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Vintage Banned & Restricted List

The official list of cards that are banned or restricted in the Vintage format

Last Updated: March 31, 2025

Banned Cards

The following cards are banned in Vintage tournaments. They cannot be included in decks or sideboards.

Conspiracy Cards

  • Advantageous Proclamation
  • Aether Searcher
  • Brago's Favor
  • Double Stroke
  • Iterative Analysis
  • Power Play
  • Secrets of Paradise
  • Sentinel Dispatch
  • Sovereign's Realm
  • Summoner's Bond
  • Unexpected Potential
  • Worldknit

Manual Dexterity Cards

  • Chaos Orb
  • Falling Star

Ante Cards

  • Amulet of Quoz
  • Bronze Tablet
  • Contract from Below
  • Darkpact
  • Demonic Attorney
  • Jeweled Bird
  • Rebirth
  • Tempest Efreet
  • Timmerian Fiends

Subgame Cards

  • Shahrazad

Culturally Offensive Cards

  • Invoke Prejudice
  • Cleanse
  • Stone-Throwing Devils
  • Pradesh Gypsies
  • Jihad
  • Imprison
  • Crusade

These cards are banned in all formats due to racist depictions, text, or combination thereof.

Other

  • 25 Cards with the Card Type "Conspiracy"

Restricted Cards

The following cards are restricted in Vintage tournaments. You may include no more than one copy of any of these cards in your deck and sideboard combined.

Ancestral Recall
Balance
Black Lotus
Brainstorm
Chalice of the Void
Channel
Demonic Consultation
Demonic Tutor
Dig Through Time
Flash
Gitaxian Probe
Golgari Grave-Troll
Gush
Imperial Seal
Karn, the Great Creator
Library of Alexandria
Lion's Eye Diamond
Lodestone Golem
Lotus Petal
Mana Crypt
Mana Vault
Memory Jar
Mental Misstep
Merchant Scroll
Mind's Desire
Monastery Mentor
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Mystic Forge
Mystical Tutor
Narset, Parter of Veils
Necropotence
Sol Ring
Strip Mine
Thorn of Amethyst
Time Vault
Time Walk
Timetwister
Tinker
Tolarian Academy
Treasure Cruise
Trinisphere
Urza's Saga
Vampiric Tutor
Vexing Bauble
Wheel of Fortune
Windfall
Yawgmoth's Will

Recent Changes

March 31, 2025

No Changes

The Vintage format remains stable with no changes to the banned or restricted lists. The format continues to show healthy diversity and balance.

March 18, 2024

Restricted: Vexing Bauble

Vexing Bauble has been restricted due to its dominance in competitive Vintage play, particularly in combination with other artifacts and cost reduction effects.

January 15, 2024

Restricted: Urza's Saga

Urza's Saga was restricted due to its ability to provide consistent access to powerful artifacts while also serving as a mana source and creating significant threats.

Understanding Vintage

Vintage is Magic's eternal format where almost every card ever printed is legal to play. To maintain competitive balance, rather than outright banning powerful cards, Vintage employs a restricted list that limits certain cards to only one copy per deck.

Only cards that involve ante, manual dexterity, or cards that would create gameplay issues (like Conspiracy cards) are completely banned from the format.

Format Rules

  • Minimum Deck Size: 60 cards
  • Maximum Deck Size: No maximum
  • Sideboard: 0-15 cards (if used, must be exactly 15)
  • Banned Cards: Not allowed in deck or sideboard
  • Restricted Cards: Maximum 1 copy per deck & sideboard combined
  • Card Legality: All Magic expansions and special sets are allowed, except for cards specifically banned

Why Cards Are Restricted

Cards typically become restricted in Vintage for one or more of the following reasons:

  • Provide excessive card advantage
  • Generate large amounts of mana too quickly
  • Create repetitive, non-interactive game states
  • Enable consistent first-turn wins
  • Create a substantial imbalance in the metagame