MTG Arena official artwork for Muxus, Goblin Grandee

[Update]: All of the upcoming Strixhaven and Mystical Archives cards have been revealed, and some of these will really shake up Historic as a format!

Regardless of what game or genre we're talking about, as long as there is a competitive mode people will eventually gravitate towards what is perceived to be the best options. The end result, as you might imagine, is that sooner or later most of the metagame will consists of the same few powerful strategies repeated time and time again.

So in order to mix things up a bit, Wizards of the Coast has now launched a Historic Shakeup event on MTG Arena. Many of the omnipresent cards like Collected Company, Thoughtseize and Muxus have been banned under the new rules, which has not only thoroughly shaken up the firmly established metagame, but also given players an incentive to test out new and potentially interesting strategies!

And just to make sure we don't end up with something like Mono-blue Tempo dominating the entire format, Wizards of the Coast will be issuing additional bans throughout the event. The next wave will arrive on March 19, while the third and finale one will launch on March 26th. So if you ever wanted to play something janky and fun like Izzet Phoenix without getting steamrolled time and time again, the Historic Shakeup even is well worth exploring!

You can find the full list of banned cards, as well as check out the next batch once they appear, over at the official website. Have fun, and even if you're not particularly interested in the whole idea, you still might want to dive in as you can score two free rares just by playing a few games!