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* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=212638 Sol Ring], sometimes called the tenth member of the power nine, is another card from the days before they learned the folly of providing cheap cards that provided more mana than they actually cost, especially repeatable ones.
* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159177 High Tide] is a one-sided blue [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159264 Mana Flare] for just one mana. It's often combined with untapping effects to generate obscene amounts of mana. The classic is [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=12580 Palinchron]; with the Islands now tapping for 14 blue mana instead of 7, it's easy to bounce the Palinchron in and out of play as many times as you want to, netting 3 blue Mana each time. Mike Flores described the original Extended High Tide deck as "the most hated deck in the history of tournament Magic, the poster child for Combo Winter."
** After dominating Extended for a while High Tide decided it wanted to become the best combo deck in another format so it showed up in Legacy as Solidarity, a deck that ran on the same concepts but played only instants. Solidarity's time came and went and High Tide never really caught on in Vintage so Wizards give Legacy High Tide its most powerful weapon: [https://web.archive.org/web/20090227023244/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=10423 Time Spiral]. After a brief period of panic [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=230066 Mental Misstep] stepped in and neutered it again. Then Misstep got banned and now Legacy players can only take solace in the fact that the most powerful mana generator in the deck ([http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=202627 Candelabra of Tawnos]) is restrictively rare and expensive (the Director of Sales at [[Star City Games]] estimated that there are less than 250 playsets of Candelabra in circulation; that's a very, very small number considering every good High Tide deck wants a full playset).
* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=184751 Dual] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=184752 lands], [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=184748 which] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=184750 have] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=184749 almost] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201402 no] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201406 disadvantage] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201405 save] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201400 for][http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201403 landwalk]. Wow, color doesn't exist anymore.
** Interestingly, not all of these cards are equally banned.
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* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=212636 Black Vise] was one of the earliest restricted cards; back in early ''Magic'' before the proliferation of one- and two-mana drops, if one of these came out on the first turn you'd consider yourself lucky to get away with six damage; with multiple Black Vises in play, you could easily be almost out of the game before it had really even started. Players would often have four on board just to give them a quick cast to get out from under an opponent's Vise. Restricting it, however, allowed other broken cards it had been keeping in check to come out.
* One such card was its opposite, [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=212639 Ivory Tower]. This became a staple of Necropotence decks, granting them life to draw more cards from the cards they'd paid life to draw.
* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=184651 Necropotence] itself seemed useless until the restricting of [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201239 Black Vise] which had previously made it unplayable; in addition, the attitude that life was, well, life, rather than a resource, had been prevalent. When players realised that paying life to draw cards wasn't so bad when the same colour had things like [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=26618 Drain Life] to get it back and kill their opponent at the same time, it was suddenly everywhere, leading to a period nicknamed "Necro-Summer" where almost every deck in tournament play was a Necrodeck or a deck specifically designed to beat "The Skull." It didn't help at all that under the old rules a player didn't die until the end of the phase even if their life dropped below zero, meaning Necro players could literally kill themselves digging up Drain Life and still finish with a positive life total, or simply use [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159307 Mirror Universe] to give their life total to their opponent. Attempts to depower the deck included bans of Dark Ritual and Drain Life, along with restricting popular Life sources [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159752 Zuran Orb] and [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159111 Ivory Tower]. Ultimately, the card itself was banned; since then it's been unbanned, perhaps most infamously being used to power [https://web.archive.org/web/20090523110254/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=5629 Yawgmoth's Will] / Dark Ritual decks during Combo Winter. A mighty card-drawing engine, Necropotence continues to turn up when a deck is designed around digging up the pieces of a combo quickly, and is ''still'' restricted to one copy per deck in tournaments.
** Necro also powered the earlier versions of the [http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/19041838/The_Dictionary_Deck-O-Pedia?post_id=324974858#324974858 Trix] deck, which was based on using [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=15168 Donate] to give an opponent [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159749 Illusions of Grandeur], something combo players had been searching for a way to do more or less since Illusions came out.
* It's sometimes said the only reason turbo-mana instant [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205422 Dark Ritual] seemed fair was because it's always been around; it's powered numerous superfast combo decks over the years, and was once banned during the attempts to cripple Necropotence decks.
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* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159752 Zuran Orb] is an extremely powerful card for any deck which needs life more than it needs Lands; Balance decks and Necrodecks love it equally, and it's especially powerful when combined with Fastbond.
* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=201153 Land Tax]. Combine with an [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159252 Armageddon] and don't play any lands that turn for extra fun. Land Tax also has combos with cards that like you to have drawn a lot of cards or have a lot of cards; classics include making sure you always draw a card with [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=202429 Library of Alexandria] and stacking up extra draws for [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159317 Sylvian Library] swaps.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090510030231/http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=Shahrazad Shahrazad] was banned more or less on the basis that players would use it to force games to go to time in tournaments [by playing it multiple times until everyone involved lost the will to live] and therefore ensure a draw. Similarly, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191047/http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=chaos%20orb Chaos Orb] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191939/http://ww2.wizards.com/Gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=falling%20star Falling Star] were banned because judges were bored of having to make time-wasting rulings about which cards they landed on or how high they were flipped, and because they forced players to space their cards in a manner that made actually ''playing'' the game awkward.
** A famous urban legend amongst players was that one man won a tournament by actually ''tearing up'' his Chaos Orb and sprinkling the resulting confetti over the table. This incident became immortalised in the ''Unhinged'' card [
** Another version has his opponent win because his deck was now one card short.
* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=212637 Nevinyrral's Disk] was a popular choice for dealing with anything big and bad; the card literally destroyed everything in play for five mana and a turn's wait; this made trying to differentiate the "colours" a largely futile exercise, since everyone could kill everything; it was duly banned, though today is not even restricted.
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*** There's a common joke that Yawgmoth's Bargain is "I'll take your common, useless Healing Salve and give you an out-of-print, rare, Vintage-restricted, game-breaking Ancestral Recall." Far worse was that the Ineffable combo'd with "spellshaper" cards in the next block, meaning you essentially had "Pay 1 life: Do whatever the hell you want."
*** Mark Rosewater has referenced Yawgmoth's Bargain a couple times when talking about mistakes he made in card design and this taught him that that anything that will exchange 1 card for 1 life and is reasonably costed is going to be broken. Interestingly, in another article he implied that they justified the card by reasoning that 6 mana was too expensive for it to be broken (in all fairness, six mana is a lot; the only other card that costs more than 4, isn't cheated into play, and is still played in Vintage is [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=46424 Mind's Desire] which is so broken it shares the distinction alongside [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=212633 Memory Jar] of being one of 2 cards every to be banned/restricted before seeing major tournament play). Which begs the question: is there ANY mana cost that would make this effect fair?
** One of the best lands ever printed, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090504202040/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=8883 Tolarian Academy]. It's known for being the centerpiece to dozens of broken decks and infinite mana combos, including:
*** The [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191955/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=12626 Grim Monolith] / [https://web.archive.org/web/20090504202040/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=8883 Tolarian Academy] / [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191148/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=5547 Voltaic Key] combo.
*** The [https://web.archive.org/web/20090504202040/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=8883 Tolarian Academy] / [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191246/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=999 Candelabra of Tawnos] / [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191138/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=4691 Capsize] combo. This is a little harder to see since the main rule isn't actually on Candelabra of Tawnos. Old Artifacts were ''always'' assumed to tap to use their abilities. With at least nine Artifacts in play, you tap the Academy for nine blue mana, use the Candelabra to untap the Academy (cost 1), then use Capsize (with Buyback, cost 6) to return the Candelabra to your hand, casting it again afterwards (cost 1). The board is now back to how it was, except you have one blue mana. Repeat until you have more mana than you know what to do with.
** Somewhat similar to Tolarian Academy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191102/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=10422 Gaea's Cradle]. Now, remember there are lands that are creatures, [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=207334 mana source creatures], cards that make ''lots'' of token creatures, and [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=233305 Living Lands]. So, this can work out as a zero-cost, one-way [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159264 Mana Flare] which also turns every creature into a Forest you don't need to tap.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191955/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=12626 Grim Monolith] itself is also broken when combined with [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=202566 Power Artifact], allowing it to untap for one less mana than is generated by tapping it.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191143/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=5105 Dream Halls] is a powerful card which allows any coloured card to be played by simply discarding another. It was at it's most powerful when played with 'free' creatures like [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191946/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=10682 Great Whale]; you could throw down a Great Whale and untap all your Lands, even though you hadn't actually tapped any lands to pay for it. Errata were issued quickly saying that such creatures could only untap lands if they came into play from your hand, though these have since been removed.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191951/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=12383 Tinker]. Combined tutoring with automatic casting, all for three mana and sacrificing an artifact. Since artifacts exist that cost nothing, as long as it was around it was impossible to balance any artifact with a high casting cost; all artifacts could be cast for three mana.
