Article - My Take on Bans and Restrictions

Whenever a new Banned/Restricted List is announced by Konami, Duelists everywhere inevitably will have something to say about it. Usually they have complaints. I am no different from these other Duelists in having something to say about the Banned/Restricted List and I am also no different in having complaints about The List. However, I have formulated my own Banned/Restricted List that I believe would solve a great many of the problems with the game and allow several decktypes to emerge on each tier of playability.

I first started to question the quality of The List around the time Torrential Tribute was released. It was absurd to have a list that restricted Raigeki, Dark Hole, Mirror Force, and Cyber Jar but left Torrential Tribute untouched. Duelists could conceivable run seven pieces of mass monster removal in a single deck! It was absurd. So I restricted myself to one Torrential Tribute. It wasn’t official, it wasn’t required, and it put me at a disadvantage to those cutthroat players who were more willing to take advantage of the situation. But it was the right thing to do.

Soon after that, I realized that even running one of each of those still left five forms of mass monster removal in a single deck, which was ridiculous. So I restricted myself again, limiting myself to one mass monster removal spell, one mass monster removal trap, and one mass monster removal effect monster. It opened up a lot of space in my deck, and when playing against other decks with a similar construction allowed for a fun, yet balanced metagame.

Then Konami implemented the Bans. This was a dark day for me, as one of the things I most appreciated about Duel Monsters over Magic (aside from game mechanics) was the fact that no card was banned. Konami thought banning certain cards outright was necessary to rebalance the metagame, squelch cookie-cutter decks, and increase originality (as well as to sell new booster packs, because, let’s face it: if Konami is releasing crap like Elemental Heroes when we already have cards like Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning and Mirror Force, who’s going to be interested in the new sets?). Konami perceived the problem to be too many broken cards.

Konami was correct in that perception. There were too many broken cards. But to me the answer was not to ban them outright, but to limit the number of them allowed in any given deck as well as to break overpowered combos. Broken cards are a fundamental part of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, and they make the game fun and allow for big swings in momentum throughout the course of a duel. My solution: Either-Or Restrictions. Either-Or Restrictions could also be called Group Restrictions or Cluster Restrictions, as they take a group of broken cards, cluster them together, and allow Duelists to pick one or two out of each group for their deck at the cost of not using any others from the same group. It’s a simple solution and it would break the power of cookie-cutters by putting most overly-splashable, broken cards into the same cluster. It’s a similar concept to how I restricted myself with the mass monster removal cards.

My ideas about which cards belong in which clusters are constantly evolving along with the game, so the following Restricted List model isn’t set in stone, but I think it would be a good first step. I propose to do away with the Traditional/Advanced Dual Formats entirely, replacing them with this universal list, for Japan, North America, and Europe. The only possible problem I perceive with Either-Or restrictions is an increase in difficulty regarding Deck-Checks at tournament registrations. However, Deck-Checks are already riddled with problems, so I don’t think my solution would make them much worse.

Without further ado, I present my
Ideal, Visionary Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Restriction List:
(Note the explanations below each Group Restriction, and * by restrictions on my list that differ from the official list, followed by reasons.)

Either-Or Limited (you may use one copy of one card in each group in your deck):
Group 1: Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End, Magical Scientist, Sinister Serpent, Victory Dragon (j), Yata-Garasu.

Why?: With the exception of Victory Dragon, these are the most broken monsters ever released. Dealing with one of them in a deck would be possible, but this gang of Good Ol’ Boys needs to be broken-up.

Group 2: Breaker the Magical Warrior, Exiled Force, Mobius the Frost Monarch, Ring of Destruction, Tribe-Infecting Virus, Tsukuyomi.

Why?: These are some of the most annoying, most easily splashable cards in the game. The group needs to be separated. Note that Mobius is now limited. His effect is on par with, and perhaps scarier than Jinzo’s. Leaving him unrestricted is a mistake.

Group 3: Confiscation, Delinquent Duo, The Forceful Sentry.

Why?: Hand disruption is a solid strategy, but these are too easily splashable and are too dangerous together.

Group 4: Calamity of the Wicked(j), Harpie’s Feather Duster, Heavy Storm.

Why?: One form of mass spell/trap removal is enough. It may be argued that nobody would use Heavy Storm if they could use HFD. I believe there are plenty of strategies that would involve destroying one’s own spells/traps, such as: Statue of the Wicked/Dark Coffin/Pyramid of Light, clearing out a Royal Decree/Level Limit/Gravity Bind that has outlived its usefulness, etc.

Group 5: Graceful Charity, Pot of Greed, Sixth Sense (j).

Why?: Powerful drawing should be limited.

Group 6: Cathedral of Nobles (j), Makyura the Destructor, Mirage of Nightmare, Painful Choice.

