scarletcs
commented
2 years ago Wizards of the Coast's page defining Pauper has been updated to read as follows:
If a common version of a particular card was ever released in a Magic: The Gathering paper product or Magic: The Gathering Online, any version of that card is legal in this format.
This is new wording. In May (according to a web archive version of the page) this paragraph instead said:
Build decks using cards that are readily available! In this Magic format, all cards must have been released at common rarity in a Magic set or product. Common promo cards are only legal if the card meets that qualification.
This means legality seems to exclude cards released at common in Arena, confirming the Swords to Plowshares classification as an error by a core format definition.
Swords to Plowshares is marked as legal in pauper according to Gatherer. This is a complex and confusing situation, and the Scryfall team considers this situation likely to be a genuine error—this ticket will explain why below.
Pauper is a format that includes only those cards “printed at common rarity in a Magic set or product”. The only Common print marking it as legal is its print from Jumpstart: Historic Horizons. However this card cannot be collected and isn't in any actual Historic Horizons products—the only way to access it is by Conjuring it during gameplay via Tome of the Infinite. It's functionally a transient gameplay piece, like a token, or like the Black Lotus cast by Garth One-Eye.
It is our working theory that this card being marked as Common in Gatherer is an arbitrary designation rather than one carefully considered for its impact on the Pauper format. It is further our theory that a subsequent automated Gatherer sweep has picked up this card and added it to Pauper, rather than this being a deliberate action by format maintainers.
We believe nobody in charge of the Pauper format would have consciously added it, either. Swords to Plowshares is one of the most powerful removal spells in the game, being a Legacy/Vintage powerhouse that's never been allowed into any later format. It's not even in Modern! The Pauper format has struggled under the power level of lesser-powered cards like Chatterstorm, Daze, and Sojourner's Companion (all presently banned). Pauper would surely be bent in half by Swords to Plowshares.
Since this print is a Conjure-only print, there's no true meaning to its rarity level—it's not like it's appearing in boosters—so there does not appear to be any real reason for this print to be at Common specifically. In particular, this print is only conjured by Tome of the Infinite, and every card conjured by Tome of the Infinite is marked as common. This just happens to be the only one of those cards that was never marked common previously. In fact in all of its 50(!!) prints, Swords to Plowshares has never been released at Common—except for this one.
Lastly, MTGO considers STP to not be legal for Pauper decks. This is significant because it's the only other source of truth enforcement on the Pauper format, and its team seems to have ignored this print and legality change completely.
This wouldn't even be the first time a card's been accidentally included in Pauper due to a rarity-related issue. In the January 21, 2019 Banned and Restricted Announcement, Hada Freeblade, Spatial Contortion, and Circle of Flame were banned in Pauper to correct their appearing in the format solely on account of common-rarity promo cards found in MTGO treasure chests.
For all of these reasons the Scryfall team considers this card being marked legal in Pauper to be very likely a genuine error. We have reported the issue to WotC and believe they're assessing the situation, and will not be marking Swords to Plowshares as legal in Pauper on Scryfall until we see official public confirmation on the situation.