Culturally offensive

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A summary of the racial and cultural concerns that led to the card's banning.
Gatherer displays this notice rather than the card image for any of the cards banned from tournament play.

In 2020, several Magic: The Gathering cards were designated racially or culturally offensive.[1][2] These cards are banned from sanctioned play, and Gatherer and Scryfall replace the card image with a description of the categorical concerns. As of 2025, the list of banned cards has not been updated. Wizards of the Coast has made other decisions, before and since, to address similar concerns.

Description

Wizards did not elaborate on the context for their decision. Hipsters of the Coast noted that the announcement coincided with the George Floyd protests.[2]

Banned cards

Card name Set Release
Crusade Alpha 1993
Jihad Arabian Nights 1993
Stone-Throwing Devils Arabian Nights 1993
Cleanse Legends 1994
Invoke Prejudice Legends 1994
Imprison Legends 1994
Pradesh Gypsies Legends 1994

Later developments

Additional cards were removed from two products printed in 2022. Collector boosters from Dominaria United rarely contain Lost Legends. However, the cards listed above, all other cards illustrated by Harold McNeill, and Barbary Apes, Craw Giant, Gwendlyn Di Corci, and Pyrotechnics were withheld from the Lost Legends card pool.[3]

In addition to Crusade, Contract from Below, Darkpact, Demonic Attorney, Earthbind, and Weakness were omitted from 30th Anniversary Edition, with the explanation that they did not meet modern standards.[4]

In 2023, Wizards updated three gameplay terms to further their goal of making Magic inclusive and welcoming.[5] The keyword ability "Totem armor" was renamed to Umbra armor. The card type "Tribal" was renamed kindred, and "tribal" mechanical themes were rebranded typal, due to controversy surrounding the previous term.[6] The Cat subtype was removed from cards depicting Rakshasa to reflect better their Hindu origin, which describes them as shapeshifters.[7][8]

Wizards chose not to create a "Witch" creature type due to the term's use in real-world religions.[9] In 2023, Wizards was evaluating the appropriateness of the Druid and Shaman types.[10][11] As of 2025, both of those types are in continued use. Notably, the use of Cleric never drew much attention, despite being widely used in real-world religions as well.

In 2025, R&D started referring to the species/job model of creature subtypes instead of the "race/class model".[12][13]

Rules

From the Tournament Rules (May 29, 2023—March of the Machine)

  • 6.6 Legacy Format Deck Construction
    The following cards are banned in Legacy tournaments:
    • Cards whose art, text, name, or combination thereof that are racially or culturally offensive are banned in all formats. This list is a work in progress.

Precedent

A comparison of the Alpha version to the edited Fourth edition.

Unholy Strength from Alpha depicted a flaming pentagram in the background of the artwork. The pentagram was removed from the Fourth Edition reprint of that card to shield Wizards of the Coast from negative publicity, such as the accusations of Satanism in Dungeons & Dragons. For the same reasons, the Demon subtype was not printed for several years, until returning in 2002.[14][15]

Already in 2002, artwork depicting skeletons was modified for the Chinese market.

Other offensive content

Ghazbán Ogress depicts Cathy Nicoloff, a former pro player, content creator, and webmaster. The card's name and art are references to Ghazbán Ogre, a card that can change controller every turn. Ghazbán Ogress instead becomes controlled by the player who has won the most Magic games that day.

In the 1990s, Nicoloff was the subject of rumors involving romantic relationships with multiple professional players. Gary Wise and Brian Kibler both indicated contemporary familiarity with the joke.[16][17]

At an event before Unglued's release, Mark Rosewater shared the card with her. She felt that she had no choice but to "lean into the joke" and "attempt to reclaim it" due to Rosewater's influence over the game.[18] Nicoloff later recalled receiving sexist insults and rape threats during her time she was involved with Magic, and revealed that she had attempted suicide multiple times and been diagnosed with PTSD.[19] After Kibler posted about the card's history on X, Nicoloff felt obligated to "out" herself as its inspiration, to set the record straight and deny Wizards of the Coast the benefit of the doubt. She was still feeling hurt and angry that she had never received an apology.[18]

Rosewater claimed full responsibility for the card and apologized to Nicoloff in September 2025, which he said was accepted "without reservation". He described Ghazbán Ogress as the card he most regrets making over the course of his career.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Depictions of Racism in Magic. magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast (June 10, 2020).
  2. ↑ a b David McCoy (June 10, 2020). "Wizards Bans 7 Cards with Racist Depictions, Including Invoke Prejudice". Hipsters of the Coast.
  3. ↑ Blake Rasmussen (July 21, 2022). "Lost Legends". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. ↑ Blake Rasmussen (October 4, 2022). "Celebrate 30 Years of Magic: The Gathering with 30th Anniversary Edition". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (November 3, 2023). "Card Updates Coming with Khans of Tarkir on MTG Arena". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 5, 2023). "Just for clarification - is "typal" the same thing as what's commonly referred to amongst players as "tribal"?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  7. ↑ Card Updates Coming Soon (Tribal, Naga, Totem Armor errata'd out of the game). Reddit (November 3, 2023).
  8. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 3, 2023). "I have not seen it explained, but why was cat typal removed from those creatures?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  9. ↑ Mark Rosewater. "Why isn't Witch a type?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  10. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 28, 2023). "If 'witch' is excluded bc of its significance as a real world religious identifier, why are 'shaman' and 'druid' creature types?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  11. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 29, 2023). "Please don't phase out druids". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  12. ↑ Matt Tabak (July 24, 2025). "If multiple creature types appear in rules text, they’re usually in alphabetical order.". Bluesky.
  13. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 4, 2025). "Magic's colleagues over in D&D chose to transition to using "species" instead of "race". Has R&D discussed making a similar shift in how y'all refer to the race/class model?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  14. ↑ Brandon Haught (September 07, 2003). "The Gap in the Cards". www.atheistparents.org. Archived from the original on 2005-08-24.
  15. ↑ Mark Rosewater (5 July 2004). "Where Have All The Demons Gone?". www.wizards.com. Archived from the original on 2005-12-30.
  16. ↑ Unglued l The Resleevables #22 l Magic: The Gathering History MTG (Video). The Resleevables. YouTube (August 8, 2024).
  17. ↑ Brian Kibler on X: "While I believe that the Pro Magic scene was a really good thing for a lot of people..." (en). X (formerly Twitter) (2021-05-20). Retrieved on 2025-09-25.
  18. ↑ a b The Story of Ghazban Ogress - with Cathy Nicoloff (Video). The Tranquil Domain. YouTube (September 24, 2025).
  19. ↑ Catherine Nicoloff on X: "Late to the party on this tweet, but can confirm the card was a reference to me." (en). X (formerly Twitter) (2021-05-20). Retrieved on 2025-09-25.
  20. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 25, 2025). "There was a video posted yesterday about the card Ghazban Ogress...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
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