Introduction
Errata are a key part of the game and Konami changes cards every now and then. A few cards lived on and remained good options despite the nerfs, which we'll refer to as Errata Winners. Let's take a look and see how they fared after their changes.
Sangan
Sangan is an iconic piece of the game, being around since the second set in Metal Raiders. Searching key cards is a powerful effect and lead to it seeing tournament play for many years until its banning in 2013. Now if we glossed over its achievements, we'd be here all day! Truly a powerful card for its time.
What has changed?
Sangan received an erratum and got released back into the game for 4 years after its initial banning.
"If this card is sent from the field to the GY: Add 1 monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to your hand, but you cannot activate cards, or the effects of cards, with that name for the rest of this turn. You can only use this effect of "Sangan" once per turn."
Is Sangan worthless now? Certainly not! It still adds some useful monsters and Link Summoning works perfectly with it.
Recent Showings and Potential
Salamangreat Almiraj is the perfect partner for it and saw success in Altergeist, as its another way to add the highly coveted Altergeist Multifaker to the hand. This was notable when Faker was still at 1.
The Almiraj line of play also enables the user to add powerful hand traps such as Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Effect Veiler and D.D. Crow, among others.
Decks that use Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss also tend to incorporate Tour Guide and Sangan together. TGU summons it from the deck and then goes into a link 2. From there, you can search to your heart's content! Monsters like Santa Claws and Mekk-Knight Orange Sunset don't "activate" which lets you play without worry!
It's also a 1-card Halqifibrax by working together with Crusadia Arboria! This opens up a lot of cool and powerful combo paths for decks.
Our wacky little friend has received a few regional tops and even a UDS showing after its errata. All in all, Sangan remains a relevant card and is one of the winners.
Rescue Cat
Rescue Cat is an infamous card for its power and sheer versatility upon its release. It had humble beginnings, but quickly rose to dominate the metagame over the years! A few people might remember the phrase "Synchro Cat", sending chills down their spine.
What has changed?
"You can send this card to the Graveyard; Special Summon 2 Level 3 or lower Beast-Type monsters from your Deck, but they have their effects negated, also they are destroyed during the End Phase. You can only use this effect of "Rescue Cat" once per turn."
This changes Cat's dynamic a fair bit, lowering its power and cutting off ways to loop its effect with the HOPT. It had other small uses such as bringing out cards like Sea Koala or Neo-Spacian Dark Panther to make use of their effects.
Where does that put Cat now? It's still an extremely powerful playmaker that busts out two normally inaccessible materials from your deck!
Recent Showings and Potential
After the card was unbanned, it had a few stints in 60-card Zoodiac Infernoid reaching top cuts in YCS Denver and a Spain Regional. Cat remained quiet until 2018-2019 where Thomas Rose led the charge and placed it back on the map in his Sekka Burning Abyss list! A couple of others followed suit as well. The ability to vomit out two level 3 monsters gives the deck easy access to Cherubini or Dante depending on the situation. It saw a healthy amount of spots in a few regionals, a WCQ, UK Nats, and two YCS top cut appearances.
Naturia Beast was the real ace in the hole thanks to Elephun, giving the deck access to one-sided non-OPT spell negation as it dealt with monster effects quite well.
With the wake of Crystron Halqifibrax, it's likely this isn't the last we've seen of this fluffer. Rescue Cat is one of the Errata Winners for sure.
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
REDMD was a massive upgrade over its anime counterpart and shook the competitive scene when it first came out. The ease of its use paired with a revival effect made it a force to be reckoned with! If you were playing a Dragon deck, you were on this card for sure.
This card had a lot of time under the sun, from Disaster Dragons to Dragunity, Hieratic, Dragon Rulers, and Guardragons.
Atum summoning it from the Deck was a nice play at the time for Hieratic, providing a lot of power with little investment! Elpy and Pisty did the same thing later on with a lot more accessibility.
What has changed?
"You can only Special Summon "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" once per turn this way. During your Main Phase: You can Special Summon 1 Dragon monster from your hand or GY, except "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon". You can only use this effect of "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon" once per turn."
The change served to limit the card's repeatability with the likes of Guardragon Pisty and Monster Reborn bringing it back to keep using its revival effect. The OCG unbanned the card after this change. Many thought that the changes would end REDMD's use similar to how most errata do, and that seemed like the case until...
Recent Showings and Potential
Against all odds, our dragon friend managed to stick around! Metal still provided nice advantage and extension unlike any other. Dragon Link players adapted and the combos didn't need to re-use him multiple times.
Tristan Pugh's piloting of the Dragon Link FTK that still had Metal and its one revive proved as strong as ever, helping the deck win 1st place at LCS 4. The deck (FTK or not) still serves as a decent contender and is a nice home for the card to stay in.
Before ROTD's release, the deck trailed behind Eldlich and Adamancipator. Right now it's too early to tell where it'll end up, but it remains a good pickup. This one joins the Errata Winners as well.
King of Errata Winners
Imperial Order needs no introductions, as it's considered to be one of the game's oldest powerhouses. Upon release, Order swiftly got banned after a year of terror in both the TCG and the OCG. It's was banished for over 14 years and came back with a vengeance.
What has changed?
"Once per turn, during the Standby Phase, you must pay 700 LP (this is not optional), or this card is destroyed."
The old Imperial Order only paid costs during the user's Standby phases and it was completely optional.
All in all, the change is minor and doesn't detract from its power enough as the main effect was kept intact. It does mean you can't turn it off whenever, but that's a small price to pay.
Recent Showings and Potential
Too many to mention in fact! This floodgate racked up hundreds of top cut spots and wins all throughout the years since its unban.
It's most recent appearance is a top 8 finish in LCS V, featured in Kamal's side deck piloting Infernoble Knight! Several Synchro Eldlich lists also included it in their sides.
This format is proving to be a lot more spell-heavy than usual, so Order gets a lot of room to showcase its might. Nadir Servant, TTT, and Forbidden Droplet are all high priority targets for it to deal with.
Honorary Errata Winners
Ring of Destruction has snuck a few regional tops here and there and works decently in Trickstar and Mine Burn decks.
Crush Card Virus's change has crippled it, but it still performed solidly in its early years when initially freed, racking up several dozen tops. It's likely that's the last we'll be seeing of it, however.
Lastly, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier had a few stints in competitive play post-change in both Snow Thunder and Salamangreat lists for its nifty removal effect.
Conclusion
And that about does it for this review on "nerfed" cards. While some are doomed to never see the light of day, these cards persevered and proved their mettle to the world. Until next time!
