Yu-Gi-Oh!: 12 cards that could leave the banlist in 2023

Due to the increase in power creep in Yu-Gi-Oh, cards that previously ended up on the banlist for unbalancing the Metagame could perhaps return to the current game without causing major problems, as their impact will not be the same as before.

Thus, this article aims to list 12 cards that could return to the game or even be completely released from the banlist!

Currently Forbidden

“Blaster”, like other Dragon Ruler, is banned due to the period in which the deck was a tier 0. I believe that its return to the game limited to 1 copy would be very interesting, even more due to the Duelists of Explosion that will be released in August, and will support fire-focused decks.

In this way, "Blaster" would be more of a boost for these decks, functioning as a removal with its effect of destroying a card and also as an extender by Special Summoning itself from the hand or Graveyard.

Out of the game since the January 2020 banlist, which ended the "eternal format", Orcust Harp Horror is yet another card that could come back from the banlist at least 1 copy.

At the time of its ban, Orcust was one of the most dominant decks in the Metagame, however, since then, in addition to the banlist, the deck has suffered due to power creep and nowadays, it has no relevance in the competitive scenario.

Thus, the return of “Harp” to the game would give the deck a boost by improving its consistency, but it would not be enough for the deck to break the Metagame.

Ronintoadin was a rather unexpected ban and a clear hit on Spright, but it affected all decks that use the “Frog” engine.

I believe that its return would not be problematic, because despite being a reinforcement for Spright, we know that the deck will soon lose other cards in future banlists, and even if it doesn't, without Spright Elf which is banned, the Frog engine is no longer 1 card combo for Spright. Thus, I believe that its return would only strengthen decks like Frog Paleozoic and other rogues that can use this engine.

Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty was banned because the card was able to summon the Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds. It was easy access to an extremely anti-game win condition, which worked as a “pseudo FTK”.

In this way, since the Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds is banned, I believe that the return of “Simorgh” is a good reinforcement for Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade, which has the potential to show up in the Metagame if it receives a good support.

Keeping Heavy Storm banned pleases only control players, who are saddened by the possibility of having yet another backrow removal capable of dealing with several cards at once.

However, since the Heavy Storm works as a worse Harpie's Feather Duster (which is limited), by also destroying the spells and traps of the player who activated it, I believe that its return to 1 copy is more than fair.

Currently Limited

Blackwing - Steam the Cloak is one of several Tuner monsters that was banned due to the existence of Crystron Halqifibrax. And the same banlist that banned “Halq”, brought “Steam the Cloak” back to the game at 1 copy, however, since then, the card has not seen play, that is, there is no longer the need to keep it on the list, and could easily be released at 3 copies again.

Cyber Jar is that type of card that is seemingly strong, but in practice it is not that good. Despite having the effect of destroying all monsters on the field, Special Summoning revealed monsters from the top of the deck, and adding the other revealed cards to the hand, the fact that it is a “Flip” monster makes the card practically unfeasible for the current competitive games, since to use it consistently, it would be necessary to build a deck totally focused on it, which would be quite slow nowadays.

Salamangreat was another of the dominant decks in the “eternal format” and Salamangreat Gazelle, one of its main cards, has been limited to 1 copy since January 2020.

Since last year, other cards from the deck are leaving the banlist, due to this and also to the support that the archetype will receive in Duelists of Explosion, it is expected that "Gazelle" will be released to at least 2 copies, and depending on the level of the new supports, the deck will be able to return to the Metagame.

Ancient Fairy Dragon returned to 1 copy in the last banlist and despite being strong, it is a balanced card due to the errata it was submitted to. I believe it's a matter of time before it's used again in the meta; however, I don't see a problem with completely removing it from the banlist, since its errata made its effect more fair.

Spellbook of Judgment is one of those cards that, for a long time, was believed to never be off the banlist. However, it recently returned to the game, limited to 1 copy and simply had no relevance.

I believe that its release at 3 copies is a matter of time, and I wouldn't bet on a possible return of its deck to the competitive game.

Currently Semi-Limited

Lyrilusc - Recital Starling was rightly limited at the time Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade was meta, and recently, it was semi-limited to give the deck a boost, in practice, although the deck regained a lot of strength, it wasn't enough to return to the Metagame. In addition, "Starling" is a card that has always been used only 2 copies in your deck, so there is no need to keep it on the banlist, since this hit makes no difference to the game.

Pot of Desires's semi-limitation is a hit in the consistency of several decks and for many, the card should not even be present on the banlist, due to its high cost of banishing 10 cards from the top of the deck.

Like other cards, I believe this one will be fully released in the future, since despite being a very strong card, there is a risk in using it, and besides, if there is a “Pot” that unbalances the Yu-Gi-Oh!, it is Pot of Prosperity.

What did you think of the list? Did you miss any important cards? Tell here in the comments.

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