Banlist belied!

[Grim_Angel]

The game's heading in the wrong direction.
Today on... banlists!
It seems like Konami's beginning to use the banlist as an obscure advertisement for new themes. The banlist has become not only a tool to balance the game (as it was originally meant to be), but also a method from which they can gain profit. And it's veering off course towards the latter.

Credit to Kistune Blue and Raven of Razgriz for their tl;dr's that inspired me to write this one=)
(I'll try not to, but excuse me if I use OCG terms subconciously since I'm an OCG player)
*This article is biased (against Konami). I could be wrong.

===Wall of text upcoming!===

Seeing how the major changes have occurred only recently (with synchros and Lightsworns), I'll just talk about 2009's two banlists. In order to follow Konami's trend I'll be using the OCG banlist, but I'll include all the necessary info for TCGers.

-----The 09.3.1 banlist.-----
Konami kicked zombies off Tier1 with the limitation of Mezuki & Plaguespreader, and possibly the limitation of Cards of Safe Return.
An attempt was made at LS's Judgement Dragon (semi), but nothing changed that much. GB's Bestari was limited, knocking GBs off a bit, but they still managed with Chariot & Test Tiger. Goyo & Ice Barrier Dragon were limited, due to how game-breaking they were.

Why were GB and Zombies butted out?
Well, GBs had been around for so long, and everyone who wanted them had a deck already. No more money to be made, so why not kick them out and make room for new cards?
Same for Zombies. Plus, Konami didn't plan to reinforce them anytime soon, given how much power they had already (SD15, plaguespreader, all-important grave control + 507's dark theme).

If there's no room for more profit, then make room! So Konami killed 'em off and made room for synchro, the new trend.
Specifically, Rescue Cat & Summoning Preist synchro (Catmonk from now, OCG terminology).

Ok, Goyo & Brionac were too unbalanced, so they had to apply certain restrictions(limitation). But we still had Dark Strike Fighter. 7 Star Synchro with decent ATK and a burn effect that could be activated infinite times per turn. That card alone could deal 4000 damage in 1 turn (attack then tribute self). Not to mention all the DT stuff coming out in JP.
Catmonk synchro enjoyed its ranking, as everyone set out to obtain copies of the 2. Another key card for Catmonk was DT1's X-Saber Lv3 Tuner (forgot its name, 1600ATK, earth, beast). It also soared in price, and everyone was prompted to pull DT.
More advertisement for SD16 (included summon preist) and YSD3 (X-Saber Tuner)

-----The 09.9.1 banlist.-----
They bumped off Blackwings with it. DSF was rampant and made it seem like the age of Chaos again (synchro OTKs everywhere depending on this single card), so something had to be done. And since BWs relied on speed (and consequentally on DSF), they got whacked. Plus Konami limited Gale (also ranpant), and so they suffered a great loss. BWs still managed to hang in there with Vayu, though.
Catmonk was all over the place, and, same with GBs, everyone who needed the cards already had the cards. So limit Cat and limit Monk.
Oh yeah, GBs. Not dead enough? Limit Solemn Judgement!
For zombies? Car-Hmm... The banning of Cards of Safe Return was probably due more to Level Eater than their hype on getting rid of zombies from the mainstream. But it sealed the zombies' coffins nevertheless.

Kick 'em all out and make room for more income!
And what's left?

Lightsworns.
No GBs, no BWs, no zombies, no catmonk... all the decks above it were gone.
Everyone who was previously focused on having the best deck out there now turned their eyes to the previously "2nd place" deck, the Tier1 deck that was previously "just a tad behind". And so it thrived.
One thing to mention is the scandal of CotLB: A TCG exclusive card the JP players yelled for. So what better way to profit than to release an OCG version of it in EXP2? LS Monk was also throw in for extra effect.
CotLB was probably a major reason why Lightsworns were unaffceted by the 9.1 banlist.
Hooray for Lightsworn abuse! /sarcasm

...And now in OCG, we have JD at COMMON in Gold Series 2 (guess you guys all know about GS2 eh? If you don't then go look it up and then talk about unfair). I myself have 10 copies of it already! This is freakin' overkill! It's a final attempt at our pocket money before they knock LS from its throne in March.
But who'll replace the Lightsworns if they're gone?
Don't worry, Konami's got it covered: Infernities! 608(The Shining Darkness), which comes out in a week, gives them so much support they can even surpass LS. Too bad they won't have that much time to gloat before LS is exterminated by the new banlist.
Problems?
"Hey, none of us have an Infernity Demon!"
"Ahh, no problem. Just wait a few months and we'll probably release it in some EXP, GS, booster pack, magazine, or a Structure deck. We won't be doing it that soon, though, since the kids who play this game need some time to save up after 608's expenses. Be patient while we come up with ways to dominate the market."
......
That's all for today, folks. Feel free to comment, press Alt+F4 if you're pissed.

