Blacklist - February 2017

[Blake]

Not an outright bias list, but more one to cover ideas I've had/try to work with Links a bit. And an unpopular opinion.

 

Banned: 2

Ghost Reaper and Winter Cherries

Zoodiac Drident

 

Limited: 13 

Each of the 7 Kaiju, except Mecha Dogoran

Elemental HERO Stra- pfft no he stays for memes

Performage Damage Juggler

Performage Plushfire

Performapal Monkeyboard

Speedroid Terrortop

Monster Reborn

Pot of Avarice

 

Semi-Limited: 2 

Genex Ally Birdman

Zoodiac Ratpier

 

Unlimited: 1

Tribe-Infecting Virus

 

-----

 

Bet you weren't expecting that, huh? Well, let's just go for a quick rundown.

 

Ghost Reaper is a dumb design that only gets dumber when you limit the ED and make having an actual boss out more prominent. Prediction is cute and all, but that's rarely going to be something beyond direct counters.

 

Same for Kaiju, kinda. Even before Links, Kaiju felt like a mechanic that should NOT exist so widely, and I'm not even the first to propose this. Kaijus have a lot of bite, and while they have a love/hate relationship with Links, I feel like forcing people to at least only get 1 of a given Kaiju is a start.

 

Stratos is probably fine, but idk, keeping it on the list for memes makes more sense!

 

The Performage unbans give us access to a potentially better BriFu LIGHT than Trick Clown and Plush again, which I'm not completely sold on. I'm not saying either of the cards is obscene at a number higher than 1, but I'd rather be cautious if I was the one making a list.

 

Monkeyboard because pendulum changes and YOLO. It's probably still funking strong, but I love it, so shut up.

 

Terrortop being limited is something I've said should happen for a while, shouldn't be a shock, especially considering Zoo.

 

Monster Reborn is and has been fine for a while. It's strong, but strong doesn't mean broken, and it's probably better in a Link format than not.

 

POT OF AVARICE has left a POT OF AVARICE shaped hole in Yu-Gi-Oh's POT OF AVARICE shaped heart. Like, for funk's sake, this seems like it's even more important in a format where you (seemingly) have to devote 4-5 cards in your ED to a new mechanic, minimum, because you need to restock badly. Strong, but I don't think it ever needed to be banned, regardless of what I once thought.

 

Birdman is another move with caution, but it's almsot certainly fine at 3.

 

EDIT: idk how TIV got deleted, but Tribe-Infecting is a normal summon reliant card that will usually be 1-4-1. Yay????

 

Noooooow onto the big deal.

 

Ratpier and Drident.

 

I'll be honest: I think Ratpier adds to the game. Yes, overcentralization is a bad thing, but Rat adds so much in terms of theory-oh, meme decks, and just general fun. It's obnoxious that it's so strong, but I think that's mostly on Barrage, meaning it doesn't even use a Normal Summon, and Drident, which...

 

Honestly, I think Drident is the major problem here. Being able to chain through summons for a +4 that is predominately fodder is one thing, but being able to top that off with a quickplay removal body just feels... Overkill. Lyca and Bull already grant you enough value in their own rights, they don't need this on top of it.

 

But this is also why I semi'd rat. Unless you want to murder Zoodiac outright, which would take far too many hits to do so, your only real options to hit are Drident, Lyca, Rat, and Barrage. While limiting/banning barrage would make Rat weaker, I'm not surei t would weaken her enough, because, NS or not, it's still value.

 

Lyca seems a bit overboard to blame, but she may have gone from stronk to SUPER STRONK due to Links.

 

I felt like there was going to be more on this list, but with the Kaiju condensed, it seems smaller than I would have expected =v=

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

Not an outright bias list, but more one to cover ideas I've had/try to work with Links a bit. And an unpopular opinion.

 

 

 

Limited: 13 

 

Performage Plushfire

 

All that matters

[Βyakuya]

People are actually dropping out the Cherries now in this metagame. Sure it was downright retarded around when PK Fire was peaking an to some extent ABCs, but the application now isn't as strong. Cherries is mostly no good to have maindecked and likely becomes dead lategame after initial use. In this current format, hitting any Zoodiac won't prevent anything from being stopped unless you either call Drancia or Emeral, but it shouldn't be devastating. She's definitely outshined by Ogre and Ash. Still, it might be legitimate to hit her to prevent future dumbass encounters, but it's not worthy to ban her.

