Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: September 2023 Banlist Analysis

As it was expected from a good majority of players, the forbidden and limited list of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards was updated again, and will be legal from September 25th onwards!

This new banlist counts with a much smaller number of cards compared to what was expected, but it is set to impact the game considerably, once it heavily hit one of the main decks of the year so far.

Check out below all changes brought by this banlist to Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG's new format.

The only "forbidden" inclusion in this new banlist was expected by many, as Kashtira Arise-Heart is one of the most oppressive boss monsters in the game, and, besides that, its deck was at the top of the meta for a few months now.

Despite Kashtira falling down in popularity after the release of Duelist Nexus, the deck was still very relevant in the format, and its presence in the metagame made several strategies unplayable due to its mechanic. I see this ban as something quite beneficial to the new format.

Bystial Magnamhut's limited status was something most players predicted for this banlist. The reason is that this card is reasonably relevant in the Dragon Link deck, in which it becomes a "rota" card for Dragon-type monsters.

Besides that, "Magna" is an extremely versatile card. Ever since it was released, it has been used as a staple, performing in many decks as a handtrap which, aside from interacting, places a body on board and can add another Bystial to your hand.

Chaos Space's limited status is another hit to Dragon Link, directly affecting the deck's consistency, which was rising in popularity in the format.

Now, the "Chaos" engine used in the deck has been greatly impacted, as it is almost completely limited. I believe the World's title heavily influenced this decision, even though that event happened on an entirely different banlist than ours.

Herald of Orange Light is a decision based on the period Tearlaments dominated Yu-Gi-Oh!TCG's metagame. I see its release as a natural return, with no bigger issues, considering the "Ishizu" engine is quite reduced due to the limitation of all "millers" and "shufflers".

Limited since 2020, Salamangreat Gazelle is an essential piece to the Salamangreat deck, and will certainly increase its consistency. Despite the release of new support cards, and despite it now being able to access its full strength as there are no other cards from this archetype in the banlist, this deck will probably not be a high-tier competitor in the format, as the trend is for other decks to use techs to win against Unchained, this way affecting Salamangreat as well.

Despite the metagame being more balanced after the release of Duelist Nexus, the expectation for this banlist was for it to kill older decks, so there is more space for new releases, besides removing from the game cards considered unfair. However, changes were quite below what was expected, and, even then, were still quite impactful.

Kashtira, which was given only one ban in this banlist, loses its boss monster and also its Tier 1 status. However, Kashtira Fenrir will most likely be present in decks as a staple, due to its versatility.

As for Dragon Link, another deck affected by this banlist, it should go down in popularity due to the hits it got, but it doesn't fall as far down as Kashtira, and can even remain as a Tier 2 deck despite how its consistency was affected.

I believe Unchained and Purrely will be the main decks in the next format, but I also see potential in Chimera and Spright. Besides that, I believe Floowandereeze can return to the meta, as it has a good matchup against Unchained.

I consider this banlist mediocre once again, because, despite bringing good hits, it was extremely small. This way, once again, Konami missed the opportunity to remove from the game cards which impact the format negatively, such as floodgates and Pseudo-FTK's.

But what about you? What did you think of the banlist? Did you miss any cards? Leave your opinion in the comment section.

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