The 2011 March ban list: Semi-Limited discussion

Hey. To show some actual continuity on this blog, the next set of cards on the banlist to discuss are the newly semi limited ones. They are:

Archlord Kristya

Card Trooper

Debris Dragon

Spirit reaper

Megamorph

Overload fusion

Royal Tribute

Icarus attack

Solemn warning

Archlord Kristya has been at 3 since its release, but thats not to say its a powerful card. With a high attack power, a rather easy summoning condition with added hand advantage, an increasingly useful continuous effect while on the field AND the ability to recycle itself back to the top of your deck, its got something for everyone. It limited its playability with it only being usable in a fairy deck, or a deck that splashes many fairies (Which does not really exist, except for maybe Perfect Herald decks). But to me, many players that played fairy decks played Kristya at 2 anyway, so semi limiting it really does not hurt it whatsoever.

Card trooper is the big one for me personally. As I've reviewed before, it has a built in milling ability that pumps its attack into a beatstick and replaces its self if it gets destroyed. Its a brilliant card and now that its at two, it can be used to replace the lost Dandylion in Plant synchro decks. There was no need to put it at 1 when you cannot perform the Card trooper OTK with 2 of them anyway. Expect to see this card become a semi-staple in this upcoming format with it being able to get under bottomless and +1 you if it runs into a mirror force.

Debris Dragon has been brought down to 2 from unlimited. It is abused too much in plant decks with dandylion. But has putting it to 2 really made a difference? The only difference i can see is consistency issues, but thats about it.

Spirit reaper has been at 1 for a long time. I do not know the exact banlist that it was limited though. Its a powerful card that provides a nice wall to protect you if a combo went wrong or you need to stall for something like Final countdown. In my opinion, i had enough trouble dealing with one, but maybe two is a little too annoying for my taste.

Megamorph , Like spirit reaper, has been limited for quite a while. Nobody plays equip spells anymore, and this card is not very special. Sure, it doubles your monster's attack power when you're losing, but people do not build their decks to win when they're losing.

Overload fusion is usually combined with Future fusion to make a mean OTK. you use future fusion to send Cyber Dragon (which is at 3 now) along with many machine types from your deck to the graveyard for Chimeratech Overdragon. Then you use Overload fusion to remove all the machine types from your graveyard to summon that Overdragon. You now have a huge beatstick that tends to mean OTK. With Overload fusion at 1 and Future fusion at 1 too, the deck was incredibly inconsistent. But with this card at 2, the deck might shine again.

Royal Tribute at 2 is not really a big deal. Gravekeepers players can still get this card into their hand with Pot of Duality or Gold Sarcophagus. Putting it to 1 or banning it entirely would have been much better.

Icarus attack is Konami's attempt to damage blackwings alongside limiting Blackwing - Kalut the moon shadow. While blackwings get top 32 in the tournaments in america/europe, they are a tier one deck in the OCG, which explains why blackwings have been hit hard this banlist. It is also an amazing card which can blow up any 2 cards you choose, so it was always a gorgeous 2-for-2 card.

Lastly, Solemn Warning is a powerful card which in my observation of decklists and duels, were played at 2. That's not to say that they were never played in 3s, but hitting it to 2 is not that painful. The idea of paying up to 6000 life points seems absurd, but it was used at 3 for consistency because once you drew it, you had the opportunity to stop a deadly play right in its tracks.

Next up, the UNLIMITED LIST!

The 2011 March ban list: Forbidden discussion

For today's post, i would like to discuss what konami has decided to ban this format. With 5D's almost over and the new Exceed monsters coming out in the TCG in August, this is the last 5D's format *cries*.

In terms of the banlist, Konami have decided to Ban (put to 0) Goyo guardian, Cold wave and Mass driver. I want to discuss each choice individually.

Goyo guardian has been with us since august 2008. It's been around since the beginning of the 5D's era alongside Stardust dragon and Red dragon archfiend. It's always been close to bannable but konami left it at 1 to stop it being abused. Its amazing attack, not too shabby defence, and an effect that steals your opponent's monsters when it destroys them, makes it a powerhouse that takes its own prisoners. It also had no specific tuner or non-tuner requirement, which made it easy to summon whenever you wanted, to turn the tide of the duel. However, now that konami have banned it this march, players will have to resort to the other level 6's, mainly brionac, dragon of the ice barrier. But one of goyo's biggest bonuses was it's ability to take an opponent's stardust from them, so you can use it's effect yourself, or any monsters effect. Another option is Gaia Knight, the force of earth, with 2600 attack. It may not pack as much punch, but its generic, it gets over stardust, and its a warrior type.

Cold wave, for the last couple of formats, has risen in play with players suddenly realising how much of an impact monster effect have in yu-gi-oh, plus heavy storm being banned in september last year. Players needed another way of dealing with backrows other than giant trunade. It's ability to shut down spells and traps makes it an OTK tool. With Six samurai being able to churn out a Shi en, or Lightsworns being able to drop a Judgment dragon and blow up the field, or XX-Sabers able to summon XX-Saber Hyunlei, all the meta decks had a use for this card, and it was about time it left us for good. However, with it gone, the only decent backrow removal cards are Mystical space typhoon and giant trunade. It just is not enough removal to deal with your opponent's spells and traps, and people are fearing that march-august is going to be a "Set 5 facedowns and end my turn" format.

Mass driver when the shining darkness was released, was used in conjunction with Ronintoadin and Substitoad. Substitoad was used to fill the grave with frogs, and ronintoadin removed those frogs to special summon itself. Mass driver meant you could special summon ronintoadin, tribute it for mass driver and deal 400 damage, and repeat it 20 times for a total of 8000 damage. Konami decided to ban substitoad to deal with this First turn kill, but in my opinion, mass driver being banned would have killed the FTK and prevent new FTKs from arising in the future, thus allowing a more diverse card pool in the future without the worry that an exploitable loop would be found. Now that mass driver is banned, substitoad should come back to 1.


To be honest, goyo should have been left at 1. It was fine there, and im sure you agree with me on that. If anything, brionac is more devastating to the game and to the exceed monsters in the future.

The 2011 March ban list (Unconfirmed)

Here it is:

Forbidden:
Goyo Guardian
Cold Wave
Mass Driver

Limited:
Honest
Dandylion
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow
Book of Moon
Gateway of the Six

Semi-Limited
Card Trooper
Archlord Kristya
Spirit Reaper
Debris Dragon
Royal Tribute
Overload Fusion
Megamorph
Solemn Warning
Icarus Attack

Unlimited:
Chaos Sorcerer
Demise, King of Armageddon
Snipe Hunter
Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
Gold Sarcophagus
Skill Drain
Ultimate Offering


A very strange banlist indeed. But it is still unconfirmed, so we might see a change when the real one comes out next week.