On July 14, Wizards of the Coast announced that it would be banning the Book of Exalted Deeds from its Magic: The Gathering Arena Standard 2022 format.
We've got a few changes to announce, including the banning of a certain book, some new events and the introduction of Midweek Magic!https://t.co/frtueBhZtN
— MTG Arena (@MTG_Arena) July 14, 2021
Book of Exalted Deeds gets banned in Standard 2022
Standard 2022 was introduced by Wizards of the Coast as a transitional set that prepares players for an incoming rotation of Standard sets. The set will only allow cards from the following sets:
Arena Base Set (ANB)
Zendikar Rising (ZNR)
Kaldheim (KHM)
Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX)
Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms (AFR)
Wizards of the Coast banned the Book of Exalted Deeds from the Standard 2022 format. The reason for this change lies with the card’s use in combination with Faceless Haven. The primary issue with the combo was that Faceless Haven could become all creature types and turn into a land at the end of the turn, which makes the card very difficult to remove. Book of Exalted Deeds could target an Angel creature type and allow neither player to win the game. These two cards in combination allowed a player to endlessly stall a game because neither player could get rid of Faceless Haven as a land.
In the current Standard 2022 format, there is one way to remove a land from the board: Field of Ruin. Additionally, Standard 2022 is a best-of-one format, which means that players don’t get to use a Sideboard and add Field of Ruin. Unless a player specifically ran a Field of Ruin to avoid this combo, there would be no way out. Due to the volatile nature of the card, Wizards of the Coast decided to ban it from the Standard 2022 format. However, the Book of Exalted Deeds is still available in Standard and Historic formats in Magic the Gathering: Arena.
