Magic: The Gathering Bans Fury, Up The Beanstalk, Karn, And More

thegamer.com:

Magic: The Gathering has finally put Rakdos Scam to an end with its latest ban for the Modern format, doing away with the much-criticized Fury.

Alongside Fury, we’ve also seen a number of other bans for both Modern and Pioneer, including cards from the recent sets Wilds of Eldraine and The Lost Caverns Of Ixalan.

Fury is by far the biggest ban in the December 4 Banned and Restricted Announcement, helping dismantle the ever-oppressive black/red Rakdos Scam archetype.

Fury can be played for free if you exile a red card, but will sacrifice itself the second it enters the battlefield. If you can respond to that with a reanimation tool like Malakir Rebirth or Feign Death, you can effectively keep Fury in play and have a 3/3 with double strike on the first turn for just one mana and one red card.

Full Ban List:

Fury isn’t the only card with an evoke cost like this that’s been causing problems, as Grief is also a big part of Rakdos Scam. However, with Fury causing more problems, it made sense for Wizards to ban that and see how the format adjusts instead of completely nuking the deck from orbit.

Talking about the decision to ban Fury, Wizards of the Coast said it believes the ban will "widen the format, allowing players to explore additional strategies". Notably, it also argued the ban of Fury will reduce how often we see other problematic cards like Grief and Orcish Bowmasters, keeping them legal in Modern for now.

Before these bans, Rakdos Scam was sitting at an overwhelming 20 percent of the metagame, which is absurdly more than the seven to ten percent other top decks tend to see.

Modern will also be banning a card from Wilds of Eldraine, Up The Beanstalk. Up The Beanstalk is a fantastic card for green, rewarding you for