Magic: The Gathering players, dust off your old decklists. The game's May 2026 Banned and Restricted update has landed, and the headline is a big one. Umezawa's Jitte is legal in Modern again after years on the banned list.
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See how it worksModern took the most changes. Wizards of the Coast banned Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury and Lotus Field. Phlage went because its combo with the land Arena of Glory had grown so strong that aggressive and midrange decks had to adopt it or fade away; Lotus Field went for enabling infinite-mana loops in Amulet Titan. To balance the format out, two cards came off the banned list: Violent Outburst and the famously punishing equipment Umezawa's Jitte. The reasoning is that Modern has matured, picked up better answers, and shifted enough since those cards were originally banned that they should no longer warp things.
Other formats did not escape. In Pioneer, Cori-Steel Cutter is banned for handing Izzet decks too much pressure and resilience, a combination Wizards said had "compressed games too much." Legacy loses Undercity Informer, which had made Oops, All Spells! combo decks consistent enough to win on turn one far too often. Pauper gets a gift in the other direction, with Bonder's Ornament unbanned to give slower control decks a fighting chance in a faster format. Alchemy, Magic's digital-only format, lost Sewer-veillance Cam. Standard, Vintage, Historic and Timeless were all left untouched.
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Set up your group for freeIf you play at a local Friday Night Magic or a Modern night, expect the next few weeks to look different as players rebuild around the changes. It is a good excuse to get back to the table. New to a city or after a regular group? You can find a game night near you and see what is on.
Sources: Wizards of the Coast
