by Martin Weiss

Since February 8, 2016, players of the YU-GI-OH! Trading Card Game utilized decks that followed the November 9, 2015 forbidden/limited list with six adjustments to the list. The six adjustments included:

-Performapal Damage Juggler – Forbidden
-Performapal Plushfire – Forbidden
-Tellarknight Ptolemeus – Forbidden
-Performapal Skullcrobat Joker – Limited
-Performapal Monkeyboard – Limited
-Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer – Limited

On Friday, April 8, 2016, Konami announced that there would be changes to the forbidden/limited list, effective Monday, April 11, 2016 www.yugioh-card.com/en/limited/index.html. The six cards mentioned above will not be affected by the new changes. The cards affected by the April 11, 2016 forbidden/limited list are as follows:

Chicken Game – Forbidden
The player with the lowest LP takes no damage. Once per turn, during the Main Phase, the turn player can pay 1000 LP, then activate one of these effects:
-Draw 1 card
-Destroy this card
-Your opponent gains 1000 LP

(Neither player can activate cards or effects in response to this activation.)

When Chicken Game was released as part of Class of Rebellions in 2015, many players saw that it had potential in Magical Explosion variants. About a month after the card was released, Magical Explosion decks did not see significant tournament play and Chicken Game was not heavily considered in decks. In January 2016, the Emperor of Darkness Structure deck was released, providing a Monarch engine to the Magical Explosion-Life Equalizer deck. With the Monarch engine, Chicken Game became a widely used card that allowed Magical Explosion-Life Equalizer decks to FTK/OTK. Without Chicken Game, it would be difficult to use Life Equalizer because it requires the difference in both players’ life points to be 8000.

Wavering Eyes – Forbidden
Destroy as many cards in each player’s Pendulum Zones as possible, then apply these effects, in sequence, depending on the number of cards destroyed:

-1 or more: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent
-2 or more: You can add 1 Pendulum Monster from your Main Deck to your hand
-3 or more: You can banish 1 card on the field
-4 or more: You can add 1 “Wavering Eyes” from your Deck to your hand

Players have wanted Wavering Eyes to become a forbidden card since the Magician Pendulum deck utilized it. Wavering Eyes allowed the player with an advantage/disadvantage in the duel to obtain a bigger advantage, or to allow the player to get back into the duel by destroying his own Pendulum scales or those of his opponent. Without Wavering Eyes, players would have to use cards such as Twin Twisters and Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy cards in the opponent’s Pendulum scale.

Wisdom-Eye Magician – Limited
Pendulum Effect:
If you have a “Magician” or “Performapal” card in your other Pendulum Zone, you can destroy this card. If you do, place one “Magician” Pendulum Monster from your Deck in your Pendulum Zone, except “Wisdom-Eye Magician.”

Monster Effect:
You can discard this card, then target one card in your Pendulum Zone, whose current Pendulum Scale is different from its original Pendulum Scale. Its Pendulum Scale becomes its original Pendulum Scale until the end of this turn.

Players were confused to see Wisdom-Eye Magician on the new forbidden/limited list as a limited card, because Magician Pendulum decks were not seeing as much play in January/February/March 2016 as they did in December 2016. It was used in the Magician Pendulum deck to place another monster from the deck in the Pendulum zone. This would allow the Magician Pendulum player to summon multiple monsters from the hand and/or Extra Deck to the field.

Elder Entity Norden – Limited
1 Synchro or Xyz Monster + 1 Synchro or Xyz Monster. When this card is Special Summoned, you can target one Level 4 (or lower) monster in your Graveyard. You can Special Summon it, but its effects are negated. Also, banish it when this card leaves the field.

This was not a surprise to players. Instant Fusion was a widely used card in tournaments to utilize the effect of Elder Entity Norden, which helped set up the field for that player.

Thousand-Eyes Restrict – Limited
“Relinquished” + “Thousand-Eyes Idol.” Other monsters cannot change their battle position or attack. Once per turn, you can equip one monster your opponent controls with this card (max 1). This card’s ATK and DEF become the same as the equipped monster’s. If this card is destroyed in battle, the equipped monster is destroyed instead.

This is the first time in approximately ten years that Thousand-Eyes Restrict is legal for advanced constructed tournaments. In 2005, it was summoned by Metamorphosis, a card that is currently banned from the forbidden/limited list. It is not yet known if it will see a lot of tournament play in the upcoming format.

Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer – Limited
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Pendulum Monsters. Once per turn, you can target one Pendulum Monster on the field or one card in the Pendulum Zone. If you destroy it, shuffle one card on the field into the Deck. Once per turn, you can Special Summon one “Dracoslayer” monster from your Deck in Defense Position, but it cannot be used as Synchro Material for a Summon.

During the November 9, 2015 format (with the February 8, 2016 forbidden/limited list in effect), Dracopal decks were able to Synchro summon this card multiple times during the same turn and create field presence. With this card as a limited card, it limits the field presence that can be created by its special summoning effect.

Draco Face-Off – Limited
Reveal 1 “Dracoslayer” Pendulum Monster and 1 “Dracoverlord” Pendulum Monster from your Deck. Then, your opponent randomly picks one of them for you to place in your Pendulum Zone or to Special Summon (your choice), after which you add the other card to your Extra Deck face-up. You can only activate one “Draco Face-Off” per turn.

