The Forbidden and Limited List is one of the cornerstones of competitive Yu-Gi-Oh!, for better and worse. Throughout the years, numerous powerful and problematic cards have found their way on there for the unhealthy way they influenced the game’s meta. While some cards come and go, others have found what seems to be a permanent place on the Forbidden side of things.
Should this be the case, though? Today, we’ll explore one of the oldest additions to the list – Heavy Storm. Why was it placed on the list to begin with, why was it eventually Forbidden, and could it ever come off in some fashion?
Effect
As one of the earlier cards in the game, Heavy Storm lacks the wall of text that would become commonplace over the years. “Destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field.” It’s short, sweet, and to the point – mass backrow removal that hits both fields. It’s easy to see why it’s considered so strong, as well as imagine several viable uses for it in the current and past formats.
History
Heavy Storm was first released in TCG with the July 26, 2002 booster pack Metal Raiders. The card would have its first brush with the list a few days later, as it was added to the July Semi-Limited list. It would stay there for less than a year, finally moved to Limited with the May 2003 lists.
By September 2010, Heavy Storm was finally Forbidden. It came back to Limited a year later in September 2011, but eventually returned to Forbidden in September 2013. This is where it’s stayed ever since.
Viability Today
Heavy Storm would obviously have a place in today’s meta. It’s simply too good of a card not to see some degree of play. It fills a similar niche as cards like Harpie's Feather Duster and Lightning Storm, giving you the chance to destroy your opponent’s Traps and problematic Field Spells with a single card. Even if Limited, it would see some degree of use as a Side Deck option at minimum. Of special note are the Unchained and True King archetypes, which could see a fairly big boost in power due to their reliance on removing their own cards. However, it’s hard to imagine that they’d end up competitively viable because of this single card.
Why Can it Come Back?
Taking Heavy Storm off the list is always a contentious topic. Many people are afraid of how it can further disincentivize Trap-focused gameplay. After all, the more options there are to deal with backrow, the less powerful decks built around it become.
This is not an unfounded fear. It’s also worth mentioning that removing backrow is a much more damaging act than removing monsters in today’s game. Monsters tend to have a large number of ways to recycle themselves. This is largely why a card like Raigeki, once Forbidden, can now run free at three copies. Destroying a bunch of monsters just isn’t as impressive these days.
Destroying backrow, though, creates problems for that player. Spells and Traps are not as easily recycled, and losing them at the wrong moment can be devastating. While some cards do have additional effects that can activate in the Graveyard, it’s much more likely that cards hit by Heavy Storm would be more akin to Infinite Impermanence or Forbidden Chalice, which have no such extra effects. Having more answers to these kinds of cards means fewer options to disrupt the opponent on turn 2 and beyond.
However, it’s important to note there are already numerous answers to backrow-heavy decks. Harpie’s Feather Duster and Lightning Storm were mentioned in the previous section, to say nothing of options like Heavy Storm Duster, Cosmic Cyclone, Twin Twisters, and Evenly Matched. In many ways, this would make Heavy Storm just another name in a long list of usable cards people already have access to.
Heavy Storm is most obviously compared to Harpie’s Feather Duster in this analysis. In previous formats, it took the de facto spot as the best removal Spell in the game simply because of Duster’s banning. This implicitly makes it the weaker of the two cards, an impression that has only grown now that certain cards will actually allow you to search out your copy of Duster (albeit only for Harpie players).
At present, Harpie’s Feather Duster is Limited. It sees use mostly in Side Decks, with similar slots dedicated to cards like Lightning Storm, which is itself Semi-Limited. Should Heavy Storm be unbanned, it would most likely slot in with these two cards, basically to fill the hole left by everyone’s third copy of Lightning Storm.
On one hand, this does present a compelling case for why it should stay Forbidden. After all, if Lightning Storm was just Semi-Limited, why should a card that can somewhat replace that final copy come off the list?
Why Could it Not?
On the other, Lightning Storm wasn’t Semi-Limited because it destroys backrow – not entirely, at least. Lightning Storm is such a powerful card because of its versatility, letting you wipe either monsters or backrow depending on your needs. In this way, Heavy Storm would always be a subpar replacement for a third copy, as it can only make up for half of the effect in a weaker form.
It’s also important to consider the drawback of the card, at least on paper. Heavy Storm, unlike the other cards listed before, also destroys the owner’s backrow when activated. This can theoretically balance the card, as you would potentially be giving up your own resources to take down your opponent’s.
In practice, however, most people simply used the card when they had no backrow. Even when they did, it has typically been to dispose of cards that have so far gone unused, or certain Field Spells which have already been used to their fullest at the time. Essentially, the “downside” of the card is negligible in most situations.
This self-destruction effect could also be a potential benefit, at least in some niche cases. For certain decks, destroying your own cards can be a way to further your strategy. Outside of ridiculous Fuhma Shuriken and Black Pendant FTK plays, this would more realistically be used as a means of using the Graveyard effects of Spell and Trap Cards. While this can potentially speed up the usability of cards that would otherwise be forced to sit for a turn, it’s worth noting the same outcome can be achieved just as easily (and on the first turn) with a simple discard cost.
Another potential benefit of Heavy Storm would be the ability to clear a player’s own floodgate cards. Skill Drain, Gozen Match, Rivalry of Warlords, and plenty more can control an entire game all by themselves. The drawback, of course, is that their effects apply to the entire field. Should those effects ever become inconvenient, Heavy Storm would allow for an easy way to remove them while also hurting the opponent.
While this argument is somewhat compelling, it’s a bit outlandish to think this is a common occurrence. Control players naturally build decks that can work around or with their floodgate Traps. If a player were to find themselves struggling to win because of their own Skill Drain or There Can Be Only One, the simpler solution would be to adjust their deck so that that isn’t the case, not toss in a Heavy Storm as some kind of escape hatch.
Potentially the most useful example of this kind of action – that being, removing your own Mystic Mine – isn’t even viable, as Mine is eating a well-deserved ban. Even if someone were to adjust their deck to account for Heavy Storm’s ability to turn off a floodgate after the opponent’s turn, this strategy relies entirely upon drawing a copy of Heavy Storm on or before their next turn. The fact that we don’t currently see this kind of gameplay hardly at all with the plurality of other options available to do so speaks for itself.
2, 1, or None?
Heavy Storm was and remains an extremely useful card. As for whether or not it should no longer be Forbidden, my opinion is that it should come off the list. Like in the past, being Limited would suit it just fine.
Heavy Storm fills a similar role as a Harpie’s Feather Duster. Limiting it would place it into a similar position when it comes to deck building options. For as useful as removing backrow can be, backrow cards are typically not the immediate threat you would be facing when playing against most decks in today’s meta. It’s very rare to win a game solely by destroying the opponent’s set cards (Europe’s most recent WCQ excluded, of course).
Were it to be Limited, Heavy Storm would no doubt find its way into many Side Decks and see a decent amount of play. It’s unlikely to tip the scales in ways similar cards have not already done so. At the end of the day, it’s simply another unsearchable 1-of that can slightly pad the numbers of similar backrow removal cards, just with a couple of potentially strong interactions hidden within it. Its Forbidden status seems, at least right now, to be more a result of its reputation than its ability to actually disrupt the meta in the current format.
