Forum:Reasons why cards are Forbidden/Limited

Key:
=	It should stay where it is.
↑	Chances are, it would become more Limited.
↓	Chances are, it would become less Limited.
-	Not sure / Please discuss below on what should go in these.
	In the Forbidden List, the chance of them coming off the Forbidden list is in order of Low, Very Low, Never.

• From the creator of the "List of cards to side in to cripple meta decks", comes the...

List of Reasons for why cards are Banned/Limited
Card Name	Reason	Chance of going up/down the list
Forbidden
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning	Can be Special Summoned easily, good effect, high ATK. Honest can be used on his first attack, then the 2nd attack would be deadly. See also: Chaos.	Very Low
Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End	Can be Special Summoned easily, good effect, high ATK, nuke and burn. Judgment Dragon Destroys all cards, while this card Sends all the cards.	Very Low
Cyber Jar	Unlike Morphing Jar #2, this has a set amount. So it can be abused, allowing the controller can use it to gain advantage easily.	-
Cyber-Stein	Yes, it has a huge cost. But it also foreshadows an instant OTK.	Very Low
Dark Magician of Chaos	Premature Burial / Dimension Fusion are also Forbidden, so the loop can't be made with those cards. However, Monster Reborn is now Limited, so the loop can be used there. It's a strong monster with a very good effect; his effect even works when it's Special Summoned. Dark Armed Return decks are godly with this card. Also, Ice Queen was designed to replace it for spellcaster decks.	Very Low
Dark Strike Fighter	Easily Synchro Summoned, no Tuner limitations. High ATK for a level 7 Synchro. High burn damage. Can do 4000 damage by itself, so it's too fast for the format. Finishing move.	Low
Destiny Hero - Disk Commander	The effect is too powerful, turning ordinary revival cards into Pot of Greeds.	Never
Fiber Jar	Resets everything.	Never
Goyo Guardian	Very high ATK for a level 6. Good effect.	-
Magical Scientist	Can easily create a FTK	Very Low
Magician of Faith	Allows the player to reuse Spells Cards, mostly ones with Broken effects like Heavy Storm and Brain Control. Was part of the Tsukuyomi Lockdown.	Low
Makyura the Destructor	Use this card with cards like Jar of Greed and Legacy of Yata-Garasu to draw through your entire deck.	Never
Rescue Cat	Instant +1. Abusable by Gladiator Beasts, Naturia, Synchro Cat and especially X-Sabers. Decks can spam this (e.g. Dark Desertapir). Too cute for the meta xD	Low
Sinister Serpent	Free discard for costs, etc.	Never
Substitoad	Badly designed card, able to mill most of your deck in one turn. Combos well with Pot of Avarice. See also Frog Burn FTK (The most consistent burn/OTK/FTK deck, for March 2010)	Low
Thousand-Eyes Restrict	Very good effect + Lock. Was part of the Goat Control deck. Easily Fusion Summoned with Instant Fusion. Easily revived because of it's low ATK and low level (e.g. Graceful Revival and Limit Reverse). You can use Instant Fusion, use its effect, then Tribute it for a Monarch.	Very Low
Tribe-Infecting Virus	Lightning Vortex on legs, or Snipe Hunter on steroids. Now even more potent due to many archetypes being mainly one Type.	Low
Tsukuyomi	Reusable Book of Moon effect. Hamster, Ryko, Hamster, Ryko ... OMG NOO!!!!! Was part of the Tsukuyomi Lockdown.	Low
Victory Dragon	It's hard to summon, but you win a Match, not a Game. In the TCG, you can Surrender just before that happens. However, the TCG banlist is the exactly the same as the OCG banlist and in the OCG, it's banned because you are only allowed to Surrender after the 10th turn; so unlike the TCG, it's possible for you to pull the effect off, even against experienced players. Also, this is the only Match Winner to not have the line "This card cannot be used in a Duel." So instead, they ban it.	Never
Witch of the Black Forest	We already have 1 universal searcher, and that's limited. This is a more power version of that, able to search out strong key monsters. E.g. Dark Armed Dragon, Monarchs, etc...	Low
Yata-Garasu	This card alone, under the right circumstances, can create a lock by itself. see Yata-Garasu Lockdown.	Very Low
Brain Control	This card can win games by itself at the right moment. Essentially a +1, because the opponent loses a monster, and you kinda gain a monster. Very useful for Synchro Summons and then attacking directly. Can be used to gain Tribute fodder.	Low
Butterfly Dagger - Elma	Can make lots of Infinite Loops.	Never
Card of Safe Return	Can be better than Pot of Greed, due to the increasing number of Decks that rely on Graveyard manipulation.	Very Low
Temple of the Kings	Similar effect to Makyura the Destructor (see above). Second effect is just as broken as Metamorphosis (below).	Never
Change of Heart	Better than Brain Control, and that card's also Forbidden. It's also much better than Mind Control, which is limited.	Never
Cold Wave	Freezes backrow for a fairly long time. Preparations for an OTK. Also leaves the opponent vulnerable and unable to defend themselves once you use an effect that destroys their backrow.	-
Confiscation	Look at opponent's hand and discard anything. AKA 1 for 1 card + see opponent's hand bonus.	Low
Delinquent Duo	This 1 card kills 2 of your opponent's cards in their hand.	Very Low
Dimension Fusion	Too many good combos. Was abused with Dark Armed Dragon to clear the opponent's field and swarm your own, forming an OTK.	Very Low
Graceful Charity	Too fast. You draw before you discard. Sets up Graveyard. Can be better than Pot of Greed in certain decks.	Never
Harpie's Feather Duster	Too powerful. Heavy Storm is also Forbidden, and this card is even more powerful that that.	Never
Heavy Storm	This on first turn is usually catastrophic for the opponent, and not everyone manages to set Starlight Road on their first turn.	Low
Last Will	Formerly abused with Rescue Cat to create an OTK. Universal Searcher.	Very Low
Mass Driver	Abused in many Decks to form a FTK, since it does not use up the Normal Summon and can be used multiple times a turn.	-
