by Forbidden Predictions
Today’s meta seems very obscure. With some players enjoying the rush nullifying fields and endless traps, the other handful loathes that the current outlook of unfair archetypes ruins their experience. The pressure of drawing an out seems like the only viable solution against most decks in this format. However, with a few suggestions and modifications, this could become a fun experience for players thinking the current game is unfair.
The four best-played decks are Branded-Despia, Kashtira, Labrynth, and Spright (along with variants like Runick or Live-Twins). Most of the decks, besides Spright to some degree, have some sort of mechanic that makes it incredibly hard to play against especially going second. I’ll first be going over each of these archetypes and what cards are needed to be Forbidden for equal and fair play.
Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker – Unicorn nor Fenrir, despite their usefulness and absurdity when paired on the field, won’t get banned anytime soon. They make Konami way too much money on the market. Number 89 is a match made in heaven for Kashtira. You can easily lock several zones on your opponent’s turn and mill cards which, in a mirror match, can easily decimate your opponent. The fact that you can look at your opponent’s Extra Deck and banish them makes it hard to play with decks that can only play one-ofs of crucial Extra Monsters (a great example is Marincess). It’s bizarre that this deck fits perfectly with Kashtira’s ability to get several Lvl7s on the field. However, even if you Forbid this card from play, you don’t take away from Kashtira’s already strong combos and just relinquish another play for it to get ahead when it clearly doesn’t need help.
Eradicator Epidemic Virus – A tough choice between this and Dogmatika Punishment, but at least with the ladder, you can come back given the right cards. Epidemic Virus is a must-have and arguably a priority card in all Labrynth decks. Because you can easily get several Labrynth monsters with 2500 ATK on the Field, the card Virus is also easy to snatch. The thing about most of these high-tier decks is that, like Labrynth, they’re already great on their own but paired with cards like these, they’re in an entirely different class, like they were made with these cards in mind. If the card is utilized quite literally in only one specific deck, then there’s probably something wrong.
Branded Expulsion – This is a card that I feel most players can agree needs to be Forbidden from play. While you could Limit its usual play carriers like Ra’s Disciple, Ido the Supreme Magical Force, or Gimmick Puppet Nightmare, I’m sure the card will find another carrier to use for its mishaps. There are just too many different cards (like the wide expanse of Barriers) that could result in this card being misused in the long term. It’s just a card that allows the player a free summon negation without any drawbacks. The good thing about this is that Branded-Despia doesn’t need Expulsion to thrive and could make players more resource-conscious about their plays. This card and monsters like Number 89 don’t require skill and should be Forbidden for unique plays to be made.
Limited
Spright Starter (1) – With Sprights just recently conquering a YCS, banishing Spright Elf did nothing to this powerhouse. It can still get multiple negates on the field, and paired with archetypes like Runick, Live-Twin, etc., it can be especially easy for it to go into incredible plays. One card, however, carries this deck to an incredible level and needs to be Limited, that card being Spright Starter. The fact that it’s a Quick-Play Spell means that drawing two could be used on both that and the next opponent’s turn. Even playing around with hand traps and negates on your opponent’s turn is almost non-threatening, as you have the entire deck at your disposal if a favorable Spright card leaves your field. It can stay consistent with a powerful deck if left at one.
Kashtira Birth (1) – I already hit Kashtira once on this list, but it’s too easy to come back at it again. Birth allows you to make some incredible plays like Normal Summoning another Kashtira after Special Summoning one right before, then Special Summoning another right after. The card, in my opinion, should be retrieved from the Banish Zone like Kashtira’s Trap Cards and shouldn’t have the opportunity to be drawn on multiple times. This makes the player think before they act since this card could easily win games by generating an overwhelming advantage of Unicorn + Kashtiratheosis plays. Some players may consider Limiting Unicorn for that reason, but the deck is already hard to draw into good starters, so I don’t believe it would do much good.
Dimensional Barrier (1) – Now, while I do agree that at a time during the meta, this was an incredibly great card to use, now, with most decks specializing over Fusions, XYZs, and Synchros, is just a turn-skip if drawn and leaves the person its played against with nothing to do. While some of my colleagues argued it should be banned, I opined that it should instead be set at one – Given the same treatment as Harpie’s Feather Duster, basically, an incredibly defunct card that is a can-do-all but shouldn’t be easily accessible at a three-per-deck.
Naturia Sacred Tree (1) – The card sees two many plays on one turn and is abused for its lack of consumption and free set-up. Couldn’t remember the last time seeing this card being used as an actual Trap Card and not just a free searcher, which means that there’s something positively wrong here. While you could hit Naturia Mole Cricket, that would lead to the deck is unable to obtain viable Monster cards from the deck, which is its whole appeal. If you draw into a card like Mole Cricket, fine, but being able to obtain it and another card due to Sacred Tree being sent to the Graveyard should not be used multiple times.
Water Enchantress of the Temple/Rite or Aramesir (2, each) – The consistency of this card is insane, which one could tell with its use in both decks like Spright and Kashtira. Players will try to find ways to play this because it’s simply just too good of an engine to pass up, basically getting a free negate and card destruction on the field for the price of a one-card set-up. Setting each card to two would create a decent ratio of 5/3, with four cards than the usual cards you wouldn’t want to see, like Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon, and/or Wandering Gryphon Rider.
Skill Drain (2) – Skill Drain is a card I’ve seen as a mid-late game tactic used by both Labrynth and Eldlich, but more so the former. Because it’s already guaranteed in most floodgates, it’s time to encourage some interesting, alternative plays with Trap Card-reliant decks.
Releases
Brilliant Fusion (1) – With cards like Branded Fusion, the Gem-Knight archetype isn’t as powerful as it used to be. First, Branded Fusion can be sent from the hand, and if Brilliant Fusion is drawn into it, it’s practically useless anyway. With Block Dragon being Forbidden, its OTK plays with Brilliant Diamond aren’t possible, so being burned with over 8K DMG is not a fear for the gems. It only makes sense to add this back after the new support it’s gotten, and even though it has some opportunities for FTK – Decks like Kashtira have the opportunity to lock all your zones, so I don’t think anyone is safe in regards to turn-knockouts.
Speedroid Terrortop (3) – M-X-Saber Invoker and Zoodiac are no longer relevant and an easy way to increase play for Gold Pride (hince Chariot Carrie plays) and Level-3 decks altogether. Though other decks like Burning Abyss can abuse it, I still think it’s up for discussion solely for Gold Pride.
Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole (2) – It’s been a long time since Sky Striker Orcust was relevant, and you don’t see them doing much since they basically nerfed themselves. Strikers are a Rogue Deck and should be able to see more play.
Pot of Desires (3) – I find it bizarre that Pot of Prosperity is played at three while Desires is set at two. Prosperity is the father of Duality, but Desires takes a greater hit to the deck, meaning that only decks with 10-15 important cards would utilize it. Prosperity is incredibly expensive anyway, so making Pot of Desires, three would make people happy, in my opinion, as it’s sometimes played at two anyway. Still, three could be viable if you need the extra draw power.