We got rid of Imperial Order again, but at what cost? Hello Pojo Readers, Crunch$G here to discuss the first Forbidden & Limited List to drop in the year 2022. We had several issues to take care of with Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer popping up nearly everywhere, Swordsoul, Bird Up, and Drytron being some of the best Decks, and the impending Adventurer Token package coming to the TCG. There are actually a decent chunk of changes on this list, so let’s dive in and see what we got.
Archnemeses Protos
From Unlimited to Forbidden
So how do you really hit Swordsoul without actually hitting Swordsoul cards? Go for one of their favorite cards to abuse. Archnemeses Protos has seen a spike in popularity being used in several Swordsoul Decklists to lock the opponent down from playing the game via not letting them Special Summon monsters of a specific Attribute. All this on a body that’s easy to summon and one that has protection from destruction via card effects, including its own in the case you called the DARK Attribute. It’s also searchable off Swordsoul Emergence in the Swordsoul Deck if you made a Synchro, which is what helped make this an issue alongside Swordsoul having several Attributes already. I see this as a fair ban overall and brings up the point that Archnemeses Eschatos might join Protos at a later date once that starts to see some abuse considering it does the same thing, just for Types, meaning you can lock certain strategies out of playing as well. That’s a problem for another time, so for now we can say goodbye to Protos.
Eva
From Limited to Forbidden
Well it went to Limited status last list and Drytron were still somewhat decent, so might as well ban the card outright. An Eva ban seems fair to hit Drytron so they can’t keep searching more Fairy monsters to get more negations through Heralds (Perfection and Ultimateness). Also no hand trap searching for Herald of Orange Light or any of the other Herald hand traps and no searching for a followup play with Diviner of the Herald. This or Cyber Angel Benten seemed like the optimal hit to put Drytron in check, and hopefully this is the end of them in the meta so we can move forward. Though, it will be interesting to see how Drytron adapts their playstyle without Eva, maybe they still stand a chance. Megalith variant seems like one of the better options now.
Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty
From Unlimited to Forbidden
Yet another Link Monster to join the banned camp, and yet another one from Duel Overload that isn’t Crystron Halqifibrax or Predaplant Verte Anaconda. Just like Union Carrier, I can justify a ban for Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty at the very least. It was a strong option for Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade to get into powerful cards like Mist Valley Apex Avian and Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds. Hitting Simorgh here removes those two as viable options for Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade, assuming that would even still be played in the next format. Another super powerful Link Monster that earned its spot to be Forbidden. At least Floowandereeze gets to keep the Barrier Statue and Mist Valley Apex Avian for another day with their searcher coming in Battle of Chaos.
Imperial Order
From Limited to Forbidden
I guess the errata wasn’t enough for the TCG to be accepting of Imperial Order once again. After 5 years of getting to be free to roam once again, it became an issue more recently as we gained a need for cards like Forbidden Droplet and Dark Ruler No More to take care of these massive combo boards, so having the option to negate those cards with great ease on top of being a sacky 1-of doesn’t sound too pleasing to players trying to take care of these massive boards. As much as I don’t really like the idea of errataing a card just to ban it again at a later date, it’s fair to say Imperial Order was a good hit to make sure you can resolve these cards to out boards. Wonder what the future of this card holds? OCG bans it again to give it another errata? TCG brings it back one day? It just stays in the OCG and banned in the TCG? It’ll be interesting since we haven’t seen these errataed cards rejoin the Forbidden section.
Astrograph Sorcerer
From Forbidden to Limited
In Konami’s adventure to unban literally every Pendulum-related card not named Heavymetalfoes Electruimte, we finally got around to unbanning Astrograph Sorcerer. It is still somewhat of a strong card, being a free Special Summon just for a card being destroyed, just to then be able to search a card with the same name as said destroyed card. As long as Heavymetalfoes Electrumite isn’t around, however, this should 100% cause zero issues in the game. Now for the TCG’s sake, I wonder if this ends up being a card we start to peel to 3 since we don’t have said Electrumite. OCG has always kept this at 1 alongside Electrumite and just hit other Pendulum cards. It’ll be interesting to see the future of Pendulums on the list, especially with Beyond the Pendulum and some Pendulum support incoming.
Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson
From Forbidden to Limited
It seems we finally got a Tuner back from the list that dropped immediately after Halqifibrax was released in the TCG, just not the one I would of hoped for really. Destrudo is still a somewhat strong card even without Ancient Fairy Dragon. It does help you summon Crystron Halqifibrax easily, and it also helps make a Level 7 for free like F.A. Dawn Dragister for a Spell/Trap negate and Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing for a Scrap Dragon effect that can summon Mare Mare from Deck for Link Climbing. It also gives a boost to Dragon Link as well, being another card for them to dump from Deck to make more plays. I don’t think unbanning Destrudo was the worst thing they could of done, it’ll probably be just fine back in the game.
Fairy Tail – Snow
From Forbidden to Limited
I mean, I don’t like it, but I get it. Fairy Tail – Snow is likely alright to be back in the game with Brilliant Fusion gone, Thunder Dragons hindered by the lack of Thunder Dragon Colossus in the TCG, and the fact we still don’t have That Grass Looks Greener in the format. I just personally don’t like Snow as a card, being able to just banish 7 cards from your grave as a Quick Effect to revive itself and act as a Book of Moon, especially since it can chain to itself if you attempt to stop it. With all those issues I might have, we do lack a lot of the enablers that made Snow an extremely strong card and we hit another one this list, so Snow is likely fine in the game once again.
Lunalight Tiger
From Forbidden to Limited
With Lunalights being pretty subpar without Tiger and the fact the Rank 4 Toolbox isn’t as great with Azathot not in the format, it seemed to be a matter of time before we got Lunalight Tiger back. I think this is a welcome addition back to the game, despite its lack of a once per turn or the restriction in archetype. I don’t imagine it’ll do too much at 1, in multiples it might make a Rank 4 Lunalight Xyz Deck work once again, but I don’t think that would be as much of an issue without Azathot in the format, or several other strong Rank 4s for that matter. Also don’t think it does much for anything Pendulum-related anyways, so Lunalight players can at least enjoy playing Tiger again, whether it’s a Fusion or Xyz build.
Lyrilusc – Recital Starling
From Unlimited to Limited
Now for a limit that’s an actual hit to a card. Bird Up is a super strong variant of Tri-Brigade and Synchro Storm likely sold just fine and won’t change much as long as it’s the only way to get Baronne de Fleur, so we needed to take care of their access to Number F0: Utopic Draco Future. Lyrilusc – Recital Starling is easy to summon without using up the Normal Summon thanks to the Lyriluscs that Special Summon themselves and other birds, so the fact this can search for another card to help you get to another Rank 1 like a 2nd Recital Starling to make Number F0 is very strong. This should really knock Lyriluscs down a peg now that you aren’t getting too much searching off multiple of these. Maybe they’ll still try to make Number F0 by making a different Rank 1 to overlay with the lone Recital Starling, but this hit is fairly significant.
Monster Gate
From Unlimited to Limited
Now this does seem really out of nowhere in all honesty, but with Fairy Tail – Snow back, maybe it makes more sense than on the surface. Monster Gate is a very strong card, don’t get me wrong, but nothing was really using it that I can recall, so a limit does seem very sudden. Now it does help access Fairy Tail – Snow while getting cards in grave, so that’s likely the justification. I was honestly hoping to get to a point where we can get 3 Reasoning back as well as 3 Monster Gate, but seeing Monster Gate go back to 1 after a little while does suggest we’re far off from getting both at 3 in the same format. Though if this was going to go to 1 just to bring Fairy Tail – Snow back, I would of rather that card stayed gone.
Pot of Desires
From Unlimited to Limited
Now if it wasn’t for the OCG list recently putting this to 2, this would of really came out of left field. Considering Konami has a stronger dislike for draw cards vs the OCG, hence limits to Upstart Goblin and Into the Void alongside Chicken Game remaining banned, I guess you could expect with a history like that for Konami to put Pot of Desires to 1. Now the card isn’t really unplayable at 1, it’s not really a dead draw unless you have few cards in Deck, and it still lets you see 2 new cards. It’s just I guess Konami doesn’t want the modern Pot of Greed to be at anything more than 1 in the TCG, so it makes one wonder if Pot of Extravagance could soon join Desires in the limited section.
