Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh! news, tips, strategies and more!


Card Game
Card of the Day
TCG Fan Tips
Top 10 Lists
Banned/Restricted List
Yu-Gi-Oh News
Tourney Reports
Duelist Interviews

Featured Writers
Baneful's Column
Anteaus on YGO
General Zorpa
Dark Paladin's Dimension
Retired Writers

Releases + Spoilers
Booster Sets (Original Series)
LOB | MRD | MRL | PSV
LON | LOD | PGD | MFC
DCR | IOC | AST | SOD
RDS | FET
Booster Sets (GX Series)
TLM | CRV | EEN | SOI
EOJ | POTD | CDIP | STON
FOTB | TAEV | GLAS | PTDN
LODT
Booster Sets (5D Series)
TDGS | CSOC | CRMS | RBGT
ANPR | SOVR | ABPF | TSHD
STBL | STOR | EXVC
Booster Sets (Zexal Series)
GENF | PHSW | ORCS | GAOV
REDU | ABYR | CBLZ | LTGY
NUMH | JOTL | SHSP | LVAL
PRIO

Starter Decks
Yugi | Kaiba
Joey | Pegasus
Yugi 2004 | Kaiba 2004
GX: 2006 | Jaden | Syrus
5D: 1 | 2 | Toolbox
Zexal: 2011 | 2012 | 2013
Yugi 2013 | Kaiba 2013

Structure Decks
Dragons Roar &
Zombie Madness
Blaze of Destruction &
Fury from the Deep
Warrior's Triumph
Spellcaster's Judgment
Lord of the Storm
Invincible Fortress
Dinosaurs Rage
Machine Revolt
Rise of Dragon Lords
Dark Emperor
Zombie World
Spellcaster Command
Warrior Strike
Machina Mayhem
Marik
Dragunity Legion
Lost Sanctuary
Underworld Gates
Samurai Warlord
Sea Emperor
Fire Kings
Saga of Blue-Eyes
Cyber Dragon

Promo Cards:
Promos Spoiler
Coll. Tins Spoiler
MP1 Spoiler
EP1 Spoiler

Tournament Packs:
TP1 / TP2 / TP3 / TP4
TP5 / TP6 / TP7 / TP8
Duelist Packs
Jaden | Chazz
Jaden #2 | Zane
Aster | Jaden #3
Jesse | Yusei
Yugi | Yusei #2
Kaiba | Yusei #3
Crow

Reprint Sets
Dark Beginnings
1 | 2
Dark Revelations
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Gold Series
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Dark Legends
DLG1
Retro Pack
1 | 2
Champion Pack
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Turbo Pack
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5 | 6 | 7

Hidden Arsenal:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5 | 6 | 7

Checklists
Brawlermatrix 08
Evan T 08
X-Ref List
X-Ref List w/ Passcodes

Anime
Episode Guide
Character Bios
GX Character Bios

Video Games
Millennium Duels (2014)
Nighmare Troubadour (2005)
Destiny Board Traveler (2004)
Power of Chaos (2004)
Worldwide Edition (2003)
Dungeon Dice Monsters (2003)
Falsebound Kingdom (2003)
Eternal Duelist Soul (2002)
Forbidden Memories (2002)
Dark Duel Stories (2002)

Other
About Yu-Gi-Oh
Yu-Gi-Oh! Timeline
Pojo's YuGiOh Books
Apprentice Stuff
Life Point Calculators
DDM Starter Spoiler
DDM Dragonflame Spoiler
The DungeonMaster
Millennium Board Game

Magic
Yu-Gi-Oh!
DBZ
Pokemon
Yu Yu Hakusho
NeoPets
HeroClix
Harry Potter
Anime
Vs. System
Megaman

This Space
For Rent

RikotheFoxKid on Yu-Gi-Oh!

