Alright, I wanted to update some opinions. Hello Pojo Readers, Crunch$G here. As of writing this, the September 15th, 2025 F/L list just dropped, and usually I come here to give the list of all the updates and my takes on them, but I would rather do something different this time. A few years ago, I broke the whole F/L list down in a series of articles and gave my take on every card that resides there. I do stand by whatever my opinions were for that time period, but times change, and therefore my takes on some cards have changed as well, so instead I’m going to speedrun the whole F/L list to see if I still stand by what I previously said. I won’t cover anything that has moved in the last six and a half years, since the corresponding articles that had those changes cover that. I just plan to hit what currently sits there, and the new Unlimits for September 2025, giving a quick opinion. I’ll go more in-depth with the new changes still, but the rest will be covered as quickly as possible, so with that out of the way, let’s get started.
Forbidden Section
Agido the Ancient Sentinel and Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard – Way too powerful for
Artifact Scythe – Unfun card, deserves this.
Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds – Read Scythe, the other Barrier Statues should probably be here too.
Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow – Still too easy Link Material without needing a Normal Summon.
Block Dragon – I mean, Adamancipator doesn’t have a powerful end board anymore. Gem-Knight FTK might still be viable, but that’s just proof of a certain card needing too be here.
Cyber-Stein – Back to the Forbidden Section it went. 5000 for any Fusion is still too strong.
Dandylion – Plants might actually be fairly powerful with this, it can sit here.
Djinn Releaser of Rituals – OCG banned it since I initially wrote the first breakdown, tells you what you probably need to know.
Eclipse Wyvern – No HOPT might still be a problem, especially with the Rulers back at 3 to
Fairy Tail – Snow – Was unbanned for a format in the last 6 years, again tells you what you need to know that it’s back here.
Fiber Jar – Feels more like a principle thing of not extending games too long more so than it is a consistently broken card.
Fishborg Blaster – A HOPT errata would fix all the problems.
Gimmick Puppet Nightmare – So many alternatives to this to where idk why it isn’t Albion the Sanctifire Dragon here instead.
Grinder Golem – Gofu bumped up to 100. We’re good.
Jowgen the Spiritualist – Similar to Barrier Statues. Easy to abuse due to Type and Attribute with A Bao in the format.
Level Eater – Also could use a HOPT or a Synchro Lock or something.
Magical Scientist – Once again, needs a HOPT.
Maxx “C” – lolno
Mind Master – Anybody who gets a nickel for each banned card I say could use a HOPT
Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis – The FTK might be bad enough to where this could return now, tbh.
Ronintoadin – Here due to Spright making Toad too easy, which honestly Toad should be banned. With that said, this can’t coexist in a format we have Substitoad legal.
SPYRAL Master Plan – SPYRAL can have 3 of these and not matter.
The Tyrant Neptune – Here because we keep Independent Nightingale around.
Victory Dragon – A ruling nightmare more than it is broken. There’s a reason the other match winners can’t be used in a Duel now.
Elder Entity Norden – Still a broken Instant Fusion target and a potentially more broken Super Poly target.
Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom – Similar to Tyrant Neptune, has more utility being easier to summon.
Tearlaments Kitkallos – Konami probably regrets Tear, but honestly with their current situation they MIGHT be able to have 1 of these and be fine.
Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess – Honestly feel more fine with this over time since up to 4 monster negates is too good for a generic Link.
Crystron Halqifibrax – We don’t need the Tuners back on the list.
Curious, the Lightsworn Dominion – It’s like Lavalval Chain and Beatrice, but so much harder to summon that it might be fine.
Guardragon Argapain and Guardragon Elpy – Dragons are still very strong, these will
Heavymetalfoes Electrumite – Pendulums can have this now and do nothing, but Konami wants Pendulum Decks to have their own identity.
Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights – Honestly just waiting on the next broken Warrior archetype to get this banned in the OCG.
Knightmare Goblin – OCG has this at 1, it’d be fine to come back now as it requires a lot of setup.
Knightmare Gryphon – Unfun floodgate deserves to be here.
Knightmare Mermaid – Not when Knightmare Corruptor Iblee remains legal.
