My Thoughts on the Official March 2012 Banlist

The official banlist in the OCG has been released. This means the TCG will get their list very soon, even though it will likely be an exact duplicate of the OCG list. The list is posted below, and I will explain my thoughts about each card.

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Forbidden:


Glow-Up Bulb
Spore
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Trap Dustshoot

Limited:

The Agent of Mystery - Earth
T.G. Striker

Semi-Limited:

Marshmallon
Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
Emergency Teleport
Shien's Smoke Signal
Level Limit - Area B
Torrential Tribute
Ultimate Offering
Reborn Tengu* (The asterisk means that Tengu hasn't been released in the OCG, but will be shortly)
Unlimited:

Call of the Haunted

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First of all, the removal of Bulb and Spore is terribly upsetting. The Plant engine has been my favorite since Quickdraw Dandywarrior. This engine has now been crippled... I will despise Konami forever.

Removing Trishula was a good call in my opinion. It's one of the most dangerous staple synchro monsters in the game.

Reomving Dustshoot is one of the better things about this list. Dustshoot revealed too much information and potentially breaks hands whenever activated, especially first-turn.

Limiting Striker and Earth isn't terrible. Their respective decks are still viable options for next format. It just gives two extra spaces for tech.

Level Limit Area B and Marshmallon at 2 give stall decks a little bit of a push. Marshmallon in particular can assist Chain Burn, while exceed monsters can still attack under level Limit...

Lumina to 2 will give Lightsworns a little push. The deck definitely becomes a little bit, but it's still a luck-based deck for the most part.

Teleport to 2 is a curious choice, a choice that I kinda like. I already have some deck ideas because of this...

Smoke Signal to 2 is kinda stupid. Samurais have just become popular again in Mexico, and at some Regionals. Now the deck becomes tier 1 again or very close to that.

Tengu 2 is a good choice, because it's a retarded floater. I probably won't be playing Tengu at 2.

Ultimate Offering at 2 is another good call. Offering Gadgets is a crazy deck in the OCG, and putting Offering to 2 will calm it a little. It's definitely still playable.

Torrential to 2 is very strange. Most scary cards like this, along with Mirror Force, Dark Hole, and Heavy Storm are at 1 because they can destroy lots of cards. They are scary... Putting Torrential to 2 will cause players to be a little more careful, which is good, but scary.

Finally, COTH to 3... It's hilarious. It will be played freqently, because 4 Monster Reborns, 3 of them being chainable, is really good. That is all...

This banlist is Konami's way of forcing players to play exceed monsters, since Rabbit, Wind-Ups and Inzektors didn't get hit at all. Konami wants to sell their newer products, so hitting a lot of good tuners will force some players to do this. Overall I don't like this list. In this upcoming format, for the most part, the best players will all be maining 2-3 Veiler, 2-3 Maxx "C", 2-3 Fiendish Chain, and 2 Torrential as staples. Looks like next format will be just as sacky as it is now. Enjoy...