Breaking News: Nadu Banned on August 26, 2024

Why is August 26, 2024 a special date for Modern players? Because that’s the day when the Nadu, Winged Wisdom, one of the most oppressive cards.

The ban announcement is up, let’s see what are the changes.

August 26, 2024 MTG Ban Announcement

• Standard: No changes.
• Pioneer:
  • Amalia Benavides Aguirre is banned.
  • Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is banned.
• Modern:
  • Nadu, Winged Wisdom is banned.
  • Grief is banned.
• Legacy:
  • Grief is banned.
• Vintage:
  • Urza’s Saga is restricted.
  • Vexing Bauble is restricted.
• Alchemy: No changes.
• Explorer:
  • Amalia Benavides Aguirre is banned.
  • Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is banned.
• Historic: No changes.
• Timeless: No changes.
• Brawl: No changes.

Here are some arguments for and against the banning of the bird.

Reasons Why Nadu Should be Banned

These are 100% objective stone-cold facts, why Nadu should be banned in Modern:

• It’s miserable to play against.
• It’s miserable to play.
• Just play more removal doesn’t work, as Nadu simply gets another trigger.
• If you’d want to ban around it, you’d only need to ban Shuko and other cheap equip equipments, Chord of Calling, Springheart Nantuko,Dryad Arbor and all lands that can produce green or blue mana.
• The Nadu turns can take over 45 turns, which was recently demonstrated by Brain Braun-Duin during NRG’s Modern Showdown event.
• Nadu decks represented 25.3% decks of the Pro Tour, and 59% decks of the Pro Tour Top 32. It also featured a 59% win rate, and has dominated Modern ever since.
• Nobody likes the card.
• The winner of Pro Tour, Simon Nielsen won with Nadu and stated that “players should not invest in the deck”, due to the fact that the ban is imminent.
• You can’t Lightning Bolt the bird.
• Even if you sideboard against it, you only slow it down a little, and won’t stop it.
• The duck season / Nadu summer is over.

Reasons Why Nadu Should Not be Banned

On the other hand, let’s play the devil’s advocate for a second and also list the reasons why Nadu shouldn’t be banned:

Now, if you compare both lists, it looks like the reasons for banning win this argument.

Your Thoughts?

So, how do you feel about this ban? Do you agree with it, or would you change something? Let us know in the comments below.

Anyway, this article is a bit different that our usual stuff (a bit more tongue-in-cheek). If you’re excited about Magic’s future, here are some articles that might interest you:

• Duskmourn Commander Decks
• Upcoming MTG Sets (up to 2026)
• MTG Marvel Set Speculation

Until next time, have fun and may you enjoy Modern once again.