Forbidden/Limited List Update
The Forbidden/Limited List will be updated on December 11th with a new card added to the list:
-
Loading... will be added to the Limited 1 List.
-
Loading... . Loading... , Loading... , Loading... and Loading... will be added to the Limited 2 List
-
Loading... and Loading... will be removed from the Forbidden/Limited List
Top Player Council Thoughts
Negative1
This banlist does not drastically change the meta but instead removes its most of the unhealthy aspects.
Loading... is essentially a floodgate for many decks, and while Limiting it does not mean a deck unable to out Cocytus can suddenly out Cocytus, teching in a singular out is now sufficient to not lose to Invoked stalling towards deckout.
The semi-limits to Loading... and Loading... do not kill their respective decks, but instead means Invoked and Blackwings can only run 1 Semi-Limited card (typically Loading... ) instead of 2.
Loading... was not a very good card, but it proved very annoying to deal with for many low and mid level players; similarly to Loading... and Loading... this follows a trend of annoying cards getting hit by the Banlist even if they are not overpowered/oppressive.
Possibly the best change to come out of this Banlist, semi-limiting Loading... was a great decision by Konami. Current in a 4000 Life Point format is incredibly unhealthy as it promotes uninteractive and low-skill play.
Loading... to 2 and Loading... to 3 means the deck can once again sack, but now that Loading... is also semi-limited there are not many homes to put the Koa'ki engine in. Both Loading... and Loading... can both interrupt Koa'ki from establishing an OTK, but a deck using the more potent aspects of the deck is not implausible.
Loading... to 3 does not solve Spellbooks' major weaknesses to the current meta; without Light and Dark , Spellbooks do not have a reliable method of getting Loading... with Loading... live on their first turn; Loading... stopping Loading... from searching hurts; Loading... flipping down either Loading... or Loading... is difficult to deal with; Blackwings with Sealed Tombs can easily break boards.
Snyffus
A lot of the hits on the banlist are interesting and while they won't quite kill any deck (outside of Invoked Roids) they definitely weaker them in multiple aspects.
Since Konami seemingly won't ever ban Loading... , they're doing their best job semi-limiting cards to make it unplayable. This time they hit Loading... and Loading... . Despite this, just running 1 of these and your other semi-limit of choice is still a strong option, since they're both Extra Deck cards.
Loading... to 1 is another slight hit but it'll make stuff easier for some decks which previously struggled with Invoked being able to pump out this card turn after turn. Also this can matter in more grindy games, especially if you choose to only play 1 Loading... .
As previously mentioned, the Invoked Roids deck is just unplayable now. Loading... and Loading... were both pretty unhealthy cards with the latter stealing so many games. The combination of Loading... , Loading... , and this card creating an 8300 ATK monster was dumb since in a game with only 4000 Life Points you could easily push lethal over basically any monster in ATK mode.