A Look At the 3/01/2010 Banned/Restricted List

After weeks of anticipation and sorting through various forgeries, the real Yu-Gi-Oh! Advanced Format Forbidden/Restricted list, for March 1st, 2010, is here and complete. Sadly, it represents a significant regression even from the September 1st, 2009 list and a return to Konami's inefficient, reactive approach to the competitive game. Looking over this list, I can see very few changes to the competitive decks of the current format, with the possible exception of Zombies. We are more or less looking at 6 more months of the same old, same old. But without delay, let's look at the cards one by one.

Newly Limited

Chaos Sorcerer - I actually agree with this change, and am happy that Konami ignored the scores of online posters who lobbied for this card at 3. Sorcerer thrives off of the two strongest attributes in the game (LIGHT and DARK) and is right at home in the most consistent deck of the past year (Lightsworn/Twilight), due to that deck's ability to load its Graveyard with monsters and to filter cards with ease. Sorcerer is an effortless +1 that can also segue into a powerful Synchro such as Arcanite Magician, Ancient Sacred Wyvern, or Stardust Dragon.

While I agree with the limit, I think that the mentality of Konami towards this card, demonstrated in many of the online posts of Kevin Tewart, is misguided. Tewart attributed the success of Chris Bowling's SJC Austin deck not to the blatant brokenness of Judgment Dragon nor the consistency of Charge of the Light Brigade, but rather to Chaos Sorcerer. Now, with Sorcerer back to 1 but JD still at 2 (more on that later), the list looks foolishly inconsistent. Sorcerer, however powerful, cannot touch JD's power level. Konami's inability to recognize this is one reason why this list is so mediocre and inconsistent.

Tragoedia - in my opinion, this mechanic a la Gorz is bad for the game. It's hard to predict and can be fatally disruptive to even the most calculated game pushes. Trag also has the ability to swipe monsters and modulate Level Stars for Synchro Summons. Its prevalence in Zombies and Twilight more or less sealed its fate.

Necro Gardna - A hamfisted attempt to "hit" Lightsworn. LS used this card for synergy with mill mechanics. With several of these cards in the Graveyard, the LS player could protect his monsters without having to invest in on-field Spell/Trap Cards. Annoying? Maybe. Limit-worthy? No. Gardna creates no card advantage whatsoever, negates 1 attack, and is an awkward card to actually draw into/have in hand.

Necroface - No one really paid much attention to this card, but its limit is both worthy and overdue. The ability to trigger this card's effect right away with Gold Sarcophagus and/or Allure of Darkness makes it the best deckout/mill card in the game. No one likes losing 5 cards permanently, to the RFG zone, just because their opponent opened with Sarc/Allure. The TCG release of Shutendoji only highlighted some of the further ways to exploit this card's ridiculous mechanic.

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier - Predictable, seeing as how it was already limited in the OCG. As a generic LV6 Synchro, Brionac is a quick out for almost any deck to other Synchros, backrows, or anything else that might get in the way of a game push. With the Zombie engine also somewhat crippled by Mezuki's limit, Brionac will likely not be the OTK engine it once was, but instead a toolbox Synchro and Extra Deck staple.

Mezuki - An extremely powerful floater, Mezuki was the backbone of the Zombie engine. Personally, I think this could have stayed at 2 if Konami would simply have taken the extra step of banning Burial from a Different Dimension (and Return from the Different Dimension). At 1, Mezuki can't really prop up the Zombie engine anymore and the metagame loses another balanced competitive deck. Zombies were certainly powerful this format, but nowhere near the level of brokenness displayed by decks like TeleDAD or SynCat.

Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner - Like Gardna, this is an overkill limit. Konami could have made much less of a mess by simply limiting JD and Beckoning Light (and/or banning Wulf, Lightsworn Beast). Instead, they went after cards like Gardna and Lumina. Lumina is a Zombie Master for LS monsters. The mechanic itself is not broken but rather ruined by its synergies with actually broken mechanics like JD, Wulf, and Beckoning.

Burial from a Different Dimension - I think this card should have been banned. It makes Mezuki and Vayu far too dangerous, and will only get better now that Konami have decided to further pursue the RFG from Graveyard -> Special Summon mechanic with upcoming cards like Spore and Revenant Toad. The power level of the game has turned this card from an upgraded Miracle Dig into a quasi-Dimension Fusion.

Foolish Burial - I see the logic, but I disagree with it. Konami were likely trying to hit Infernity and/or Zombie, but in both decks, the actual problem, as it were, were the power spells (Infernity Gun and BfaDD, respectively). Foolish Burial is at a best a 1 for 1 that sets up other plays with synergistic cards. It was garbage for years. Its playability is more a testament to how powerful Infernity Gun, Mezuki, Wulf, and other cards are, than to any broken mechanic in Foolish itself.

Charge of the Light Brigade - This was probably needed, although it likely could have been avoided if Konami were just more forthright in dealing with JD itself. Like the similarly limited Reinforcement of the Army, CotLB suffers from its interactions with a few broken monsters; whereas RotA has Elemental Hero Stratos and Dark Grepher, CotLB mills off Wulves and sets up JD plays with ease. Since Konami didn't touch those other cards (just as they refuse to touch Stratos et al), CotLB had to get the hit.

