Anyway today's post is my idea of a realistic but good banlist that could be implemented in the near future. A banlist should address the main problem cards. For a card to be worthy of going on the list, it needs to be potent. Of course, if a card is archetype specific, then it will normally be more powerful than a splashable card (Compare Tour Guide to Wind-Up Hunter). Konami knows this and designs archetypes in a way that if the right card is hit, the entire deck becomes crippled, therefore allowing new archetypes to come in and have their own reign of terror.
Here is the list. I decided to use pictures because it's more fun to look at. Under the list are reasons for each choice.
Forbidden
Limited
Semi Limited
Unlimited
Forbidden
Monster Reborn - Lets face it, this card is and has always been overpowered. It's not fun dismantling your opponent using skill and they topdeck this card. Its usable in every deck and therefore your deck will always be Monster Reborn + 39 cards (apart from Gravekeeper's, but there's nothing really wrong with playing it in that either). When used in conjunction with other standalone advantage cards it becomes ridiculous. If you reborn Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, it lets you get Lightpulsar and that's 5300 damage from one card, and for your opponent who might have 3-4 cards on their side, they can't dismantle that combo without wasting all of their cards. That might be a Problem to do with Chaos Dragons rather than reborn, but if you take it out of the equation, then the performance of that deck as well as every other deck decreases significantly. That's the first step to diversity and ultimately fun.
Future Fusion - It's time for it to go. Whenever it's being used in a deck it's either to be abused repeatedly or to summon something too powerful. Five Headed Dragon is only being used in chaos dragons so that Future Fusion (FuFu) can dump their Eclipse Wyverns and Red-Eyes to be brought back with the Lightpulsar in their hand. However if Konami wants to specifically target Chaos Dragons, then they could hit Five Headed Dragon instead. But it's not just that deck that it's being abused in. I've recently taken a liking to Alive Heroes and their ability to send a Hero and Zephyros for Escuridaó and then bounce FuFu back to summon the Zephyros is Retarded. However it could be argued that the best fusion monsters couldn't possibly be summoned without this card (Unless you want to -3 your hand) so for casual players it fuels their imagination and keeps them interested in the game. My biased opinion wants it to stick around but the competitive playerbase wants this card gone.
Wind-Up Hunter - Without the Wind-Up hand loop, the deck becomes a xyz spam deck, which is very competitive if you look at Hieratics which can do it too (Photon Bounzer is pretty good when timed right). The deck wouldn't even need to make any changes either, it was just more potent being able to completely destroy your opponent's hand on the first turn rather than put 3-4 xyz monsters on the field. The effectiveness between both strategies is minimal, but one of them is going to lose you friends.
Mind Control - It's been around for a while now and with Synchro/Xyz monsters around, it's only to be abused now. While it is a combo card, at the very least you can just take their monster and attack with your other monsters for game. In a mirror match it makes for some lolzy plays, but that becomes a luck of the draw rather than skill.
Limited
Inzektor Centipede - A bad player would say that Hornet is the problem since the other cards depend on it. A decent player would say that Dragonfly is the problem since it gives free plusses. However, without Centipede, the dreaded loop can only be executed once and without Centipede in multiples, the Zektkalibur OTK and dragonfly's overall usefulness drops. I personally wouldn't bother hitting the deck, but Konami is going to hit them because of how good they are in the OCG.
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon - To be fair, if Future Fusion does go, this can be let off the hook. It's a very powerful card and it's effect means any deck that can utilise it will instantly become 2 tiers better than without it. If REDMD didn't exist, chaos dragons would be a terrible deck due to the loop being impossible. Having it at 1 means it can still be dropped and win games, but once you bottomless it, you can be happy knowing you're not going to get sacked, yet still allow other dragon decks (Disaster, Hopeless) to use it.
Solemn Warning - I personally feel that this card's power is incredible. What it does, it does very well. If your opponent's deck is slow and relies on a normal summon to be of any use, then this deck becomes something more than the level of power it should be. It's ability to shut down your opponent's summoning capabilities makes it almost impossible to make a comeback if they are on the losing end. If you swarm the field and then set this after doing 6000~ damage, then your opponent will just be annoyed. Laggia does not need to waste it's effect on a summon if you have warning set, which makes the whole matchup so much more annoying. Having it at 1 means you will only see it once and mean you will have to save it for the right moment rather than just hitting anything that might pose some threat.
Semi-Limited
T.G. Striker - Why is this card on the list? Oh that's right, it was a target for Konami's "Lets ungracefully push Xyz monsters by destroying synchros" campaign in March. It was used in T.G. Agents which was quite good in the OCG but why they hit the deck so hard is just for reasons I don't like to talk about. Because everytime I do, It makes me want to punch Kevin Tewart (The head of the Campaign) in the face.
The Agent of Mystery - Earth - Same reason as Striker. It was helping the deck and gives it tonnes of search power. The card is so much better at 2 than 1. Being able to search Venus more consistently is irrelevant. The fact that it's another agent in the deck that helps the cause and allows it to be banished for hyperion is what makes it's place on the list important. I have an Agent deck prepared for when this card comes back (If it does).
Rescue Rabbit - This card is really good. It's just a shame that Konami decided to make Laggia and Dolkka Type Specific rather than Archetype due to their effects being absolutely ridiculous. Being able to utilise an archetype's xyz monster better than the archetype itself is retarded and shouldn't exist. I remember when people were splashing Elder of the Six Samurai in a T.G. Stun deck to be able to make Shi en. While I don't like that, at least it needed a samurai. In this case, the two decks (Dino Rabbit and Evols) bear no relation to eachother in terms of their playstyle. Putting it at 2 hurts the deck's consistency and you will be more likely to not open with one. Players would be forced to run more Dualities which will slow the deck down to a snail's pace.
Tour Guide from the Underworld - I don't really think it's a good idea to say anything about this one. I will only say one thing though: If this stays at 3, then Sangan must get banned. If this goes to 2, then Sangan can stay.
Mystical Space Typhoon - In March 2010 we had one of the best formats in the entire game. The 3 months at the beginning of it were incredibly diverse and that was due to there being a fair amount of backrow removal. That was the format that proved that having Storm at 1 and MST at 2 was the best way to go. Sure the decks that existed in that format are not played anymore, but it was not about the decks rather than the fact you could run a fair amount of traps and games would be FUN. And this is all before Night Beam was released.
Unlimited
Spore - Another quarantine done due to the same Campaign that killed of Agent - Earth and T.G. Striker. It was really good in plants when they were big but by the end of the September 2011 format, Dino Rabbits, Wind-Ups and Inzektors proved to be better. Konami Intervened way too late and it was an uncalled hit. Spore's effect is once per duel so it's either banned or at 3. I chose this over glow-up bulb due to spore being able to reach the higher levels and allow for high rank xyz summons.
Reborn Tengu - Same reason as spore. It's a really good card but it was hit way too late. By the end of the September 2011 format Xyz was the way to go and Tengu doesn't get it's effect when it's detached. If it's brought back to 3 now, decks would play it but it would go against their win condition and will just make the deck clunky and slow.
Summoner Monk - You activate this card and pay the cost of discarding a spell card. I discard Effect Veiler negating Summoner Monk's effect. You don't get your spell card back and it's a 1600 sitting duck just waiting to be destroyed. It's also a spellcaster which helps push the Prophecy in REDU.
Thanks for reading. Comment if you have any opinions about my choices!
TheTCGLover Out!
