As Though It Had an Editor: Notes on the March 23, 2026 Legacy Banned & Restricted Announcement

Many who watch Eternal Durdles are likely aware of how poorly I believe Wizards of the Coast (WotC) communicates regarding its banned and restricted announcements. Their lack of clarity about the data they use, the goals for the format, and their inconsistency about what is or is not acceptable in it are significant failures. I'm not alone in this sentiment.

WotC's failings, however, are self-inflicted. Communicating more clearly to the Legacy community should not be challenging.

I'm an editor by profession, so we're going to break down the March 23, 2026, banned-and-restricted (B&R) announcement and treat it as though WotC had an editor offering feedback for a rewrite before publishing.

Below are Carmen Klomparens' words from the B&R announcement, interspersed with my suggested edits/questions in italics.

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Editing the March 23, 2026, B&R

No changes.

In life, it's said that two things are certain.

Death & Taxes

Creatures (40)

4 Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 White Orchid Phantom
4 Recruiter of the Guard
4 Witch Enchanter
4 Solitude
4 Clarion Conqueror
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Skyclave Apparition
1 Lion Sash
1 Containment Priest
1 Flickerwisp
1 Loran of the Third Path
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Canoptek Scarab Swarm

Artifacts (7)

4 Aether Vial
1 Pre-War Formalwear
1 Batterskull
1 Meteor Sword

Instants (4)

4 Swords to Plowshares

Lands (29)

10 Plains
4 Karakas
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Wasteland
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
2 Shadowy Backstreet

Sideboard

1 Yorion, Sky Nomad
2 Mindbreak Trap
4 Deafening Silence
3 Disruptor Flute
3 Wrath of the Skies
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Path to Exile

In addition to Death and Taxes winning a Legacy Showcase Challenge in the last month.

What is the significance of that Legacy Showcase versus any other?

The January Showcase was won by Lands. The March showcase three days after this was published was won by 4x Candelabra of Tawnos, 4x The One Ring, 4x Karn, the Great Creator goldfish.

We've seen the format's top dog in Dimir Tempo come down in metagame share and win rate.

What metashares and win rates are you referring to? What about those are relevant to your decision-making? Per MTGTop8, Dimir Tempo actually increased from 12% to 14% since the start of 2026.

We've seen Oops! All Spells begin to fall off a bit as people tune their answers to the current Legacy metagame.

What answers are you referring to? What comprises the "Legacy metagame" in your view?

Per MTGTop8, Oops! All Spells has maintained a 5% metashare through all of 2026 thus far.

We're elated to see games decompress in Legacy as they become fairer.

What does "fairer" mean? You shouldn't use undefined terms as though you aren't the governing body that determines what is and is not acceptable for a format.

One of the more observable symptoms of that decompression is that Swords to Plowshares has started to be a more reasonable part of the format at large.

Where are you pulling this data? Per MTGTop8, since the start of 2026, Swords to Plowshares play volume went down from 21.9% to 20.8% of decks.

Players have also begun to find success with another flavor of white creature-based aggro, reminiscent of Modern's Boros Energy deck.

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Mardu Energy

Creatures (25)

4 Guide of Souls
4 Ocelot Pride
4 Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
4 Amped Raptor
3 Hexing Squelcher
3 Orcish Bowmasters
3 Voice of Victory

Sorceries (6)

3 Cabal Therapy
3 Thoughtseize

Instants (4)

4 Swords to Plowshares

Enchantments (2)

2 Goblin Bombardment

Lands (23)

4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
4 Wasteland
2 Plateau
2 Scrubland
2 Karakas
1 Badlands
1 Elegant Parlor
1 Shadowy Backstreet
1 Silent Clearing

Sideboard (15)

4 Leyline of the Void
3 Containment Priest
2 Clarion Conqueror
2 Null Rod
2 Prismatic Ending
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast

This has a lot of the threats that players who play a good bit of Modern are familiar with, backed up by Legacy-powered disruption in the likes of Wasteland and Cabal Therapy.

Has WotC considered format identity bleeding across formats, as all eternal formats play the same threats? Do you care about this at all? State a position about this, regardless of what it is, for transparency's sake.

To be a bit mask-off, it's hard for me to not get excited to see the fair version of Cabal Therapy making its way back to the Legacy tables.

This is a B&R in which you communicate the format's goals to the players and your ongoing stewardship of it. Shouldn't the mask always be off?

Again, what do you mean by "fair version?" Broad terms are different from a governing body and need to be defined.

All therapeutic bias aside, Legacy looks like it hasn't reached a solved end state, and it appears players are enjoying the journey they're on.

Is a "solved end state" the defined threshold for when WotC would take action against a card(s)? What do you define as a "solved end state?"

Which players appear to be enjoying the journey they're on? Where are you collecting this player feedback?

The top of the standings at different events are distinct from one another, with different macro-archetypes and decks taking turns in the spotlight.

The top standings from what events? Which macroarchetypes are you referring to? For reference here are the most recent three MTGO Showcase Challenges:

March 26

Ring/Karn UrzaTron
Mardu Energy
Doomsday
Sneak and Show
Boros Energy
Dimir Tempo
Dimir Tempo
Karn Forge

Feb. 26

Death & Taxes
Aluren
Lands
Reanimator
Affinity
Boros Energy
Lands
Sneak & Show

Jan. 26

Lands
Dimir Tempo
Mardu Energy
Oops, All Spells!
Oops, All Spells!
Show & Tell
The Epic Storm
UWr Superfriends

Total Macrotype Breakdown

Combo — 14
Aggro — 6
Tempo — 3
Control — 1

We can't wait to see the next stage of the format.

Shouldn't you express where you believe the format will trend based on the data you should share?

Do you have any outstanding concerns? Should you perhaps speak to those who might be surprised by no changes?

As the curators of the format who are presumably in touch with the community's current format sentiment, should you address why action wasn't taken against the cards players believe are on the chopping block?