I’ll just go through them in the usual boring order. It is available here if you somehow haven’t already seen it.

FORBIDDEN
The Big Dragons
This is likely due to the new dark – matter dragon soon to be released. Not too much to say about this, just that Konami thought these cards have been around too long and are too powerful, especially in combination with the new release. Although they don’t make much of a deck by themselves, it is worth remembering what Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls did for Mermails, for example.

Snatch Steal
It had a trial run, and didn’t make it. All it does is ‘steal’ games (pardon the pun), it doesn’t create plays other than randomly swinging for damage, so I can see why this has been banned again.

LIMITED
In this section, I’ll look at the cards that received heavy errata, the floodgates, and then the one-off limitations.

Cards with Errata
The followed formerly Forbidden cards Sinister Serpent, Ring of Destruction, Exchange of the Spirits, and Temple of the Kings all received errata to return to the playable side of the F/L list.

Sinister Serpent
I can’t see this doing much. A free plus one once every other turn in the form of a level 1 monster is perhaps better available in the form of Volcanic Shell. It might find a home in Mermails, but other than that I’d be surprised if it’s played at all. Having said that, it is completely beyond me why there is no once per turn clause on it, so it may be possible to loop it somehow, although it would have to be done in the Standby Phase, which is quite restrictive.

Ring of Destruction
I can only see this being played as a compliment to trap heavy decks (including Burn decks of course), as I don’t think it is powerful enough spot removal to play for the sake of it, so without the ability to randomly kill people, I wouldn’t go out of my way to include it. I can see this card going the same way as Raigeki, ie initial reactions being, “OMG it’s so busted,” and then it slowly decreasing in play to only be played if the format calls for it.

Exchange of the Spirit and Temple of the Kings
Both have received errata sufficiently to make them not broken. Temple might see use in some amusing decks I suppose, to summon random large fusion monsters, and Exchange might see some niche use, but its heavy activation requirement will likely mean it sees no play at all.

Crush Card Virus
This seems quite strong, although decks other than Burning abyss and Hero will have to go a long way out of their way to include it. It would have been fairly risky to play had Dragons still been around, and it is worth noting that some other decks may benefit from sending three, but that probably won’t be enough to stop people from playing it. Although, it does seem fairly hit and miss. This change is definitely not one that I like.

Floodgate Limits
Vanity’s Emptiness and Skill Drain. I think they both should have gone to 0. I very much dislike cards which can only be drawn being at 1, as it just gives an unfair advantage to the player who draws them. Having said that, I am happy that they have been pushed this far, as cards like these which simply cannot be played around and can only be answered with specific outs do not make the game fun or fair.

Saqlifice
I don’t really get this one. Saqlifice doesn’t give you that much for opening it and is searchable anyway, so I don’t see this doing much.

Preparation of Rites
Another one I don’t really get, I think it should either be at 3 or 0, as it just gives a player an unfair advantage when they randomly draw it.

Dragon Ravine
This seems reasonable given the banning of the dragons, so people can try Dragunity again. I can see this going to 3 on the next banlist.

Symbol of Heritage
Good riddance. This card is exclusively used in to be searched by power tool dragon in FTK decks, and putting it to 1 stops this. Thumbs up to Konami for bothering to do this.

Tour Guide From the Underworld
This puts a necessary damper on Burning Abyss, given the unbanning of CCV. You are now less likely to open it, and only get to use once per game, although I still think burning abyss will remain a top deck.

SEMI-LIMITED

Nekroz of Brionac and Qliphort Scout
I am lumping these together as they both irritate me equally. It irritates me when Konami hit the consistency of a deck rather than the power, as it makes games more about the cards you draw rather than the ones you play. However, semi-limiting scout will have the additional impact of meaning you can only go through 2 in a game, so it wouldn’t surprise me if either Rescue Hamster or Qlimate Change began being teched.

Sacred Sword of Seven Stars
With the dragons gone, this doesn’t really do much; I Sesurprised it hasn’t gone to 3.

Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En
This will do nothing at all.

Charge of the Light Brigade
With the banning of the Elemental Dragons, I’d be surprised if Lightsworns regained any popularity as their own deck, but they now become slightly better as an extra engine in any deck, as three free mills is normally pretty useful.

With the exception of Spirit, which may push Fire Fist back on to the scene again, the rest of these changes won’t really do much. Hieratics might look like fun at first glance, but I can’t see an OTK deck thriving in a format with Nekroz floating around.

Closing thoughts
I think this list will leave B.A. and Nekroz at the top of the pile. Other decks that might be seen around would be tella, Qli, Fire Fist and Hero still. It will be fun to see how the newly errated and unbanned cards affect the format, although outside of CCV I can’t see them having much impact.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Paine is a Math major at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Tom has been a member of United Gosus since 2014, as a Player Intern. For more information about Tom, check out his profile here: http://www.unitedgosus.com/people/tom-paine/