Metamorphosis	Too many good combos. Notable ones include Beast King Barbaros → Cyber Twin Dragon and Metal Reflect Slime → Cyber End Dragon, Destiny End Dragoon or Naturia Extrio.	-
Mirage of Nightmare	Too fast *cough*darkworld/fabled*cough*. If it gets destroyed, you don't need to discard, so it's as good as Pot of Greed.	Never
Painful Choice	You don't lose hand advantage. Gets a good card or send cards that work well in the grave; similar to activating 4 Foolish Burials at once	Never
Pot of Greed	Too fast, no cost, everyone would use it. While it's true that it would increase the speed of slower decks; it would help decks that already have draw power even more (as they would use their draw power to draw into this card more often).	Very Low
Premature Burial	Fast, good combos, can be reused fairly easily. Loops with cards like Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. There are combos that allow 1 Special Summon per turn through cards like Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier, Falcon of Mist Valley, etc. Searchable and reusable via Hidden Armory.	Very Low
Raigeki	Too powerful. Dark Hole is Limited, we don't need another card that destroys all monsters and this card only destroys the opponent's monsters.	Never
Snatch Steal	Too powerful, near permanent control. Opponent's LP gain can be offset by stealing a strong monster and consistently attacking with it, or by Tributing or Synchro Summoning with the target. Searchable and reusable via Hidden Armory.	Very Low
The Forceful Sentry	A Confiscation (above) with no cost. Returns the card to the deck and not Discard to the Graveyard. Having a card in the Graveyard is usually considered to be better that having it in the Deck.	Never
Crush Card Virus	Kills almost everything for 3 turns, and covers both the field, hand, and future draws. Can even be combo'ed with Sangan or Plaguespreader Zombie or even Necro Gardna to utilise their effects.	Very Low
Exchange of the Spirit	Really awesome in a Lightsworn, Future Fusion Machines/Worms and Magical Merchant Turbo decks. Can also fuel an OTK by emptying the opponent's Deck on their very first turn.	Very Low
Imperial Order	Powerful Spell lock via a Continuous Effect. You even have the option to lift the two-way Spell lock by not paying the cost. While Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 and Naturia Beast can do the same thing, these effects start a chain, allowing for a Counter Trap to negate these effects.	-
Last Turn	The instant win is guaranteed when you control a monster that prevents your opponent from Special Summoning.	Never
Ring of Destruction	Destroys a monster + massive burn damage. Lethal when combined with cards like Barrel Behind the Door or Spell of Pain. Finishing move.	Very Low
Sixth Sense	Banned so that psychics can't cheat, jk. This is potentially one of the strongest forms of draw power, being able to draw up to 6 cards from one effect. The drawback is also potentially beneficial, especially with more Graveyard-reliant Decks.	Never
Time Seal	Forces the opponent to skip a draw phase, which is lethal when they are topdecking.	-
Limited
Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind	Can be Special Summoned. A reusable permanent Shrink. Universal Tuner.	=
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow	Can easily turn battles around in Blackwing Decks. Unlike Honest, it can even be used when attacking directly for massive damage.	-
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier	Epic effect, can be used more than once per turn, can clear field by itself. Sets up Graveyard.	=, Low chance of ↑
Dark Armed Dragon	Can be Special Summoned easily. Specific destructive power. High ATK. See Dark Armed Return and Teleport Dark Armed.	=, Low chance of ↑
Dandylion	Compulsory effect. Gives lots of advantage most of the time. Re-usable in many decks, creates Tokens that can be used for Synchro or Tribute Summons. Effect also triggers when it enters the Graveyard through any means.	=
Elemental Hero Stratos	Searcher that triggers on Normal or Special Summon, and can search himself. Has decent ATK. You basically lose no advantage playing this card. Easily searched by other cards, such as E - Emergency Call and Reinforcement of the Army	=
Exodia the Forbidden One	With more draw cards coming out, and more stall cards coming out... Although unlikely, if 1 of the pieces becomes Forbidden, then the other 4 can be unlimited.	=, Very Low chance of ↑
Left Arm of the Forbidden One
Left Leg of the Forbidden One
Right Arm of the Forbidden One
Right Leg of the Forbidden One
Gladiator Beast Bestiari	Required to Summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, and also as a key means of S/T removal. Limiting this will solve both problems.	=, Very Low chance of ↓
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness	Stops OTKs AND Special Summons a good Token.	=
Honest	Very good effect. It basically deals lots of battle damage to the opponent while destroying the opponent's monster. Easily reused with Beckoning Light.	-
Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner	Easy effect that special summons a "Lightsworn" monster from the graveyard. Gives uses to cards that are useless in the hand (e.g. Wulf, Lightsworn Beast). Nice mill effect. Can Special Summon another copy of herself, so on the next turn you can use both their effects and she can be protected by Honest while you do that.	Low chance of ↓
Marshmallon	Relatively hard to kill. Instantly inflicts 1000 damage, which is quite a lot.	=
Mezuki	As if Zombies didn't have enough revival power.	=, Very Low chance of ↓
Mind Master	There's a Mind Master OTK. It's similar to Substitoad (which is Forbidden), except you take damage each time (or you need 1 more card to bypass it), and Psychics don't have a Ronintoadin to abuse yet (A new card, Calm, Silent Gusta may be abused with this card).	=
Morphing Jar	High draw power. Sets up Graveyard. However, the opponent can also abuse this.	=
Necroface	Necromill OTK	=, Very Low chance of ↓
Necro Gardna	Abusable in Lightsworns, and with Burial from a Different Dimension (however, this is also Limited).	=, Chance of ↓