*** Not to mention that Mirrodin Besieged "blessed" us with [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=221563 Blightsteel Colossus] so now blue mages can win in one swing instead of two or, God forbid, three like the [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=191312 old], [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=189641 crappy] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=154081 robots] of yore.
** [http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=6103 Recurring Nightmare], a ''repeatable'' way to put creatures from your graveyard into play, thanks to having zero-cost automatic buyback. Combos with, among others things, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191946/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=10682 Great Whale]; endlessly Recurring a pair of Great Whales (one in the graveyard and one in play, constantly swapping which is which) creates an infinite mana loop. The killing blow from this deck was to shift Recurring Nightmare to a graveyarded [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=206719 Triskelion], which was then Recurred until it had shot the other player to death; if you have it deal the last hit to itself, Triskelion has the advantage of killing itself, allowing it to return anew.
** [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=6150 Survival of the Fittest] is a reusable, super cheap tutor which practically makes it broken by default. Once upon a time Vintage players feared a deck called German Tools 'N Tubbies or simply TNT that used Survival alongside [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=202578 Mishra's Workshop] to do lots of broken things. The deck would get [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=247289 Anger], [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=34833 Genesis], and [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=106473 Squee, Goblin Nabob] into its graveyard in order to tutor up a hasty [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=13001 Goblin Welder] who would procede to cheat [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=221109 Juggernauts] into play (they were the Tubbies; Juggernauts were credible threats back in the day, surprisingly). Also, it played singleton creatures who did something specialized to help them swing matchups that otherwise might be not so hot.
** [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=6151 Oath of Druids] is another "balancing" card, and another one that turned out to be hideously broken if a deck was built around it. Continuing the Balance tradition of being ridiculously cheap, it ruled tournaments in various forms for a long time prior to being variously banned and restricted; an Oath deck simply plays control while it digs up the Oath, then goes off almost instantly. A classic combination was for players to use [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=79252 Forbidden Orchard] to give their opponent creatures, allowing them to bust out huge creatures from their own deck as early as turn 2. These days it's potentially even ''more'' powerful, since the Oath works out as paying 2 mana for huge creatures like [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=193452 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn].
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** [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4707 Intuition] is much like Kamigawa's [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=194971 Gifts Ungiven], save that you only get one card; however, it has the huge advantage that you can search for three copies of the ''same'' card with it and give your opponent no choice at all as to what you end up getting. It's also powerful in reanimation decks, since it can be used to make your opponent put big creatures into your graveyard.
** [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5166 Hermit Druid] was killed off by bannings almost as soon as decks using it appeared; the general idea of "Angry Druid" decks was to have few or no basic lands, allowing the Druid to dump the entire library, filled with powerful creatures, into the graveyard. A reanimation spell would then be pulled back into the library with [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=36113 Krosan Reclaimation] and used to pull [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29944 Sutured Ghoul] from the graveyard (usually picking up [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=220473 Dragon Breath] along the way); the resulting trampling mega-Ghoul, typically powered by multiple [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=109684 Krosan Cloudscrapers], would generally easily win the game.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320192006/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=13087 Masticore], an efficient creature that regenerates and most importantly gives your deck the ability to burn down creatures no matter what color you're playing.
*** In its heyday, it was played heavily in blue control decks as a finisher. At the time, blue control was referred to as "Draw-Go" because that's how its turns went - "I draw. Go." It had a ton of cards laying around to pitch to Masticore once it hit the table. And it could easily burn out a lot of the creatures that blue let through to the table early on in the game. When ''blue'' is doing most of the burning in your format, something's gone horribly wrong.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191117/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=21135 Windfall], similar to Timetwister in its ability to refill your hand while giving your opponent nothing.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320192017/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=5806 Fluctuator]. Cycling is a mechanic which allows you to discard a card in your hand to draw a new one, by paying the cycling cost. All cycling costs at the time were the same as the amount this card reduces them by. In other words, if you don't like your hand, just throw out cards and draw more until you do, all for nothing.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090227023244/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=10423 Time Spiral] was broken for pretty much the same reasons as the original Timetwister. Of course, it's more expensive. But came out in the same format as Tolarian Academy. Oh, and because Tolarian Academy can be among the lands you untap, you can quite easily ''gain'' mana by casting it.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191154/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=6076 Mind Over Matter], one of the most versatile combo enablers in magic. Among many many others, see Tolarian Academy. Again.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191132/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=4626 Sapphire Medallion]. Because blue has such problems getting hold of mana in the Urza Block they needed a special card to make all their spells cheaper. Presumably the card letting you set your opponent's deck on fire wasn't powerful enough.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191112/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=15246 Metalworker], a hideously undercosted creature that dovetailed right into the "have loads of artifacts" Tolarian Academy decks to give them even more fast mana. These days it can produce ''infinite'' mana when combined with [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=48141 Voltaic Construct]; all you need to do is have more then one Artifact in your hand.