April 2015 Forbidden/Limited List Review
April 1, 2015

It’s been a little over a week since the April 2015 Forbidden/Limited List was announced. Traditionally in the past I have always done my review of the list (whether through a video on YouTube or an article on Pojo) immediately after its announcement. However, this time around I decided to wait for two reasons:

 

1) Pojo was on vacation so even if I had written this last week you’d only be getting it now.

2) This gave me time to digest the list and see if my opinions on some of the cards changed (and they did).

 

I was extremely disappointed with the January 2015 List, so let’s see if this one is any better.

 

But first:

 

A QUICK RECAP OF THE FORMAT:

I shall attempt to summarize the January format (“attempt” mainly because I didn’t actually play in this format aside from one small tournament; wasn’t the biggest fan of the metagame at this time, and therefore spent most of my time playing Super Smash Bros. instead).

 

The January format began as pretty much a continuation of the post-NECH October format: Burning Abyss was at the top, Qliphort was right behind it, and Shaddoll was hanging on for dear life. This remained the same after the list changed.

 

Secrets of Eternity did little to change this, and in fact only succeeded in making the game even faster: With access to even more Malebranches, Burning Abyss was able to go Trapless (outside of 2 to 3 Fire Lakes), and the addition of Qliphort Stealth and the innovation of cards like Storm allowed Qliphort to follow suit. Shaddoll got shafted again through this; the only new support cards were a subpar Fusion Spell and an outright awful Fusion monster, and the smaller backrow made Denko Sekka a poor choice. Satellarknight got a boost through Diamond and began to make some showings, and HERO Strike introduced Masked HERO Dark Law to the game. Overall things looked generally the same with some minor changes.

 

Then everything changed when the Fire Nation Water Tribe attacked.

 

The Secret Forces brought three new Decks to the table; Yosenju, Ritual Beast, and Nekroz. Nekroz quickly took off and succeeded in completely dominating the entire metagame, just barely missing the 65% representation needed to be considered Tier 0. In the meantime, Burning Abyss vanished almost as quickly as it came, being unable to keep up with Nekroz without reverting back to its original defensive strategy. Qliphort maintained its spot at #2 by returning to the floodgate strategy it implemented on release. Satellarknight pretty much stayed where it was, and Shaddoll ceased to exist; its strategy was completely hard countered by Nekroz, and they couldn’t fix it without severely hampering their (already bad) Qliphort matchup. Of the other two new Decks, Yosenju quickly carved itself as an anti-meta Deck, while Ritual Beast flew under the radar, making a couple of showings at events.

 

The very end of the format saw the release of Premium Gold 2; this set most notably brought rise to Dark Matter Dragon Ruler, which was getting a significant amount of hype.

 

And with that, let’s get into the banlist proper:

 

NEWLY FORBIDDEN:

Blaster, Redox, Tempest, and Tidal: And then all of that hype died. This change was also adopted by the OCG (in which Dark Matter Ruler was already making a large impact), and the fact that Konami went the extra mile to take the Deck down before it even reached the TCG really says something. Dark Matter Ruler was legal in the TCG for eleven days; that’s some Airblade level craziness.

 

That being said, the Dragon Rulers are four of the most powerful monsters in the game’s history, and it took the immense amount of power creep from Duelist Alliance to finally push them into obscurity after being around since their introduction in 2013. They really limited what future support for Dragons could do, as they were always under threat of becoming powerful again; the release of Dragon Shrine, Soul Charge, the new Lightsworn cards, and Dark Matter Dragon all showed this, and even further down the line, the new Red-Eyes support would’ve emphasized this further. Cards that hamper future design like that are a major red flag, and banning these guys was a step in the right direction.

 

That being said, the Rulers are four of my favorite cards in the game’s history. They added an interesting dimension to the game, and their banning marks the end of an era that started all the way back in May 2013. Despite this, they really did need to be banned; it was only a matter of time before something broke them again.

