Before we start with the article, I would like to re-introduce myself as an OCG player. Not as someone who constantly prowls online saving OCG lists from Twitter and playing them on dueling simulators. I actually actively participate in real OCG tournaments, OCG events, and everything OCG you know about.

Is Maxx "C" the answer to everything in the game? How does it feel like double-sleeving my cards? Why isn't Skill Drain limited? These won't be covered in the article.

So with that, let us begin with my personal view towards this disappointing upcoming banlist.

January 1st, 2021 Limit Regulations

FORBIDDEN

• Grinder Golem (Previously at 1)

LIMITED

• Red Reboot (Previously at 2)
• Nadir Servant (Previously at 2)
• Dinowrestler Pankratops (Previously at 2)
• Firewall Dragon (Errata) (Previously at 0)

SEMI LIMITED

• Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier (Errata) (Previously at 1)
• Wind-Up Magician (Previously at 1)
• Junk Speeder (Previously at 1)
• Magical Meltdown (Previously at 3)
• Cursed Eldland (Previously at 3)

UNLIMITED

• Fossil Dig (Previously at 2)
• Tour Guide from the Underworld (Previously at 2)
• Dark Grepher (Previously at 2)

Understanding the Current OCG Metagame

This picture was created with the 5 - 9 Dec Metagame in mind, so it may not be an exact accurate representation of the current OCG Meta.

OCG is currently dominated by a showy 30% representative of Virtual World. With a consistent method of summoning and resolving True King of All Calamities even under multiple interruptions, this Combo deck has steamrolled many other aspiring decks.

Prank-kids, Tempest Magician FTK and Phantom Knights are fellow Combo decks that could not perform as well, but should still be considered part of the metagame.

Eldlich is the most consistent Control deck with a 14% showing. Being able to main multiple unfair Trap cards, with the ability to switch them off anytime (by using Eldlich the Golden Lord's effects) allows the player to deal with any sort of opposition into a battle of attrition, where Eldlich will be the eventual winner.

Dogmatika Invoked, Thunder Dragon, Dragonmaid and Shaddolls are all Midrange decks. With the element of both Control and Combo weaven together, they can expect to deal with any style of opposition effectively despite possible hinderances.

So with these decks in mind, let us nitpick the approach Konami OCG has taken towards this banlist. Alternatively, you may choose to read up more on the OCG Metagame through this link here.

Dragonmaids being in the pie-chart makes me pretty happy too!...

Forbidden 🚫

Grinder Golem

We all saw this coming, but we just never knew when. Grinder Golem was one of the most problematic cards entering the Link Vrains Era, where tokens became extremely valuable as cheap chumps for Link Summoning.

Being able to produce strong LINK 4s with a minor setback of no Normal Summoning, Grinder Golem eventually saw itself on a Limited Status (and a straight ban from the TCG), where it would re-surface on several inconsistent FTK decks in the OCG, until the appearance of Tempest Magician FTK.

As per namesake, Tempest Magician FTK seeks to conclude games instantly. Grinder Golem will contribute to this playstyle by either summoning Saryuja Skull Dread to refresh hands, or Akashic Magician into Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians.

Due to this card's ability to produce strong LINK 4s, support the consistency of any deck, synergistic characteristics and encourage FTKs, we are glad to finally see this mechanical monster meet the end of the hammer.

Personally, I am not too shaken about this ban, as despite the printing of Dark Spirit's Mastery, this monster has proven too unreliable to draw into. The past few Metas after Spyrals has also avoided the use of Grinder Golem. However, banning this card may be for the best towards any future of the game.

Limited 1️⃣

Firewall Dragon (Errata)

This is unexpected!

Firewall Dragon was previously Banned from facilitating consistent combos to the point where even Maxx "C" was made obsolete. From Extra Links, Handloops to unstoppable FTKs, it seemed that Firewall Dragon could do everything the game had. Being the ace monster of the titular protagonist of the Link Vrains Anime, the community was prepared to see the game collapse without any interference from Konami until... the ban in January 19.