Linkross – Still a lot of broken things to do with those Tokens.
Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon – Without Halq, this kind of feels fine.
Moon of the Closed Heaven (NEW) – Fiendsmith didn’t need to be hit at all, but if Requiem is that much of a problem that a card like this is banned, maybe he should be the one to go.
Prank-Kids Meow-Meow-Mu – Prank-Kids will do next to nothing now even with 3 of these.
Predaplant Verte Anaconda – Honestly, the bricks for Dragoon and DPE might not be worth it for every Deck anymore.
Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty – A card that’s fine now that it can’t summon a Barrier Statue.
Splash Mage (NEW) – Gutting hit for Cyberse Decks, but it is a powerful card as we saw with Maliss.
Spright Elf – No reason it should have been as generic as it is with zero locks whatsoever.
Superheavy Samurai Scarecrow – Superheavy Samurai has no great endboard pieces anymore, so this shouldn’t be locked up.
Topologic Gumblar Dragon – Rather the potential to handrip 4 before the second player’s turn not exist, thank you.
Union Carrier – Too many broken things you can do when you can fetch any monster from
Baronne de Fleur – One of the best generic Synchros ever made, it can sit here.
Borreload Savage Dragon – Less easy to use than Baronne, has far more counters. Maybe someday, like when Burst Protocol drops, but who knows?
Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon – Fun card, but super broken.
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity – After Crimson Dragon was released, this
Tempest Magician – Never going to be against FTK enablers being here.
Abyss Dweller – The best generic Rank 4 we got, another unfun floodgate.
Bahamut Shark – For sure should be Toadally Awesome here instead.
Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal – Generic Rank 6 Lavalval Chain that’s a Quick Effect is too good.
Kashtira Arise-Heart – OCG gutted Kashtira when TCG shows all we really need to do is
King of the Feral Imps (NEW) – Sad, I loved this card, but I guess they don’t want a generic bridge to Mitsurugi to stay in the game.
Lavalval Chain – Might be worse than Beatrice effect wise, but Rank 4 is still a far superior Rank compared to 6.
Number 16: Shock Master – We won’t be unlocking the shock, thank you.
Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk – Too broken for its potential to Link Spam. Shocked the
Number 67: Pair-a-Dice Smasher (NEW) – K9 made this too easy to pull off in your favor.
Number 86: Heroic Champion – Rhongomyniad – Number 75 or not, I’m fine with this sitting here.
Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker – Zone locking with this and Kashtira is likely too good still, plus this just destroys the opponent’s Deck.
Number 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon – One of the most broken Dragon cards
Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL – Especially not when we can still Numeron Network for this.
Outer Entity Azathot – Why yes, I would love to ignore my opponent’s hand traps. *sarcasm*
True King of All Calamities – The power level between this and all other Rank 9s is light and day. Keep him locked up.
Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity – This is still banned?
Zoodiac Broadbull – The most broken Zoodiac card in the modern day, he can sit here.
Butterfly Dagger – Elma – *insert needs HOPT comment here*
Card of Safe Return – ^^^
Cold Wave – Destroying Spells and Traps is one thing, preventing me from using them is another.
Confiscation – Any card letting you look at the opponent’s hand is too good, especially when you also get to rip a card from it. Cost doesn’t matter at all.
Delinquent Duo – Doesn’t let you look at the opponent’s hand, but rips 2 cards instead in
Dimension Fusion – Soul Charge for the banishment with far less restrictions and lower cost is too good.
Giant Trunade – Probably some broken Spells and Traps you can abuse by bouncing them back still while also being backrow removal against the opponent. No.
Graceful Charity – A lot of Decks wouldn’t even consider the discard 2 a downside anymore.
Heavy Storm – Unchained won’t suddenly be Tier 0 with this. It’s fine to come to 1 with
Kaiser Colosseum – Not a fan of floodgates.
Last Will – Any monster with 1500 or less ATK from the Deck just by using monsters as Link fodder? I mean, that kind of explains itself.
Mass Driver – Cannon Soldier and friends should join this.
Metamorphosis – Swapping any monster for a Fusion of the same Level sounds scary in theory, but I don’t know how good it is in practice. Still not against testing this out.
