The ban list is one of the game's oldest traditions and balancing tools. Time, however, passes relentlessly. While it seems as if it passes by the Forbidden List, power creep exists. It's time for us to discuss a myriad of cards Konami could take off the list with little to no impact!
Monsters
We really thought was a broken piece of cardboard for years, huh? How's the guy doing? Are things going well for him? Safe to say that this one-legged bird with a dislike of hands has become irrelevant over time, seeing no play since its unbanning. But it's not the only one to fit this description. Just take a look at , , and , among many others. While not as bad as most people think, power creep is one hell of a thing. And even though Konami has taken to unbanning a lot of filler from the ban list (which currently houses a total of 99 cards), there is still a bunch of stuff that doesn't need to be in prison.
Cards that used to be insane in their era now roam free with no relevance
Are flip effect monsters relevant in 2022? And before you answer, no, Shaddolls do not count. The last "relevant" flip strategy we've had was Subterror, which really was just a and a dozen floodgates. So is anyone actually worried about ? Seriously? "No, but you see, it can be used as a stall tool." Shut up, it's way too slow and, news flash, is a thing that exists. Not only did we see come free with no repercussions, but now the extremely powerful is unbanned and nobody cares.
Now this one might be a bit of a wild call, but are we really worried about and ? Sure, copying effects is extremely strong and they were first-turn kill machines, but come on now. We already have a hyper-consistent first-turn kill in the form of and it's doing little to nothing, because it's fragile and can't go second. Seriously, it won't matter.
Pendulums suck without , so could come out to play. Yes, we all have PTSD from the time PePe was absolute insanity, but a lot has changed since then. Not only does the deck have less tools, it has to play around a lot more hand traps. On the topic of PePe, can we bring back ? Yeah, decks like Tearlaments could theoretically make use of it, but get real. Three extra deck slots for a ? Two for a ? Extra decks are tight enough as they are right now. This wouldn't change anything.
Combo enablers of old really don't have as many combos to enable
Past terrors just don't hold up to the test of time, and is no exception. This old rank three was the blueprint for many a broken xyz monster. If I had a penny for every rank three that could special summon a monster from the deck by detaching one material, I'd have three pennies. Which isn't a lot of money, but it's weird that it happened thrice. Still, if you think Wind-Ups can be a menace in 2022, you're just coping, with or without . (Although you probably want to ban this one, hand loops aren't fun.)
As an honorable mention, I'd like to add the Dragon Rulers. Yes, all of them. No, won't break Mermail. No, isn't busted because it's a . And is plain bad. I include them as an honorable mention because Dragon Link is one hell of a deck, but without , it's probably more than alright.
Spells
Now, in terms of spells, there is a bunch of contentious targets I would like to discuss. Do we really care about ? And I know, I know, "But it can destroy your own cards and benefit from that." Nah, not really. Yes, it can get Eldlich spells and traps into the graveyard, but do you know what I'd rather do with Eldlich spells and traps? Actually use them. Sure, theoretically, it can send a set or a , but those plays are only relevant when you completely bricked.
In a similar vein to Storm, we have . Konami invented the term "trunade" and then forgot that this card is mediocre. Yes, it combos with a lot of things like and , but one of these is banned and the other one sucks. You cannot really build a crazy combo deck with any cards like this since trunade is not searchable, and the interactions it has with pendulum monsters and crystal beasts (among others) would make for a really interesting playing experience.
These were the enablers for Safe Return back in the day, are we really worried?
Okay, I need someone to tell me why would be unfair at one. Seriously. A nonsearchable spell that needs you to be going off already with your plays seems plain bad.
is another card that just doesn't have anything to do. Elma is a victim of early design not really grasping what once per turn effects meant. The ability to recycle it infinitely seems busted, right? Okay, so what are you doing with it, exactly? Back in the day, it set up an Exodia first-turn kill with and , and, honestly, if you pull that off in 2022, proud of you. So yeah, you don't really have a lot of options with this busted equip.
Traps
All of them could come off the list with no issues. Except for the floodgates. And except for (who the hell designed Sixth Sense?). That's a joke, Sixth Sense is mid. Honestly, if this card is viable, I think that's a testament to the health of the format. Slow but powerful traps have been greatly absent from the game for a long while, and I believe this powerhouse from ye ol' Dragon Ruler days would be a fun addition to the card pool.
Fun story about : The creator of the semi-popular alternate format Trinity, Mika, went missing for like six years, only to return with a fourteen-page essay explaining every minute detail of this card and why it's a ruling nightmare. Did you know you can start and resolve whole chains in the middle of resolving this card? It's actually insane. Just for that, it's not making the list of unbans.
Are we really worried about what these guys might do?
I have come to realize that Konami has a wicked sense of humor. Tri-Brigade is one of the best archetypes we've had in a while, and is just a better version of . You know this is true. While Revolt only works with tri-types, it actually has a payoff. Return is not only limited to banished monsters, it has a steep life point cost, and has no real utility during your opponent's turn, unlike Revolt which gives you access to as an interrupt and lots of advantage.
Originally, was going to be another unban, and while I still believe it could come off the list with little to no impact, the recent limiting of made me realize that Konami does not want this kind of card in the game, and I respect that.
Lastly, there's . This card seems insane on paper, but when you think about what it actually achieves, you come out with a big load of nothing. Obviously, it's a trap, so it has no use in turn one. Not only that, but giving you infinite normal summons isn't really all that useful on its own. Sure, you can get a bunch of stuff onto the field, but what then? You can't really do anything with that. Searching and getting on-summon effects is good, but overall it still sucks. Historically, it was used in tandem with the gadget archetype to get an infinite conga line of dudes to search each other. But back then getting free bodies was much more useful on its own than it is today. Some naysayers might say, "B-but Floowandereeze!" They already do that. All their cards are Ultimate Offering.
At the end of the day, I think Konami and the community as a whole are overly scared of cards way past their prime. Even if they were good now, they'd allow for interesting and fun decks. What do you think? What is the card you want to see unbanned the most?
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.