Afterwards, there are now many videos and articles capitalizing on the insane potential and strength of this card. Many agree that this is probably one of the most insane cards ever printed in the history of the game too.

So why is it back now?

A sudden Errata of the new Firewall Dragon now looks like this.

• Firewall Dragon
  Link 4 LIGHT Cyberse Link Effect Monster
  ATK 2500
  Materials: 2+ monsters
  You can only use this card name’s (1) and (2) effects once per turn each.
  (1) Once while face-up on the field (Quick Effect): You can target monsters on the field and/or GY up to the number of monsters co-linked to this card; return them to the hand.
  (2) If a monster this card points to is destroyed by battle or sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 Cyberse monster from your hand.

This effectively locks Firewall Dragon's usage to Cyberse-only decks, and futureproofs any sort of insane combos with the introduction of HOPT. And guess what? I'm very cool with that. I cannot foresee any future in which this card will be part of any other combos anymore.

Dinowrestler Pankatrops and Red Reboot

This part is the first of the many issues I have with the list, but their individual powers are strong enough to be recognized as such.

Dinowrestler Pankatrops has proven itself to be the most iconic, splashable card in the whole of 2019 to 2020. An easy to summon, yet strong body, and an effect that serves as interruption or board-breaking in EVERY deck. Pankatrops unfortunately deserves a spot in the banlist.

Red Reboot is the anti-thesis to every aspiring Control decks. With Reboot finally moving to 1, players may be more incentivized to ignore playing around Reboot completely.

The loss of these two staples means there are lesser cards to deal with unfair Trap cards like Skill Drain and Dogmatika Punishment now. We could potentially either see an increase in the use of backrow, or just more annoying players in general.

Nadir Servant

Although Dogmatika variants has had a lesser showing, this does not mean Nadir Servant is any less powerful. Many cards dedicated to stopping the progress of Dogmatikas, such as Imperial Iron Wall, Skill Drain and Vanity's Emptiness can easily be dealt with just by sending Elder Entity N'tss to the Graveyard to destroy these. With a stronger leash on Dogmatika, I personally hope to see the continued decline of this engine as it is just way too splashable.

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Semi-Limited 2️⃣

Even as the most irrelevant section, maybe the cards entering this column have a good reason to?

Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier (Errata)

Hey, Firewall isn't the only card to be Errata-ed! After its repeated antics with Grandsoil the Elemental Lord, Constellar Ptolemy M7 and Beatrice, Dewloren, this tiger gets a HOPT for its bouncing effects.
So it makes sense to me that this card can slowly climb out of the list. We can expect to see it unlimited on the next list too.

Wind-Up Magician and Junk Speeder

Wind-Up Magician and Junk Speeder are both cards that were pre-emptively hit (Magician indirectly) before the introduction of MR5, but it turned out that their archetypes simply could not compete with the game.
Semi-Limiting these may be a sign of slowly re-introducing them back into the game, and I personally am A-OK with this, and maybe Synchro enthusiasts may be able to do something with this.

Magical Meltdown and Cursed Eldland

Magical Meltdown and Cursed Eldland are both minor taps to their respective archetypes in an attempt to bottleneck their power.
Even though these hits are minor, I welcome these changes as an recognized attempt to eventually shut down the power of these archetypes.

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Unlimited 3️⃣

Finally! Who's on parole this time? Let us welcome them with open arms!

Fossil Dig

There's not much to say about Fossil Dig. I would like to believe that this is related to future Fossil support, but as long as Souleater Oviraptor remains at 1 in the List, Dinosaurs may not appear on the piechart anytime soon.
Therefore, it should be fine, right?

Tour Guide from the Underworld

The current usage of Tour Guide is merely to summon Graff for Cherubini in the Phantom Knights deck.
Outside of that, the decks that utilizes Tour Guide has not impacted the current metagame at all, so it was expected to see her eventual return to 3.

