The Yu-Gi-Oh! August/September 2023 banlist aftermath
I strongly debated whether or not there was even a point to writing this one. Not because the banlist was bad or anything, in fact, most of the changes made were good this time around (with a strong emphasis on the “most” part), it’s just that there’s not exactly much to talk about – Konami only changed 5 cards! We endure months and months of being Shiftered and Eradicatored and this is all we get? But still, at least the measly scraps we get from out Konami overlords actually mean something, so let’s break this down:
BANNED CARDS:
Kashtira Ariseheart
The only banned on card here, but if there’s one card that I’m glad to see strung from the gallows this September, it’s definitely Ariseheart. #RIPBOZO, feel free to (quick effect): banish as many cards as you want FaCe DoWn in the fucking sewers.
Whilst I’m thinking about it, can Visas Starfrost stop with his bullshit already? First there were Tearlaments, which was definitely a deck that existed in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game™ for a while, then we endured Kashtira, a deck which answered the quest no-one was asking, that of course being “what if Floowandeerze was more expensive and actually capable of winning a YCS*”, now we’ve got Mannadium, a deck functioning as a timely reminder that level 10 synchros were a mistake. To quote the wise words of Jesse Pinkman: “HE CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT!”
*Several hours after writing this, Floowandereeze finished first place at YCS Cancun. Truly a time to be alive.
LIMITED CARDS:
Bystial Magnamhut
As an avid Dragon Link enthusiast*, even I can’t disagree with the limitation of Bisexual Meganut. I mean, have you read the card? Pizza Hut is the kind of thing that, if you were to show it to someone who hasn’t played Yu-Gi-Oh! since 2007, they’d probably shit their pants – A 25K D.D. Crow for the 2 most commonly played attributes in the game, that also searches any card in arguably the strongest monster-type? Yeah, someone was definitely sniffing paint thinners when they came up with this one.
*Ok, I know there’s evidence of me shitting on D-Link in one of my older articles, but people change. After all, I used to play Sky Striker back then because I didn’t know any better. I’ve evolved, I’ve experimented with new decks and strategies, I’m not like you Dinosaur players still doing the same Oviraptor + Misc combos since 2017. Seriously, play something else already. Oh, and before all you crayon munchers jump down my throat saying “bUt DrAgOn LiNk Is An OlD dEcK tOo!”, about 70% of modern D-Link came out within the last year, so bugger off.
Chaos Space
You know earlier when I said that MOST of the changes on this banlist were good? Well, this is the one I think is batshit idiotic. Chaos Space to 1? Really? Don’t get me wrong, card’s pretty good, but limit worthy? It’s a non-searchable card that goes -2 if your opponent has Ash Blossom. This wouldn’t sting so much if Konami had even given a slap on the wrists to any of the better decks (besides Kashtira obviously), but no. Konami really said “Fuck you if you play the 4th best deck in the format”.
SEMI-LIMITED CARDS:
Lol
UNLIMITED CARDS
Salamangreat Gazelle
TOSS format enjoyers rejoice, for Salamangreat is finally back at full power. And it’s alright. It’s fine. I’m happy to say that the new support has actually shaken up the strategy somewhat, meaning that Salads are no longer just a bad Accesscode Talker deck, so it’ll be interesting to see how it performs with 3 Gazelle.
Quite surprised that Engage didn’t make it back to 3 this time though, despite Sky Striker arguably being a worse deck that Salads in our lord’s year of 2023. I still can’t fathom the vendetta that Konami has against Orcust Harp Horror though.
Herald of Orange Light
The 4 people still playing Drytron in 2023 rejoice, I guess. Stop playing Drytron though.
That’s it, that’s everything, 5 changes, yep. I don’t hate it though; I was somewhat afraid Konami would come down like a ton of bricks on a whole bunch of decks just for the sake of it, so I’m glad they didn’t. I think it’s fine that Purrely and Unchained get their time in the sun for a while, because I’d rather stare at a 5 material Expurrely Noir than Ariseheart pass any day of the week. With all that said, I still feel like this banlist was a missed opportunity to bring back some old shit that’s still clogging up the F/L list, in the same way that my beautiful, blonde hair clogs a shower drain. Also for the love of all that’s good and pure in this world, can please ban Anti-Spell Fragrance and Dimensional Barrier already?‘Cause I’d actually like to play games 2 and 3.
Adios.
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