Hi all,

i see that ponder is banned in extended but not in standard?


any one know why?

Here is the explanation for why they banned them.

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/161b

Cards are banned because in the given format they are to powerful, not fun, create unwanted situations etc.

The card can achieve this effect by its own (see Jace, the mind sculptor) or in combination with other cards.

Ponder falls into this category. In standard its interaction with other cards is acceptable, why in extended there are a lot more cards, so there are a lot more interaction, some...unwanted.

This is a general explanation of bannings, hope not too trivial for you

no that's fine, i didn't see it as a game winning card, just cheap to cast for the ability

I think the unspoken reason for why it's banned in extended and not standard is that standard no longer offers fetch lands which make Ponder significantly better.