Marvel Super Heroes Format Update - Ban & Watchlist Announcement
Summary of Changes
- The Fantasticar – Banned
- Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice – Banned as Tiny Leader (Commander)
- Flawless Manuever – Added to Watchlist (again!)
The Fantasticar - Banned
The moment this card got spoiled, everyone knew that it would break non-commander eternal formats, which included TLR. Players in our Discord started brewing with it immediately and quickly noticed how degenerate the play pattern would be and how easily they could turn the car on (pun intended).
Rather quickly, community members were hoping we would ban this card even before the release date. However, thus far we have no framework or criteria set up for what would constitute a pre-ban, and we prefer to have some event data before making a move to ban a card. After all, banning a card before release really deprives those players who would really enjoy playing a card no chance to experience it inside of Tiny, and to do so without proof is walking a very thin line.
We also look around to other formats to get a temperature read, but in the end, TLR is TLR. Players started putting up early results in our weekly Tiny Brawl servers. Those results are hard to read as they are a league in which spoilers are allowed and where perhaps experimental decks start to take shape, however it was an initial indicator. Early results of the car in the command zone made that clear. The deck can sacrifice the car on turn one, basically giving the opponent no way to recover, and the deck consistently combos off on turn 2, which isn’t much better.
However, we had at least one premier event happen post-release and before this announcement that allowed us to take action. NorCal's Reborn Rumble featured 14 players, with 2 decks running the car in the CZ and some Vivi Storm decks featuring it in the Main. All of those decks finished in the Top 8. Looking at the numbers, the car went 8-3 overall. It won the whole event, taking down RogDog (one of the format's flagship aggro decks) 2-0 in the finals in just 10 minutes.
After the finish from the Reborn Rumble tournament, what we expected to happen happened. The deck just wins, or loses to free interaction, never leading to a fun match up. There have been multiple people wanting to skip this month's league explicitly because of car, and we think it is doing very real harm to the format at this point.
We also banned it from the 49 of the format. When banning White Plume Adventurer, we said that a card if drawn in the early game shouldn’t guide the rest of the game. This is a similar case, where if a player draws the car, the entire game will be decided by if the car is allowed to be sacrificed.
Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice – Banned as Commander
After months of talking, we decided to ban Light-Paws from the command zone.
One of the more complicated parts of the discussion is the fact that the deck sees almost no play, being a commander that people wanted banned. However, most metas in paper and in the discord had between 0 and 1 consistent pilots for the deck, so the fox simply doesn’t have the massive adoption numbers to traditionally demand a ban.
Then why ban it? The data we do have on Light-Paws shows an undeniable trend of absolute dominance when it actually shows up. Across its recorded tournament appearances, Light-Paws' placings look like this: 3rd, 1st, 3rd, 1st, 3rd, 2nd, and 3rd. It has quite literally never missed a Top 3 finish in its tracked history.
The main reason to ban it is because you always play against the same board state, and in a singleton format, having a commander that will always have its commander with protection from the opponents colors on turn 3, with a lethal swing on turn 4 is just plain unfun. We as a committee don’t want many games that are decided when commanders are revealed, especially not at such extremes. With a baseline that consistent, it leaves no room for healthy competitive play, so the fox has officially been banned from the command zone.
Flawless Manuever - Added to Watchlist
After a year and a half we are back to this card. The dominance of Yoshimaru and Rograkh in some paper metas, as well as the consistently strong presence in nearly every meta where it sees play, brought us back to discuss this card.
When we look explicitly at the metrics for Flawless Maneuver when played in the 49 (main deck), the data is staggering. Across 59 total deck signups, it has pulled in 126 match wins to 85 losses, giving it an overall match win rate of 59.7%. At nearly 60 signups, Flawless Maneuver is a massive format staple, and a 59.7% win rate across that kind of volume is incredibly strong for a non-commander card.
We decided to keep a close watch on the card, as it's often just a free counterspell. As of now, we are wary on banning it to try to avoid making black better, as black is a top color across all metas and would only be further strengthened by the banning of flawless.
As for Yoshi/Rog, we are keeping a close eye on the deck to see if it needs to be nerfed, either through the banning of flawless or through other means.
SnS and Yoshi/Rog
During this cycle we had a couple of our Local Play Organizers express their respective communities' struggles overcoming strategies played through these decks. However, the committee doesn’t “Watchlist” decks, only specific cards. And while at our inception we have had limited data to work with, through our growth, reach, and now data tracking tools that is starting to change. We can now view what a local meta looks like, the types of decks emerging from there, and how they fit in the overarching scheme and global meta of TLR.
When we look at the numbers for Slimefoot and Squee (SnS), fresh data up to June 22 shows an all-time global stats baseline of 65 total games played which is the highest volume in the top tier, yielding a 72.31% overall commander win rate. Looking at recent tournament stats since April 15 (TMNT), SnS saw 9 signups and posted a match record of 20 wins to 9 losses, maintaining a strong 68.9% match win rate.
