What do i think of it?
Awesome tbh, the list keeps dragons alive and doesnt hit ravine, something which was a right move, and very very big mistake on Konami TCG's part, because it destroyed the playability of decks like dragunity.
TBH, the banlist was very good because it introduced more options and more interesting things into the game compared with how stale the TCG format is. Cards like Cyber Stein prove to be extremely interesting, because playing a high risk high reward card seems to add a new element into the game. Being tutorable through Gear Gigant X, we can easily see this card appear in gadget decks, and even karakuri geargia decks.
So, lets debunk the banlist !
Banned:
return
Restrict 1:
Verz Ophion
E Hero Bubbleman
Devil Franken (Cyber Stein)
Atl Dragoon
7 star sword
Gold Sarc
Restrict 2:
Honest
Zombie Carrier
Lonefire Blossom
4 dragon rulers
Unlimited 3:
GB Besteri
Agent Angel Earth
Debris DRagon
Raiou
Gorz
NS Grand Mole
For Return to be banned was long overdue , and the represents the only thing stealing dragon ruler mirrors.
You'll lose to blowout cards less. IMO dragon ruler mirrors will be even more skillful as less luck elements are removed.
Verz Ophion- this is good on Konamis part. I have always called on Ophion being unhealthy for the game and 1 of the best floodgate cards and it was something the TCG should have done. GJ OCG.
Ehero Bubbleman- Similar to Patrick Hoban's article he mentioned how bubbleman made eheros degenerate with otks, loops, etc. Konami japan identified this problem, and limited it, instead of touching airman. Also precaution for next format, so less people make 1st turn shock ruler and lose. Another very good call, which Konami TCG should learn from.
Cyber Stein- Now this is interesting and i have no idea how this will affect the meta. IMO, it adds a new element to the game and it definitely should return. Its gonna be very hard to get otk-ed with 3 gorz, swordsman of revealing light and rainbow kuribiohs running around. However, isit a degenerate card which will win you the game automatically? No it isnt. 5000 lifepoints isnt cheap, and dealing 3000 lifepoints damage has been so fking easy ever since old formats like GB formats, so dealing 3k in 1 turn nowadays after the power creep is a joke.
atlantean dragoons- way overdue. sphere limited, tues limited. RIP mermail. However it will still be tier 2 ish due to 3 diva, 2 tidal.
7 Star sword- Now sword was arguably one of the best cards in druler aside from return and ravine. Sword puts you ahead of the mirror by resolving 1, and like mentioned above, limiting sword to 1, greatly reduces the luck element of the mirror match- which is to open sword and dig deeper in your deck while your opponent is only stuck at his 1st 6 cards. I've won so many more games resolving sword in mirrors compared to blowing my opponent out with return.
Gold sarc- To greatly reduce the consistency of dragons. Good call.
Honest- Now this move is just to give lightlords more power. Bujins get a slight bump but not as much of a difference. Honestly (pun), the difference between 1 extra honest (4~5) is not so much of a difference since they have 3 searchable honests anyway. It definitely gives Lightlord a big boost, and a larger win condition. IMO a very dangerous move. Very sacky. This might be the worst decision they made in this list, but is certainly not an abomination.
Zombie Carrier- For zombies i guess. Konamis plan to increase the power creep and then unlimit old cards which are severely weakened by the power creep is working. Notice cards coming off the banlist like mezuki etc.
Lonefire blossom- shinra boost i guess. As mentioned with zombie carrier above, they are returning old cards. I dont think Plants will be as strong as they used to be. I wont be surprised if they decided to kill off dragons, and return glow up bulb in the future.
4 dragon rulers- good call. Dragons will still be viable, severely weakened and need to look for other alternatives.
Other stuff: Not very relevant. As i mentioned 2 formats ago in my banlist discussion that Gorz to 2 would not make any impact, many people called me crazy, but now it is going to 3, and will not make much impact either :) except maybe in lightlords but there are so many better alternatives like swordsmen of revealing light and rainbow kuribou.
Overall, this banlist is quite good and the game will be quite healthy until madolche anjelly and artifacts come out. The top decks are easily, in no particular order:
1) dragons
2) Bujin- Bujin Asuka makes a big difference and people in TCG are dumb to hype over bujin hare and peacock, when bujin asuka is so much better adding a searchable kagetokage into their deck.
3) Chronomaly- One of the best toolbox decks in the game right now. The aeroplane is actually fking dangerous shit.
4) Heraldics- Tutoring monster reborns and miracle fusions is cool, and a r4 toolbox which has extremely overpowered spell cards but underwhelming monster cards make the archetype balanced but just good enough to be competitive.
