The Yu-Gi-Oh! October 2022 banlist aftermath

This banlist was so bad that it made me whish COVID had killed me. I would’ve come up with a better opening sentence, but I refuse to put more effort into this article than Konami did into their banlist. I also would’ve started writing this a little earlier, but the little Coronavirus fairy decided to finally pay me a visit after evading her for the last 3 years.

So what went wrong? Well, it’s not that the updates made to the list were bad. In fact, there’s a few quite good changes on here, the problem is that all the irritating cards that everyone hates went almost completely unscathed. For example, where the fuck is Mystic Mine? I know it seems to be Konami’s favourite card, but I would’ve thought they’d do something about it this time around, considering that it turned the last few major tournaments into a complete laughing stock. But no, it didn’t even get so much as a slap on the wrists! Secondly, where the fuck are the Tearlament hits? Now, I don’t expect Konami to come down like a ton of bricks on Tears as it’s brand-new, but a little more than jack-fucking-shit would’ve been appreciated, especially when you Consider that Tearlament is already the best deck in the game right now. Not to mention that it’s only going to get even stronger when those new Ishizu cards come out, so a Curious or Instant Fusion ban wouldn’t have gone amiss. Lastly, where the fuck is Mystic Mine? Are Konami really that desperate to sell Runick cards? Or maybe whoever’s in charge of the banlist can only achieve orgasm by watching people draw and pass for 30 turns?

Now, without further ado, let’s break this shit down, card-by-card:

BANNED CARDS:

Fairy Tail – Snow:

Ok, let’s clear one thing up – when you bring old cards off the banlist, you do so because they suck ass in the modern era, or at least aren’t as strong as they were in their prime. A great example of this would be Yata Garasu and Change Of Heart, both of which were released from banlist prison just a few months ago after doing time for almost two decades. These cards were a menace in their heyday, but nowadays are about as impactful to Yu-Gi-Oh! as throwing a pebble against the side of a Panzer tank. These are unbans done right. An unban done wrong however, is bringing back an old card for it to immediately see play in every slightly good deck out there. Thus is the tale of Fairy Tail – Snow, or “why a monster that can special itself from the GY as a quick effect that’s also non-OPT is maybe not particularly fair or balanced, especially when every other deck mills a whole bunch of cards for basically free.”

Ronintoadin:

Now, we all knew that a hit to the frog engine was coming due to its application in Sprights, but I certainly didn’t expect it’d be this one. I was betting that either Swap Frog or Toadally Awesome would get binned, but alas, Konami does move in mysterious ways. I guess banning Ronitoadin does that trick; maybe the Substitoad ban back in the day was the wrong call? I’ve heard people say this was the wrong hit, but let’s be real, there was no hit to the frog engine that wouldn’t make all 4 Paleofrog players left burst into tears.

Crystron Halqifibrax:

If there’s any consolation I can find with this banlist, it’s that this piece of shit has finally been flushed down the toilet where it belongs. How long have we waited for this? 2 and a half years? This fucker has wreaked havoc on Yu-Gi-Oh! since it’s release in Duel Overload, to the point where I’ve actually developed a nervous twitch from seeing a tuner and a non-tuner monster on my opponent’s field. It’s quite refreshing to see the same setup, only to now realise it does jacked shit.

Some people are sad to see him go, but as you can probably tell I certainly don’t share the same sentiment. The only downside I can find with shitting all over Halq’s grave is that you might eventually run out of shit.

Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon:

Another silver lining to this painfully mediocre list is that this asshole has finally bitten the bullet. Thank God that this annoying card with incredibly easy summoning conditions, that mills 5 with little-to-no restrictions is no longer in the game. Anyway, Kitkalos effect?

Red Reboot:

Wanna know why this ban is stupid? Because all the horrible floodgates that made Red Reboot even worth running have gone completely unchecked! So you’re telling me that, during a format where the best decks are running Eradicator Epidemic Virus, I’m not allowed to have a single copy of the only viable out to it? Whilst I don’t think that Reboot is a particularly healthy or fair card, it’s nowhere near as hateful as Eradicator, Dimensional Barrier, Anti-Spell Fragrance, or any of those other miserable “I win” buttons. I even argued in my prediction list that Red Reboot should’ve gone to 3 if those kinds of cards are allowed to exist. I mean, if Konami wants me to “draw the out” against floodgates, then fine, give me back Red Reboot and I’ll gladly do so.

