YUGIOH WORLD CHAMPION Breaking Down EVERY Change on the BIGGEST BANLIST EVER!

Overview

Joshua Schmidt breaks down Yu-Gi-Oh!’s unusually large Forbidden & Limited List update, which he says banned 34 cards. He explains the changes from a competitive player’s perspective—not to suggest players should be happy about losing cards from their favourite decks, but to show how certain cards affected interactive play and the game’s long-term health.

His main argument is that cards should be judged not only by how often they appear, but also by how unpleasant or decisive they make a game when they do. He also views many of the bans as future-proofing: generic cards can become dangerous when new ways to summon, search, or use them emerge.

Main Categories of Hits

Floodgates

Schmidt supports banning cards that can shut down a player’s ability to act, particularly when they can be set and activated after their user has already established a board.

• Trap floodgates: Rivalry of Warlords, Gozen Match, There Can Be Only One, and Anti-Spell Fragrance.
• Searchable or summonable floodgates: Secret Village of the Spellcasters, Spell Canceller, Amorphage Sloth, Amorphage Goliath, Naturia Beast, and cards that can access floodgate traps, such as Feronic Advent.
• Bagooska is another example: it can put opposing monsters in Defense Position and suppress their effects, leaving many decks with few ways to respond.

His concerns include:

• Floodgates can make a matchup hinge on whether the opponent drew a specific answer—“draw the out”—rather than on decisions made during play.
• Some decks can establish their board first, then use a floodgate to prevent the opponent from playing.
• A card’s low play rate does not necessarily make it harmless; an infrequent game-ending experience can still be damaging.
• Some floodgates also interfere with the answers to them. For instance, spell-negating effects can prevent a player from using spell-based removal.

He notes that generic Solemn cards had sometimes replaced floodgates in side decks. They can be useful across matchups while still allowing more interaction.

FTK and Hand-Loop Enablers

Schmidt groups first-turn kills and hand loops together because both can leave the opponent unable to meaningfully take a turn.

• XX-Saber Gottoms and Trishula are discussed as hand-loop enablers.
• Beelze is discussed as part of unusual damage-loop FTK interactions.

His concern is that these strategies can make the game depend heavily on whether the going-second player drew exactly the right hand traps—and whether those hand traps stop the combo. That can produce games decided before the opponent has a real chance to participate.

Generic Combo Enablers

In Schmidt’s view, several Extra Deck cards were hit because they let many different decks access combo pieces or extend already powerful turns.

• Zena’s Deceiving Doll Maidens can help access cards from the Deck or Extra Deck. As a generic Extra Deck option, it can make individual combo pieces and situational cards much more consistently available.
• Aerial Eater can send Fiends from the Deck to the Graveyard. Schmidt regards its ban mainly as future-proofing against generic Deck-to-Graveyard effects.
• Saryuja Skull Dread can draw four cards and put three back, and it is not once per turn. Schmidt recalls that it was used in a Danger! FTK strategy involving Slash Draw.
• Charmer Quartet in Bloom, Cross-Sheep, and Dugares the Timeless can help revive monsters or extend combos. Cross-Sheep can also provide substantial value in decks combining Fusion and Ritual monsters; Dugares can draw cards or revive a monster.
• Previously banned cards such as Lavalval Chain, Curious, the Lightsworn Dominion, and Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal are examples of generic Deck-to-Graveyard tools that eventually became problematic.

Schmidt’s broader point is that generic Extra Deck cards are available whenever a deck can meet their summoning conditions. Even a card that initially appears harmless can become a powerful consistency tool as new engines are released.

Generic Extra Deck End-Board Pieces

Schmidt particularly welcomes hits to generic monsters that provide negation or otherwise make established boards difficult to play through.

• D/D/D Wave High King Caesar can provide multiple negations and protect a combo from cards such as Nibiru.
• Azamina Ilia Sylvia can negate monster effects and help protect a board against both hand traps and attempts to break it.
• Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon negates monster effects.
• F.A. Dawn Dragster provides Spell/Trap negation.
• Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon was used outside Dark Magician decks, especially with newer support that made it broadly accessible.
• Varudras offers a powerful generic Rank 10 negate.
• Magicians’ Souls can send high-Level Spellcasters from the Deck to the Graveyard while also providing a body and card advantage.
• Cupsy Yummy Way enabled Yummy cards to be used in hybrid strategies rather than keeping the engine contained to a pure Yummy deck.

He argues that boards can become oppressive when they combine negations that stop hand traps with further negations that stop board breakers. In his view, the problem is not that negation has no place in Yu-Gi-Oh!, but that too many generic negations can leave little room for the opponent to interact.

Generic Non-Engine Cards

Schmidt says these cards often favour the player going first, even when they can also be used by the player going second.

• Droll & Lock Bird is limited. It can function like a turn-ending effect in modern games, and the player going first can use it to protect an established board.
• Triple Tactics Talent, Called by the Grave, and Crossout Designator are banned. Schmidt argues that they can punish or negate the hand traps a going-second player needs to challenge a combo deck.

He would like future going-second tools to be designed to help the player going second without also disproportionately strengthening the player going first.

Archetype-Specific Hits

• Habakiri (Mitsurugi): Schmidt is personally disappointed to lose it, but says it enabled Mitsurugi cards to be splashed into other strategies without being restricted by many Extra Deck locks. It generated bodies, supported multiple Rank options, and added disruption. He thinks a pure Mitsurugi deck may still be possible, but may need to rely on more engine-heavy, two-card combos.
• Elf Note Tinia: He supports the hit because the card both helped start Elf Note plays and removed a card from the opponent’s hand. He says Elf Note remains a strong contender despite losing multiple cards.
• Albion the Branded Dragon: Schmidt sees this as a hit to both Branded itself and Branded packages used in other decks. He still believes Branded can compete, citing alternative ways to generate interruptions and its strength in longer games. He thinks the additional limits to Branded in High Spirits and Branded Opening were less necessary than the Albion ban.

Practical Gameplay Takeaways

• Avoid relying on a single form of interaction, such as negating every opposing card. Schmidt says there are other ways to manage threats and play through disruption.
• Against Nibiru, consider ending a combo earlier with a smaller but still useful board, or use cards such as S:P Little Knight to preserve key pieces if Nibiru is activated.
• Do not assume that adding a removal card guarantees an answer to a floodgate. Drawing it is not something the player can control, and the floodgate may also prevent its use.
• When evaluating a card, consider what it enables across many decks—not just how it performs in its intended archetype.
• Schmidt hopes future banlists make smaller, more frequent adjustments rather than allowing problematic cards to accumulate until a massive update is needed.

Featured Gamers and Sources

• Joshua Schmidt — Host and competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! player providing the analysis.
• Konami — Publisher of the Forbidden & Limited List update.
• Jungcards — Video sponsor, described as a retailer of OCG accessories.