[hisoka]

Hey I'm the first! LOL.

Nice read! Very interesting when you think about it. And it does seem that they're going more towards the profit end.

[Grim_Angel]

Hey I'm the first! LOL.

Nice read! Very interesting when you think about it. And it does seem that they're going more towards the profit end.

Thanks! Congrats for the 1st post =)!

[jamiep151]

Good point well made. Yes the article is a bit biased but unfortunately has a essence of truth about it :(.

[PsyKnz]

The article is far too biased for my taste, you've basically just ignored 50% of relevant information, by 50% I mean the TCG. I understand why but I'd like to point out some things you missed.

For example when you talked about the 01/03/09 banlist you ignored what the TCG meta had looked like just before the list change. At the time we had tele-dad at T1 with GB, LS and Zombies all tailing closely behind (just go back to the SJC results to see how close). When they changed the list tele-dad got ruined. The deck converted to something more like skill-dad. Had changes not also been made to GB and Zombies, those two decks would of been guaranteed to control the format. I like to think that the employees who construct the banlists are wise enough to understand this would of happened. Of course we all know that LS should've been touched a little, but you can't blame them for missing that considering its total lack of presence in the OCG (for the record JD got semi'd the list before this).

Similarly at the time of the 01/09/09 list the decks at the top were GB, Cat, BW and LS in the TCG. Again if we look at the list we see that changes made were designed to eliminate the shared components of these decks that made them too powerful (such as solemn and rescue cat). If you took OCG meta into consideration a month before this list it also makes sense that limitations missed LS again simply because the deck couldn't perform in the OCG, and couldn't dominate in the TCG. The goal is simply to reduce the power of all the top decks so that something different can compete. We see success in this decision as well with the rise in decks like Dimensional Eatos this format in OCG.

I don't fully disagree with you since it would be stupid of Konami to make decisions that hurt financially, but I think you'll find they're not willing to ruin a game just to sell the next product. instead when the decision isn't clear as to whether a card should have any form of limitation they choose the more profitable option. Wouldn't we all?

[Grim_Angel]

The article is far too biased for my taste, you've basically just ignored 50% of relevant information, by 50% I mean the TCG. I understand why but I'd like to point out some things you missed.

For example when you talked about the 01/03/09 banlist you ignored what the TCG meta had looked like just before the list change. At the time we had tele-dad at T1 with GB, LS and Zombies all tailing closely behind (just go back to the SJC results to see how close). When they changed the list tele-dad got ruined. The deck converted to something more like skill-dad. Had changes not also been made to GB and Zombies, those two decks would of been guaranteed to control the format. I like to think that the employees who construct the banlists are wise enough to understand this would of happened. Of course we all know that LS should've been touched a little, but you can't blame them for missing that considering its total lack of presence in the OCG (for the record JD got semi'd the list before this).

Similarly at the time of the 01/09/09 list the decks at the top were GB, Cat, BW and LS in the TCG. Again if we look at the list we see that changes made were designed to eliminate the shared components of these decks that made them too powerful (such as solemn and rescue cat). If you took OCG meta into consideration a month before this list it also makes sense that limitations missed LS again simply because the deck couldn't perform in the OCG, and couldn't dominate in the TCG. The goal is simply to reduce the power of all the top decks so that something different can compete. We see success in this decision as well with the rise in decks like Dimensional Eatos this format in OCG.

I don't fully disagree with you since it would be stupid of Konami to make decisions that hurt financially, but I think you'll find they're not willing to ruin a game just to sell the next product. instead when the decision isn't clear as to whether a card should have any form of limitation they choose the more profitable option. Wouldn't we all?

Thanks for the supplement! Sorry I couldn't do the TCG 'cause I didn't know that much about it (OCG player after all).
Like you said, there're 2 ways to look at banlist changes: Banlist changes are either for "fresh air" or for "profit". While we always need fresh air (and they've certainly kept this in mind), it seems like they're being driven more by profit these days.
The banlist definitely still has its original "put restrictions on overpowered cards" use, but nowadays it seems like they're prolonging certain limitations so they can sell more merchandise.

