There’s an overwhelming
sentiment that there needs to be a major overhaul on this banlist. The
playerbase is never satisfied with the card pool Konami provides, but their
dissatisfaction might have been at an all-time high over the past six months.
Even before the March F&L list, players were calling for the newer
archetypes to be addressed. Instead, they gave us Chaos Dragons. While some of
the duelists still playing under the current format will argue that this
actually brought balance to the game because Rabbit focus more towards that
matchup, making more skillful decks like non-loop-based Wind-Ups viable, most
players have already shunned the game. They sold off their cards, hopefully
before Konami announced wave after wave of reprints, and are basing their
entire decision to continue playing Yu-Gi-Oh on the outcome of this September’s
list.
And why not? Unlike in past
years, there’s a two-month gap in competitive play (unless you happen to be
going to Worlds), the current format hasn’t been fun to play under, taking away
whatever luster there is to playing at locals, and we don’t know what’s coming,
and hence don’t have a way to truly prepare for next format. If it’s even any
good, of course. That's because
many of the problems in the TCG may go unresolved.
Consider this, for a moment.
We’re all aware that the list is influenced mostly by the OCG. Over there,
Inzektors are the king of their game, and Heroes are the only deck that stands
to challenge them. While pondering how they can drive the meta to become more
diverse, Japanese R&D looks at the TCG and sees half-a-dozen decks contending
for championships. Uh oh. Hopefully the cries from Konami USA, trust me,
they’re aware of the issues facing the TCG, don’t fall on deaf ears.
That said, if they’re willing
to listen, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they can bring balance
to the game. Just keep in
mind that when I say “balance”, I only mean relative to the past couple of
years. And let’s be honest, the game’s actually been pretty good at times. It’s
been far from ideal, sure, but at this point, simply being playable would be a
godsend for many duelists. And while many think the only way to get there would
be by leveling the entire playing field with a list longer than the number of
people who topped YCS Long Beach, I disagree.
While there’s a wide variety of
decks that need to be addressed, it can be done by touching less cards than
last September, if they’re smart about it. It seems like they never do much,
but take a look at the number of cards they’ve moved on the last four F&L
lists.
March 2012: 15
September 2011: 30
March 2011:
24
September 2010: 21
30 cards? That could change everything. Don’t believe me?
Take a look.
Banned
01. Future Fusion
02. Monster Reborn
03. Black Luster Soldier –
Envoy the Beginning
04. Elemental Hero – Stratos
05. Pot of Avarice
06. Mind Control
07. Card Destruction
08. Gateway of the Six
09. Limiter Removal
10. Sangan
11. Heavy Storm
It’s one of the most debated
cards in Yu-Gi-Oh and for good reason. It’s regarded by some as a necessary
evil. While I used to agree with this sentiment, the power creep has grown too
much. Heavy Storm is as good as game these days. Even though the purpose of this
list is to bring all of the current decks back to earth, we’re at a point in
the game where in order to create new decks more powerful than their
predecessors, they have to be overpowered, and we need backrow in order to defend ourselves.
I don’t think we have a choice. Heavy Storm has to go.
Limited
12. Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaighty
If you listened to the podcast, you heard Billy argue that Hunter should be banned because Magician and Shark is still too powerful. While it’s still a powerful play, it’s not game-ending. It’s a 2-card investment that results in as many monsters (that’s a Carrier and a Rank 3 xyz), with a couple discards along the way. That becomes the deck’s most powerful play. The other player will still be able to draw into four cards and the Wind-Up player’s only other plays are off of the two Wind-Up Rats they have left. It’s banning Hunter, in fact, that leaves Mage and Shark as an overpowered combo, because it’s still possible to OTK using three Carriers. There’s no question in my mind that limiting Carrier is the way to go.
If you listened to the podcast, you heard Billy argue that Hunter should be banned because Magician and Shark is still too powerful. While it’s still a powerful play, it’s not game-ending. It’s a 2-card investment that results in as many monsters (that’s a Carrier and a Rank 3 xyz), with a couple discards along the way. That becomes the deck’s most powerful play. The other player will still be able to draw into four cards and the Wind-Up player’s only other plays are off of the two Wind-Up Rats they have left. It’s banning Hunter, in fact, that leaves Mage and Shark as an overpowered combo, because it’s still possible to OTK using three Carriers. There’s no question in my mind that limiting Carrier is the way to go.
13. Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
14. Inzektor Centipede (or Inzektor Dragonfly)
15. Ultimate Offering
16. One Day of Peace
17. Super Polymerization
18. Royal Tribute
19. Evolsaur Laggia
20. Snoww, Unlight of Dark
World
21. Dark Magician of Chaos
DMoC is the perfect boss monster for the new Spellcaster support coming out. If you’ve gotten a chance to check out the new cards, they’ve got a Lonefire Blossom that brings out any Level 5 or higher Light or Dark Spellcaster-type monster. That, along with some of the other cards, show promise, but the archetype seems like it’s still a card or two away from being viable as a premier meta deck. Enter DMoC. He’s not going to be used in many meta decks outside of Prophecy decks, but is a great boss monster for them. To me, it just makes sense.
DMoC is the perfect boss monster for the new Spellcaster support coming out. If you’ve gotten a chance to check out the new cards, they’ve got a Lonefire Blossom that brings out any Level 5 or higher Light or Dark Spellcaster-type monster. That, along with some of the other cards, show promise, but the archetype seems like it’s still a card or two away from being viable as a premier meta deck. Enter DMoC. He’s not going to be used in many meta decks outside of Prophecy decks, but is a great boss monster for them. To me, it just makes sense.
Semi-Limited
22. Tour Guide from the
Underworld
Tour Guide and Rescue Rabbit both deserve to be banned. Without Carrier and the Evolsaurs, the xyz monsters just aren’t as powerful as them seem. Do you remember reading Giga-Brilliant for the first time? You thought it was garbage, didn’t you? Me too! But the fact that you’re able to toolbox it out for the cost of one card, in order to get a Light monster has made it an extra-deck staple for many duelists. But we’ve gotten so used to the ease of making these monsters, that if we had to “work” to bring them out, they’d seem much less powerful, and the game would fell so much slower. But of course, I’m not naïve enough to believe Konami’s going to ban either of them.
Tour Guide and Rescue Rabbit both deserve to be banned. Without Carrier and the Evolsaurs, the xyz monsters just aren’t as powerful as them seem. Do you remember reading Giga-Brilliant for the first time? You thought it was garbage, didn’t you? Me too! But the fact that you’re able to toolbox it out for the cost of one card, in order to get a Light monster has made it an extra-deck staple for many duelists. But we’ve gotten so used to the ease of making these monsters, that if we had to “work” to bring them out, they’d seem much less powerful, and the game would fell so much slower. But of course, I’m not naïve enough to believe Konami’s going to ban either of them.
23. Rescue Rabbit
24. Hieratic Seal of
Convocation
25. Inzektor Hornet
26. Final Countdown
27. Rekindling
Unlimited
28. Swords of Revealing Light
29. Marshmallon
30. Primal Seed
I could’ve made a wish list
that would addressed the game much more effectively and remained under thirty
cards (it would’ve involved banning quite a few cards instead of limiting or
semi-limiting them), but I thought it was important to make a list that was
both effective and realistic. With this list, most of the current meta decks
are still viable, but aren’t nearly as overpowered.
If Konami is careful with what
cards they target, they can create a reasonably balanced game once again.
Here’s hoping they take notice of what’s going on in the TCG and restore our
faith in the game!
Rise! Rise! Rise!
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