What’s going on guys? Paul Clarke here, for my second article! It is approaching the end of July, and you know what that means! The format is coming to an end, and it is about the time of year where people post their ban list predictions all throughout the Internet. On September 1, 2012, not only will a new format begin, but also YCS Toronto, Canada. Now that sure doesn’t leave a lot of time to test the waters of the new format. Last week I talked about the evolution of the March 2012 format. This week I would like to talk about what I think the September 2012 banlist should look like.
After thinking for about an hour, here is the list I came up with:
Forbidden
Monster Reborn
Card Destruction
Pot of Avarice
Future Fusion
Mind Control
Elemental Hero Stratos
Limited
Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
Ultimate Offering
Inzektor Dragonfly
Mystical Space Typhoon
Final Countdown
Hieratic Seal of Convocation
Hieratic Dragon King of Atum
Tribe Infecting Virus
Wind-Up Zenmaity
Tour Guide From the Underworld
Semi-Limited
Book of Moon
Unrestricted
Spore
Destiny Draw
Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
Scapegoat
And now, my reasoning:
Forbidden:
Monster Reborn
Monster Reborn is just too powerful of a spell to be allowed in the game. There are a lot of points in games, where you have a piece of removal set and you are trying to utilize it the best way you can. Say the piece of removal is Bottomless Trap Hole, and you saved it for a powerful card like Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. Then they go and drop Monster Reborn on Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and go for game. There isn’t much you can do when almost every card in each deck revolves around spamming out your whole hand. Hitting one of the most powerful special summon cards in the game will put it in a better direction.
Card Destruction
In my list, I put Book of Moon at 2. That gives the Empty Jar OTK deck a boost. Card Destruction is a big part of that decks win condition, so it would be helpful to ban it. It also slows down the Dark World deck, which most definitely got a big boost
Pot of Avarice
Pot of Avarice has always been a good card. I mean… look at it. Recycle 5 cards and draw 2. One format ago, when Plants were the strongest deck, Pot of Avarice could actually become a +3 or even more thanks to Reborn Tengu. Even now, we have Rescue Rabbit and the Wind-Up loop, so Pot of Avarice is a whole lot more than just a +1. I get angrier and angrier when I don’t see this card on the forbidden list. Hopefully this time around, it will get hit!
Future Fusion
Future Fusion is another card that just has never been too balanced. It is one of the dumbest cards in the game and a lot of players compare it to the likes of a card that I would consider the most powerful in the game, Painful Choice. Whether you are sending 5 Dragons for Five-Headed Dragon, a Malicious and a Treeborn Frog for Absolute Zero, or 20,000 Machines for Chimeratech Overdragon, it just isn’t fair. Not only do you fuel your grave for other plays, but you also get a giant fusion guy in 2 turns if your opponent doesn’t have removal. PRETTY PLEASE, KONAMI!!!! BAN THIS!
Mind Control
As long as synchs and xyzs exist, I don’t think Mind Control should be legal. I think it would be a completely balanced card if it was used for mirror matches, like inzector and gladiator beast, where you can abuse your opponent’s monsters, but with xyz and synchros about, you can literally abuse any monster you take. This card is the best removal right now in the decks that can abuse it. I could easily see this card getting banned.
Elemental Hero Stratos
Stratos has been a problem for way too long by now. Ever since 2007, he has been in a plethora of tier 1 decks. If you think about it, Stratos nets you as much advantage as Pot of Greed. You get to search for whatever HERO monster you want at that point in the game, and you get an 1800 body on the field. Stroatos is also extremely searchable. If you have 3 copies of a Hero Lives, 1 copy of Reinforcement of the Army, and 3 copies of E-Emergency Call in your deck, that makes 8 copies of Elemental Hero Stratos in your deck. That is 1/5 of the cards in your deck! On top of all this, the final E-Hero Attribute fusion is coming out and Hero players can use a Super Polymerization on a hero of theirs, plus any of their opponent’s monsters.
Limited:
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
Both Hieratics and Chaos Dragons can do some real nasty things with this guy. He is a +1 every turn and a 2800 body. Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max is coming out soon and it can easily be abused with this card. This card going to one will definitely slow down these dragon decks.
Ultimate Offering
Xyz are coming out left and right, as well as the new Geargia Monsters. As long as cards like the Gadgets are out, they can easily abuse Ultimate Offering and Xyz monsters. Putting this card at 1 is the right direction.
Inzektor Dragonfly
Now I know Inzektors aren’t that much of a problem right now, but once you factor in my ban lists predictions, Inzektors seem pretty nutty. Now what card would be the right card to hit in this deck? I’m sure you automatically think Inzektor Hornet… but that actually wouldn’t do anything to the deck. As long as Hopper and Ladybug are around, all you have to do is resolve 1 Centipede and you have a hornet. Hopper and Ladybug are anything but the problem as well. Dragonfly is the crazy card in the bunch. It nets you a lot of advantage each turn, and even gets you another copy of itself at the end of the loop. If this card is at one, you can only really loop once. YOLO (You only Loop once)
Mystical Space Typhoon
3 of this + Heavy Storm is EXTREMELY ANNOYING… I cant ever set cards without being scared. If MST goes to 1, players can set one card without being afraid of MST instead of setting multiple cards and being afraid of Heavy Storm.
