After the release of a new Forbidden & Limited list in May of 2022, the official Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game has added back quite a few older cards that had previously been Forbidden for years.
It is not uncommon for older Forbidden cards to slowly come back to the game as more powerful cards take their place. In fact, many cards that used to be so powerful that they were game-breaking are now, at best, niche inclusions in decks. For a game that’s continuously evolved for more than 20 years, it should not be that surprising that some older cards are past their prime.
Black Luster Soldier: Envoy of the Beginning
Black Luster Soldier: Envoy of the Beginning is the counterpart to Chaos Emperor Dragon: Envoy of the End, another ban-worthy card used by Yugi’s rival Kaiba.
The popular monster card was banned for a combination of being too easy to summon and simply doing too much for such an effortless card to bring out at the time. After more than six years of being Forbidden, the card came back to one in 2011. Since then, it has been featured in a few decks but was never the dominating force it once was.
Monster Reborn
Monster Reborn is one of the most iconic cards from the original. Yu-Gi-Oh! series, and it is not hard to see why the iconic card was Forbidden. Even today, Monster Reborn sits at one per deck.
After being Forbidden as early as 2004, there was heavy debate among the community at the time if Monster Reborn would ever come off the banlist. However, the card returned to the Limited list in 2010 after six years. Unlike some older cards, the card has remained eternally useful and has been included in multiple powerful decks throughout the years.
Goyo Guardian
Goyou Guardian is from the powerful Synchro summon type introduced in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds. The card was actually given errata in Japan, but came off the Forbidden list in the English version far before then.
Goyo Guardian’s initial ban was a reasonable one, the card’s ability to steal monsters it destroyed in battle combined with its giant ATK stat made it too much for the game at the time. However, since it came back in July of 2014, the card has not seen much competitive play. The effect has simply become too slow to be properly utilized in the modern game.
Time Seal
Time Seal is a curious card because many players argued it had no real reason to be banned for years and years when cards like Drop Off and Drastic Drop Off existed.
Time Seal is a 1 for 1 trade in card advantage that does not interrupt the opponent’s resources or gameplan any more than it disrupts the users. The card could have been unbanned as early as 2010, so it’s no surprise that it’s seen absolutely no play since it was unbanned in the most recent may 2022 banlist.
Injection Fairy Lily
One of the more baffling bans of all time is one that lasted for only a single format: Injection Fairy Lily. The card allows the user to pay 2000 life points to give the lily 3000 ATK.
Injection Fairy Lily is one of the weakest banned cards of all time, but it was a threat in its day. The card was a solid out to larger monsters, but it certainly was never banworthy. It’s no surprise that after almost immediately being unbanned, the card saw a bit of play before slowly being phased out with power creep.
Raigeki
Released in the game’s very first set, Raigeki is a card with a very simple yet powerful line of text that made it banworthy: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls.
If the game were still like it was before, Raigeki would have been banned forever. However, the amount of destruction negation or cards that have effects when destroyed made Raigeki not as much of a blowout as it was before and the card was removed from the list. Since then, it has been a decent but relatively fair board clear.
Harpie’s Feather Duster
Powerful spells like Harpie’s Feather Duster are part of why people like the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series so much. Simple yet powerful effects that can turn a game on its head are always interesting.
Feather Duster was Limited in September of 2020, and the card has mostly been relegated to a powerful one-off side deck card. While it does not fit in many main decks due to not all decks relying on the back row enough to warrant a spot, the card can still result in complete blowouts and is certainly a competitively viable option for any side deck.
Yata-Garasu
Yata-Garasu is an old Spirit monster with the ability to prevent the opponent from drawing if it deals damage. If the opponent is low enough on resources, Yata had the potential to lock them out of the game forever.
It is not likely in modern Yu-Gi-Oh! that a strategy revolving around a 200 ATK monster that does not generate card advantage and eats the player’s normal summon would work. Yata likely could have come off the Forbidden & Limited list years years, which is why it was no surprise that the card hasn’t seen much action since being Limited in May.
Change of Heart
In 2022, Change of Heart finally came back to the competitive scene more than 15 years after its banning, and the card has surprisingly been a niche inclusion that, when included, has been placed in the side deck. The card simply offers no utility going first, so fitting it in the main deck can make it difficult to combo. It is, however, still a fantastic way to deal with an opponent’s boards when going second.
Snatch Steal
Snatch Steal is one of the strongest spells in the game’s history, banned due to its ability to permanently take control of an opposing monster as long as the opponent gets a meager 1000 life points during the following standby phases.
Snatch Steal was banned in December of 2015 before Konami and all competitive duelists realized the same thing: The card was still completely broken. After a brief window of coming back, the card was once again banished to the Forbidden list. With the Change of Heart experiment in 2022, Konami may test the waters to see if the game is finally ready for Snatch Steal again.
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