Why wasn't Splinter Twin banned in Modern MTG?

Quick links

Why was Splinter Twin banned in the first place?

Why isn't Splinter Twin banned?

Seeing a card unbanned in Magic: The Gathering is a rare occurrence, but not unheard of in the game's history. Once a meta has evolved well enough beyond the problematic era, Wizards of the Coast may decide that a card is safe to return to play.

Jegantha the Source banned in Magic The Gathering's Modern format.

Magic: The Gathering – Why was Jegantha, the Source, banned in Modern and Pioneer?

Jegantha, the Source, is banned in Magic: The Gathering's Modern and Pioneer, but why was it banned?

The ever-powerful enchantment Splinter Twin found itself back in Modern format after years of being banished from the banned list. But why did Wizards of the Coast decide that now was a good time for this card to return? With us you have come to the right place for all your burning twin questions.

What is Splinter Twin?

The Magic the Gathering card Splinter Twin by Goran Josie.

Rarely does competitive Magic find itself in a situation like the one that led to Splinter Twin's ban. Enchantments are sort of a forgotten card type in many formats; Aside from being tied to another card type like creatures, they often just aren't enough to justify playing them.

The banned Magic the Gathering card, the One Ring.

Magic: The Gathering – Why was the One Ring banned in the modern era?

The One Ring is now banned in Magic: The Gathering's Modern format, but could it return soon?

Then came Splinter Twin, a red four-mana enchantment This looks pretty inconspicuous on its own. This aura allows the enchanted creature to create a token copy of itself by tapping, but this adds haste to the token version. However, once the next final step rolls around, tHat token disappears.

Why was Splinter Twin banned in the first place?

The Magic the Gathering card Splinter Twin from Modern Masters by Goran Josie.

The year was 2016, Battle for Zendikar was still fresh in players' minds as they eagerly awaited the release of Oath of the Gatewatch. A small leak in advance let everyone know that a small red spell that had dominated Modern is getting the axe. Splinter Twin was banned For the same reason most cards get banned: that's it pushing other decks out of the format by performing a little too well. At the time, Splinter Twin combined other decks into a roughly equal package. Temur Tempo, Temur Delver, Jeskai, and Grixis decks all shrunk to a similar blue and red shell.

MTG Remastered sets including Zendikar, Atraxa and a mummified cat.

Magic: The Gathering – 10 remastered sets we want to see

Magic: The Gathering features sets from over 30 years to remaster.

Because so many decks evolved into some kind of twin variant, many games came down to the decisive third round. Do you tap out on turn three to hope your opponent doesn't have the combo, or do you leave your mana open to disrupt the combo? While Splinter Twin may not have been as dominant a card at the time, it certainly did a lot of work in tournaments back then. All that resulted in the red enchantment being banned.

Why isn't Splinter Twin banned?

So why did Wizards of the Coast unban the card if it was so powerful and disruptive? Most of the time this answer was a matter of time. It has been Eight years after Splinter Twin was banned, and tons of sets were released between them, including three Modern-specific sets with the Horizons sets.

What matters is that there are some a few cards that helped Modern have room for the return of this combo deck.

Interesting, Splinter Twin actually only exists in one deck archetype. There isn't too much variation in the decks because very specific creatures need to be played, either Pestermite or Deceiver Exarch or a creature with the same abilities.

Which decks will use it?

Screenshot of Force of Negation Modern Horizons MTG

With eight years having passed between the card's ban and now, there have been many opportunities to combat the oppressive power contained within this card. First and foremost it will be Splinter Twin played in a special blue and red shell, focused solely on getting the combo by all possible means. All the usual suspects will be there, Pestermite, Deceiver Exarch, Lightning Bolt, and Preordain are all standard Izzet cards get stuck in the deck.

A large portion of the deck will also be dedicated Protection of the combo. You can use many of the cards that Wizards believes will keep Splinter Twin at bay to protect your cards. A quick counter package could include Flare of Denial, Counterspell, Stern Scolding, and Pact of Negation. Depending on your meta you could also iAdd a set of Spell Pierces, Snares and Force of Negation to the sideboard.

Another benefit of bringing Splinter Twin back to the game is that you get: Access practical tools in Lorien Revealed and Expressive Iterationtogether with a few snap caster magiciansand you have a pretty good starting point for one yourself Round four combo deck. Whether or not Splinter Twin will have much impact in the game's current state is yet to be determined, but over time players will quickly see the meta settle around this powerful enchantment.

Your changes have been saved