A Hero Lives
From Limited to Semi-Limited
Now for several semi-limits this list actually, staring with A Hero Lives. Honestly, this wasn’t something I felt we needed to hit to begin with, even if that was the same list that gave us back Elemental HERO Stratos. It’s a very costly card for starters, and it already requires no monsters to use. HEROs don’t really have that strong of plays, even with the addition of Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer giving them a good boost, but that’s really it. This is one of those semi-limits where you can foresee it going to three on a later list, if not the immediate list after. HEROs need a lot more to become a meta staple once again in 2022, though Power of the Elements could provide that boost the archetype has been waiting for.
Fusion Destiny
From Unlimited to Semi-Limited
In a rare instance of a card going from 3 to 2 in the TCG, this is actually somewhat of a good call. Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer is taking over the meta with it having a place in a ton of different strategies and likely going to be a part of more upcoming Decks in the future. You don’t want to outright kill the card’s meta play especially with the 2022 Tins coming and them still needing as many selling points as they can get with how lackluster the 2021 releases were. Fusion Destiny is a card that’ll probably stay at 2 for a bit until they’re ready to take care of the Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer problem as a whole, but at least now it’s more inconsistent to draw the Fusion Destiny outright and now you have to start relying on Verte Anaconda more to get your DPE out.
Nadir Servant
From Unlimited to Semi-Limited
A second case of a card going from 3 to 2, this almost felt like a card Konami would of outright limited instead of puttting it to 2 first, but then we saw the Albaz Strike Structure Deck impending. Nadir Servant, while a strong searcher for Dogmatika, also does search for Fallen of Albaz, meaning I can see why Konami put this just at 2 instead of 1. It’s a hit to slow Dogmatika down a little bit while also making sure you don’t hurt Fallen of Albaz too much, though I don’t even know if Despia Albaz would of even ran Nadir Servant to search for said Albaz when they got several other ways to access it alongside being able to use it from Deck as material.
Salamangreat Circle
From Limited to Semi-Limited
Now while Salamangreat might still get a few tops here and there, they aren’t really an issue at all in the meta. We got Miragestallio back not long ago to 1, and honestly that card can come to 3 and make zero difference whatsoever, we at least got a buff to Salamangreat that’s actually significant with a 2nd copy of Circle being legal in the TCG. This should boost the consistency of Salamangreat, considering the search effect is the only one you ever really use and is the reason the card was limited to begin with. With only 1 Gazelle in the TCG, we at least have more ways to search the card, and one that’s recurrable as well with Sunlight Wolf.
Scapegoat
From Limited to Semi-Limited
Here’s a card the OCG was bringing back into their format, so it seems predictable that the TCG was going to follow suit here at some point. Scapegoat does look strong when you first look at it, being a free Link-4 max, but at the same time it’s still somewhat slow considering you can’t even use it turn 1 to make a massive Link play. You set the card and hope it and the Goat Tokens you want to summon survive the opponent’s turn so you can start Link Summoning with the card. This is an acceptable semi-limit in a format where the game has sped up more since this card initially went to 1 closer to the start of the Link Era. Another case of a card likely going to 3 on a later list, just like Circle and A Hero Lives.
Danger! Nessie!
From Semi-Limited to Unlimited
As is tradition for cards that go from 1 to 2 on the F/L list, they all seem destined to come back to three very shortly after, thus is the case with Danger! Nessie! Nessie is probably the safest Danger to bring back first considering it searches for Dangers instead of outright summoning them if the opponent hits it, so then you still got to take the gamble of the opponent hitting the Danger you search or not if you want to get one on board. Nessie is now back to three and I assume Tsuchinoko is the one we’ll experiment with next before we get around to Jackalope. Just very interesting we got to the point where we can start peeling the Dangers off the list to begin with.