 

Snatch Steal: I think Konami realized that they screwed up with this one. I predicted that Snatch Steal would not be healthy, and I was right; the card straight up won games during the three months where it was legal. It fell to the wayside when Nekroz took over, but that doesn’t change the fact that the card is stupid and should never be legal.

 

 

NEWLY LIMITED:

Sinister Serpent, Temple of the Kings, and Exchange of the Spirit: These are three of the five cards that received erratas that allowed them to be unbanned. All three of them are no longer anywhere near useful with their new text, and therefore will likely make zero impact on the game.

 

Tour Guide From the Underworld: This was the hit that I expected to happen to Burning Abyss, because it’s an indirect but still significant one. Burning Abyss is still very playable without three Tour Guides, but in a Nekroz format it becomes a lot tougher; Burning Abyss has to play defensive right now, which conflicts with their strategy of being aggressive at the expense of no backrow. Tour Guide alleviated this, but now she can’t reliably do that anymore. The introduction of Libic allows Mathematician to somewhat fill the role of a pseudo-Tour Guide, but it will take a card out of your hand to summon instead of the one-card investment of Tour Guide.

 

Dragon Ravine: This could go to 3 without the Rulers. Lord knows Dragunity could use the boost.

 

Preparation of Rites: This was the most unfair card in Nekroz because it was a free +1 at almost any given point in time and didn’t waste a Normal Summon. Losing two copies of this card isn’t enough to knock the Deck off of the top, but it is still significant; Nekroz has to be a lot more conservative with their resources or they run the risk of burning out early. Hitting Preparation of the Rites also doubles as a preemptive hit of any potential future Ritual Decks that could become a problem.

 

Saqlifice: I have always firmly believed that this was the sole problem in Qliphort (not counting the two floodgates). The card simply did too much, between protecting their monsters as well as floating when it went to the Graveyard. Losing this card also means Qliphort loses access to Storm, one of their biggest blowout cards.

 

Symbol of Heritage: I’m surprised how many people I’ve seen wondering why this card was hit; if you look at when the OCG made this change a few months back, it’s obvious to tell that it was done because Lonefire Blossom was put to 3 (which I’ll be covering later). That being said, Symbol isn’t something I would exactly call a healthy card; every time it’s been relevant has been through some insane loop. Lonefire isn’t the only card that’s had to be hit for it either; Dewloren was initially Semi-Limited because of it. Much like the Rulers, Symbol restricts what you can do with future cards that interact with themselves, so it’s better to hit it now; any card that gets stronger with every new release is bound to get hit eventually (e.g. The Rulers, Rescue Cat, Future Fusion, etc.). Does Symbol need to be banned? Not necessarily, but the Limit was a good move.

 

Crush Card Virus: If you had asked me last week my opinion on this card, I would have said that it’s still pretty good, but a lot weaker and harder to use. If you ask me now, I will tell you that this card is still broken. The card is a shell of its former self, no doubt about it, but being able to look at your opponent’s hand and wipe out every single one of their stronger monsters is insane; the inability to deal damage hardly makes up for the sheer amount of advantage you gain. The card is very matchup dependent now; it is almost entirely useless against the likes of Burning Abyss and Shaddoll, but is an absolute blowout against Nekroz, Qliphort, and Satellarknight. That being said, situationally broken is still broken, and this card will straight up win you games. What’s best is that any Deck that can make a Rank 4 can use Crush Card thanks to Rhapsody in Berserk. I’m beginning to have doubts that getting Crush Card back, even in a weakened state, was a healthy move, but I’ll let it play out.

 

Ring of Destruction: This is the last of the cards to be errata’d, and I think it received the best one. The new version of Ring of Destruction takes away everything that made the card unfair but still left it playable. Given the state of backrow in the TCG, a versatile, chainable, 1-for-1 is a welcome addition.

 

Skill Drain and Vanity’s Emptiness: These were more or less hits to Qliphort, but the two cards are also simply two of the most powerful floodgates in the game’s history. Both of these going down means you no longer have to worry about strengthening your Nekroz matchup at the expense of your Qliphort matchup. Ironically though, the hits to Qliphort mean that Vanity’s Emptiness will probably see a rise in use, but hey, maybe that means we’ll see it get banned next.

