Sept 1st Ban List

It seems that I will be the last blogger to say something about the new advanced ban list additions coming in about a week. In all honesty, I hope that the tcg drops 1 or 2 more cards on us as a surprise when September rolls around, but for now we have this leaked info to go by.
Newly Banned:
Rescue Cat
Heavy Storm
Brain Control
Substitoad

Newly Limited:
Black Whirlwind
Royal Oppression
Infernity Launcher
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Monster Reborn
Dark Hole

Newly Semi-Limited:
Mystical Space Typhoon
Chaos Sorcerer
Snipe Hunter
Ojama Trio
Magic Cylinder

Newly Unlimited:
Black Rose Dragon
Goblin Zombie
Cyber Dragon
Treeborn Frog
Royal Decree
United We Stand

As you can see, there's only about 6 deck-defining changes. I think, besides Heavy, Dark Hole, and Monster Reborn, we have a better clue about Konami's stance on the current game-state. I believe it is more focused on the idea that good decks can remain good, banning their best cards and turning all decks into clones of each other (except Glads) would only make the game stale. Any game will have components that do better than others, so the only cards that should be removed are ones that create such a leap in power, that could be brought about at just about any point during a duel, need to be removed.

Rescue Cat: As awesome as Cat is, especially with the new support beasts have gotten, it's a little saddening to see it go so soon. It was a very very strong card though, perhaps if Rescue Cat was sent to the RFP zone rather than sent to the grave, awaiting revival, then it would be a bit more balanced. Sabers are still just as powerful as they ever were, they just lost 1-2 cards in the deck.

Substitoad: A toad that affects frogs. Really, that's all it does, and when the card was released, this idea is what made it less powerful. While still true, substitoad's strength doesn't come from the frogs you dump, it comes from the plays you can make using said frogs. We can all agree that removing half of your deck from the game is powerful, leaving you with only your best spells and traps. What not everyone agrees on is the usage of frogs after this is done; an engine that non-frog related cards use as an advantage. The non-frog cards aren't all bad, and there's too many to try to stop, so the next best thing is to dump the engine enabler: Substitoad.

Heavy Storm: In my opinion , part 1 of Konami's plan for a fun format. As you all know, I haven't been on the YGO scene for very long, but I am told that every format usually comes with 1 or 2 cards that changes everyone's deck. One of those is Heavy Storm, a card with a lot of debate. It "penalizes" players for setting too many traps, it clears the way for uninterrupted game-winning plays, it has the perfect counter in Starlight Road, and it is one of the few generic backrow-resets in the game. Some decks can do without it, like our Koaki Meiru deck, but others such as Lightsworns will need a replacement. And there's tons of replacements out there, Cold Wave, Trunade, Catastrophe, or maining a 2nd, newly semi-limited Space Typhoon. Many people debate on the direction decks will take without Heavy storm. Is it safer to play all your S/T cards now? Is every deck going to use Malevolent Catastrophe? Who knows.

Brain Control: One of the few, actually unbalanced cards in the game. Not as good as Change of Heart. Not as good as Snatch Steal. But drawing into it can still win you the game, and 99% of decks use it. And why not? You can do anything you want with the card. Mind control is slightly more balanced, yet abused because of the Synchro mechanic. This card can do almost anything though. Many people believe it will never come off the ban list now, but I'm sure it will see the light of day once again.

So yeah, those are the newly banned cards. Of those, my decks lost Brain Control and Heavy Storm, as did most people. Next time I will touch on the Limited cards and how much decks may have changed from those.