Think about it: Why let a certain type of deck rule the tournament, when yo could have multiple decks of the same Tier competing? Why not make it so Tele-DAD=BW=LS? If they're aiming for variety then they could stop making decks (ie Infernities) that would take over once they're released, and require restrictions in the future. Not touching LS during the previous banlists was another example of "buy this because it rules". But now that there are Infernities, LS can go down.
I agree that they're letting tournaments see new decks, but the method isn't right. They're encouraging one deck type, bashing down on the others, and then repeating the process with a new mainstream deck type. They're definitely doing what they should, but just a bit too late.
I mean, who's the better one: The guy who stops problems from occuring, or the guy who saves everyone after the problems occur? Granted, we could say that Konami "did't see it coming" with some decks, but LS? No way man.

I also agree with what you said in the end. Konami's no charity organization. It's there to make money. They've definitely gotta find ways to profit, or else we'd have no game producer, and consequentally no game. I just hope that they realize they're stepping towards "ruining the game to sell the next product" before it's too late.

[The_Silent]

I've noticed that trend as well. Ban lists never hit "big priced" decks as much as ones that have been around.


EDIT: Common JD? :( No fair!!

[Ganondorf]

this was a pretty good read.

and mentioning infernities really gets me excited about their release

[jayjay91764]

i have a hard time trying figure out how and why konami made sept band list so unblanced. i mean limit solemn and simi limiting Buttom was just wrong and now the question is will they touch Lightlords if they limit Judgment Dragon then what is the point of getting Battle Fader or Starlight road because jd was biggest reason to get those cards

[skochtape]

I can see the manipulation of the ban list serving the purpose to bolster up sales on new sets that are coming out. For instance, one particular variation of the ban has Advanced Ritual Arts coming back to 3.

Its a little more than coincidental that there is a new Dark Ritual monster now.

Then again, its a good marketing strategy...can you really blame them? As if you've never attempted to manipulate a trade in your favor....cough cough. We've all done it.

[Ryuzaki11]

Anti Meta decks FTW then?

It was a nice article. Rare DAD, Common JD? That's some BS lol.

[Grim_Angel]

Another thing to quote is the OCG Gold Series before the banlists came out.

Here's a link to GS01's card list, the GS pack that came out right before the2009.9.1 banlist:
http://shriek.twoday.net/stories/5230228/
And here's one to GS02, the one that just came out this month:
http://manjyomethunder.twoday.net/stories/5981904/

Talk about being unfair to TCG folks... IIRC they adulterated the TCG Golden Series with a bunch of vanillas?
Oh yeah, there's no "rare" or "ultra" in GS. Only Brionac, Dandylion, Barbatos and Magician's Valkyrie are parallel rares. The rest are all at common pull rate. 2 Gold 5 Common for each pack, with each card having both Gold/Common versions.

Anyone think they're just making a final lunge at our money before they stike some cards dead? CCV was an example, Monster Reborn too, and now JD and the like...
Catastor at a common pull rate is just overkill. I mean, I've already got NINE Catastors from the GS, NINE JDs and NINE DADs. Not to mention the hoarde of Book of Moon/Brain Control/Solemn Judgement/Morphing Jar/Breaker/Fissure and whatnot...
Not that I'm complaining about getting a ton of previously pricey cards (^^), but personal gain aside you can see from this how desperate they've become for money.

[Bulbasaur09]

I remember having

3x mezuki
3x goblin zombie
3x plaguespreader
2x card of safe return
2x dark armed dragon
3x goyo guardian
1x ccv
3x solemn

in my deck...
that deck literally pissed on everyone

no it didn't without brionac it was hard to go off, i would know i played the deck as soon as plague came out until the r@ping of tele dad :/

[Beatdownmaster]

Wow a company wants money oh my god

[SKILLsworn]

i have a hard time trying figure out how and why konami made sept band list so unblanced. i mean limit solemn and simi limiting Buttom was just wrong and now the question is will they touch Lightlords if they limit Judgment Dragon then what is the point of getting Battle Fader or Starlight road because jd was biggest reason to get those cards

Battle fader is there to stop any otk, but what its reallt going to be good for is burn. X3 battle fader, x3 zero gardnas=win

[Lamperouge]

We'll all know this is all true if the march 01 banlist will be bad anyway

[Bitsoft]

OP speaks the truth.

[Grim_Angel]

Here's the latest new on the upcoming OCG set: The Shining Darkness
http://shriek.twoday.net/stories/6145315/

Corridor of Suffering
Graveyard Seal
Shining Absorb

So they DO mean to kill off LS and GB more or less... and take a pluck at zombies.
GBs are totally screwed with CoS. GS is basically a "counter spell". Shining Absorb... reminds me of Honest. Except it's more of an anti-Honest.

