Legacy: Banlist Review - November 2025

Great news, Legacy friends! I'm writing this article immediately after the highly anticipated banlist, the November 10th banlist, came out!

Yes, it has changed our beloved format a lot! So, let's take a look at what went away, what stayed, and what we can expect from now on.

While we all waited, anxiously, for the next steps Legacy would take, the new banlist update was released. Many of us were still speculating, that is, considering whether WotC would keep things the same or only ban Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, but this time they actually took action and firmly changed the meta: Entomb and Nadu, Winged Wisdom are no longer available in Legacy. They also left a pretty big power vacuum.

Entomb was key in the most dominant deck in the format and perhaps the strongest tutor available in Legacy. Wizards of the Coast admitted that banning this iconic card wasn't their first choice because it is pretty interesting, design-wise. However, trying to ban the cards around it or waiting for the metagame to adjust to it didn't work: Dimir Reanimator still performed rather well, despite the huge target on its forehead.

The problem, according to them, is that, considering how this deck is built nowadays (something Entomb makes possible), it doesn't need to give up anything big to play the Reanimation core. This means it has plenty of space to attack from a different angle and actually become a tempo deck that can easily ignore decks that are ready to attack the graveyard. The idea is that if this is supposed to be a deck that "cheats out big monsters into play", then it needs to commit to this plan, as Show and Tell and Natural Order lists do.

As for their second victim, this was a long time coming. Nadu, Winged Wisdom is one of the biggest design mistakes ever made in the history of MTG. Created for Commander, it was banned from this format, Modern, and now Legacy. This card just delays the game, creates confusing interactions with countless triggered abilities, and performed really, really well.

All this power was partially disguised by the fact this deck wasn't all that great to play on Magic Online because we had to click on every interaction on our way. This often made us lose matches that were already won because of the clock, particularly if you weren't that experienced with the app. Now that this card is gone, it will be a distant memory, but we hope Wizards of the Coast remembers this bitter lesson when they design cards in the future.

As for the other two main cards some of us thought they could ban - at least whenever we spent hours and hours discussing Legacy online - Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student and The One Ring, they weren't even listed in the update. As Wizards of the Coast hasn't exactly communicated with us clearly in the last few months, all we can do now is try to draw meaning from their silence.

Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student has been the most relevant creature/planeswalker in Legacy ever since Psychic Frog left the format. It was a crucial piece in the Dimir Reanimator tempo game plan. Now, WotC has hit two of the main decks that played it, so we'll definitely have to check how this card fares in the meta once the changes hit the format. In any case, it is nearly ever-present in blue decks because it can take control of the game quite fast and interacts really well with Brainstorm. For now, it will remain crucial in Legacy, either as a force by itself or as a way to answer other forces.

As for The One Ring, it is clearly the strongest card in the most critical deck that escaped this round of bans. Forge Combo won and filled two spots in the top 8 of the biggest Legacy tournament of the year. It is evident this is the deck that can get the most out of The One Ring.

In some online forums, players have already pointed out this deck should climb to the top of the tiers soon because of this banlist. This is probably the most logical outcome, but, on the other side, it is a lot more vulnerable to prep than Reanimator was. Wizards of the Coast could be leaning on that to keep it under control. In any case, we can say with some certainty that Null Rod will become more important in the following months.

Every round of bans fosters speculation about which decks came out on top and which didn't. Though we'll only know for sure after a few tournaments, we can try to guess based on the space some crucial cards left now that they were banned. Let's try to do that right now:

Forge Combo

Straightaway, this is the deck that should gain the most from the latest banlist, as it was already one of the best decks in the format and wasn't hit at all. Furthermore, it struggled a lot against Dimir Reanimator and Nadu Midrange. On the other side, it will now have to deal with everyone targeting its artifacts.

Sneak and Show

This deck should also gain a lot from the latest banlist, as it struggled against Reanimator and the main Nadu lists too. It also naturally preys on Forge Combo, Dimir Tempo, and other Stompy lists. It will still struggle against Izzet Tempo, but you can't have everything.

Izzet Tempo

Great against Forge and Sneak and Show, this deck struggled a bit against Reanimator and Nadu Midrange. Now, it should climb to the top of the tempo lists.

Boros/Naya Initiative

Reanimator pushed these decks out of the format for a long time. Once more Forge and Sneak and Show hit the format, Boros and Naya will deal with these archetypes with great cards, like Archon of Emeria, Clarion Conqueror, Solitude, and Containment Priest.

Orcish Bowmasters

Legacy's party-pooper, Orcish Bowmasters, usually struggled against all the cards Atraxa, Grand Unifier drew (Entomb's main target) and the fact that Nadu, Winged Wisdom ignored its ability. Now, with cards like Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student and The One Ring at the center of the format, this card is ready to go back into the spotlight.

Obviously, the biggest losers after this banlist were the decks that lost cards. Besides these, a few others could struggle as the new meta forms.

Red/Eldrazi Stompy

Both Red Stompy and Eldrazi already struggled against Forge and Sneak and Show. More lists with Karn, the Great Creator in the meta could make up for this weakness, though.

Monoblue Cloudpost

Blue Post is definitely happy to see Reanimator go, but it preyed on Nadu decks and will now struggle against Izzet Tempo and Sneak and Show, which both got better.

Lands

Lands was one of the few decks that performed well against Reanimator. On the other side, it struggles a lot against Forge Combo and Izzet Tempo (which became even more challenging once Cori-Steel Cutter came along).

When we discussed this banlist update last week, we mentioned it was difficult to predict what it would be because WotC didn't change anything in June. This time, though we still can't grasp exactly where they want to go with this update, we can try to guess how the format will adapt to the new changes. Banning Entomb, a card many considered untouchable for years, suggests they are assessing the health of the format a bit more carefully. Banning Nadu, Winged Wisdom was also a good call. After all, it was problematic in many formats, including Legacy.

Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student and The One Ring are still here, it's true, but now Legacy has space to breathe. We can only hope new winds will carry it forward.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!