Originally, this card could start the field presence of a Dracopal deck, but since it was a limited card, Dracopal players found it difficult to draw and utilize during a duel.

Reasoning – Limited
Your opponent declares a monster Level. Excavate cards from the top of your Deck until you excavate a monster that can be Normal Summoned/Set. If that monster is the same Level as the one declared by your opponent, send all excavated cards to the Graveyard. If not, Special Summon the excavated monster and send the remaining cards to the Graveyard.Kozmo, Infernoid, and even Monarch decks utilized this card to create field presence and to set up the graveyard. With only one copy of Reasoning per deck, players have to know the best time to activate the card during the duel.

Upstart Goblin – Limited
Draw one card, then your opponent gains 1000 Life Points.

Upstart Goblin was a crucial card in the Magical Explosion-Life Equalizer deck. The difference in both players’ life points has to be 8000 or more to activate Life Equalizer. To do so, multiple copies of Chicken Game/Pseudo Space and Upstart Goblin have to be activated to create a difference in life points. It would be difficult to use a Magical Explosion-Life Equalizer deck with only one Upstart Goblin.

Debris Dragon – Semi-Limited

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can target one monster with 500 or less ATK in your Graveyard, or Special Summon that target in Attack Position; however, its effects are negated. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material, except for the Synchro Summon of a Dragon-Type monster. The other Synchro Material(s) cannot be Level 4.

In 2010 and 2011, there were different Plant variants that utilized Debris Dragon. The monster that would usually be Special Summoned by this card was Dandylion. There would be tokens summoned to the field when Dandylion was used as a non-Tuner or when Debris Dragon was used as a Tuner for a Synchro Summon. This will be the first time in a few years that this card is semi-limited.

Allure of Darkness – Semi-Limited
Draw two cards, then banish one DARK monster from your hand, or, if you do not have any in your hand, send your entire hand to the Graveyard.

Once a critical-draw power-spell card in dark attribute decks, Allure of Darkness was utilized as a semi-limited card until 2010 in Gravekeeper, Blackwing, and Dark Armed Dragon decks. This will be the first time since 2010 that Allure of Darkness is a semi-limited card.

Emergency Teleport – Semi-Limited

Special Summon one Level 3 or lower Psychic-Type monster from your hand or Deck, but banish it during the End Phase of this turn.

Many players speculated that Emergency Teleport would be affected by the newest forbidden/limited list. It created OTK opportunities for decks such as Kozmo.

Dark Magician of Chaos – No longer on the list

During the End Phase, if this card is Normal or Special Summoned during a turn, you can target one Spell Card in your Graveyard and add it to your hand. You can only use the Dark Magician of Chaos effect once per turn. If this card destroys an opponent’s monster in battle, after damage calculation you can banish that opponent’s monster. If this face-up card leaves the field, banish it instead.

Before the errata, Dark Magician of Chaos allowed players to add one spell card from their graveyard to their hand when Normal Summoned or Special Summoned (this was not a once-per turn-effect). With a powerful effect, Dark Magician of Chaos became a forbidden card in September 2008. The April 11, 2016 forbidden/limited list will be the first time in about eight years that players can use Dark Magician of Chaos in their deck, this time with errata.

Tragoedia – No longer on the list
When you take battle damage, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. This card gains 600 ATK and DEF for each card in your hand. Once per turn, you can send one monster from your hand to the Graveyard. Then, target one of your opponent’s face-up monsters with the same Level as your sent monster, and take control of it. Also, once per turn you can target one monster in your Graveyard. This card’s Level becomes the same as the target’s until the end of the turn.

It has been a few years since Tragoedia was an unlimited card on the forbidden/limited list. It was used in decks such as Lightsworn to create field presence, and retained a high ATK and DEF if there were four or more cards in-hand.

Advanced Ritual Art – No longer on the list
This card can be used to Ritual Summon any one Ritual Monster. You must also send to the Graveyard any Normal Monster from your Deck whose total Level equals that of the Ritual Monster.

While it was an unlimited card on the forbidden/limited list, Advanced Ritual Art was utilized in Demise OTK decks (for Demise, King of Armageddon) and Perfect Herald decks (for Herald of Perfection). With Advanced Ritual Art as an unlimited card on the forbidden/limited list, players can again consider playing Demise OTK decks or Perfect Herald decks.

Crush Card Virus – No longer on the list
Tribute one DARK monster with 1000 or less ATK. After this card resolves, your opponent takes no damage until the end of the next turn. Also, you can look at your opponent’s hand and all the monsters he controls. If you do, destroy the monsters among them with 1500 or more ATK. Then your opponent can destroy up to three monsters with 1500 or more ATK in his Deck.

When Crush Card Virus was released through the Gold Series in 2008, it was a limited card on the forbidden/limited list (pre-errata). Due to the powerful effect of Crush Card Virus pre-errata, it became a forbidden card in September 2009. In March 2015, Crush Card Virus was released—with its errata—in Premium Gold: Return of the Bling. In April 2015, it became a forbidden card on the forbidden/limited list. Since March 2008, it is perhaps the first time that Crush Card Virus is an unlimited card on the forbidden/limited list.

After the release of February’s adjusted forbidden/limited list, the top decks in tournament play were Dracopal, Kozmo, and Monarch. With the April 11, 2016 forbidden/limited list, players are predicting that Kozmo, Monarch, and Burning Abyss to be among the top decks in tournament play.

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