5) Madolches- This deck seems extremely imbalanced with a +5 combo but its actually not. The deck is nothing like windups because the +5 combo doesnt work turn 1 if your opponent has no field, and the deck is easily beaten if you MST their chateau and ticket. Also, despite having 6airman in the deck, 3 lonefire, and other stuffs, deck remains weak because the monsters are small and have a hard time overcoming big monsters early game. But it will remain good undoudbtly. The speed variant with TG engine is definitely not the way to go and a more stable control based approach seems to be the better build.
6) Last but not least is Firefist a deck which was untouched by the banlist. Firefist remains a very strong option and i will not be surprised to see it in the top tables once again
7) Geargia Karakuri. Lets face it. The Auger card is nuts. This deck will remain under the radar and quite unpopular IMO because for some reason people dont like the idea of playing machines and probably never will, unless its like cyber dragon toolbox but fuck that.
8) Lightlord- good deck with 3 judgment dragons. The skill in the deck comes from perfecting the deck and making it as consistent as possible. Has extremely powerful plays but will lose to itself and floodgate cards like macro, Light mirror etc. Lightlord assailant riden is extremely powerful on its own.
Anything else seems Tier 2 ish or just weird or i may not have taken it into consisderation. Despite everything else, the banlist paves the way for more decks to be competitive. The 8 mentioned here may not all be tier 1, but will horde the top part of the tier list.
All in all, i think the OCG list seems very good and the TCG seem to have taken the game in the wrong way. Any TCG Konami staff reading this article should think twice about it. The ones who have control of the game is Konami Japan as they release all the cards in the upcoming sets etc. They will increase the pwoer creep however they want and to curb the power creep is the wrong way to go. The sets and the cards designed are designed to suit the OCG meta and not the TCG's which is extremely underwhelming.
Let me bring up a few examples:
1) Why did they ban ravine ? Because dragunity would be good if it was allowed to remain at 3 in the current format and may be one of the best decks due to its consistency etc. But dragunity is not even strong in OCG. Why? because the formats are so different.
Patrick Hoban mentioned that power creep is not necessarily bad which i agree with. The dragon formats have shown to be extremely skill reliant. Konami Japan is currently trying to create a more "fair" format despite all the power cards. its true decks are more imbal nowdays, but if all decks have equal power? Then it would not be too much of a problem.
Why dragons would be a disaster if they were left in TCG for another format? Because the format is too slow and it will just eat every other deck up. In OCG, they will still be very good this format but they will also be alot fair-er and easier to deal with because cards like Bottomless Trap hole and Compuls are left in multiples.
Banning cards like Heavy storm and limiting all good traps is a terrible way to go. It makes strong openings like Firefist opening or spellbook opening with 5 backrow extremely overpowered. Its true that with more strong traps around, it solidifies the openings in OCG, ie: a strong power play backed up by BTH and compuls very good, but one must also consider that with the power creep in OCG, its also easier to deal with those backrows. Having Heavy storm is also good because people will only set 1-2 anyway. 2 card probably because they generated a plus 1 in opening turn, and they can survive a heavy storm.
Plus with good backrows around, it makes games more exciting and less about vomiting your field out. IMO, the notion of letting your opponent play Yugioh by limiting the floodgate cards like Skill Drain, Ophion, etc is the way to go. Not limiting all the traps, solemn judgment and heavy storm. Because those cards are part of the game as much as other cards are.
Lets look at TCG. With lesser backrows, how are tier 2 decks even having the chance to compete? Lets say INzektor sets a hornet or summons a Armagedon Knight with shitty backrow, how are they gonna deal with Firefist etc? The approach that Konami TCG has taken is obviously wrong.
When the new cards come out, people will scream broken? Why? Because the power creep in TCG has been severely reduced, and introducing cards of a higher power level suited for OCG meta which is of a higher power level will make things worse. In the end, Konami TCG will just limit everything. As Allen Pennington has predicted, if they continue this stance, there are gonna be more cards on the limited list than the banlist itself.
How is Hoban topping with hieratics in TCG? Is it because he is the best player? No. It is because the power creep has lessened so much that a deck like Hieratic can suddenly win/top events in TCG. Is this a good thing? Yes, and no. But its another illustration of how a deck which is tier 2-3 in OCG suddenly becoming a force to be reckoned with in TCG.
To prove another point, i urge TCG players to go play OCG for a few games. You will notice you suddenly have so much more decisions to make, so much more moves to take into account compared with TCG. Every time i finish testing OCG with my team, and if i proceed to test TCG after with TCG friends, the game suddenly seems so much easier. If you dont believe it, try it out for yourself. If the Worlds format is in favour of OCG and follows their format, i guarantee TCG players will all scrub out again. And why? Because Konami TCG decided to "fix the game".
Thats all for today. I am extremely envious of the OCG banlist :)