Why?: These are some annoying combo cards that should be kept separate.

Either-Or Semi-Limited (you may use one copy of up to two cards in each group in your deck):

Group 1: Dark Hole, Mirror Force, Raigeki, Torrential Tribute.

Why?: Two forms of mass monster removal are enough. The return of Imperial Order also keeps powerful spells in check.

Group 2: Cyber Jar, Fiber Jar, Morphing Jar.

Why?: Two forms of mass advantage generation and randomness are enough.

Group 3: Brain Control, Change of Heart, Snatch Steal.

Why?: Two forms of low-cost monster theft are enough. Note, Brain Control is now limited. Soul Exchange and Mind Control dodged this bullet because they have well-balancing negative effects.

Group 4: Fissure, Hammer Shot, Sakuretsu Armor, Smashing Ground, Widespread Ruin.

Why?: There is too much costless monster removal in the game. It needs to be kept in check. Note that all of these cards are now limited.

Limited (you may use one copy of each of the following cards in your deck):

Book of Moon

Butterfly Dagger-Elma

Call of the Haunted

Card Destruction

*Catapult Turtle (to hinder Scientist OTK)

Ceasefire

*Chaos Sorcerer (He may be the weakest Chaos monster, but he’s still a Chaos monster.)

*Cyber Dragon (It is the biggest ‘non-tribute’ monster without a balancing effect. It makes other monsters useless for field presence. Proto Cyber Dragon fills its shoes in Cyber Laser/Barrier themed decks.)

D.D. Assailant

D.D. Warrior Lady

Dandelion (j)

*Dark Balter the Terrible (Restriction prevents Metamorphosis abuse.)

Dark Magician of Chaos

Deck Destruction Virus (j)

*Deck Devastation Virus (this should stay at one)

Drop-Off

*Dust Tornado (It is ridiculous to restrict MST but not this. Free, easy removal.)

Exchange of the Spirit

Exodia the Forbidden One

*Fiend Skull Dragon (Restriction prevents Metamorphosis abuse.)

Imperial Order

Injection Fairy Lily

Jinzo

Last Turn

Last Will

Left Arm of the Forbidden One

Left Leg of the Forbidden One

Lightning Vortex

Mage Power

Magic Cylinder

*Magician of Faith (this should stay at one)

Marshmallon (j)

Mask of Darkness

Monster Reborn

Mystical Space Typhoon

*Nobleman of Crossout (this should stay at one)

Pot of Avarice

Premature Burial

Protector of the Sanctuary

*Reinforcement of the Army (All other forms of tutoring of this caliber are limited (Witch & Sangan)).

Right Arm of the Forbidden One

Right Leg of the Forbidden One

*Royal Decree (Imperial Order and Jinzo are limited. This should be too.

*Ryu-Senshi (Restriction prevents Metamorphosis abuse.)

Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys

Sangan

Scapegoat

*Spirit Reaper (Marshmallon is limited, this should be too. Indestructible monsters are too powerful to be unrestricted.)

Swords of Revealing Light

Thousand-Eyes Restrict

Time Seal

Twin-Headed Behemoth

United We Stand

Witch of the Black Forest

Semi-Limited (you may use up to two copies of each of the following cards in your deck):

*Abyss Soldier (With Sinister Serpent available, this is too good to be unrestricted.)

Apprentice Magician

Creature Swap

Emergency Provisions

*Enemy Controller (Blocks attacks, steals resources, and should be kept in check.)

Gravity Bind

*Level Limit - Area B (Limiting this to one puts the final nails into the coffins of too many decktypes.)

*Limiter Removal (Machines need a little boost. Plus, it is easily worked around by a prepared opponent.)

Manticore of Darkness

*Morphing Jar #2 (Too annoying to be unrestricted.)

*Night Assailant (The Night Assailant Loop is too cool to kill. Just keep it from being too silly.)

*Reckless Greed (This card only becomes unbalanced when used in threes.)

Reflect Bounder

Off the List (these formerly-restricted cards are now unrestricted):

*Excavation of Magical Stones (j) (Hefty discard cost = balanced card.)

*Good Goblin Housekeeping (This thing is only good if used in threes. Leave the poor goblin alone!)

*Metamorphosis (The Morph Deck is a cool idea, and by limiting certain fusion monsters, I believe it can be kept under control. Limiting Scapegoat, TER, and Tsukuyomi does enough to hinder Goat Control without limiting Metamorphosis as well.)

*Treeborn Frog (This thing’s own effect prevents the abuse of multiples. Restriction is unnecessary.)

*Upstart Goblin (If people are that desperate for card-drawing, let them run this. It’s a worse version of Jar of Greed anyway, and that’s never been restricted. At least Jar of Greed can chain to destruction for a +1.)