Mirage of Nightmare – Honestly waiting for the opponent’s turn for the draw 4 and relying on you having removal to get rid of it might make it unreliable enough for it to be fine to return.
Mystic Mine – Kaiser Colosseum on steroids. Never again.
Original Sinful Spoils – Snake-Eye – The powercreep is enough to where this is likely fine to come back, though it could break more FIRE Decks in the future.
Painful Choice – Your opponent is always going to give you the worst card, but in
Pot of Greed – Some say this can return. Whether that’s true or not, it’d still be cool to see, even if I still assume every Deck under the sun minus a few niche options would run it.
Premature Burial – No Isolde and few good ways to loop this might make it fine to return.
Smoke Grenade of the Thief – Handrip card you can use over and over thanks to Infernoble, hard pass.
Soul Charge – A multi Monster Reborn at the cost of some LP and the Battle Phase is insane for board building.
The Forceful Sentry – Confiscation without the LP cost and now it’s likely better to put cards back in the Deck than it is to discard them, so especially not.
Appointer of the Red Lotus – Tells you what you need to know that a worse Trap Dustshoot is banned as well.
Branded Explusion – This is thankfully banned, though we’re still stuck with Albion the
Imperial Order – Even with the errata, locking the game from Spells is too busted.
Last Turn – Mostly here cause Konami hates draws. Plus monsters that lock the opponent from Special Summoning mean you win off this.
Red Reboot – There has to be a better way to counter Trap Decks than to outright invalidate them, right?
Return from the Different Dimension – Slower Dimension Fusion with a potentially
Royal Oppression – Build a board, then use this. Too easy profit for many Decks.
Self-Destruct Button – Similar to Last Turn, except this doesn’t even have the potential to let you win. Exists for no real justifiable reason, tbh.
Sixth Sense – Maybe could be an argument for this, but regret might likely follow when someone draws 6 off this or mills 4 powerful cards instead.
Summon Limit – All for powerful floodgates being banned.
Trap Dustshoot – We can’t even have Appointer of the Red Lotus, no way we’re getting the better version.
Ultimate Offering – Likely too slow now and might feel win more for the Decks that can use it, or in the case of Gadgets it still isn’t even enough.
Vanity’s Emptiness – A floodgate you can easily turn off is busted to this day still.
Limited Section
Exodia – Probably said this a few years ago, but likely here on principal alone. Plus 1999
Archnemeses Protos – Wouldn’t be against this getting rebanned and Escathos joining it.
Astrograph Sorcerer – Can move to multiples especially in a world with no Electrumite.
Bystial Druiswurm and Bystial Magnamhut – The two best Bystials, wouldn’t surprise me if Baldrake and Saronir end up here too.
Dark Grepher – If we can have 3 Armageddon Knight, the arguably worse version should
Dimension Shifter – Should arguably be banned, but being at 1 is always going to be a step in the right direction.
Ext Ryzeal (NEW) – The new meta got hit actually, so it’s fine the old meta gets hit as well, with this being Ryzeal’s best starter.
Keldo the Sacred Protector and Mudora the Sword Oracle – Both are fine at 1, both these and the banned duo should have had some EARTH Fairy lock.
Maliss <P> Dormouse (NEW) – Got to hit Maliss’s best starter as well.
Mathmech Circular – 1 is completely fine, any more is iffy for Cyberse piles, even after they’ve lost a few of their best Links.
Miscellaneosaurus – Dinos in their current state can have this at 3 and be fine, but future Dino support then might be iffy.
PSY-Framegear Gamma – The best PSY-Framegear, ended up being too generic to use I guess.
Substitoad – Could be at 3 probably with Ronin gone, unless Konami really fears Frogs
Tearlaments Havnis, Merrli, and Scheiren – Without Kitkallos and Ishizu cards, maybe one day, but certainly not today. Probably would be Merrli, then Scheiren, then Havnis to move in that order though.
Tenpai Dragon Chundra – OTK Deck that was too consistent and could invalidate your opponent trying to stop you. All the hits to the Deck are deserved.