Neo-Spacian Grand Mole	Can create locks. Easily takes out Synchro, Fusion and Ritual Monsters.	=
Night Assailant	Must be at 1 otherwise this card will just search for the other one and a loop will be created	=, definitely
Plaguespreader Zombie	Top decks a card (Infernity Archfiend anyone?). Universal Tuner.	=
Sangan	Universal searcher.	=
Summoner Monk	Monk → Monk → Cat = Pwn, but with Monk at 1 and Cat now Forbidden, this combo doesn't work any more. He's a Spellcaster, so Arcanite Magician can be Synchro Summoned.	Chance of ↓
Tragoedia	Stops OTK AND has other good effects.	=
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier	Instant triple card removal; including from the hand. A few decks could do Triple Trish combo, when they pull it off (quite easily in Frogs and Infernities) then they've basically won. However, those decks have been hit in other ways as well, so they can't do Triple Trish any more.	=
Advanced Ritual Art	See Heralds combo and Demise/Doom OTK decks.	=
Allure of Darkness	The most splashable draw card since Pot of Greed.	=
Black Whirlwind	Fairly similar to the Forbidden card Card of Safe Return. Gives major Hand Advantage to Blackwing decks. Kalut Stacking >_>	=, Very Low chance of ↓
Book of Moon	With the OCG revoking Priority from Ignition Effect monsters, Book of Moon can easily render these monsters harmless and vulnerable by immediately responding to their Summons.	-
Burial from a Different Dimension	Can abuse cards like Mezuki, Plaguespreader Zombie, Necro Gardna, Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor, etc.	=
Card Destruction	Sets up your Hand and possibly Graveyard. Can mess up, or help out with, the opponent's Hand, but can also set up their Graveyard. Works very well with Dark World and Fabled.	=
Charge of the Light Brigade	It's like RotA, but for Lightsworns, and it also mills.	=, Very Low chance of ↓
Dark Hole	Fairly Powerful and with no cost, but then again, Starlight Road makes it harder to play.	=, Low chance of ↑
Destiny Draw	Works very well with Destiny Hero - Malicious. Was a semi-universal draw engine, however not used as much now.	Chance of ↓
Emergency Teleport	See Mind Master (above). Also, Special Summons a Tuner for a quick Synchro Summon.	=, Low chance of ↓
Foolish Burial	Lots of decks rely on the Graveyard a lot. Works well with Wulf, Lightsworn Beast, Plaguespreader Zombie, etc.	=, Low chance of ↓
Future Fusion	Gives Fusion Monsters a chance. However it can be abused and used as a Foolish Burial x(2+). It can also OTK with Overload Fusion, but that's also Limited.	=
Gateway of the Six	Can gain counters when Six Samurai monsters are Normal and Special Summoned. With the introduction of Legendary Six Samurai monsters that can Special Summon themselves, and the ability for Gateway to remove from anywhere on your side of the field, 2 or more of these would result in constant searching of Six Samurai monsters for every Summon.	-
Giant Trunade	Clears back field and prepares for OTK. Not as potent as Heavy Storm as the S/Ts can be re-Set by your opponent on the next turn, though it also allows you to re-Set your S/T defense after its use as well.	=
Infernity Launcher	It may seem like a +1, but with Infernity Archfiend, a very deadly +lots loop can be made.	=
Level Limit - Area B	Excellent stalling device for no cost, effectively locking out most Decks that use lots of high-level monsters.	=
Limiter Removal	Easy OTK in Machine decks.	=
Mind Control	Similar to Brain Control, but for Synchro Summoning / Effect uses only.	=
Monster Gate	Was used a lot by Turbo and OTK decks.	=
Monster Reborn	Fast. No cost. Special Summon from either Graveyard. Further punishes the opponent if you manage to destroy a strong monster they control (e.g. Gladiator Beast Gyzarus).	=, Low chance of ↑
One for One	Mind Master OTK and Frog OTK decks use this a lot. If some of those cards become Forbidden, then this could come back to assist some of the weaker archetypes such as Morphtronics and Fortune Ladies.	=
Reasoning	Was used a lot by Turbo and OTK decks. Free Monster or easily dumps Monster to Graveyard, both can be beneficial.	=
Reinforcement of the Army	This card adds additional speed to Lightsworns, however Warriors need this back, so hitting Honest and Charge of the Light Brigade would be so much fairer than hitting this.	Chance of ↓
Scapegoat	Stalls quite a bit. However, there are more cards that Pierce now. Easy Synchro Material. Was part of the Goat Control deck.	=
Swords of Revealing Light	Stalls for quite a long time. You can still attack while the opponent cannot.	=
Call of the Haunted	Must fairer speed when compared to its Spell counterparts. Can't be abused multiple times per turn (unlike Premature Burial). Can only special summon from your own graveyard (unlike Monster Reborn).	=
Ceasefire	In the right conditions, it can inflict major burn damage. Finishing move.	=
Gravity Bind	Stalls a lot. See also Level Limit - Area B.	=
Return from the Different Dimension	OTK decks use this. If you Special Summon Jinzo, along with many strong monsters, then you've basically won.	=
Magical Explosion	See Magical Explosion FTK	=
Mind Crush	1 for 1 card. You don't really need to be a psychic to use this card. "Salvage/Dark Factory of Mass Production, Sangan, Gold Sarcophagus, Machina Gearframe, Gadgets, etc. Allows you to know what card they have. Also, this card owns Ritual Monsters, when the activate their Ritual Spell Card, chain this and call the name of their Monster; a 2 for 1.	=
Mirror Force	Solid game changer. However, now that Starlight Road is out, you need to be more careful when using this card.	=
Royal Oppression	1 card to continuously stop a large amount of cards. Some decks abuse the fact that it cannot be used in the Damage Step. Blackwings can use this card in their deck fairly well. Quite a few X-Saber decks run it because they can, and it generally stops the opponent more.	=
Solemn Judgment	Halving your LPs to activate a card is very fair (If you're winning, you pay more; if you're losing, you pay less), but to negate basically anything...	-
