Watch list
Everything on this list is legal. The watch list is a testing and discussion tool, not a ban list. 85 entries in eight categories, and unlike the founding document, Ancient Tomb appears exactly once. It was listed under both fast mana and lands in Beta v0.1; it lives under fast mana here because the mana is why anyone plays it.
Fast mana and acceleration (8)
Fast starts are part of the format identity. Action comes only if games become too opening-hand dependent.
Ancient Tomb · Chrome Mox · Mox Diamond · Lotus Petal · Mana Vault · Sol Ring · Dark Ritual · Simian Spirit Guide
Tutors and consistency (10)
High-power Commander relies on consistency. Watching whether the same combo lines show up too often.
Demonic Tutor · Vampiric Tutor · Imperial Seal · Mystical Tutor · Enlightened Tutor · Worldly Tutor · Gamble · Tainted Pact · Demonic Consultation · Doomsday
Efficient interaction (12)
Strong interaction keeps fast combo and explosive commanders honest.
Force of Will · Force of Negation · Fierce Guardianship · Deflecting Swat · Mental Misstep · Swords to Plowshares · Lightning Bolt · Wash Away · Subtlety · Solitude · Grief · Fury
Combo finishers (10)
Combo should exist. The question is whether any one package becomes too dominant or repetitive.
Thassa's Oracle · Underworld Breach · Food Chain · Ad Nauseam · Necropotence · Reanimate · Show and Tell · Sneak Attack · Natural Order · Hermit Druid
Prison and denial (12)
Disruption is allowed. Watching for too many games where one player cannot participate.
Drannith Magistrate · Chalice of the Void · Trinisphere · Winter Orb · Static Orb · Stasis · Back to Basics · Magus of the Moon · Harbinger of the Seas · Opposition Agent · Collector Ouphe · Null Rod
Powerful value cards (11)
Pressured or banned elsewhere. Given room to prove whether they are too strong in this environment.
Oko, Thief of Crowns · Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer · Field of the Dead · Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath · Wrenn and Six · Sensei's Divining Top · Skullclamp · The One Ring · Rhystic Study · Mystic Remora · Esper Sentinel
Commanders and command-zone engines (13)
Commanders are more dangerous in 1v1 because they are always available. Watching for a small number dominating the first quarter.
Baral, Chief of Compliance · Derevi, Empyrial Tactician · Edric, Spymaster of Trest · Esior, Wardwing Familiar · Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy · Najeela, the Blade-Blossom · Raffine, Scheming Seer · Sythis, Harvest's Hand · Thrasios, Triton Hero · Tymna the Weaver · Urza, Lord High Artificer · Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful · Zurgo Bellstriker
Lands and mana engines (9)
Lands are hard to answer and can create repeated game patterns. Strip Mine and Tabernacle are already banned; the rest stay legal while we test.
Wasteland · Dust Bowl · Rishadan Port · Field of Ruin · Ghost Quarter · Urza's Saga · Gaea's Cradle · Mishra's Workshop · Bazaar of Baghdad
How cards move
Legal, to watched, to balloted, to banned or cleared, with each move recorded in the change log. A card leaves this list in one of two directions and either way you will be able to point at the day it happened.