Banned Cards
Official Constructed Format Banned List (12 Cards) and Riot Games Banning Philosophy.
| Scan | Card & Set | Type | Domain | Card Text | Ban Category & Official Rationale | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 BANNED | Draven, Vanquisher | champion unit | FURY | When I win a combat, play a Gold gear token exhausted. When I attack or defend, you may pay [C]. If you do, give me +2 [S] this turn. | Combat Dominance Unhealthy offensive tempo and repetitive combat dominance in competitive play. | View → |
 BANNED | Ekko, Recurrent | champion unit | MIND | [Accelerate] (You may pay [1][C] as an additional cost to have me enter ready.) [Deathknell] — Recycle me to ready your runes. (When I die, get the effect.) | Infinite Combo Enabler Enables degenerate infinite recursion combos (e.g. Lux/Ekko loops) creating non-interactive solitaire turns. | View → |
 BANNED | Called Shot | spell | CHAOS | [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) [Repeat] [C] (You may pay the additional cost to repeat this spell's effect.) Look at the top 2 cards of your Main Deck. Draw one and recycle the other. | Infinite Resource Loop Non-interactive repeat draw looping providing excessive card selection and combo assembly. | View → |
 BANNED | Stacked Deck | spell | CHAOS | [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Look at the top 3 cards of your Main Deck. Put 1 into your hand and recycle the rest. | Excessive Consistency Hyper-efficient 1-cost library digging that excessively accelerates graveyard threshold and combo engines. | View → |
 BANNED | Fight or Flight | spell | CHAOS | [Hidden] (Hide now for [A] to react with later for [0].) [Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Move a unit from a battlefield to its base. | Combat Disruption Inexpensive hidden bounce effect that removes combat interaction without sufficient counterplay. | View → |
 BANNED | Scrapheap | gear | CHAOS | When this is played, discarded, or killed, draw 1. | Resource Recursion Unhealthy recursive gear looping generating free card draw when played, discarded, or killed. | View → |
 BANNED | The Dreaming Tree | battlefield | COLORLESS | When a player chooses a friendly unit here with a spell for the first time each turn, they draw 1. | Battlefield Imbalance Excessive card draw engine skewing target-spell archetypes to overwhelming advantage. | View → |
 BANNED | Obelisk of Power | battlefield | COLORLESS | At the start of each player's first Beginning Phase, that player channels 1 rune. | Rune Acceleration Unbalanced turn-one rune channeling distorting opening game momentum. | View → |
 BANNED | Reaver's Row | battlefield | COLORLESS | When you defend here, you may move a friendly unit here to base. | Combat Evasion Allows defending units to retreat to base cost-free, removing risk and stalling tournament matches. | View → |
 BANNED | The Arena's Greatest | battlefield | COLORLESS | At the start of each player's first Beginning Phase, that player gains 1 point. | Pacing Distortion Passive scoring on turn one warping match pacing and victory clocks. | View → |
 BANNED | Aspirant's Climb | battlefield | COLORLESS | Increase the points needed to win the game by 1. | Win Condition Distortion Arbitrarily increases required victory points, stalling rounds past tournament time limits. | View → |
 BANNED | Stealthy Pursuer | unit | CHAOS | When a friendly unit moves from my location, I may be moved with it. | Mobility Escalation Free reactive movement that scales excessively with new expansions and elusive units. | View → |
Riot Games Banning Philosophy
“When do we ban cards? We want to broadly explain when and why we ban cards. Our decisions are informed by competitive metagame telemetry, major tournament data, and player experience.”
Unhealthy Overrepresentation
We don’t want our metagame dominated by a single Legend, domain, or play pattern over an extended period of time. We evaluate representation at premier tournaments, qualifiers, and local organized play.
Escalating Power Over Time
Cards that are inexpensive and synergy-driven tend to get stronger as new expansions release, combining with more mechanics. When a card will inevitably become degenerate, we act sooner rather than later.
Negative Player Experience
It isn't all about raw power; gameplay experience matters. Non-interactive loops, solitaire play patterns, or matches dragging on past tournament time limits are directly addressed.