The Transmigration Prophecy	OCG stall decks use this with D.D. Borderline. Also, it must be at 1 otherwise this card will just return another copy of itself and a loop will be created. Pot of Benevolence does the same thing, but that can't be chained to an effect, and that removes itself so it can't return another copy of itself.	=
Torrential Tribute	Same as Mirror Force (above)	=
Trap Dustshoot	Although it's like Confiscation or The Forceful Sentry (above), it is a trap, so it's slower. It also has a restriction, so you can only use it if the opponent has a fair amount of Hand Advantage.	=
Wall of Revealing Light	Facing three in an Exodia Deck with LP recovery would be a real pain. It should stay Limited unless we get more bounce/destroy cards. See also: Magical Explosion FTK.	=
Semi-Limited
Archlord Kristya	Strong ATK, seals Special Summons, and is difficult to get rid of since it goes back to the top of the Deck instead of the Graveyard.	-
Card Trooper	Can be a good beatstick for 1 turn. Sets up the Graveyard for many decks. When it dies, you draw 1, so no advantage lost. Machine Duplication can be used, so at max, it can be at 2. It probably wouldn't go to 3.	-
Debris Dragon	Highly useable with the number of Level 3 monsters with very low ATK like Lonefire Blossom or Dandylion. Can easily make LV7 Synchros like Black Rose Dragon, or higher-level monsters if Tokens are present on the field.	-
Destiny Hero - Malicious	His effect can't be used if at 1. If at 3, the advantages will be too high (especially with Synchro Summons) so...	=, almost certain
Judgment Dragon	Can be Special Summoned easily. Low cost to nuke the Field except itself. 3000 ATK. Double JD is just broken, especially when they can be returned to your hand with Beckoning Light.	=, Chance of ↑
Lonefire Blossom	Search and Special Summon ANY plant; this includes Tuners, Mystic Tomato, Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, etc. With the new Naturia cards, this card will most likely stay at 2.	=
Spirit Reaper	Relatively hard to kill. Its other effects are also great.	-
Chain Strike	Key card of Chain Burn decks such as Chain Strike OTK.	-
Magical Stone Excavation	Allows quick reuse of major Spell Cards. Its heavy cost is often circumvented in Diamond Dude Turbo Decks.	-
Mystical Space Typhoon	Fast. Staple. 1 for 1 card. Moved from the Limited List to offset the banning of Heavy Storm.	-
Overload Fusion	Chimeratech Overdragon. nuff said.	-
Royal Tribute	Particularly disruptive when used on the very first turn, leaving one vulnerable and unable to retrieve what has been lost due to Necrovalley on the field.	-
Bottomless Trap Hole	Very powerful 1 for 1 card. Removes the monster upon Summon. Staple.	=
Icarus Attack	Powerful Chainable 2 for 2 card, which makes Blackwings even more lethal.	-
Magic Cylinder	Negates an attack and inflicts major burn damage. Finishing move. Moved off the Limited List, perhaps, to discourage OTKs via a monster with high ATK.	=
Ojama Trio	Clogs the field with nigh-unuseable Tokens, though if a Tuner is present they can be removed via a Synchro Summon.	=
Solemn Warning	A lot of effects that Special Summon are present in the game. 2000 LP is almost always worth breaking a loop that would otherwise generate several large monsters.	-
Unlimited
Abyss Soldier	Semi Limited from April '05 to Sept '05 due to its abuse with Sinister Serpent, allowing free bouncing, once per turn. After Sinister Serpent got Forbidden, this came off the list.	=
Apprentice Magician	With Magician of Faith limited, people used this card to search her. Nephthys Decks also used her to search Hand of Nephthys to quickly summon Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. Then this card came off as Magician of Faith became banned. The Apprentice Magician / Old Vindictive Magician Monarch combo didn't really contribute to it's initial semi-limitation.	=
Black Rose Dragon	Universal Nuke. See also, Debris-Hime deck.	-
Breaker the Magical Warrior	Back when it was banned/limited, +1 cards were overpowered, Breaker lets you destroy a card almost for free and you'll still have a monster; or you could leave it as a 1900 Beatstick which is quite a lot at the time.	=
Chaos Sorcerer	Can be Special Summoned easily, good effect. However, relatively low ATK.	-
Cyber Dragon	Can be Special Summoned easily. Good ATK. Usable in many decks. However, there are increasing amounts of new decks that can Special Summon "a bunch of monsters in one turn", so older decks need this. Also, the opponent can use Chimeratech Fortress Dragon against you if you're using machines as well (e.g. Morphtronics, Salvo, Gadgets).	=, Low chance of ↑
D.D. Assailant	Back when this was initially hit, Warrior Toolbox decks were Tier 1.	-
D.D. Warrior Lady	Same as D.D. Assailant (above). Also, this card had the option of removing the monster, or not to remove the monster. This card also doesn't need to be destroyed by battle to remove the opponent's monster, just battling it will do, hence why this came off the list a while after Assailant.	=
Demise, King of Armageddon	See Demise/Doom OTK. The lack of such Decks in the meta, however, resulted in this card coming off the list.	-
Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier	There's a loop with Symbol of Heritage and Mass Driver; if you have 3 Dewloren's in the Graveyard. The banning of Mass Driver made the loop impossible, letting this card off the list.	=
Exiled Force	Same as D.D. Assailant (above).	-
Goblin Zombie	Very good searcher. In a Zombie deck, it can be more abuseable than Sangan or Witch of the Black Forest because of their revival power. Not many people would use 3 anyways.	-
Green Baboon	Before, it was allowed to be Special Summoned when a Beast was destroyed by battle or by a card effect. This was rather good with a relatively low cost for high ATK. Now, they changed the ruling and it can't be used during the Damage Step, so destroying by battle won't Trigger its effect.	=
Injection Fairy Lily	She was considered to be too fast and too strong for the format at the time. Now there are decks other than beatdown types, so this came off.	=
