Wizards of the Coast admit MTG Modern Horizons 3's Nadu was a “design mistake”

Since its arrival in MTG Modern Horizons 3, Nadu, Winged Wisdom has loomed large over Modern, prompting significant concerns for the health of the format. Or at least that was the case until August 26, when Wizards of the Coast’s banhammer finally knocked Nadu out of the sky.

Within weeks of its arrival, Nadu, Winged Wisdom established itself as a new Modern staple – albeit for all the wrong reasons. Almost immediately, the three-drop bird wizard dominated the format in a way that left those who played against it with little in the way of an answer. Even further evidence of the feathered fiend’s preeminence was delivered when 5 of the Top 8 decks at Pro Tour Modern Horizons in June sported a Nadu-centric build. So, the writing was on the wall – Nadu needed to be banned. 

Balance is an essential element of any of the best card games, and Magic: The Gathering is no exception.That’s why, in an attempt to maintain a consistent power level and to avoid too singular a meta, Wizards of the Coast maintains a list of cards that are banned or restricted from play in sanctioned events. Yet despite pressure from players, Nadu, Winged Wisdom managed to avoid induction into the MTG banlist for over 2 months. 

Not only have we gotten a Nadu ban, we’ve also received greater clarity around how the card went so wrong in the first place. “Nadu, Winged Wisdom was a design mistake” admits Senior Game Designer, Michael Majors. As explained by Majors in a recent feature explaining the ban, Nadu saw a relatively last-minute change in its rule text and as result, the finalized version wasn’t allowed adequate playtesting before being shipped with the rest of the Modern Horizons 3 set.

On the face of it, the change was minor. However, by shifting Nadu’s trigger from explicitly requiring spells and abilities from your opponents to allowing for any spell or ability that targets your creatures, the reworked card provided ample opportunity for Nadu players to create convoluted combos off the back of their own zero-mana abilities. This ‘nu-Nadu’ results in games that were not only utterly oppressive for opponents but tedious in play. 

While the announcement of Nadu’s ban comes as welcome news for Modern players, the delay with which action was taken has frustrated some. What’s more, the revelation that the game-breaking change made to Nadu, Winged Wisdom was motivated by a desire to build around Commander has only soured feelings further.

With Commander being the foremost format for casual play, it's somewhat understandable that the format would cloud designer's judgement. After all, every set is a delicate balance act between attracting new players and satisfying established ones – between creating cards that feel cool and creating cards that are functional. In this case however, the scale has tipped in a way that leaves all parties unhappy.

All that said, the openness with which Wizards’ R&D team has addressed the failure of Nadu is commendable, and promises have been made to enact changes that will prevent Nadu-likes from spawning in the future. Assurances that time windows for future projects will be more sensible are always welcome. And, while the notion of being "more conservative" may sound like a recipe for boring game design, a little extra reservation goes a long way when crafting world-beating cards.

As Majors puts it, “the creation of this game is a labor of love [...] and we are always looking to improve the way we make the game.” While it may seem overly optimistic to some, I’m inclined to believe that. 

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