Summary
Magic: The Gatheringis filled with all sorts of cards that are just a bit too powerful to be played in regular games of Magic. More often than not, these cards end up on the ban list, a collection of cards that Wizards of the Coast has determined to be just too good to be allowed in most decks.
One of those banned cards is the immensely oppressive Legendary Land Karakas. This card might seem a bit unassuming at first, so let’s take a look at exactly why this thirty-year-old land has been on the ban list for quite some time.
What Is Karakas?
It’s A Very Old Land
Before we get into why this classic land is banned,let’s go over what the card is.This legendary land was released back in 1994’s Legends set, a set that was focused on introducing new legendary cards to Magic.
Karakas can tap for one white mana, or you can tap it to return a legendary creature from the battlefield back to its owner’s hand. It’s a utility land that still produces colored mana, making it exceptionally versatile in a deck. Often times lands that have some sort of functionality tap for only generic mana, to help balance their power a bit.
That’s not all Karakas is, however, there is a fair amount of lore surrounding the city as well. Ages ago in Dominaria’s past, Karakas was a city of great trade and commerce, perhaps one of the greatest cities in the plane’s history.
The city was so prosperous and peaceful under the leadership of Angus MacKenzie, another legendary cards from Legends, that war and fighting became unnecessary in the city entirely. People who came to the city were said to forget what they initially came from as they were mesmerized by the marvels that Karakas brought together. For the geography buffs out there, Karakas was found on the southeastern subcontinent of Jamuraa, specifically on a peninsula to the west of the Tivan Desert.Teferi is also from Jamuraa, though from a different region.
Interestingly, the artwork for Karakas depicts a real stupa, a type of Buddhist religious building that is used to hold religious items and as a place of meditation. The building in the artwork by Nicola Leonard, is the Shwedagon Pagoda, found in Yangon, Myanmar.
So, Why Is Karakas Banned In Commander?
Three Main Reasons
That ability that Karakas has to return a legendary creature to its owner’s hand is actually a three-fold effect, one that gets even more powerful, and even more oppressive, in Commander, where oftentimes your deck can be designed around your commander.
The first is that Karakas is a fantastic way to keep your own Commander safe from most removal effects. you’re able to bounce your commander back to your hand in response to practically any targeted removal spells or board wipe. White in particular has plenty of mass removal spells available to it, and being able to return your commander to your hand, board wipe, and then replay your commander to an empty field.
The second option Karakas presents to you is the ability to retrigger anyenter the battlefield effects your commander might have. By putting your commander back to your hand over and over again, you can dodge any commander tax you’d be racking up if you were to let your commander head to the command zone a bunch.
The final way you can use Karakas is to perpetually keep your opponent’s commander off the battlefield. While it does give them ample opportunities to also abuse enter the battlefield effects, it gives you the flexibility to keep some of the most problematic creatures at bay
There’s a lot of focus here talking about your or your opponent’s commander, but Karakas can be used on any legendary creature that you want to save or that is giving you trouble.
Perhaps the biggest thing against Karakas is that third use of Karakas’ ability. Never being able to keep your commander in play thanks to an opponent’s Karakas makes for a miserable game, and can be so bad that it can dissuade you from wanting to play any more games. Everyone has played at least one game where an opponent has targeted you unfairly, or has designed a deck that is just aggressively unfun.
Will Karakas Ever Get Unbanned In Magic?
The Odds Aren’t Great
Karakas is an incredibly powerful land and because of this, it is highly unlikely that it will ever be playable in Commander. Each of the three uses for Karakas’ one ability are far too easy to use and abuse in a game, especially since there no other mana commitments needed or costs to pay to use its ability. And if you have a way to untap Karakas reliably, you can do this multiple times in a turn.
With it’s white identity, Karakas would be played in practically every deck that can support white and give white decks a huge boost in power that other colors would struggle to match.
