‘Magic: The Gathering’ Devs “Will Likely Take Action” Against ‘Final Fantasy’ Terror ‘Vivi Ornitier’
In light of the absolutely terrifying hold the Agatha’s Soul Cauldron-backed Black Mage currently has over its Standard format, Magic of the Gathering‘s next official banning announcements will see Wizards of the Coast “likely take action” against the recent Final Fantasy set’s disproportionately powerful Vivi Ornitier.
Put another way – if you’ve got copies of him, better sell him while he’s still worth $30+ USD (or $60+ USD for the foil)!
(And no, we don’t have a sponsored commission link with TCGPlayer; they’re just a convenient source for market data!)
To put it extremely simply (because let’s be honest, non-MTG players would be bored to tears by the ins-and-outs), the strength of the Final Fantasy IX borne poster child for existential crisis lies in his synergy with a particular Standard format mainstay, Agatha’s Soul Cauldron.
Released in 2023 as part of the Wilds of Eldraine set, the 2-cost Artifact allows players to exile any card from their graveyards – and if it’s a creature card, for so long as the specifically used copy of Agatha’s Cauldron remains on the field, any abilities that creature had will be applied to all creatures with a +1/+1 counter under the player’s control.
Meanwhile, the Vivi Ornitier card not only gains a +1/+1 counter every time a player casts a noncreature spell, in doing so dealing a single point of direct damage every time he does, but also add any combination of Blue or Red mana, as determined by the Black Mage’s current power, any time they wish.
With these two pieces in play, the ‘Izzet Cauldron’ strategy – as named after the colloquial name for MTG‘s Blue/Red color-combination, itself derived from the game’s in-universe Izzet League mage’s guild and, of course, Agatha’s Soul Cauldron – involves using Agatha’s Soul Cauldron to apply Vivi Ortinier‘s ability (and yes, this effect can stack regardless of the number of Vivi Ornitier copies exiled) to one’s creatures and using a barrage of cheap Instants like Shock or Burst Lightning to simultaneously pump up their power and provide more mana for additional spells.
Once in motion, victory with this engine comes by way of overwhelming the opponent with Vivi Ornitier‘s ‘one counter, one opponent damage’, or using his ability to massively pump up a card like Voldaren Thrillseeker, which when sacrificed can deal direct damage equivalent to its power to any target, and blowing the opponent away with a single swing.
Fast, easy, and near unstoppable once it starts going, Izzet Cauldron decks have been unsurprisingly dominating MTG’s competitive scene, having been played – and more often than not, winning – every officially sanctioned event held since the Final Fantasy set brought Vivi to the game in early June.
For example, at the recent Magic Spotlight Series Planetary Rotation tournament, as held on August 29-31st as part of this year’s SCG Con Orlando, its Top 8 saw six of its players running Izzet Cauldron (though surprisingly, it was beaten out by an emerging Mono-Red strategy).
With a growing number of players wondering what action, if any, Wizards of the Coast would take to curb Vivi Ornitier‘s dominance, MTG Senior Game Designer Carmen Klomparens to the game’s official blog on September 9th to confirm that not only was she and her team aware of the Izzet Cauldron issue, but that they would, in fact, be doing something about it.
The first such move was moving up the game’s upcoming Banned and Restricted List update by roughly two weeks from November 24th to November 10th, with Klomparens explaining that the decision to not make an “emergency” ban was done out of a courtesy for players who planned to compete in the upcoming Magic: The Gathering Regional Championship Qualifiers [RCQ] season using Vivi’s power:
“This keeps the basic premise of not interfering with players who had planned their decks and travel for the Standard RCQ season while still moving up the announcement and giving players more time to prepare for the World Championships should something change.”
“What we’re not going to do is create a previously unannounced emergency banning window in the middle of the RCQ season, though it’s worth noting that we have seen the calls for it and discussed it. Ultimately, we opted to stick (more or less) to what we had said we’d do for a few reasons.”
That said, Klomparens then confirmed that, more likely than not, said Banned List update would include decisive “action” against Vivi Ornitier:
“We believe that we will likely take action in November. Vivi Ornitier is warping the Standard format and likely needs to go. We’re unsure about Agatha’s Soul Cauldron . But we also don’t think the format has reached its final form, which would give us the clearest direction to set Standard up for long-term success.
“Here’s what we see right now. Vivi Cauldron [another name for Izzet Cauldron] decks have taken the spotlight with disproportionate metagame shares and top finishes. But recently, players have found a version of Mono-Red that is rebalancing the scales. Not only is it more played on the MTG Arena ladder, but it has a better win percentage against the field and is knocking off Vivi Cauldron decks at a clip above 60%. We’re also seeing new decks (like the 2nd-place Mono-Green Stompy deck from this Magic Online Challenge) that have promising win percentages but lower play rates. Despite the top finishes of the Vivi Cauldron deck, it’s entirely possible Mono-Red is the best deck in the format and that there’s further evolution coming.
“Vivi Ornitier is a clear outlier, but the format hasn’t reached an equilibrium point yet.
“We believe Standard play may be hurt in the short term by one or two dominant decks. Long term, it is certainly hurt by banning decks out from under players in a surprise move. We want players to have as much confidence as possible in their ability to put a deck together and play it for as long as possible. That’s why we moved to three-year Standard and why we try to minimize bans where possible.
“This is a good place to add that our philosophy on Standard bans hasn’t changed. Our intention is to make changes to the format once a year around rotation, unless we have what constitutes an emergency (we call it a “Felidar” situation internally). We do think we are likely at that point, but it’s good to keep in mind that we consider an emergency situation to be an instance where we ban a card during a window other than the yearly rotation window, not one where we would go off schedule.
“Finally, while we acknowledge that high-level competitive Standard is lopsided, the majority of Standard play is not. The MTG Arena [digital client] ladder isn’t nearly this distorted, and in-store play isn’t nearly this distorted. Most players who play Standard outside the competitive sphere have a different experience. Now, that said, there’s a balance to be struck between “things are fine with most play” and “things are unstable with high-level competitive play” that we haven’t currently hit. But when we make ban decisions, we make them for the entire ecosystem. High-level play gets the headlines and clicks, but the everyday experience is also important.
“This means that the flip side of the current story could also be true—high-level play can appear balanced, but we may take action if everyday play isn’t fun or engaging. That’s not the current situation, but it’s something to keep in mind for larger conversations around a format.
Drawing her thoughts to a close, Klomparens reiterated, “So, our next banned and restricted announcement will be on November 10.”
“We’ll be watching closely to see how Standard develops, but we’re prepared to take action given the current state of the format. Until then, we hope everyone battling in Standard RCQs, at local events, and on digital platforms enjoys their time gaming.”