[Lamperouge]

Hooh... Just thought of these earlier

They aren't really killed. The newer archtypes is more usable than it is during the old times. It just nerfed. it's usability went up to experts difficulty. See, everybody can use those new archtypes without sweating but for the older ones, you need talents and skills to do it (from gameplay to actually building the deck).

And examples of that are Chaos, Glads, Blackwings, Hopeless, DAD, Kitty.

There's also another element that surrounds the new cards. It's called excitement (anitcipation, whatever you want). Due to that, bunch of people make conclusions that 'x is great!' or 'x will be the next big thing!'. But apparently, it isn't.

One example is the blackwing era (which is still growing). At raging battle, they are like 'wow dude... blackwings is the best!' and 'Blackwings pwned all". Take note that nobody thought about how precious Gale is at that time. And quite sometime, the excitement of it dissapeared.

So is for GB and Lightsworns

What else? I guess those rare cards going common is out of our hands...

Either way, it's not just the banlist who's at work here, our wanting to try new is also there. And those big ones aren't just the ones there, there are also more such as the batteries, aliens and so on and so forth.

PS. Just my opinion~

[Dr.Jackal]

Thinga are banned due to the brokeness of the card and not rather on the pricing. Lets think about this logically, CCV was banned due to its extreme brokeness and of such, well pricing too. Now if you dont understand why a card was banned or limited or even semi, just look at the OCG. If you have noticed all cards that have hit the banlist was cuz of combos that was deemed too outrageous, and the banlist will only to continue to be on anf off as of such. Pricing may seem like the issue but why pricing if they are reprinting most of the expensive crap?

[Grim_Angel]

Thinga are banned due to the brokeness of the card and not rather on the pricing. Lets think about this logically, CCV was banned due to its extreme brokeness and of such, well pricing too. Now if you dont understand why a card was banned or limited or even semi, just look at the OCG. If you have noticed all cards that have hit the banlist was cuz of combos that was deemed too outrageous, and the banlist will only to continue to be on anf off as of such. Pricing may seem like the issue but why pricing if they are reprinting most of the expensive crap?

Yeah, I agree that the banlist does what it should...
...but it does it a bit too late. I mean, they should've noticed the crazy combos during testing. And they should've done something to LS last year. Semi-ing JD barely affected it at all. They're keeping an eye closed to everything on purpose.
While we can't blame a company for profiting ('cause that's what they do), it's still bad for them if they wreck the game just for money.
They're reprinting most of the expensive crap and screwing them a short while after the reprint. See CCV and Monster Reborn. As for common JD in GS02? No way it'll remain semi...
3.1's not out yet so I can't be sure about Brain Control and DAD.

They just let a certain deck type take over, and after everyone's gotten their copies of the key cards, BAM! Banlist treatment!
Then...
"Look over here! We've got Infernities!"
Rinse&repeat.

[Doco-chan, desu!!]

CCV was banned due to its extreme brokeness

it was banned mainly because konami stopped making money off of it, said "****it" and then released it as a rare for people to toy with for a few weeks.

[RagnarokChu]

Konami needs to learn that they'll make more money when they make the game fair for everybody and stop screwing people over.

More customers is better then milking the ones you have left.

[dragonlord00]

Thinga are banned due to the brokeness of the card and not rather on the pricing. Lets think about this logically, CCV was banned due to its extreme brokeness and of such, well pricing too. Now if you dont understand why a card was banned or limited or even semi, just look at the OCG. If you have noticed all cards that have hit the banlist was cuz of combos that was deemed too outrageous, and the banlist will only to continue to be on anf off as of such. Pricing may seem like the issue but why pricing if they are reprinting most of the expensive crap?

Biggest pile of crap ever. Broken cards dont get banned in this game anymore really. Look at JD, DaD, Gyzarus. Cards that have little to no costs, yet essentially ensure game when played and not countered. CCV has been out since the first kaiba deck in the ocg iirc. You could literally play nothing but gadgets for the longest time. They just finally banned it when they saw just how much it truly warped the meta when it was "mass released" in the tcg gold series.

KONAMI DOESNT CARE ABOUT THE HEALTH OF THE GAME AS A WHOLE. KONAMI ONLY CARES THAT THEY TURN A PROFIT. THE BANLIST IS NOW NOTHING MORE THAN A MARKETING TOOL AND WILL NO LONGER ACTUALLY BE USED TO MAKE THIS GAME BETTER.

[Ice_ghs]

Konami needs to learn that they'll make more money when they make the game fair for everybody and stop screwing people over.

More customers is better then milking the ones you have left.

Does konami make money off the 2ndry market after Idk Phantom Darkness has no more printings. As an example.