Destiny Draw - Dumb. Solar Recharge - a superior card by any metric - is at 3, while this is at 1? Destiny Hero - Disk Commander is banned, Destiny Hero - Malicious is semi-limited, and the engine as a whole has lost ground to other contenders ever since the demise of TeleDAD. Konami could have fixed this "problem" by eliminating Stratos once and for all, thereby dramatically reducing the card advantage and consistency levels of even a 3x D-Draw deck.

Allure of Darkness - questionable at best. I'm guessing Konami wanted to make sure people have to buy Blackwing Treasures (a themed Allure for BW only) and/or preclude Infernity from becoming too overpowered (it will be, anyway). This card was splashable draw power that created a 2-for-2 but suffered from its unfortunate synergies with bannable cards like Dark Armed Dragon, Elemental Hero Stratos, and the Infernity engine.

Mind Crush - I really don't get this. This card was a side deck pick at best. It's only good if you are adept at making reads/playing against a deck with a lot of tutors, or using it in tandem with the highly bannable Trap Dustshoot. This card should have gone the other way down the list.

Magical Explosion - Largely due to a new OTK build featuring Junk Collector and the LS engine. While I doubt the consistency of said build (as with every other Explosion build), Explosion itself is an unhealthy fringe card that no one likes to play against. It should have been banned.

Newly Semi-Limited

Honest - unnecessary. Honest is a Battle Phase manipulator that is easily played around. LS has, and can, win whether this card exists or not; I mention this only because Honest is definitely on this list due to Konami's attempt at "hitting" LS in typically inefficient fashion.

Cyber Dragon - really don't like this. CyDrag represents a broken game mechanic (bypassing Tributes) and is exceptionally hard on decks that rely on 2000 ATK and lower beatsticks to survive (Gravekeepers, Koa'ki Meiru, etc. to name but a few). Whereas Konami reduced the diversity of the metagame by limiting a card like Mezuki, they have unleashed a highly generic, overpowered card back into the game at 2. In many respects, CyDrag reminds me of Sorcerer: many novice players will bleat that it has "lost its power, " when in fact, it's actually gained power since the olden days but can't readily demonstrate it due to power creep. CyDrag is another broken card in a game now full of them.

Demise, King of Armageddon - the most powerful non-Synchro monster effect in the game behind JD and DAD, but strapped to the unwieldy Ritual mechanic. It hasn't been a metagame force since 2007. Looking at the current game, though, maybe Konami realized just how silly it was to have this at 1 but JD at 2. Either way, I doubt this card adds anything constructive to the game other than a quicker way to win for Ritual.dek. Cards like Garlandorf and Zorc already gave Rituals balanced boss monsters; do we really need multiple Demise again? The new Ritual support (esp. Djinn, Releaser of Rituals) make this card better, while multiple United We Stand (see below) will drive bad OTK players nuts with possibilities.

Black Whirlwind - a weak attempt at hitting an overpowered deck. This card is incredibly broken, with tutoring capacity to rival that of Stratos or Infernity Archfiend. Having 2 as opposed to 3 will not hurt BW at all, esp. in light of how they will soon get their own Allure to filter cards even more quickly. This needed to go to 1, especially in light of the theme's future support.

Dandylion - I'm largely indifferent to this card. It's a favorite in Plants and maybe Monarchs, but I currently don't see a way for a tier 1 strategy to really exploit this card in multiples.

United We Stand - not a fan. This card puts a ton of damage on the table and is unhealthy.

Royal Decree - it was semi'd before, in 2007-2008. My suspicion is that this is another weak jab at LS, a deck that loved to side this card against Light-Imprisoning Mirror and other Trap-based disruption. I don't think this change makes any difference.

Royal Oppression - what once was a decent anti-meta card has been transformed, by power creep and rulings changes, into one of the most robustly meta cards in YGO. Oppression is a powerful +1 that makes the game slow and stale. The strategy is to perform your Special Summons first, and/or manipulate mechanics that Oppression cannot stop such as battle recruiters and Tragoedia, and then gain advantage with Oppression. This probably should have gone to 1 or 0.

Skill Drain - a similar case to Oppression, but not nearly as powerful right now. Like Decree, I don't think this changes anything.

Treeborn Frog - Its own text prevents the Summon of multiple Treeborns during the Standby Phase, anyway. The only difference this makes is for D.3.S Frog (irrelevant) and for Frog-reliant strategies afraid of Graveyard disruption like D.D. Crow or Gladiator Beast Retiari.

Newly Unrestricted

Smashing Ground - Many players are going crazy over this card's unrestriction, but semantically it is not much different than Fissure, Soul Taker, or a horde of other Spell-based removal currently at 3. Gadgets will not mind having more removal, but this card's overall effect on the metagame is, in my opinion, overestimated. Power creep and swarm have made it hard for Smash to resolve complicated fields, and many decks like BW will gladly let you throw your Smash into their Whirlwind/Icarus Attack trap.

Mask of Darkness - Overdue. Crush Card Virus is gone and FLIPs as a whole are no longer a centerpiece of the metagame as they were back in 2005/2006.

That wraps up my overview of the list. My next post will explore some of my own decks for the upcoming format: Flamvell, Reptilianne, and Koa'ki Meiru. Stay tuned.