Vanquish Soul Razen (NEW) – The best Vanquish Soul card for consistency, keeps that Deck down a peg now that it has Hollie Sue and K9 cards.
Zoodiac Ratpier – Maybe can move up. Zoodiac is begining to show its age.
Fiendsmith’s Lacrima (NEW) – Fine with the new time rules making the cheesy burn cards not be complete game winners. Could be at 3 and not make a difference.
Gem-Knight Master Diamond – Banning Lady Lapis Lazuli would have likely been easier.
Phantom of Yubel – Yubel is too recent of a meta contender and still strong enough, this can probably wait a while.
Linkuriboh (NEW) – Snake-Eyes aren’t a threat anymore and I don’t think this breaks Yummy any more than it already is at. Could have went straight to 3, most only play 1 anyways.
Striker Dragon – Could move soon with the new Rokket support coming in Burst Protocol, might not be that bad since we got Spirit with Eyes of Blue anyways.
Summon Sorceress (NEW) – Could have went straight to 3 with its errata.
Sunavalon Dryas and Sunvine Healer – Mostly relevant to the European Plant lovers who won YCS events with it, but in reality these could be at 3.
Herald of the Arc Light (NEW) – At 1 it keeps Ritual Decks playable while not letting a Deck like Yummy summon multiples for omni-negates.
PSY-Framelord Omega – Too easy to handrip with this at 3 due to being simple to summon, fine at 1.
T.G. Hyper Librarian – Only at 1 cause they feared Synchros when the rules reverted in
Daigusto Emeral – Only at 1 so you can’t loop multiple copies probably, though I don’t know if that’s even that great.
Number 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings and Number C40: Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings – Makes the FTK for Gimmick Puppets way too fragile to be a consistent meta contender, but keeps the Deck alive since the FTK is really all they can do.
Ryzeal Detonator – Better Drident, is a pain to deal with multiples, fine at 1.
Zoodiac Drident (NEW) – Speaking of, this can come straight back to 3.
Bonfire – I guess Pyro having a ROTA is too good when you also make powerful Pyro monsters.
Brilliant Fusion – Gem-Knight FTK likely has more to do with this than Seraphanite now, the latter likely isn’t worth the bricks for many Decks anymore.
Called by the Grave – Between this and Crossout, if one was to move up, I’d go with this one since it’s harder to counter Nib with it and impossible
Card Destruction – Morphing Jar might be at 3 now, but moving this up is still a bit of a stretch to suggest.
Card of Demise – Could be banned one day, but in its current situation could probably also be at 3.
Chain Strike – New time rules could likely have this at 3 again. I don’t think Chain Burn is scary in 2025.
Change of Heart – Actually could return to 3. Still a great card, just not broken anymore.
Chaos Space – If we give Dragon Link any tools off the list, this is a good candidate.
Chicken Game – Probably hasn’t moved to 3 yet because there’s been no incentive to hit Magical Explosion.
Crossout Designator – Also fine at 1, can counter far more handtraps.
Crystron Inclusion (NEW) – Crystron has become a respectable Deck with K9 and the SUDA legacy support, this keeps it in check with the rest
Divine Wind of Mist Valley – Really don’t know what’s keeping this locked up.
Final Countdown – Fine at 3, no real amazing way exists to stall out 20 turns.
Foolish Burial – Still sees play in Decks that can use it, so should likely stay here.
Gateway of the Six – Six Sam loops are scary, but it’s actually a maybe on this one.
Gold Sarcophagus – We’ve went back and forth so many times on this that it might as well stay here.
Harpie’s Feather Duster – A great 1-of for many Side Decks and some Mains, should stay that way.
Infernity Launcher – It’s crazy to think we’re at a point where this is fine at 3.
Instant Fusion – Could really be banned one day, tbh.
Into the Void – Upstart Goblin is at 3 now, but for some reason this is stuck at 1.
Magical Mid-Breaker Field – Perfect at 1 to make it inconsistent for combo Decks to have something like this to guarantee their plays.
Monster Gate and Reasoning – Best argument for these at 1 is likely the Machina Ruinforce FTK and mill strategies, but I’d say these might be fine at 3.