Looking at Yoshimaru and Rograkh, the numbers are similarly potent. The Boros partner combination has seen 14 signups, boasting 38 match wins against only 12 match losses, which results in a 76.0% match win rate.
However, in a format where players prioritize playing their pet decks or just decks that they generally enjoy, it's hard to parse what's what. We also need to take a look at the decks that are losing to SnS and Yoshi/Rog to paint a clearer picture. The numbers are strong, very strong, and perhaps the committee has become too desensitized to the presence of these decks to realize that, but we aren't above digging deeper for the sake of local communities and the health of TLR overall.
Historically, SnS and Yoshi/Rog (the decks) have been top tier decks in their respective archetypes. And although very good decks, neither of them have felt or indicated to being oppressive at their current power levels. Even so, because we appreciate the support of our Local Play Organizers, and the players who play in their events, the committee will keep an eye on these decks and the cards played within them for anything that pushes them over the line.
We also want to encourage the players of those communities to spend some time in our discord server and ask around about the common tech and strategies to help combat these decks within their own playgroups, and tournaments.
Unbanning News
Imperial Seal - Remains Banned
During testing, Imperial Seal was not great unless drawn in your starting hand. If you draw it late game, it is just too slow for most matches. If you play against aggro, the card is too risky to cast, as the life loss and taking focus away from interacting with your opponent can be fatal. You have to commit to tutor the card, thinking about what will be the best card for the next turn and leaving your opponent a chance to interact with your deck or prepare for the tutored card, none of which leads to the card being overwhelmingly powerful on its own.
In fact, if you actually look at the hard analytics from our testing data, a strong case can be made that the card is way too volatile to be considered a format-breaking threat. Out of 60 recorded instances where the card was cast, there were 48 instances where the answer to whether the card finished the game was a definitive "no." Despite its one-mana efficiency, the tutor failed to secure a win 80% of the time due to the heavy interaction and fast pace of the format. Players frequently died to fast aggressive damage before they had the mana or time to cast their tutored combo piece. The tutored target was routinely countered, destroyed, or stripped from the player's hand via discard effects like Duress. Furthermore, the tutor was often burned just to fetch a basic land or Command Tower to survive mana screw, which didn't translate to winning the game. Because Imperial Seal places the card on top of the library, there were even documented instances where the player lost the game before they could even reach their draw step.
On the flip side, the committee had to look seriously at the case for keeping it banned, asking a fundamental question: Are we actually adding anything meaningful to the format by unbanning Imperial Seal?
TLR is intentionally designed to sit below Vintage power levels. When we evaluate the 20% of games where Imperial Seal successfully resolved and finished the game (12 out of 60 instances), the data shows that it breaks the format's intended power ceiling. When it succeeded, the results were highly explosive, leading to immediate wins and enabling devastating turn 3 Acererak victories.
Our core philosophy explicitly states that low-cost, "no-strings-attached" tutors kill variety by turning decks into predictable toolboxes where the best answer is always just one mana away. It allows players to bypass the 50-card singleton restriction to reliably fetch primary engines and mana fixing.
After all of that, we still decided to not unban it for the moment, mostly because of the powerful presence of Black in the format. Adding an unrestricted tutor, even when it’s not great 80% of the time, may push the color too far. We already have a Tier 1 Black combo deck in Acererak the Archlich, and that is one of the only decks that this card would see play in, along with similar black-based combo decks, which are already quite strong.
However, the card may be unbanned in the future if we believe it would benefit the meta at that point, so don’t assume this card will never be coming off the banlist.
Vampiric Tutor - Still and Forever will be Banned
Conversely, let's talk about Vampiric Tutor. Vampiric Tutor was not tested, and it will not get tested for unbans in the future.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Imperial Seal is having to cast it as a sorcery, therefore often not interacting with your opponent and letting them know you tutored something. Vampiric Tutor has none of those drawbacks. The moment your opponent doesn't force you to tap out, you can cast it at the end of your opponent’s turn, get the best card, and basically draw it without any chance for interaction. Or better yet, you can cast it on your own upkeep, drawing the tutored card immediately after.
All this to say, we will be keeping Vampiric Tutor banned for the foreseeable future.
Final Notes
We appreciate the community’s continued passion, feedback, and tournament reports. The data and insights you contribute directly shape these decisions, and our growing ability to track both global trends and individual local metas is entirely thanks to your support.
A massive thank you to our committee consultant, Adri for putting together the foundational text for this update, and to both him and Laglaunt for guiding our testing processes for this cycle.
We’ll continue monitoring the data as the meta develops and the field adapts to the shifting landscape.
Thank you for reading, thank you for playing, and as always. . .