Banlist Analysis: How to end Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Tier 0 format?

Since November of last year, we have been living in a tier 0 format in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, which has Tearlaments Ishizu as the best deck by a wide margin. However, the last banlist had little effect on the deck, and now we hope that this will happen at the next opportunity.

In early February, the Photon Hypernova set will launch, and among other cards, it will support the Kashtira archetype, which has potential to enter the meta, but will only have a real impact on the game if Tearlaments is nerfed. Therefore, most of us players believe that the banlist is closer than ever.

Check below my guesses about the next Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG! banlist.

The first card on my list is not part of Tearlaments Ishizu, but its main rival at the current time of the game, Floowandereeze, in addition to being able to be used in the aforementioned Kashtira.

Although it seems contradictory to weaken the biggest rivals of the tier 0 deck, banning the Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds will be beneficial to the game, as it is a very problematic card, which prevents players from performing free Special Summons.

Furthermore, if the banlist plays its role of weakening Tearlaments well, other decks will grow in performance, and the presence of this floodgate in the format would be more harmful to them than it has been to the “common enemy” of the Metagame.

The first casualty in Tearlaments that I propose is the banning of Instant Fusion, which has been limited for a few years because it was already problematic in previous formats and should have been forbidden in the last banlist.

This time, the problem lies in the fact that it is a generic card that accesses the best card in the main deck of the format: Tearlaments Kitkallos. And from this single card, it is possible to start the entire combo of the deck.

Triple Tactics Talent is yet another generic card used in Tearlaments Ishizu, and even worse because it's much more generic and has 3 different effects, which happen to be the same as other cards that are banned and/or limited.

This is a card that has been destined for the banlist since its release, due to how absurd it is, and I believe that time is coming soon.

The “Ishizu” cards are here to open the list of limited cards and this is because they are very strong, so much so that since their launch, they are the most present engine in the Metagame. In addition to being responsible for keeping Tearlaments as a tier 0.

Particularly, I believe that the "shuffler's" are the most problematic, since most decks depend on cards that are in the graveyard to play, and they can deal with 3 cards at once. But to help decrease the consistency of Tearlaments Ishizu, it is necessary that the "miller's" are also reduced.

Among all the Tearlaments monsters in the main deck, Tearlaments Havnis is certainly the most dangerous for opponents, as due to its effect, it works as a handtrap and allows the player to perform his fusions during the opponent's turn.

It is certain that its limitation will reduce the frequency with which the deck interrupts the opponent's turn, in addition to reducing the number of "Tearlas" that can go to the graveyard during the "mills".

Tearlaments Kitkallos is simply the best card in the deck. You can add or send to the graveyard any card of the archetype directly from the deck, and through its second effect, you access a “mill 8” combo. Furthermore, it is the only specific fusion material for summoning Tearlaments Rulkallos.

This card's limitation may seem strange at first glance, as most players are only using 1 copy of it in their extra deck. However, with the arrival of Kashtira in the Metagame, this unique “Kitkallos” can be banished face-down via the effect of Kashtira Unicorn or Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker. Thus, limiting it will weaken the deck and make it more vulnerable to Kashtira, but without killing it outright.

The limitation of Primeval Planet Perlereino aims both to decrease the consistency of the deck, and to decrease once again its ways of interacting during the opponent's turn, since if you resolve a Tearlaments fusion effect or the effect from an Ishizu shuffler, this field spell lets you destroy 1 card on any player's field.

Salamangreat Gazelle is currently limited and is the only Salamangreat card present on the banlist, since that the other cards of the archetype were released at 3 copies in the last banlist's.

I believe in its semi-limitation as a test for a later release, since it is a deck with a low ceiling and that its most recent relevance was as a tier 2 during the format where Despia was the best deck in the game. And since Despia itself has been powercrept, it won't be Salamangreat that unbalances the Metagame.

Here we have a card that was limited a few banlists ago, later it was semi-limited and remains so today.

Despite being strong for drawing 2 cards, Pot of Desires is a fair card due to its high cost to banish 10 cards from the top of the deck, plus no deck in the current meta is using it, so I believe that it's about time to release it at 3 copies.

Which card will probably be in the next Yu-Gi-Oh 2023 banlist?

I would like to point out that this guess was thought of as a way to weaken Tearlaments, but without removing it from the meta, since Konami seems to want to keep this deck relevant in the game for a while longer.

But what did you think of the list? What are your guesses for the next banlist? Tell here in the comments.

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