LIMITED CARDS:

Blackwing – Steam the Cloak and Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion:

Thought I’d group these two together because they’re both cards that got banned because of Crystron Halqifibrax. Funnily enough, both these cards are almost completely irrelevant now; who would’ve guessed that Halq was the problem card all along and not some random tuners with slightly good effects? Honestly, they could’ve gone even further with this by unbanning Glow-Up Bulb, as well asunlimiting cards like Jet Synchron and Red Rose Dragon, but I suppose we can’t have too much excitement on this thrilling rollercoaster of a banlist.

Cyber Jar:

This is another one of these cards that’s old and shit, but also really, really funny. Cyber Jar probably could’ve come back years ago since flip monsters suck ass now, no matter of good their effects are, but I’d really like to see someone break this somehow. No idea how It’d been done and again, I wouldn’t expect it to be anything other than hot steaming garbage, but just think of the comedy.

Substitoad:

Bet you’d never thought this card would ever come back. However, it turns out not having Ronintoadin to pull off whatever shenanigans you’re trying to do with Substititoad is somewhat of a dealbreaker. I view this as mostly an apology from Konami for the aforementioned Ronintoadin ban, but I don’t see Substitoad doing anything relevant anytime soon. But much like with Cyber Jar, it’s really, really funny that this thing actually came back after so long.

Spellbook Of Judgment:

Having been slow as hell getting this article done, I’ve had the “privilege” of experiencing life post-banlist, meaning I’ve run into Spellbooks Of Judgement a few times. You see, I never played Yu-Gi-Oh! back when this thing was originally legal, but I can tell you with my limited experience of facing it that I fucking hate this card. Not to say it’s going to cause the apocalypse, or even have a sizable impact on the game as a whole, mainly because most other Spellbook cards are shit, it’s just that playing against Spellbook Of Judgement is miserable. Oooh boy, another card that cheats out a floodgate for no reason, hoooorayyyy.

I’ve heard that Spellbook-Dogmatika, is supposed to be a legitimately playable deck, but forgive me if I’m not thrilled about it, because I’ve always found Dogmatika’s to be about as interesting as a lecture on how bicycle pumps work, read by the world’s most boring man.

Appointer Of The Red Lotus:

Ok, who asked for this? Was there really someone at Konami that, when asked what the problem cards were in the format, unironically suggested Appointer Of The Red Lotus? Was anyone even playing this card before the limitation? What baffles me is that I’ve heard quite a few people defend this, saying that Appointer needed to be hit, for the reason being that it can potentially rip out an equaliser or important combo piece from your opponent’s hand. To which my response is: “have you read Eradicator Epidemic Virus?” If Konami doesn’t want players to have an unfair advantage when going first (particularly after siding), then I’m actually floored that they chose to hit this thing over far more disgusting cards like the aforementioned EEV. Or Dimensional Barrier. Or Anti-Spell Fragrance. Or Artifact Scythe. Or Rivalry Of Warlords. Or Skill Drain. Or There Can Be Only One. Or Gozen Match.

SEMI-LIMITED CARDS:

There ain’t shit here.

UNLIMITED CARDS:

All previously semi-limited cards apart from Malicious, Pot Of Desires and Tenki:

Why is Pot Of Desires still being semi limited really funny for some reason? I guess since the playerbase couldn’t work out the correct Desires ratio, Konami just decided to do it themselves.

Shooting Riser Dragon:

After coming first place in the “most pointless limitation in Yu-Gi-Oh!” contest last banlist, Shooting Riser Dragon has decided to step aside and give Appointer Of The Red Lotus a chance of winning it this time around.

And that brings us to the end of the list. Whilst I don’t think this is the worst banlist we’ve ever had, it does feel like it was made by someone who doesn’t even play the game, or even met a person that does. The worst part is that the few hits on this list that are good feel almost inconsequential – banning Halqifibrax and Chaos Ruler would’ve been perfect a few months ago, but the decks that use those cards were already being phased out after Power Of The Elements came out. I suppose this means Konami only bans problem cards by the time they’ve stopped being a problem. By this logic, we can roughly assume that Mystic Mine will finally be banned in about 200 years from now, when the mole people have reclaimed the Earth.