Performapal Skullcrobat Joker
From Semi-Limited to Unlimited
Like Double Iris Magician previously, Skullcrobat Joker is finally free to be played at full power. This is easily a more relevant card for Pendulums than Double Iris, since it searches a ton of monsters from three different archetypes on Normal Summon. It being at 3, however, should not be an issue. Pendulums aren’t in the greatest state still, hence why it was fine for Astrograph Sorcerer to come back into the TCG format. It’ll be interesting to see if Konami boosts Pendulums on future lists as well by moving Astrograph Sorcerer up or taking the chance to bring Performapal Monkeyboard or Performage Plushfire off the list. Maybe even give us Electrumite in the TCG at some point? Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin can stay, though.
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
From Limited to Unlimited
Now this isn’t a semi-limit to an unlimit, but it’s something we could see coming from a mile away and was certainly long overdue in the TCG. Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon with its errata, while good, isn’t the powerhouse it once was. Being able to summon it off its own effect only once a turn, alongside limiting the Special Summon of a Dragon to once per turn to prevent the use of other copies, does make running multiple of these seem like a brick now. It’s fine at three, but most likely still only going to see play at a single copy in Dragon strategies that can access it from Deck. At least this is still a case of an errata making a card still playable, but not the broken powerhouse it used to be.
Emergency Teleport
From Semi-Limited to Unlimited
Now for the last unlimit that we could of all seen coming, Emergency Teleport is once again free in the format at full power. This should honestly be fine with Psychics not doing much right now. P.U.N.K. might be a nice engine for the Level 3 Toolbox at best, but that’s it. Getting access to Psychic Wheeleder and Tracker isn’t that broken either, and Kozmos aren’t likely to be tearing up the meta anytime soon. I just can’t wait to see the next line of broken Psychic cards that end up putting this card back on the list once again, as we’ve previously seen with Tele-DAD and Kozmo. Maybe Konami will be hesitant to make broken Psychics similar to Plants with them having 3 Lonefire Blossom, or broken Zombies with all the generic support they have.
Raigeki
From Limited to Unlimited
Now imagine playing in 2002 when Raigeki was limited on the first Forbidden and Limited List and telling the players, and maybe even Konami, that we would eventually get to a point where Raigeki can be at 3 and likely not cause a single issue. 20 years later, and here we are. Raigeki is at 3 for the first time in 20 years and it will really be a sight to behold in the format if it ends up being ran. It was barely ran at 1, which is likely why the card went ot 3 on this list. It almost kills any reason to run Dark Hole outside those specific Decks that like their own monsters destroyed, but I guess it comes natural when the superior card isn’t the powerhouse it once was. Still a great Spell that might see fringe use, just funny we got to this point.
Skill Drain
From Limited to Unlimited
Now for the card that likely garnered the biggest reaction from the community, Skill Drain moving from one to three. Now, it is still a super strong floodgate, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a niche one as well. Unlike Imperial Order, this isn’t something you can really throw into nearly every Deck, and this card likely has less applications over Imperial Order. The most meta relevant thing I can think of for this is Eldlich since the Golden Lord himself is the main monster you use and the Trap Monsters aren’t negated by Skill Drain. Something might come along to need this to be limited again, but it’s fine at 3 for now. I can ensure True Draco and Qliphort won’t do a single thing with this back at three, so really Eldlich is the only card boosted that’s meta relevant. Even then, I don’t think it’ll be outright broken. It’s a welcome addition for now, but it’s one of those few cards I can see getting limited once again down the line after having a few years of being free again.
In Conclusion
Overall I will say this is a fine list. We did take care of some of the problem cards that the community wanted to take care of, plus we did some more cleaning of the Forbidden and Limited Sections while also continuning the tradition of cards going from 1 to 2 eventually going to 3 later on. I don’t think anything that moved up on the list will make the biggest impact in the world, at the moment at least, and the cards removed should bring the Decks they supported down a peg. The only thing I don’t like about this list is the next update being in a few months instead of having a no sooner than date, but I guess that’s what happens when Konami keeps getting posts from players about posting the list as soon as the no sooner than date comes up, though I would of liked a bit more of an idea like maybe a time frame of April-May, or just have set dates to drop these lists, but it is what it is at this point.
Thanks for reading,
Crunch$G
