Secrets of Strixhaven Format Update - Ban & Watchlist Announcement
Summary of Changes
- No Changes
- Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice – Remains on Watchlist
Barrowgoyf. . .
As a general rule, we don't dedicate space in these announcements to cards that were reviewed and left unchanged. If a card doesn't move, it typically doesn't need a write-up. We're making an exception here because Barrowgoyf has been a recurring topic in community discussion, and we felt it was worth being transparent about where the committee stands rather than letting the conversation continue without a clear signal from us.
Barrowgoyf came into this review cycle with the numbers you might expect from a format staple. A 55.56% aggregate win rate across a 22.7% adoption rate. For reference, Lightning Bolt sits at 56.07% and Swords to Plowshares at 54.65%.
These figures reflect the win rate of decks running the card, not an isolated per-game impact metric. That's an important distinction, and it's one we'll continue to work toward improving as our data collection matures. With that said, the committee reviewed the card's actual role in the format and found its reputation somewhat inflated.
Barrowgoyf does not protect itself. It folds to standard 1-for-1 removal, struggles into control, and offers little against combo. What it does do is give Black a credible structural answer to fast aggro, which is a role the color genuinely needs in this format. The efficiency is real, and yes, it can feel oppressive from the wrong side of the table, but that's a description that applies to many of the format's most important cards.
Good cards are allowed to be good. No action taken.
Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice – Remains on Watchlist
Light-Paws is a bit more complicated of a conversation.
The raw numbers are hard to ignore. It has a 69.23% win rate and a 100% Top 8 conversion rate across its recorded tournament appearances. If those figures were attached to a card with meaningful meta presence, we'd be having a very different discussion. The problem is that, from the data we have, Light-Paws has appeared in only 4 total entries yielding a 1.5% adoption rate. That sample size does not support sweeping conclusions.
What the committee does take seriously is the play pattern feedback. On average, opponents need to present approximately three early interaction pieces to reliably disrupt the engine before it takes over the game. Combined with flash-aura protection that punishes telegraphed interaction, the deck has a knack for making opponents feel like they're being taxed out of the game regardless of how they're positioned. It’s not unbeatable, since one mana interaction on turn two provides a real answer a good amount of the time. However, based on what has been observed, a player often needs two to three interaction cards in their opening hand to reliably beat it. Still, the matchup dynamic remains a consistent source of friction in the community.
However, banning a card that commands virtually no meta share would be premature and, frankly, would set a precedent we're not comfortable with. We're not keen on the of banning cards for being annoying in a vacuum. So, Light-Paws remains on the watchlist.
If adoption increases and the win rate holds, we will revisit with the urgency the data warrants.
Final Notes
A special thank you to Nushio, one of our Local Play Organizers, for compiling the data that made this review possible and for building out the infrastructure to keep that data collection going. The committee's ability to make evidence-based decisions depends directly on that kind of groundwork.
We appreciate the community's continued passion, feedback, and deckbuilding creativity. Keep sharing your results and tournament reports. The data you contribute directly shapes these decisions.
Thank you for reading, thank you for playing, and as always —