 

Limiting each Kaiju does nothing...probably. They're a very tough case to deal with considering they're basically the Oxi-Clean of YGO, but even if you do limit each Kaiju, it won't stop people just cause they ran multiple Gameciels. To an extent, they'll run the 4 Kaiju and possibly 2-3 Slumber ratio each with different names. I would probably propose a Slumber limit, but it still doesn't directly deal with the stupid splashability.

 

Putting back both Plushfire and Monkey might be a bit risky, even if you kept Juggler in chains. It might actually revive Dracopals to a state that functions as well as before Monkeyboard was banned, and I'm not sure if we're prepared for it or if it's appropriate to return it so early.

[Blake]

People are actually dropping out the Cherries now in this metagame. Sure it was downright retarded around when PK Fire was peaking an to some extent ABCs, but the application now isn't as strong. Cherries is mostly no good to have maindecked and likely becomes dead lategame after initial use. In this current format, hitting any Zoodiac won't prevent anything from being stopped unless you either call Drancia or Emeral, but it shouldn't be devastating. She's definitely outshined by Ogre and Ash. Still, it might be legitimate to hit her to prevent future dumbass encounters, but it's not worthy to ban her.

 

Limiting each Kaiju does nothing...probably. They're a very tough case to deal with considering they're basically the Oxi-Clean of YGO, but even if you do limit each Kaiju, it won't stop people just cause they ran multiple Gameciels. To an extent, they'll run the 4 Kaiju and possibly 2-3 Slumber ratio each with different names. I would probably propose a Slumber limit, but it still doesn't directly deal with the stupid splashability.

 

Putting back both Plushfire and Monkey might be a bit risky, even if you kept Juggler in chains. It might actually revive Dracopals to a state that functions as well as before Monkeyboard was banned, and I'm not sure if we're prepared for it or if it's appropriate to return it so early.

I think it was a dumb card to print in the first place. I know it's not prominent now, but Jesus Christ, it adds nothing good to the game.

 

Kaiju would need more to be outright dead, but it's a slap. Not really looking to murder the mechanic outright.

 

shrug, let the world burn in the fires of entertainment

[Kaiji]

Not sure why plushfire gets the sp00k meme you need like clash at 3, monkey/joker at way more than 2 and plushfire + juggler at way more than 1 to get anything as close to back then.

 

If u pop it u stuck with Mirror Conductor as far as searchering a scale goes (easily the most important aspect of the card) and you have less means to pop it for free when the best way was luster --> plush to duplicate it which doesnt exist in this context. All other ways are pretty tame especially without wavering lol, like Sorc consumes your pendulum summon which is p laame

[Darj]

Ghost Reaper - But Cherries is so damn cute (artwork wise)! I think an outright ban is an overkill. Maybe semi-Limit it first like TCG did with Maxx C.

 

Kaijus - I find silly how you almost killed an archetype entirely with the limits on Kaijus xD How would pure-Kaiju players play their decks if you were to do that? You have to think about them, too :v

But seriously, looks like it would be a heavy hit there; why not hit Slumber instead?

 

Stratos - Why did you change your mind there? new Link rules will limit HEROes' Dark Law + Rank4/Toadally summoning capabilities. Bring Stratos back!

 

Performapal - I'm ok with the Performapal hits so far. Would be funny to see players tech Zoodiacs/Broadbull to grab Monkeyboard xD

 

Pot of Avarice - I know you like the card, but not a big fan of it, personally. Besides, Jar of Avarice already exists for your card-recycling needs, and it certainly is less exploitable.

 

Zoodiac - Agree on both hits and your reasonings for them. Also, I doubt Lyca will be that much of a problem, even post-Links; most likely it will be the key card that will let Zoodiacs stand out and thrive in the new world with Links.

 

 

I'm fine with the rest of the hits... except that I don't see Construct in it :v

 

 

 

EDIT:

I just realized that limiting Kaijus will barely do anything: AFAIK players often use different ones to make Slumber live, anyway. If anything, they lose 1 Gameciel to give the opponent to. You should be hitting Slumber instead, IMO.