‘Magic: The Gathering’ Ends the Tyrannical Scourge of This Lil’ Guy

Everyone loves Vivi Ornitier. The tragically mopey, endlessly adorable little Black Mage that could is a highlight from Final Fantasy IX‘s cast, whose compellingly earnest arc in the PlayStation 1 classic has catapulted him into the list of the most beloved Final Fantasy characters of all time.

That is, unless you’ve tried to play Magic: The Gathering this year. In that instance, Vivi is a tyrant who can go to absolute hell. And now he finally might, as Wizards of the Coast has officially decided that Vivi needs to take his mage rod and run along home, banning him from Magic‘s Standard format.

Vivi was one of many Final Fantasy icons added to Magic earlier this year with its blockbuster Universes Beyond set, the first of Wizards’ franchise-crossover expansions to the game to be made legally playable in Magic‘s standard format. From the moment his card was previewed, Vivi was spotlighted by the community as potentially one of the strongest cards in the entire set, a slow burn who starts off pretty weak but can build into an incredibly powerful source of mana while also becoming mean himself through pinging damage and boosting his own power for every non-creature spell you cast.

But Vivi immediately became Final Fantasy‘s most sought-after card, racking up wild prices on the aftermarket for a set that, in general, already racked up wild demand, in part because he could be incredibly competitive in Standard’s meta for his role in “Izzet Cauldron†decks, named for the combo of Vivi (which plays on the archetype of Izzet cards introduced in Magic‘s Ravnica sets) and Agatha’s Soul Cauldron from Wilds of Eldraine. These decks were built around using Soul Cauldron’s ability to copy the abilities of creature cards exiled from your graveyard, basically forging yourself an increasingly powerful army of Vivi clones, all generating you more resources to cast more spells and make all those Vivis even more powerful.

While that’s very thematic with Final Fantasy IX‘s wider view of Black Mages—where they’re treated as largely mindless synthetic weapons of mass destruction—it was a terror for competitive Magic. Izzet Cauldron decks have dominated the professional tournament scene since Standard’s rotation with the launch of Edge of Eternities this summer, with the deck having an extremely high win rate compared to other popular archetypes. Of the last three Standard Magic Spotlight Series tournaments to take place since the rotation and Vivi’s arrival on the scene, more than 50% of the Top 8 decks in each have been Izzet Cauldron.

For months there have been discussions over whether or not Wizards would attempt to disrupt Izzet Cauldron’s dominance through an emergency ban on Vivi, or whether or not Wizards would let Vivi slide due to him being an incredibly sought-after card in the incredibly popular Final Fantasy set. When Vivi was revealed to be getting a new promo card as part of Final Fantasy‘s wave of winter bonus releases, it seemed like the latter option may potentially win out. But with today’s announcement, it was made official: Standard Magic is taking this adorable lil’ guy out back to Megaflare him into oblivion.

“[Izzet Cauldron] has a strong fair game, efficient interaction, and a combo ceiling that other decks in the format can’t overtake. It is a strategy that has all its bases covered and has no clear angle of counterplay,†Jadine Klomparens, lead play designer for Magic, wrote in the blog post announcing the ban cycle. “As a result, the metagame has been unable to adjust to the deck and likely won’t be able to in the future. To open up the Standard format for innovation and a wider variety of decks, it’s clear we need to disrupt the Vivi Ornitier and Agatha’s Soul Cauldron combo. That interaction is too much stronger than the rest of the format. We are opting to ban Vivi Ornitier as it is the card that’s more likely to create future balance problems if allowed to remain in the format.â€

“We believe Standard will be more fun and diverse without Vivi Ornitier in it,†Klomparens concluded. Dang, Wizards. You’d say that about this little cutie patootie?

There is something incredibly funny about Magic‘s ever-increasing embrace of Universes Beyond having led to a situation where one of the most controversial and maligned cards of the year turns out to be a little kid in a big wizard hat from Final Fantasy, but alas, those days are no more. Maybe the Avatar set will provide us with something else to shake up the Standard format—or maybe, at the very least, Vivi’s aftermarket singles price will go down even further.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.