** [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5863 Morphling], because creatures that can't do absolutely everything are so dull. Any two of its abilities would make it undercosted; with all five, there's little wonder how it earned the nickname "Superman."
** If it's just big creatures you want, then Tinker for a [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=207888 Phyrexian Processor]. The ability to put Minions into play for 4 mana no matter how big they are is powerful in itself, nevermind all the ways to make it activate more cheaply or use it multiple times in a single turn.
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* [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=46424 Mind's Desire] was restricted in Vintage before it was even tournament-legal, owing to the huge number of disgustingly powerful things that can be done with as many free spells as you've played spells this turn; the typical play was to use Mind's Desire to build up the storm count further for a lethal [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=45842 Tendrils of Agony].
* While the Kamigawa block was otherwise fairly low-powered, it did have [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=194971 Gifts Ungiven]. This extremely powerful tutor card essentially made your opponent pick how they were going to die; it's restricted in Vintage and banned in several other formats.
** There was also [https://web.archive.org/web/20090316022526/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=
* There's also the Mirrodin block, a very Artifact-heavy block with the ability to even have Artifact ''lands'', the only cards that traditionally couldn't be Artifacts. So, your entire deck can consist of Artifacts (though this required some thought as the artifact lands were limited by the 4 of a kind rule). Setting aside the Affinity mechanic (cards that get cheaper the more of a certain type of card you have, and why yes there ''were'' cards with 'Affinity for Artifacts'), let's throw in [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191251/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=arcbound%20ravager Arcbound Ravager] that gets tougher every time you get rid of an Artifact. Hell, while we're at it let's throw in [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320191328/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?name=disciple%20of%20the%20vault Disciple of the Vault] who deals a point of hard-to-redirect life loss (not damage) to your opponent every time Arcbound Ravager gets tougher. Now, let's remember you can have up to four Disciples in play at once; this means the 55 cards in your deck that aren't Disciples or the Ravager can kill your opponent eleven times over and give you a 56/56 creature, and if that somehow dies it allows you to make any other artifact creature in play a 57/57 creature<ref>Yes, we know you already sacrificed that creature to the Ravager to make it 56/56, it's just for the example</ref> and ''your opponent loses four life just for doing that''. As if that wasn't enough, you could also give the Ravager [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205328 Cranial Plating] so that any Artifacts you ''hadn't'' sacrificed to it (including the Cranial Plating and the Ravager itself) also made it tougher. The Artifact Lands, Arcbound Ravager, ''and'' Disciple of the Vault all ended up banned. Mirrodin also gave Vintage players the extremely nasty [https://web.archive.org/web/20090505183233/http://ww2.wizards.com/
** Seemingly trying to cement Mirrodin as the next Urza / Rath block in power terms, there was also fast mana in the form of [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=47446 Chrome Mox], which had a visit to the restricted list in Vintage in 2004.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090428152415/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=48197 Skullclamp]. What's the problem that [[Zerg Rush]] decks often face? They run out of cards, and if that's not enough to kill their opponent they lose momentum. So they printed an extremely cheap equipment that lets you strengthen or kill your creatures and ''draw two cards'' every time it happens.[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/af17 This article] explains that it was banned because it was sucking the entire format into a Skullclamp "black hole."
** [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=212630 Æther Vial] also saw a trip to the banlist; since it puts cards directly into play without requiring them to be cast, they can't be countered. Free, uncounterable creatures every turn proved irresistible to a great many decks.
* Some Eternal deck archetypes are built on quirky instawin combos; [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=146022 Painter] / [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4610 Grindstone] comes to mind as one of the more prolific in recent years, mainly due to the satisfaction of milling someone's entire deck in one go. These cards are rarely banned on the grounds that getting the cards ''out'' is the real challenge of combo decks.
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