Why aren't Splinter twins banned in modern MTG?

Seeing an unbanned card in Magic: The Gathering is a rare event, but not unheard of in the game's history. Once the meta is well developed from a troubled season, Wizards of the Coast may define a card that is sure to return to the game.

The eternally powerful wizard Splinter Twin returns in modern form after years of exile on the banned list. But why did Wizards of the Coast decide now was a good time to bring this card back? We've answered all your Twin questions.

What is a Splinter Twin?

Rarely does competitive Magic find itself in a situation similar to the one that got Splinter Twin banned. Enchantments are a type of forgotten card in many forms; short of sticking to other types of cards like creatures, they usually don't do enough to warrant playing.

Then came the Splinter Twin, a red four-mana magic which seems to be meaningless in its own right. This aura allowing the magic creature to shoot to create a copy of itself, quickly giving the version of the sign, though. As soon as the next last step is turned, however, tthe hat symbol is gone.

Why was Splinter Twin banned in the first place?

In 2016, Battle for Zendikar was fresh in the minds of gamers as they eagerly awaited the release of Oath of the Gatewatch. Going out a little early let everyone know that the red magic that dominated Modern has gotten the axe. Splinter Twin is banned Most cards are banned for one reason: that's it forcing other decks out of shape by performing too well. At the time, Splinter Twin adapted other decks into the same package. Temur Tempo, Temur Delver, Jeskai and Grixis decks, all reduced to being based on the same blue and red material.

With so many decks becoming Twin variants, many games have come down to three main turns. Do you go for three rounds hoping your opponent doesn't have a combo, or do you keep the opener in an attempt to disrupt the combo? If Splinter Twin didn't dominate a card at the time, it certainly did a lot of work in the tournament at the time. All this led to the banning of red magic.

Why isn't Splinter Twin banned?

So, why did Wizards of the Coast remove the card if it was so powerful and disruptive? For the most part, this response was timely. It has been eight years since Splinter Twin was banned, and tons of series have been released between them, including three special editions of Modern with the Horizons series.

Most importantly, there is a few cards that helped clear the space for Modern to be able to deal with the return of combo decks.

interesting, Splinter Twin also runs in the same deck archetype. There isn't a lot of variation in the decks as they require very specific creatures to play, be it Pestermite or Deceptive Exarch, or creatures with similar abilities.

What Decks will use it?

With eight years between the banning of the card and now, there are many ways to combat the oppressive power contained within this card. First of all, the Splinter Twin will be playing with the reserved blue and red shells, completely focused on pulling off the combo in every possible way. All the usual suspects will be there, Pestermite, Exarch Deceiver, Lightning Bolt, Preordain are all basic Izzet cards clustered in the deck.

A good portion of the deck will also be reserved for protect the combo. You can use a lot of cards that the Wizards think will help keep Splinter Twin in check to keep your cards. Quick counter packages can include Flare of Denial, Counterspell, Stern Scolding, and Pact of Negation. Depending on your meta, you can also iAdd several spells, spell traps, and Resistance to the sideboard.

The other benefit of having the Splinter Twin back in the game now is that you get access to smooth tools in Lorien Revealed and Expressive Iterationalong with a few Snap caster Magesand you have a good starting point for a turn four combo deck. Whether or not Splinter Twin will do much in the current state of the game, but at some point players will quickly see how the meta will settle around this powerful spell.