TPC Analysis on Balance Impact

After witnessing the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG release a banlist as poorly received as Marie Antoinette's "let them eat cake," the Duel Links balance team decided to release an impressive banlist that does just as little.

Things addressed by the banlist:

• Removes the ideal starters from Branded, a deck that can simply swap which starters it is using.
• Removes Loading... , Loading... , and Loading... from Vaalmonica, three cards auxiliary to the deck's game plan that could already be cut.
• Removes access to other Limit 3 cards from Snake-Eye, which it wasn't really using anyway, but leaves the Limit 1 slot open, meaning the deck still has access to Loading... .

Things not addressed by the banlist:

• Ignores Infernity, a deck that attempts to go first and lock you out of the game.
• Ignores Destiny HERO, a deck that attempts to go first and lock you out of the game.
• Ignores Centur-Ion, a deck that attempts to go first and give the illusion of interaction, but is really trying to lock you out of the game.

The upside in all this is that they hit many of the remaining FTKs and buffed Shaddoll. I mean, it's appreciated, but I was hoping for a little more.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

Overall, this banlist didn't change much. It hit some FTK cards, as usual, and cards that are unhealthy when you go first.

The banlist feels a bit empty; they should have included more decks. I feel Loading... should have been banned, as it's a problematic card for any Yu-Gi-Oh! format. It enables toxic combos, and honestly, it should have been banned or limited to 1.

I do expect the meta to stay the same, and nothing should really change. Everything that got hit can be swapped out for something else and is replaceable one way or another, so the power scaling should stay almost exactly the same.

The new BOX and world update decks better be good, because they'll need to compete with Branded, Vaalmonica, Destiny HERO, Snake-Eye, and Centur-Ion, which are all almost at full power.

If they are, the meta should be even better, with a wider variety of decks that can compete.

Branded

Branded lost about 3 of its starters, but it will remain a strong deck.

What does feel good, are the hits to Branded. Now Branded players will have to play either 1 Loading... , 1 Loading... , and 1 Loading... , or 2 Loading... and no Loading... .

But honestly, even after this, the deck's consistency doesn't change much. Players could now play fewer cards or increase Loading... to 3 copies in the Main Deck. It will depend on how the deck adapts, but it still looks very good.

Branded loses 1-2 Loading... and 2 Loading... . These cards can be replaced to maintain consistency, and going first, this will rarely make a difference. Going second will be harder, however, with fewer opportunities to open Loading... or a Bystial.

Branded is actually hurt now, but nothing crazy. The gameplay remains the same, but now you've got to be careful with your ratios, and you're weaker to some hand traps.

Vaalmonica

Other Changes