Final Countdown
Uhh… Two words… Final + Countdown…
Hieratic Seal of Convocation
Because I slowed the format down, but not really Hieratics I figured I should hit the most powerful card in the deck, the search spell. Hieratic is a monster-based deck, and most of the builds I have seen have over 25 monsters. Their win condition is extremely reliant on having multiple Hieratics in hand to make explosive xyz plays and end the game in one turn. Hitting this card and Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon can slow the deck down a bit.
Hieratic Dragon King of Atum
I felt that hitting Hieratic Seal of Convocation was just not enough. I needed to hit something bigger, and Atum was the perfect card. Putting this card to one will probably still make this deck good, but not as explosive, and that is just what I want.
Tribe Infecting Virus
Go ahead and ask anyone if they think Tribe Infecting Virus is busted. I don’t think you will get any YESSIIRREEs. Let’s face it; this card is just not the best. Sure, it is removal, and good removal at that, but it isn’t ban worthy in my opinion. I strongly believe this card should be off the list!
Wind-Up Zenmaity
I hit a lot of decks, but I didn’t really hit the Wind-Up deck. I’m not quite sure if hitting Tour Guide was enough. Wind-Up Zenmaity is not balanced at all so I figured I would hit it to slow down the deck.
Tour Guide From the Underworld
I saved the best for last. Yeah, yeah… I know it just got reprinted… but look at this card. It is an automatic Rank 3 xyz. Rank 3 has proven to be one of the best ranks in the game. With so many options, Tour Guide is a toolbox on a stick. Whether you need 3000 points for game (Acid Golem), or a 2500 beater that can also play around Gorz (Leviathan Dragon), or a 2100 wall that can destroy cards (Zenmaines), or even a Sangan to search whatever you need. Not to mention that Tour Guide can make a bunch more rank 3 plays! This isn’t the only reason Tour Guide is ban-worthy, though. On top of all these factors, Tour Guide almost single-handedly makes both Dino-Rabbit and Wind-Up decks. Think about it. Would you be able to put as much pressure on the board without Tour Guide in Dino-Rabbit? What about in Wind-Ups… Would you be able to loop as consistently? There are no other one-card Zenmaitys in the game! With Tour Guide at 1, players are forced to use more than just Sangan and Tour Guide as their level 3 fiends. More suboptimal cards like Dark Mimic LV3 and Tour Bus from the Underworld will need to be added to the deck to make Tour Guide work.
Semi-Limited:
I don’t really like semi-limiting things. I believe that limitation is mostly for cards like Destiny Hero – Malicious and Reborn Tengu, which require multiple copies in deck to be good.
Book of Moon
Even with the loss of priority, Book of Moon didn’t do too much this format. A lot of players I talk to even considered dropping it from their deck completely. Although it is a great and versatile card, I could see this card going to 2 or 3 in the September 2012 forbidden list.
Unrestricted:
Spore
I really don’t understand why they banned the plant engine. Tour Guide was the sole-reason Plants were a deck. Regardless, Tour Guide is now limited on my list, and Glow-Up Bulb will remain banned. There isn’t much to say about this card. Its effect can only be used once per duel… so putting it at anything but 0 or 3 wouldn’t make any sense at all.
Destiny Draw
With Stratos banned, the Destiny Hero engine loses a lot of power. Destiny Draw can easily go back to 3 as long as Stratos is banned. Hell, it could probably even go back to 3 if Stratos was not hit.
Neo-Spacian Grand Mole
This card doesn’t make much sense at one to me. It is hardly run, and a pretty balanced card at the moment. Any card that is an answer to xyz monsters is a good card in my eyes.
Scapegoat
Scapegoat isn’t too busted at the moment. I like the fact that is a defensive card that can be abused by tuners. It gives the card versatility, which I always like to see in cards. I can’t really see this card at one, and I’m sure you know my thoughts on semi-limitation… so that would leave me putting this to three.
Because I hit so many top decks in the format, I think a few decks and single cards will become a lot better. For example, there aren’t as many power normal summons any more with Tour Guide out of the way. This makes Card Car D a lot better. Another example would be Rabbit, Hieratic, and Heroes slowing down. This not only makes Jurrac Guaiba a lot better, but possibly even staple in every deck. Its 1700 attack points used to be too little to combat cards like the strong Heroes, Hieratics, and Dinosaurs, but now they are all gone for the most part. This will possibly make it better than ever. As for decks that become better, Rabbit may still be a deck, as well as Gravekeeper and Dark World..
And that’s it! This is the list I came up with. If you don’t agree with any of my choices, or my reasoning, or you think I missed something, please leave a comment and let me know! Until next time, play hard or go home!
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