Jinzo	Very popular early in the game's history since the game was slow enough to allow for monsters to be Tribute Summoned. Then the metagame picked up speed, where Special Summons became more favourable, and Jinzo dwindled in popularity due to both Royal Decree and presence of better monsters to Special Summon. Naturia Bamboo Shoot is also a Tribute monster, but it also stops Spells and not just Traps, although it is less spashable.	=
Manticore of Darkness	There is an OTK with this card (but it's too inconsistent with the current format), and it worked well with Card of Safe Return (now banned).	=
Marauding Captain	Same as D.D. Assailant (above).	=
Dark Scorpion - Chick the Yellow	This + Makyura + Call of the Haunted = OTK, but Makyura is now banned and this card is bad.	=, certain
Mask of Darkness	Well, Royal Oppression became Limited when this became Unlimited, not that anyone was using this card anyway.	-
Morphing Jar 2	A very potent field-disrupter, freezing the battle phase and eating up Nomis and Tribute monsters the moment it was flipped. This is probably why it was Semi, until '05 when destroying monsters with effects became more popular than battle, giving a very good way to circumvent its Flip Effect. It probably disappeared off the meta then, and so went back to unlimited.	-
Protector of the Sanctuary	Formerly abused with things like Time Seal and Yata-Garasu as an additional layer of insurance for such a lock since the opponent could only break the lock by drawing with a card effect. Time Seal and Yata-Garasu soon got banned, leaving no reason to limit Protector of the Sanctuary.	=
Raiza the Storm Monarch	Raiza was overused in Monarch decks, and that was Tier 1. Caius was released, along with other faster decks so this was let off. Caius is now considered to be better anyways.	=
Reflect Bounder	At the time they limited this, Chaos decks were Tier 1. The Envoys were also banned as this time, but they realised that this didn't really need to be hit as hitting the Envoys were enough, so this later this came off.	=
Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys	At the time when it was Limited, destruction by effects were the metagame, especially with Gadget Decks using this to its fullest. Nephthys could come back persistently, destroying backrow at the same time. Then the metagame picked up speed with both Chainable Traps and Removal Decks becoming more popular, and use of Nephthys died down.	=
Snipe Hunter	Formerly abused in Gadget Decks due to massive hand advantage to fuel its effect. The lack of Gadget Decks around resulted in it coming off the list.	=
Twin-Headed Behemoth	Monarch decks used to run 3 at the time, keeping a monster to Tribute on the field whether it was destroyed by battle or by a card effect. Then a new ruling was made: "The effect of "Twin-Headed Behemoth" can only be used ONCE throughout the entirety of the Duel. Even if your Deck includes three copies of the card, between those three copies the effect can only be used once, not once each." This card became unlimited after that ruling was released, and Monarchs then received Treeborn Frog and that replaced this card, even if the ruling wasn't made.	=, certain
Treeborn Frog	Yes it's a free Tribute, but you can only activate 1 anyway. So limiting isn't going to do much. Semi-Limit is still OK because the new removal cards tend to remove 2 at once.	=, Low chance of ↑
Vampire Lord	See Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys (above).	=
Fissure	A 'one for one' card that was rarely used outside of Gadget decks, and faster decks that could cope were made, so this came off.	=
Gold Sarcophagus	Adds any card from your deck to your Hand. Removes the card face-up. However takes 2 turns before the card actually gets to your Hand, which is rather slow.	-
Lightning Vortex	Limited due to abuse with Sinister Serpent for cheap frying of the opponent's face-up monsters. It still saw some abuse since there were 2 Night Assailants still on the list. It finally came off the Limited status after Night Assailant hit 1 on the next list.	=
Megamorph	Doubling original ATK can be a lot, sometimes enough to OTK. The drawback of halving when you have more LPs isn't too bad either as you can equip it to your opponent's monsters.	-
Pot of Avarice	Seems to be really good in certain decks, recycling cards like Rescue Cat (now banned). Also, back then, decks were slow, so this card was widely used. However, decks only use 1 or 2 for consistency purposes anyway; unless it was a Cat Synchro deck, that usually ran 3 (but Cat's banned as mentioned earlier). The format is now much faster, with decks that want to keep the monsters in the graveyard for revival.	=
Smashing Ground	Fissure became Unlimited in the format before this came down, so this followed.	-
United We Stand	Yes it makes monsters into bigger beatsticks, but with so many cards to stop it... (e.g. Book of Moon, Dimensional Prison, etc.)	-
Upstart Goblin	Back then, Makyura Exodia decks were everywhere. Then they realised that Makyura was the thing that needed to be banned.	=
Drop Off	This got limited at the same time Time Seal initially got banned. Then they realised that stopping a Draw is completely different than discarding the drawn card, with decks which use the graveyard more often, and being a 'one for one' card, this came off.	=
Good Goblin Housekeeping	Back then, this Draw power was extremely good. It's bad now.	=
Reckless Greed	People wanted to stack these cards together... then was unlimited again when fair shuffling techniques were enforced. JK, see why Upstart Goblin (above) was limited.	=
Royal Decree	1 card to continuously stop a large amount of cards. Works well in Herald decks to prevent the activation of Counter Trap Cards.	-
Skill Drain	1 card to continuously stop a large amount of cards. Works well with cards such as Beast King Barbaros. See also: Skill Drain Deck	-
Ultimate Offering	Abused in Gadget Decks to create an instant swarm because each Gadget searches another on Summon. The lack of such Decks in tournaments let this card off the list.	-

