March 2012 Banlist Discussion Part 1: The Forbidden List

Now for a segment I decided would be a good idea to make. We can all agree regardless of if you play competitive or not, that the Banlist we are about to play under for the next 6 months is quite possibly one of the worst we have ever seen. Konami describes the Banlist as a way to keep the game healthy and give some cards a second chance. So this time around, has it done that?

The answer is No. It has not.

The banlist ideally should be used to keep some decks in check. It should be used to reduce the power creep so it does not take one huge step at once, making all other decks almost impossible to be competitive with. Also, It should be an evaluation of everything that is wrong with a format and deal with said problems. But this time around, they have really not been doing enough 'evaluating'.

I'll start off with the forbidden list. There's only a few cards put on the forbidden list this time around.

Glow-Up Bulb and Spore

This was a very strange and in my opinion, bad move by Konami. The plant engine was splashable and was the reason why the deck did so well. That combined with broken TCG exclusives made the deck as popular as it was. As we know, the engine consists of just 4 cards (5 when lonefire was at 2). But the main card of the engine was arguably Dandylion. This monster has the ability to special summon tokens, allowing for use with tuners to synchro into multiple levels. Glow-up and spore abused dandylion since spore can reach a level 5 synchro by removing either lonefire blossom or dandylion (making it level 4), then synchroing with a token. Glow-up bulb is just a free draw from formula synchron. Both combos were able to create a nice amount of advantage, but they were only as good as the cards it can abuse.

So why did Konami not just ban Dandylion? It's clear that with Dandylion around, derpyness will follow. Take out the catalyst and the reactants wont have enough umph to work. I use Glow-up in Lightsworns and it was an amazing boon for the deck. Spore is a great tuner for plants due to it's flexibility. However, Dandylion was a prime example of a card being able to do too much, and Konami kept it around? Like anyone will use Dandylion now that the other 2 cards are gone. It's just incredibly stupid and 2 perfectly good cards have been wrongly thrown into the fire in an attempt to save it's ass.

It used to be cute, but now after this, it will leave a bad taste in my mouth every time I see it. I hope it does for you too.

Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
This was another somewhat unexpected move by Konami. They banned one of the best synchros ever made. It requires 3 monsters to summon it and removes 3 things from the game, so you couldn't make too much advantage from it. However with Xyz being the new thing that Konami are trying to promote, this was bound to be hit. The card was unfair if you are not prepared for it but so are many other cards. How do you deal with stardust if all you have are destruction cards? How do you deal with colossal fighter if you have no way to destroy it with card effects? These questions are on a player's mind all the time and this is no different. If you don't have outs to any card, then it doesn't mean it should be banned or it's broken. Clearly you're not running enough Solemn warnings, Judgment, Effect Veilers, Fiendish Chains or whatever else is being use to negate this card.

So really, the card did not deserve a hit. It was not really aimed for except in Agents, but even then it's annoying going a -1 when it gets warning'd. Last format, I played many duels against many players of different skill levels. I got trishula'd about 4 times which is next to nothing. However in total, Trishula was summoned on me over 20 times and I always had a way to deal with it.

Your opinion may differ on the card. If you feel I'm wrong and It did need a hit, comment and say why. I'd love to hear it (No sarcasm).

Finally, to end this discussion on a good note.

Trap Dustshoot
The one hit I actually agree with. This card was starting to get really annoying. It allows you to see your opponent's starting hand a rip a card from it of your choice. There are other cards that can rip cards from your opponent's hand, but guess what: They are all banned. Delinquent Duo is banned, Forceful Sentry is banned and other such cards are also banned. The main problem is that this card in many situations puts your opponent at such a disadvantage that it's unfair. They are already going second which is a kick in the balls already, then they start their turn with only 5 cards in hand which you got to see?

Card should have gone a long time ago. I have this knack for opening with Dustshoot consistently, but regardless it should be banned and never come back, even if Heavy Storm gets banned in the future.



So that's my take on the Forbidden Section of the upcoming list. 1 out of 4 is not very good Konami And your other hits are not looking too good either.

TheTCGLover out.