Since the release of Throne of Eldraine, Magic: The Gathering's newest set, Oko, Thief of Crowns has been wreaking serious havoc on a myriad of constructed formats. Indeed, the staggering power level of Oko has led many players to call for the card to be banned, and Wizards of the Coast has now complied, though the developer has not yet removed the Planeswalker from Standard, the format where it is currently causing the most trouble.
Instead, WotC has decided to ban Oko, Thief of Crowns in Magic: The Gathering Arena's Brawl format. This ban is effective immediately, and Wizards has emphasized that not only can the Thief of Crowns no longer be selected as a commander for Brawl, it can not be included in Brawl decks at all. This means that Oko will be entirely absent from tomorrow's Wednesday Brawl event, which is sure to be exciting news for many fans.
For the uninitiated, Brawl is a Commander variant exclusively focused on cards that are legal in MTG's Standard format, and Oko made some serious waves during the MTG Arena Brawl event that occurred at the end of October. Specifically, Oko's +1 ability can be used to completely invalidate almost any opposing creature commander, and this, combined with the Planeswalker's very low mana cost, makes it extremely powerful in Brawl.
To note, Oko, Thief of Crowns will still be legal in all other formats and events on Magic: The Gathering Arena. As such, WotC will not be issuing Wildcards to players that have copies of Oko, Thief of Crowns in their collections, which is something that was done following the recent banning of Field of the Dead in Magic: The Gathering's Standard format.
While banning Oko in Brawl may do little to quell the anger of those that are sick of seeing the Thief of Crowns in Standard, it could at least be seen as a step in the right direction. Furthermore, the next official banned and restricted announcement is set to occur on November 18, and it seems very likely that this announcement will mark the end of Oko, Thief of Crowns' reign in Standard.
Magic: The Gathering Arena is available now on PC.
Source: Magic: The Gathering Arena