In case someone somehow missed it. Click "Show" on the right side of the bar.

This list is for the people who are curious about why certain cards are banned/limited.

This list can also assist people before posting a prediction on the next banlist.

Please help out by pointing out changes that should be made in the list (if any) (please include reasons).

Keep in mind that the TCG banlist is exactly the same as the OCG banlist (minus the OCG exclusives). So, reasons should be based on the OCG rulings. (adding a note to those would be appreciated, something like the one on Victory Dragon.)

And for those who are wondering. No, I didn't make this list recently. It been on 2 other forums before. This is the most updated version of it as the other 2 aren't being updated.

See also: Historic Forbidden/Limited Chart. --  Falzar FZ  talk page  useful stuff    07:32, August 4, 2010 (UTC)

Edit Log

• Created page. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 07:32, August 4, 2010 (UTC)

• Added "Edit Log" and "Discussion" sections. ^_^-- HHTurtle ^Talk   11:34, August 4, 2010 (UTC)

• Small note on Cyber Jar, more reasons for Stratos, Lumina, Mind Master, etc. Links to a few terms. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 05:48, August 5, 2010 (UTC)

• Stickied as requested. It'd work after the feature's been implemented. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 08:21, August 12, 2010 (UTC)

• Updated for September 2010. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 13:34, August 18, 2010 (UTC)

• Table format/colour change. Well, I personally find it much easier to navigate through the list. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 10:24, August 21, 2010 (UTC)

• Adding reasons for cards that were unlimited from past formats (before March 10). -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 06:59, October 5, 2010 (UTC)

Discussion

Before March 2010

Thought I'd add a few reasons to the cards that were unlimited before March 2010.

• Abyss Soldier
• Exiled Force
• Jinzo
• Lightning Vortex
• Morphing Jar #2
• Protector of the Sanctuary
• Vampire Lord
• Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys

This is a list of the cards which I wasn't sure about, so if anyone has any ideas on these (or any that I missed), feel free to post in this section. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 06:59, October 5, 2010 (UTC)

1. Abyss Soldier was Semi'd from April '05 to Sept '05 due to its abuse with Sinister Serpent, allowing infinite bouncing once each turn. After Sinister Serpent got Forbidden, Abyss Soldier possibly dwindled in use, and came back to Unlimited.
2. Exiled Force was a very useful tool in the Warrior Toolbox. As the popularity of the Toolbox dwindled it eventually came off the list.
3. Jinzo was popular early in the game's history since the game was slow enough to allow for monsters to be Tribute Summoned. Then the metagame picked up speed, where Special Summons became more favourable, and Jinzo dwindled in popularity due to both Royal Decree and presence of better monsters to Special Summon. Jinzo went back to unlimited possibly due to the Jinzo support popping up in Light of Destruction, and possibly stayed unlimited since its change in status didn't affect its use.
4. Lightning Vortex was Limited due to abuse with Sinister Serpent for cheap frying of the opponent's face-up monsters. It still saw some abuse since there were 2 Night Assailants still on the list. It finally came off the Limited status after Night Assailant hit 1 on the next list.
5. Morphing Jar 2 was a very potent field-disrupter, freezing the battle phase and eating up Nomis and Tribute monsters the moment it was flipped. This is probably why it was Semi, until '05 when destroying monsters with effects became more popular than battle, giving a very good way to circumvent its Flip Effect. It probably disappeared off the meta then, and so went back to unlimited.
6. Protector of the Sanctuary was formerly abused with things like Time Seal and Yata-Garasu as an additional layer of insurance for such a lock since the opponent could only break the lock by drawing with a card effect. Time Seal and Yata soon got banned, leaving no reason to limit Protector of the Sanctuary.
7. Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys and its Decks were popular back in '06. Back then, destruction with effects were all the rage, and Sacred Phoenix was nigh-unkillable with destruction effects, providing a Heavy Storm effect each time they tried to kill it that way. Eventually, the metagame picked up its pacing with RFG and more chainable cards coming into fashion, and Nephthys dwindled in popularity. Should now explain why it's unlimited now. This should also explain Vampire Lord and Zombie Decks in that day.

That's the best I can come up with to explain the above cards. --Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 11:55, October 5, 2010 (UTC)

Nice. Adding. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 06:20, October 6, 2010 (UTC)

March 2010

To start things off...
Why is Metamorphosis banned when Thousand-Eyes Restrict is also banned? Isn't that the main reason?
Did Konami ban Victory Dragon because they can? because there's something called surrendering. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 05:48, August 5, 2010 (UTC)

Metamorphosis can still summon some very strong Fusion Monsters easily. For Victory Dragon, you have to understand that although you can surrender anytime during the duel in the TCG, you can only surrender starting from the 10th turn in the OCG so it still makes Victory Dragon very BROKEN.-- HHTurtle ^Talk   06:09, August 5, 2010 (UTC)

So since Metamorphosis is now banned, do you think they'll eventually take Thousand-Eyes Restrict off the banlist?--76.27.8.201 (talk) 07:25, September 7, 2010 (UTC)

I highly doubt that it will come off the list. When used properly, it's better than Gravity Bind and Level Limit - Area B. I've added the combo above. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 07:43, September 7, 2010 (UTC)

