Restricted list banned in type II
Tomas Lindohf
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Letter to DCI Members
Greetings to all DCI members,
The Duelists' Convocation International (DCI) announces the
elimination of the official Standard (Type II) Restricted List,
effective January 1, 1997. Henceforth, only the Banned List will
affect Standard tournament-deck construction (in addition to the
existing DCI Standard Floor Rules). Cards that currently appear on the
Standard Restricted List and that remain in the tournament environment
after the departure of Fallen Empires and Ice Age on January 1, 1997,
will be moved to the Standard (Type II) Banned List.
Therefore, on January 1, 1997, the official Banned List for sanctioned
Standard (Type II) tournaments will appear as follows:
2.3.2 The Banned List for Standard (Type II) tournaments:
?Any card not specifically permitted by rule 2.3
?Any ante card contained in any newly released card set
?Balance
?Black Vise
?Bronze Tablet
?Channel
?Ivory Tower
?Jeweled Bird
?Land Tax
?Mind Twist
?Rebirth
?Strip Mine
?Tempest Efreet
?Timmerian Fiends (HM)
The DCI realizes that this change will significantly alter deck
construction and playing strategies in the Standard tournament
environment. However, we believe there are sufficiently compelling
reasons to support this decision.
The 1995 - 96 tournament season demonstrated that restricted cards,
despite being limited to one per deck by card title, frequently
decided the outcome of duels and matches. The ability to swing a duel
or match by drawing or otherwise playing a restricted card introduces
a much higher element of chance into the tournament environment than
is appropriate for an intellectual sport. Eliminating the Restricted
List reduces the randomness factor.
Moreover, the restriction of powerful cards creates a significant
problem in ongoing card design. By way of example, consider the Tutors
in Mirage : Their effectiveness is greatly enhanced by their ability
to retrieve restricted cards from a player's library. Eliminating the
Restricted List creates fewer card design limitations.
While banning or restricting cards is never taken lightly, the absence
of a Restricted List clearly means that DCI must exercise even greater
care when making future decisions.
The DCI hopes you understand the need for this alteration to the
Standard tournament environment.
Sincerely,
Jason Carl
Director, DCI
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