Dark Grepher

Even though Dark Monsters thrive in the Graveyard, Semi-Limiting Destiny Hero - Malicious has damaged any sort of possible Isolde Turbo from existing. Other Dark decks like Orcust are barely performing at all, and thus Dark Grepher is not especially dangerous enough to remain Semi-Limited. Enjoy your freedom!

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My issues with the List

Admittedly, there are no jarring surprises in this list. What could have come out of the list has done so, and Konami addresses problematic decks with the list too.

This list is too plain, as it does not answer what many OCG players and I are looking to address; which is against the uninteractive Calamities and the oppressive Eldlich. It also leaves many older competitive decks untouched, such as Thunder Dragon and Invoked.

With such a list, players will continue seeing the same format for yet another three months, but with less chances of countering their opponent's combos.

What should have gone in

FORBIDDEN

• True King of All Calamities (Previously at 3)
• Tempest Magician (Previously at 3)
• Skill Drain (Previously at 3)

The only answer to Calamities backed by Chuche now is either Gamma, Forbidden Droplet or Xyz Encore. Each card may stop Calamities, but they can also be countered respectively, allowing Calamities to resolve unchecked a huge percentage of the time. Calamities can also be summoned through a single Crystron Halqifibrax, so Calamities can basically be summoned in almost any deck that can afford the space for the combo.

Although Grinder Golem has already been banned, Tempest Magician still exists as a future outlet for any other FTKs. Like her fellow comrades Cannon Soldier and Amazoness Archer, I believe she should be banned to protect the future of any possible healthy meta the OCG should have onwards.

Skill Drain exists as only a problematic card that many decks are unable to deal with, and even now especially.

With the hits to Pankratops, Reboot and Nadir Servant, there are even less checks to this degenerate card now.

Could be Hit

Hitting Predaplant Verte Anaconda/Thunder Dragon Fusion could cripple Thunder Dragon and Prank-Kids slightly. Both decks could still survive, but might not be so resilient to Hand Traps to lower their power.

Although Infernoble is no longer competitive enough, Smoke Grenade of the Thief has no doubt been recognized as a problematic card and could easily be abused in the near future with Isolde and Renaud. Banning this card could pave the way for similar card design like Emperor Charles.

Dragon Buster Destruction Sword is yet another problematic card. The existence of Dragon Buster allows any combo deck with Union Carrier to deny an opposing Super Polymerization or render Forbidden Droplet/Mind Control useless. Banning this card will cripple the strength of any future Hyper Combo decks as well.

Hitting Invocation may be my pet peeve, but it is a shared opinion amongst many of my community. Forcing it into a Limited Status discourages the reckless use of Pot of Desires, as well as the knowledge of the opponent having drawn it in his opening hand.

My Personal Conclusion

In conclusion, I hate this banlist.

Meeting an unstoppable Calamities, having to deal with a multitude of negation from Dogmatika Invoked or meeting Skill Drain backed by Solemn Judgment from Eldlich, this format has not been fun despite the variety.

When this banlist was released, we were all expecting a fresh, hard reset of the meta, reminiscent of the Jan 2019 and Jan 2020. But in fact, this list was extremely distressing. Instead of the problematic decks being addressed, they merely had a light tap on the shoulder. This list addressed some things, yet its overall impact did absolutely nothing towards the health of the current metagame. Unfortunately my OCG comrades, we have another three months of Calamities to handle!

As the year draws to a close, Lightning Overdrive will be expected to shake the current game up a bit. I do not have high hopes for the next three months, but anything can happen in this game, and I cannot wait to explore the continued future of Yu-Gi-Oh with the rest of you!

This has been a rant from Therarely, thank you for reading.
And sorry for not talking about Maxx "C", I figured everyone has their own personal opinion of the card that they refuse to budge from.