Metal Reflect Slime + Cyber End Dragon.--Helix-king (talk • contribs) 15:41, August 13, 2010 (UTC)

Fair enough. Adding + slight expansion on the topic. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 06:26, August 5, 2010 (UTC)

I'm right there with you on the Ojama Trio, RoTA, and Judgement Dragon bits for sure. Everything else I'm pretty neutral about though. Goblinpunch787

Good to hear that you don't specifically disagree to anything. This list is supposed to be something that almost everyone can generally agree on. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 11:57, August 6, 2010 (UTC)

I just noticed that each card has a reason next to it. nice! Thanks for those who contributed.
Now to do the "Chances" column. I would prefer it if no one changes this column (to prevent edit wars). Instead, please post below and discuss them. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 11:57, August 6, 2010 (UTC)

Ojama Trio is "not less limited" for good reason. The only way to turn Ojama Trio on it's head for general decks is to tune them, but when you don't have a tuner, it clogs your field to prevent swarming of any more than 2 monsters, and stops all kinds of other stuff. It's another OTK stopper, It makes Ojama Decks practically unstoppable, and there are also many ways to abuse it to create OTKs. I totally agree with pretty much everything else, entirely. Great list. NecrofearNorleras (talk • contribs) 14:55, August 6, 2010 (UTC)

I agree with the guy above me. I'm not sure if you guys know of this but there was an annoying deck in the OCG when Ojama Trio was released. You activate Ground Collapse during your turn and then activate Ojama Trio during your opponent's turn, preferably during the Draw Phase or Standby Phase. This will cause your opponent to have no real use of their monster zones. It was really annoying and broken.-- HHTurtle ^Talk   16:22, August 6, 2010 (UTC)

If you have a Tuner, can't you switch the token to ATK mode, suicide (with 0 ATK >.<), then summon a Tuner and Synchro for a level 5-8 monster? But still, I'll consider changing that a bit. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 21:50, August 6, 2010 (UTC)

There's something that shouldn't be there. Changing Decree, Oppression and Drain: = → - until it's further discussed.
Their strengths are too different. Oppression might be Limited, while the other 2 may stay imo. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 08:21, August 12, 2010 (UTC)

Honestly, Victory Dragon ain't broken anymore, due to many removable - Fissure, Smashing Ground, Lightning Vortex, Mirror Force, Bottomless Trap Hole, etc. So why is it stay on banlist, eh? Oh yes, no one playing Match duel when come to him. --FredCat100 (talk • contribs) 19:01, August 12, 2010 (UTC)

The problem with victory dragon is since they ALWAYS could possibly win the match, even if you won 2 of three, you must play the third game, since they could win the match still--Helix-king (talk • contribs) 15:45, August 13, 2010 (UTC)

September 2010

• Updating and...
• Correct

• Brain Control - It was on chance on going up, which was right.
• Rescue Cat - up, which was right.
• Monster Reborn - low chance of coming down, right.
• Dark Hole - low chance of coming down, right.
• Royal Oppression - I knew this was going up, which is why I split the cont. trap trio
• Mystical Space Typhoon - chance of coming down, right.
• Chaos Sorcerer - chance of coming down, right.
• Ojama Trio - chance of coming down, right.
• Goblin Zombie - was on my prediction list for March, a bit late, but I was right.
• Treeborn Frog - Well, I did say read the card.
• United We Stand - I kinda knew this, with the list of so many ways to stop it.

• Incorrect

• Magic Cylinder
• Black Rose Dragon
• Cyber Dragon
• Heavy Storm

• Not Predicted

• Black Whirlwind
• Snipe Hunter
• Royal Decree

• New

• Substitoad
• Infernity Launcher
• Trishula

• Seems like this list is pretty accurate xD -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 13:34, August 18, 2010 (UTC)

You should update harpie's feather duster and Change of heart in your list since they say that heavy storm and Brain control are still limited. Jens (talk • contribs) 18:47, August 24, 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 22:36, August 24, 2010 (UTC)

Corrected position of Ultimate Offering and Skill Drain. --Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 14:28, August 28, 2010 (UTC)

Actually, it was right before. Ultimate Offering and Skill Drain are still Semi. Only Decree went to Unlimited. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 23:20, August 28, 2010 (UTC)

(struck my elbow on Falzar's chest) don't forget that Royal Oppression is limited, so to not confused it with Decree.. --FredCat ^{T.P. • F.R. • J.R. • W.S.} 23:28, August 28, 2010 (UTC)

Ah. My bad, then. I've read the wrong parts of the card articles. --Gadjiltron (talk • contribs)

187.139.220.27 (talk) 21:16, August 30, 2010 (UTC)solemn judment should be un limited or semi limited in my opinion because it cost a lot of life points and it can give a lot of play for many forgotten and unplayable decks (itsus,union not vwxyz,billy decks, princess pikeru etc...)

Very nice page, although someone forgot to change the bg colour for CCV and Exchange of the Spirit. Fixed now. --Hozu (talk • contribs) 21:48, August 30, 2010 (UTC)

The Dark Magician of Chaos part says "Monster Reborn is also forbidden". Remember that it is now limited 186.4.40.87 (talk) 05:22, September 7, 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I'll fix that right now. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 05:29, September 7, 2010 (UTC)

Also as Rescue Cat is now forbidden you should change the description of Summoner Monk --ME!!!!!!!!!! (talk • contribs) 12:02, September 7, 2010 (UTC)

Done. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 12:13, September 7, 2010 (UTC)

I think that Magician of Faith and Imperial Iron Wall Imperial Order should be changed to never. Magician of Faith creates an infinite loop with Book of Moon and Final Attack Orders and Royal Magical Library. Imperial Order creates an infinite loop with Axe of Foolishness and Jinzo. --Drew-Gi-Oh! (talk) 01:20, October 7, 2010 (UTC)

Since when was IIW on the Ban List???...BassNettoHikari2...Chat Page... 06:41, October 7, 2010 (UTC)

Hey FZ, you need to fix:

• Brionac's color to white;
• Cyber Dragon and Treeborn Frog can't go up, they're Unlimited;
• Monster Reborn/Dark Hole/Dandylion's chances to = or "Low chance of ↓".

