<h6 style="text-align: right;">Image credit: Wizards of the Coast</h6>
&nbsp;
On Monday, June 30th, 2025, Wizards of the Coast officially banned several cards in the Standard format. The ban list now has seven new additions compared with the day before. But what are these seven cards, and why were they banned? Read on!
<h2>The New Cards on the Standard Ban List</h2>
The new cards banned in Standard are as follows:
<ul>
<li><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cori-Steel Cutter" href="#" target="_blank">Cori-Steel Cutter</a></li>
<li><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abuelo&#039;s Awakening" href="#" target="_blank">Abuelo&#039;s Awakening</a></li>
<li><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Monstrous Rage" href="#" target="_blank">Monstrous Rage</a></li>
<li><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heartfire Hero" href="#" target="_blank">Heartfire Hero</a></li>
<li><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Up the Beanstalk" href="#" target="_blank">Up the Beanstalk</a></li>
<li><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hopeless Nightmare" href="#" target="_blank">Hopeless Nightmare</a></li>
<li><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="This Town Ain&#039;t Big Enough" href="#" target="_blank">This Town Ain&#039;t Big Enough</a></li>
</ul>
At this time, no other formats have banned any additional cards (except Pioneer Best-of-1 on Arena, which banned <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tibalt&#039;s Trickery" href="#" target="_blank">Tibalt&#039;s Trickery</a>). The only format with new cards on its ban list is Standard.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Monstrous Rage"></div></div>
<h3>Were Any of These Bans Surprising?</h3>
Many players drafted up their proverbial ban list Bingo cards in advance of the June 30th announcement.
A lot of players seemed to believe that Cori-Steel Cutter and Monstrous Rage were set to be added to the list. These players were absolutely right, as were players anticipating a Beanstalk ban, as well as This Town Ain't Big Enough.
Some ambiguity came for the Omniscience Combo deck, however; players seemed unsure of how Wizards of the Coast would account for that deck.
In the end, Wizards chose to ban Abuelo's Awakening to impact the deck. Wizards also banned Heartfire Hero and Hopeless Nightmare to stabilize Standard even further.
<h2>Will This Stabilize Any Prices?</h2>
At the time of writing, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cori-Steel Cutter" href="#" target="_blank">Cori-Steel Cutter</a> is sitting at an approximate $9 average price, with the market value at approximately $6.50. Multiple formats value the card as a utility Equipment for Voltron Commander decks and the previously considered mono-red aggro decks in Standard, among potential others.
With Cori-Steel Cutter now on the Standard ban list, Commander players should have a considerably easier time acquiring the card.
Beyond that, none of these cards were particularly expensive, with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abuelo&#039;s Awakening" href="#" target="_blank">Abuelo&#039;s Awakening</a> at a more-than-reasonable market value of $0.25 and the rest of the cards being of lower rarities.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Up the Beanstalk" href="#" target="_blank">Up the Beanstalk</a> is a notable exception; in early May, Beanstalk, the core for the "Beans" deck, was sitting comfortably around $4, but now it has sunk to a market value of just over $1 per copy.
So, to sum this up, it stands to reason that the market will probably stabilize for these cards, if they haven't already stabilized prior to the bans.
And now, we open the floor to you. Are any of your Standard decks affected by <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/banned-and-restricted-june-30-2025">these additions to the Standard ban list</a>? Are you drafting up new Standard lists? Alternatively, have you been playing Standard at all? Sound off below!

Ban List Update for June 30th, 2025 Shakes up Standard

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Cloud Strife and Sephiroth Final Fantasy x MTG key art | art by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/magali_villeneuve/?hl=en">Magali Villeneuve</a></h6>
According to <a href="https://www.wargamer.com/magic-the-gathering/best-selling-final-fantasy-sales">Wargamer</a>, during the Q1 earnings call from Hasbro on April 24th, 2025, CEO Chris Cocks reiterated the financial success of Final Fantasy's upcoming Magic release:
“Final Fantasy will be the best-selling set of all time on day one. It already is,” he said. Preorders for Final Fantasy products on Amazon sold out almost immediately after the initial preview stream, and most retailers are marking up Collector Boosters and Collector's Edition Commander decks to $600+ apiece.
Final Fantasy's new best-selling status will no doubt further entrench the decision to make Universes Beyond mainline set releases and products more frequent.
“It’s very clear to us that Universes Beyond as a strategy has increased the total active install base of Magic players, both in terms of reigniting lapsed fans as well as bringing in new fans,” Cocks said.
<h2>What's behind the growth in Hasbro's MTG earnings?</h2>
“It’s difficult to identify just one thing. Really what we’re seeing is an expansion of the playerbase,” Cocks explained. Many players could speculate the rise in Chaos Vault and Secret Lair drops have changed the model for MTG products in between mainline set releases.
As well as this, we can count on recent "nostalgia" sets like Tarkir: Dragonstorm having brought longtime players back into the fold to see fresh takes on old characters, game mechanics and settings.
One thing remains sure, Final Fantasy is bound to have some of the most popular Secret Lair drops of all time, leading to an even greater sales expectation for Wizards' current license of the franchise.
<h3>What Makes the Final Fantasy MTG set so popular?</h3>
Final Fantasy (FF) premiered in Japan in 1987, and with over 30 years' worth of game release across the world and console generations, there are legions of fans who are eager to get their hands on anything FF related. Final Fantasy's many characters and world settings also makes it a perfect fit for Magic's game system.
<h2>When Does the Final Fantasy MTG set Release?</h2>
With a scheduled prerelease date of June 6th and release date of June 13th, Final Fantasy and Magic fans don't have long to wait to meld their favorite franchises together with one of the world's best game systems.
Have you managed to preorder any Final Fantasy product yet? What games or characters are you hoping get the best representation? Let us know below!

standard

Ban List Update for June 30th, 2025 Shakes up Standard

Final Fantasy is the Best-Selling MTG Set Before Official Release Date

60 to 100 - Jeskai Dragons