 

NEWLY SEMI-LIMITED:

Qliphort Scout: This was surprisingly the tamest hit that Qliphort got, but it still is a meaningful one; a double MST is enough to significantly ruin the Deck’s day now. On a side note, Scout is only the fifth Normal monster to be hit in the history of the game (the other four being the limbs of Exodia).

 

Nekroz of Brionac: Nekroz has to be more conservative now, and Shurit loses a card to search out, but really this is no more than a slap on the wrist.

 

Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En: Irrelevant. Sams are still bad.

 

Charge of the Light Brigade: It is really sad to think that the only thing Lightsworn is missing to be at full power is a third copy of this card, and the Deck is nowhere near relevant. That being said, the Deck is still really sacky and will steal a couple of games, especially with the consistency boost it gets through Charge, but their time has certainly passed. Charge coming up is a big boost to Decks that utilize the Lightsworn engine, such as Infernoid and Chaos Dragon, however.

 

Sacred Sword of Seven Stars: Without the Rulers, this card can go to 3.

 

 

NEWLY UNLIMITED:

Burner, Lightning, Reactan, and Stream: These cards are all useless without the big Dragon Rulers, so this was expected.

 

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Spirit: This coincides with the OCG’s unlimiting of Rooster. 3-Axis Fire Fist never had its chance to shine in the TCG, and it probably won’t get it now, but it’ll be interesting to see if the Deck makes any showings at events. Keep in mind that the last time Fire Fist was at full power in the OCG it was keeping up with full power Mermail, so it’s certainly a possibility.

 

Gladiator Beast Bestiari: I’m surprised they actually did it. Glads still suck though.

 

Gorz the Emissary of Darkness: My only gripe with Gorz moving to 3 is that Tragoedia is still at 2. Like, seriously, Gorz is way better.

 

Lonefire Blossom: The only thing that kept this card at 2 was Symbol of Heritage. I have doubts that even then it would’ve been a problem, but now with Heritage at 1 there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this card at three.

 

Goyo Guardian and Hieratic Seal of Convocation: These are both irrelevant. It’s kind of ironic to say that about Goyo Guardian though.

 

 

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE META?

By the end of the January format, I would say there were seven “viable” Decks (by that I mean you could take them to a regional and probably do well): Nekroz, Qliphort, Burning Abyss, Satellarknight, Shaddoll, Yosenju, Ritual Beast. I’ll now go over how I think this list affects each of them, as well as one other Deck that’s getting some attention now:

 

Nekroz: The hits the Deck received are noticeable, but extremely minor. Nekroz is still by far the best Deck, and is actually probably better off now with its main threat, Qliphort, likely falling to the wayside. Will it be Tier 0? I’m not sure. But what I am sure on is that Nekroz is once again the Deck to beat this format.

 

Qliphort: This Deck is probably going to fall off. Losing Skill Drain and Vanity hurt, but losing Saqlifice was the final nail in the coffin; Qliphort has to play all out aggression now (which it can’t even do as well without Storm), and in a Nekroz format that’s not going to get you anywhere.

 

Burning Abyss: The loss of Tour Guide is a big deal because it harms the Deck’s strategy in dealing against Nekroz. You’ll probably still see it make showings, but I don’t expect it to make a large impact.

 

Satellarknight: This Deck was unchanged from the list, but it’ll be getting a boost soon thanks to World Superstars. The release of the Star Seraphs in that set will give Satellarknight a lot more options to work with, although with triple Soul Charge and Shock Master, it’s uncertain as to how big of an impact this will be. Still, this is a Deck to look out for.