--Missign0 (talk • contribs) 06:39, November 7, 2010 (UTC)

Look at the order the list goes in. No One Special (talk • contribs) 01:26, November 9, 2010 (UTC)

Fixed Brionac. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 05:10, November 9, 2010 (UTC)

Breaker?

Where are the reasons for Breaker the Magical Warrior being banned and limited for a while? Just saying...

--Kageakumo 01:35, December 30, 2010 (UTC)

Not all cards that were limited/banned before March 2010 were added, I'm slowly adding them in though. Breaker's added now. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 01:59, December 30, 2010 (UTC)

We're approaching March 2011. Maybe it's about time some more predictions were added? --Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 10:09, January 16, 2011 (UTC)

Imo, banlist predictions can go in their own threads in Forum:Yu-Gi-Oh! Lists Discussion, just like how it was always done.

I'm fine with the current 'Chance of going up/down the list' values. If anyone has a different opinion on then, then go ahead and point them out. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 11:00, January 21, 2011 (UTC)

Who is up for unbanning some yugioh cards

yugioh company WHY DO YOU CREATE CARDS WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO BANN THEM

• Dark Strike Fighter

This is a good and rare card and any reason you say to bann this card is simply STUPID

• Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Do you know how many children want this card and how mutch it costs

UNBANN ALL CARDS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! — This unsigned comment was made by Tin666 (talk • contribs)

Or, you know, play tradition instead of advanced? — This unsigned comment was made by 67.204.168.170 (talk • contribs)

Two responses:

Banning cards is just Yugioh's way of recognising that they've made a horrible, easily-overlooked mistake, and this is the least they can do to prevent the breaking of games. Clearly you haven't been around in the game before Dark Dive got banned, or at least not been on the receving end of one.

Limiting Gorz actually keeps its price lower than if it were unlimited, since doing so would control the demand for Gorz. Do recall what happens to a card's price each time it shifts down the list - loosening restrictions on the card would mean that more people would want it since they can put more in their Decks, propelling the price to greater heights. No doubt, Gorz is a little expensive, but its current state allows it to be at its cheapest without outright banning it.

If you're still pissed, go do as the above IP Address has said and stick to Traditional. --Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 03:29, January 31, 2011 (UTC)

Gorz is cheap... I can get it for less than $1.... -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 03:43, January 31, 2011 (UTC)

Really? The usual price here in SG is about 10 SGD. --Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 12:08, January 31, 2011 (UTC)

Bulk buy ftw (share with friends, and along with a bunch of other cards), but for singles, it should still be less than AUD$2 (SGD$2.5)

DLG1 Gorz. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 12:24, January 31, 2011 (UTC)

What is Dark Dive? I can't find it.-[User:BobaFett2|BobaFett2]] Talk£3.99

Dark Dive Bomber = Dark Strike Fighter's Translation from Original Japanese name. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 02:01, February 1, 2011 (UTC)

I've noticed that Book of Taiyou was on the Limited List for a short moment (Sep '05-Apr '06), though I can't quite figure out a reason why. Any ideas? --Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 09:28, February 11, 2011 (UTC)

Probably a form of Empty Jar which spammed Cyber Jar abused it. -Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 12:12, February 11, 2011 (UTC)

March 2011

Assuming Shriek had it right:

• Correct
  • Cold Wave
  • Honest - But LSs and Heros are not topping... and Revelation is going to come out...
  • Dandylion
  • Card Trooper - Predicted to be exactly 2, reason was given in the list.
  • Spirit Reaper - Chance of coming down was right, but Book is going up? We now have less Targetting effects now...
  • Snipe Hunter - I said it was Outdated...
  • Demise, King of Armageddon - Same as snipe
  • Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier - List said =, unless Mass Driver gets hit. And Mass Driver got hit.
  • Gold Sarcophagus - Too slow

• Not Predicted
  • Goyo Guardian - ...
  • Book of Moon - ...
  • Megamorph - Konami thinks Equip Spells are not threats any more. Mage Power down, United We Stand down, now this.
  • Skill Drain - There aren't any winning decks that use this...
  • Ultimate Offering - Same as Skill Drain

• Incorrect
  • Overload Fusion - List had it as saying at 1, but I suppose it could come down, as Cydra decks aren't winning, and well, if you use 1, you have no machines to use the 2nd one, so you need to send more machines first, but you only have 1 Future Fusion.
  • Chaos Sorcerer - List had it as saying at 2

• New
  • Mass Driver - I knew it will only ever be at 0 or 3.
  • Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow - BWs had it coming.
  • Gateway of the Six - SSs had it coming.
  • Archlord Kristya - I had it marked as 'probably won't happen, but it's possible...' on my predictions list.
  • Debris Dragon - I had it as 'Might Happen' due to Dandylion, Snowman Eater and Darksoul
  • Royal Tribute - I personally did NOT expect this to be hit (even at 2), GKs do not win much any more. The time that it topped was only because of the (quote) "Surprise Buttsecks" factor.
  • Solemn Warning - This getting hit was obvious
  • Icarus Attack - BWs had it coming. They were going to be hit hard this time.

-Falzar FZ- (talk page|useful stuff) 06:49, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

Reasons list adjusted to reflect new banlist. Newly shifted entries are reset to "-". --Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 15:59, April 26, 2011 (UTC)