Standard Ban List 22.08

To allow you to enjoy the preview season in the full context of what the Standard format will look like, here’s the SBL 22.08 Update, which will be effective for Competitive-tier Standard events from August 5th, 2022 on the same day as Midnight Sun becomes legal for Competitive-tier events.

Summary of Standard Ban List 22.08 Changes

Corp

• Cyberdex Sandbox banned
• High-Profile Target banned
• Kakugo banned
• Shipment from Tennin banned
• Jinteki: Personal Evolution unbanned
• Fairchild 3.0 unbanned

Click here to jump to the full ban list.

Explanation of Changes

These changes consist of three packages: First, there are changes that we were asked to do by the Development team in the ban of Cyberdex Sandbox and High-Profile Target. The former was already on our minds going back to the 21.06 banlist update, and we had already noted how we would like to target the strong HB decks, but could not find a way of doing so without hitting the other factions as well. The Development team has balanced Midnight Sun with a Sandbox ban in mind and we believe that the card is not central to the Corp side anymore. So while it was fun to score and purge for 12, this will not be around in the future.

The ban of High-Profile Target opens up the way for exploring more interesting options around tags and will make a lot more sense in the context of previews that are coming in the next few days.

Furthermore, as previously noted on our 21.10 update, ever since the ban of Engram Flush, the Jinteki faction had lost its more interactive archetypes and was home to more attrition-based decks. The changes we did were aiming to free some more flexible tools in the hope to empower tempo-based decks, while keeping the attrition decks in check with a ban of their strongest ID. Unfortunately, the Jinteki presence at Worlds was still rather small and the changes did not have the anticipated effect.

With this update, we are reverting the 21.10 changes, as the Borealis Cycle brings some new and exciting tools for Jinteki. These were balanced with Jinteki: Personal Evolution in mind and we believe that attrition-type play is less viable than more interactive versions. Nevertheless, we will continue monitoring the metagame and adjust in a future update in time for Worlds, if necessary.

Finally, we are unbanning Fairchild 3.0, as the only reason keeping it banned was the prevalence of HB decks. With Ansel 1.0 and Brân 1.0, the HB faction has access to very powerful ice and is forced to consider each deck slot spent on these. We do not expect this unban to increase the faction’s power level all too much and would rather target other cards, if action is needed in the future.

A Note on Legality

As noted above, Midnight Sun and Standard Ban List 22.08 both become effective for Competitive level Standard events on August 5, 2022. However, for Casual level events, including Circuit Openers, Tournament Organizers may, at their discretion, rule that Midnight Sun is legal at their events earlier than that date. If you choose to do so, please adhere to the guidelines below:

• If Midnight Sun is legal at your event, you must enforce Standard Ban List 22.08 (this update) and follow rotation (Order and Chaos and the Mumbad Cycle rotated). If Midnight Sun is not legal at your event, you must run it using the previous Ban List (Standard Ban List 21.10) without rotation.
• If Midnight Sun is legal at your event before its official card legality date, please display this information prominently in all advertising for your event, whether physical or online (such as its AlwaysBeRunning entry).
• Please allow one week from the official release of Midnight Sun on July 22, 2022 before scheduling an event at which it will be legal, to allow players to absorb changes and create proxies.

Please see below for the full ban list.

Standard Ban List 22.08

Effective Date: 5 August, 2022

Changes from Standard Ban List 21.10 appear in bold. Strikethrough denotes unbanned cards.