 

Shaddoll: Despite receiving no direct changes, Shaddoll probably received the biggest buff from this list due the changes that occurred to everything around it. Nekroz has become a more manageable matchup, and with Qliphort (their worst matchup) being out of the picture, that gives the Deck the ability to better suit itself for Nekroz Decks. Shekhinaga is a huge thorn in that Deck’s side, especially when backed up by a card like Effect Veiler, Book of Moon, or Ring of Destruction to deal with Unicore. To make things better, next to Burning Abyss, Shaddoll has the easiest time resolving Crush Card Virus due to how easy it is getting Falco onto the field, giving it another strong card for the Nekroz matchup. The Star Seraphs in World Superstars also give the Deck a strong LIGHT engine (though I have doubts on whether or not they fit into this metagame), and in May the Deck will be receiving its WATER Fusion, giving it another strong answer to the Nekroz matchup. Shaddoll is not a Deck to sleep on anymore; it is very likely to make a large comeback under this list, and may even take the #2 spot behind Nekroz.

 

Yosenju: The loss of two Vanity’s Emptiness is a significant one, and cuts down the number of floodgates the Deck can run from five to three (1 Vanity, 1 Macro, 1 D. Fissure). That being said, the Deck will still probably make one or two appearances, stealing games from Decks that lose to these three cards.

 

Ritual Beast: Much like Shaddoll, Ritual Beast got a noticeable buff due to proximity; they have a strong Nekroz matchup (and from what I’ve heard, a good Shaddoll matchup too), and their one difficult matchup (Qliphort) was neutered. Unfortunately, Ritual Beast is still plagued by horrible consistency issues (which get remedied slightly with the release of Ulti-Gaiapelio, but that’s still a little ways away), but I would still expect them to make some more showings this time around.

 

Sylvan: Out of all the rogue Decks in the game, the one getting the largest amount of hype is by far Sylvan. The Deck never really had its time in the limelight; it made a breakout appearance at the North American WCQ thanks to Patrick Hoban, and then took a few top spots in the following months, but it completely fell to the wayside (along with every other Deck at the time) with the release of Duelist Alliance. Everything is lining up in the Deck’s favor right now though; Along with triple Lonefire increasing the Deck’s consistency and giving it access to Symbol of Heritage, Premium Gold 2 gives the Deck access to Rose Lover and Rose Paladin, two cards that boost the archetype even further. Sylvan is able to very easily get one or two Felgrands, a monster that so happens to be useful in the Nekroz matchup, out extremely early, and probably makes the best use of Soul Charge, pretty much autowinning if drawn with Lonefire Blossom. The Deck has access to loads of draw power between Sylvan Charity and Upstart Goblin (and you can even experiment with cards like Trade-In and Sacred Sword of Seven Stars), increasing its chances of an early blowout, and can also use Super Solar Nutrient to get Lonefire out faster. Sylvan has a lot of tools at its disposal, and can easily become a sleeper hit of the format.

 

Dark Matter Ruler: LOL, I feel legitimately bad for anyone that invested in this Deck. RIP in peace.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

In contrast to my reaction of the January list, I feel like this banlist made several steps in the right direction. Even though Nekroz has gotten better with Qliphort out of the picture, Decks that were able to retool themselves for the Nekroz match, but lost to Qliphort, now have a lot more breathing room, and no longer have to fear completely throwing away a game to a Deck that it couldn’t properly prepare for. Something like that creates a more enjoyable game, and in my opinion, the paradox that was created by Qliphort’s existence was quite frankly ruining the fun I had playing, so I am certainly glad it’s gone.

 

While the January list succeeded in killing my enthusiasm for the game, the April list singlehandedly succeeded in revitalizing my interest in it. Combined with my inability to play Super Smash Bros. competitively thanks to my class schedule prohibiting it, I will probably start taking this game more seriously again.

 

That’s all for now. I hope you all enjoyed this banlist as much as I did.

 

~Riko

 


Copyright© 1998-2014 pojo.com
This site is not sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise affiliated with any of the companies or products featured on this site. This is not an Official Site.