Monster Reborn – Crazy we don’t really see this card played all that often. Maybe we can move it up potentially?
Obedience Schooled (NEW) – Gets you 3 of the soon to be 4 Yummy names out of the
One Day of Peace – It’s only really fine to give stall tools when it isn’t to actually stall, hence Final Countdown is fine at 3 but this likely won’t be.
One for One – OCG tried this at 2, it’s back at 1 for them. Ain’t moving any time soon probably.
Pot of Prosperity – Might be a decent argument to ban this. Digging for the top 6 of your Deck seems very good with no harsh restrictions.
Reinforcement of the Army – Warrior remains one of the top 3 Types in the game arguably, so they don’t need that much more consistency.
Sangen Kaimen – Helped make Tenpai a super consistent OTK Deck.
Sangen Summoning – Add Kaimen plus the fact it invalidates your counters to Tenpai.
Sekka’s Light – Running a monster mash Deck is such a risk that this at 3 should be good.
Set Rotation – At 1 people won’t use it to try to set Gateway to Chaos or Oracle of Zefra to the opponent’s side to prevent their Field Spells.
Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones – Another starter for Sky Striker, as well as Yummy. Yummy has brought discussions to ban this, but I think Konami has a Sky Striker bias enough to keep this at 1 as long as possible.
Slash Draw – Cheesey Slash Draw FTKs are impossible with this at 1, which is good.
Snatch Steal – Like Change of Heart, this is actually fine to return to 3.
Stake your Soul! (NEW) – Helps keep the consistency of Vanquish Soul down even more.
Terraforming – Field Spells just keep getting better and better, a generic searcher like this can stay at 1.
That Grass Looks Greener – It makes 60 card Decks more playable without actually letting you mill 20 too often when it stays at 1.
Triple Tactics Talent – If anything, Thrust can arguably join this at 1.
Anti-Spell Fragrance, Gozen Match, Rivalry of Warlords, Skill Drain, and There Can Be Only One – Lumping all the floodgates together cause honestly they really should be banned.
Magical Explosion – Should also be banned to not let another Explosion FTK come along.
Naturia Sacred Tree – Naturia isn’t that good, we can have 3 of this.
Solemn Judgment – Not against this going back to 1, wasn’t upset if it stayed at 3. Turns out Solemn Judgment is still great.
Semi-Limited Section
Black Dragon Collapserpent and White Dragon Wyverburster – Both really could
Ice Ryzeal and Sword Ryzeal – Fine to keep the consistency of Ryzeal down with these at 2 still.
Maliss <P> White Rabbit and Maliss in Underground – Same for keeping the consistency of Maliss down a bit.
Unchained Soul of Sharvara – Another card wasting time sitting at 2 instead of going straight to 3.
Branded Fusion (NEW) – Welcome back at 2, could really be at 3. Wasn’t really the problem with Branded.
Purrely Delicious Memory and Purrely Sleepy Memory – Noir pass isn’t good enough to keep anything Purrely related locked up anymore.
Runick Fountain – Could maybe be at 3, fine at 2 considering how annoying Runick can be, could go to 1 one day if Runick becomes good again.
New Unlimits
Glow-Up Bulb – Oh, so this card where the difference between 1 and 3 won’t matter can
Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King and Dragonic Diagram – Keeping floodgates at 1 makes full power True Draco even more fine for this format.
Morphing Jar – It’s clear by now Empty Jar ain’t great anymore, Enneacraft coming soon or not.
Phantom Skyblaster – Needs your Normal Summon and another monster on field to really get great value from this. Fine at 3.
Snake-Eye Ash and Snake-Eyes Poplar – With no OSS, these are easily fine at 3. A Yummy Snake-Eye variant would be interesting.
Lightning Storm – Fine at 3. If it was ever getting hit, 1 would have been the only relevant way to hit it you could actually warrant.
Zoodiac Barrage – Again, Zoodiac begins to show its age. This is fine.
In Conclusion
Overall the new list is fine. Some things I don’t agree with, but hitting the old meta is fine if you were going to hit the new meta too. A lot of cards still warrant their slot, and others feeling like they’re rotting away for no good reason.
Thanks for reading,
Crunch$G