you win the game" should never be printed on a creature, particularly one that costs a piddly UU. If it's not the Pact decks today, it will be some other Oracle-using deck tomorrow that creates issues. Oracle is already the linchpin of several decks across formats, from now-defunct Pioneer Inverter to Legacy Doomsday to EDH Consultation-Oracle decks.
May 23, 2021 1:44 p.m.
Wizards does not like to ban entire archetypes - they try to ban the card that pushes the archetype above and beyond acceptable win rates.
Banning Pact would have shut down the entire Pact archetype; banning Oracle leaves the archetype intact, while slowing down its victory and allowing greater interaction.
Now, this doesn’t always work - they tried to slow Hogaak’s archetype without banning Hogaak in Modern... but attempts to slow Hogaak proved unsuccessful and Hogaak himself was eventually banned. We’ll have to see if Wizards made the right ban, but we will not know until the meta adjusts to the new bans.
It is also worth noting, Pact could still be the most prominent deck in the post-Oracle world and Oracle could still be shown to have been the right ban - the goal is not to make Pact necessarily weaker than everything else, but reduce its win percentage to a more acceptable level.
gavriel1136 says... #2
The fervor to "chase" Thassa's Oracle has faded, while the "chase" for mystical archives is still running hot. Rarely will WotC ban a premier card if thye can target another part of a combo. For example, during Kaladesh, they preferred to ban Felidar Guardian Rather than Saheeli, since planeswalkers are more enticing (and the face of the set).
May 23, 2021 1:24 p.m.