Though Yugioh is more of a wild west than other TCGs like Magic the Gathering or Pokemon TCG, the official Yugioh banlist makes many Yugioh cards Forbidden, Limited, or Semi Limited to keep the game fair, fun, and balanced. To help you keep your beloved tournament decks legal, we track the full list and latest updates in this guide.
Once you’ve pored through the Yu Gi Oh banlist (and the YuGiOh Master Duel banlist, which we cover in a separate guide), you might also enjoy our guides on how to play Yugioh online and the best Yugioh Master Duel meta decks. Or, if you’re a collector, check out the most expensive rare YuGiOh cards around, or even the best YuGiOh cards, like, ever.
For now, though, we’ll launch right into the latest Yugioh banlist (in force from September 25, 2023), and then explain exactly how the banlist rules work surrounding Forbidden, Limited, and Semi-Limited cards.
Yugioh banlist 2023
The most recent version of the Yugioh banlist was released on September 15, 2023, and will come into force on September 25, 2023.
The September 25 Yugioh banlist changes are as follows:
- Kashtira Arise-Heart changed from Limited to Forbidden
- Bystial Magnamhut is now Limited
- Chaos Space is now Limited
- Herald of Orange Light removed from list
- Salamangreat Gazelle removed from list
If a Yugioh card is on the banlist, that means it is either Forbidden, Limited, or Semi-Limited. You can’t play Forbidden cards, you can only have one copy of a Limited card in your Yugioh decks, and you can can only run two copies of a Semi-Limited card.
There are two Yugioh banlists, one for Advanced Format and another for Traditional Format. The banlists contain all the same cards, but cards that are Forbidden in Advanced Format (ie, totally banned) are Limited in Traditional Format: you can take one copy of the card.
The official Yugioh banlist for Advanced Format contains the following cards:
Forbidden Yugioh cards
Monster/Effect
- Archnemeses Protos
- Artifact Scythe
- Barrier Statue Of The Stormwinds
- Blackwing – Gofu The Vague Shadow
- Block Dragon
- Cyber-Stein
- Dandylion
- Djinn Releaser Of Rituals
- Eclipse Wyvern
- Eva
- Fairy Tail – Snow
- Fiber Jar
- Fishborg Blaster
- Glow-Up Bulb
- Grinder Golem
- Level Eater
- Magical Scientist
- Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin
- Master Peace, The True Dracoslaying King
- Maxx “C”
- Mind Master
- Orcust Harp Horror
- Performage Plushfire
- Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis
- Redox, Dragon Ruler Of Boulders
- Ronintoadin
- Spyral Master Plan
- The Tyrant Neptune
- Tidal, Dragon Ruler Of Waterfalls
- Victory Dragon
Monster/Fusion
- Elder Entity Norden
- Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom
- Tearlaments Kitkallos
- Thunder Dragon Colossus
Monster/Link
- Crystron Halqifibrax
- Curious, The Lightsworn Dominion
- Guardragon Agarpain
- Guardragon Elpy
- Heavymetalfoes Electrumite
- Knightmare Goblin
- Knightmare Mermaid
- Linkross
- Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon
- Prank-Kids Meow-Meow-Mu
- Predaplant Verte Anaconda
- Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty
- Spright Elf
- Summon Sorceress
- Superheavy Samurai Scarecrow
- Topologic Gumblar Dragon
- Union Carrier
Monster/Synchro
- Ancient Fairy Dragon
- Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon
- Ib The World Chalice Justiciar
- Tempest Magician
Monster/Xyz
- Kashtira Arise-Heart (Previously Limited)
- Lavalval Chain
- M-X-Saber Invoker
- Number 16: Shock Master
- Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk
- Number 86: Heroic Champion – Rhongomyniad
- Number 89: Diablosis The Mind Hacker
- Number 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon
- Number S0: Utopic Zexal
- Outer Entity Azathot
- True King Of All Calamities
- Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity
- Zoodiac Broadbull
- Zoodiac Drident
Spell
- Brilliant Fusion
- Butterfly Dagger – Elma
- Card Of Safe Return
- Chicken Game
- Cold Wave
- Confiscation
- Delinquent Duo
- Dimension Fusion
- Giant Trunade
- Graceful Charity
- Heavy Storm
- Kaiser Colosseum
- Last Will
- Mass Driver
- Metamorphosis
- Mirage Of Nightmare
- Mystic Mine
- Painful Choice
- Pot Of Greed
- Premature Burial
- Smoke Grenade Of The Thief
- Snatch Steal
- Soul Charge
- That Grass Looks Greener
- The Forceful Sentry
- Zoodiac Barrage
Trap
- Appointer of the Red Lotus
- Branded Expulsion
- Imperial Order
- Last Turn
- Red Reboot
- Return From The Different Dimension
- Royal Oppression
- Self-Destruct Button
- Sixth Sense
- Time Seal
- Trap Dustshoot
- Ultimate Offering
- Vanity’s Emptiness
Limited Yugioh cards
Monster
- Left Arm Of The Forbidden One
- Left Leg Of The Forbidden One
- Right Arm Of The Forbidden One
- Right Leg Of The Forbidden One
Monster/Effect
- Agido The Ancient Sentinel
- Armageddon Knight
- Astrograph Sorcerer
- Black Dragon Collapserpent
- Blaster, Dragon Ruler Of Infernos
- Bystial Magnamhut (New)
- Cyber Jar
- Danger!? Jackalope?
- Danger!? Tsuchinoko?
- Dark Grepher
- Dinowrestler Pankratops
- Exodia The Forbidden One
- Infernity Archfiend
- Kelbek The Ancient Vanguard
- Keldo The Sacred Protector
- Lunalight Tiger
- Mathmech Circular
- Miscellaneousaurus
- Morphing Jar
- Mudora The Sword Oracle
- Performapal Monkeyboard
- Phantom Skyblaster
- Psy-Framegear Gamma
- Red Rose Dragon
- Speedroid Terrortop
- Substitoad
- Tearlaments Havnis
- Tearlaments Merrli
- Tearlaments Scheiren
- Tempest, Dragon Ruler Of Storms
- White Dragon Wyverburster
- Zoodiac Ratpier
Monster/Fusion
- Gem-Knight Master Diamond
Monster/Link
- Striker Dragon
Monster/Synchro
- Ancient Fairy Dragon
- Denglong, First Of The Yang Zing
- Psy-Framelord Omega
- T.G. Hyper Librarian
Monster/Xyz
- Beatrice, Lady Of The Eternal
- Daigusto Emeral
Spell
- Called By The Grave
- Card Destruction
- Card Of Demise
- Chain Strike
- Change of Heart
- Chaos Space (New)
- Divine Wind Of Mist Valley
- Dragonic Diagram
- Final Countdown
- Foolish Burial
- Gateway Of The Six
- Gold Sarcophagus
- Harpie’s Feather Duster
- Infernity Launcher
- Instant Fusion
- Into The Void
- Magical Mid-Breaker Field
- Mind Control
- Monster Gate
- Monster Reborn
- One Day Of Peace
- One For One
- Purrely Delicious Memory
- Reasoning
- Reinforcement Of The Army
- Sekka’s Light
- Set Rotation
- Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones
- Slash Draw
- Spellbook Of Judgment
- Terraforming
- Upstart Goblin
Trap
- Magical Explosion
- Naturia Sacred Tree
- Time Seal
Semi-limited Yugioh cards
Monster/Effect
- Destiny Hero – Malicious
- Kashtira Unicorn
Spell
- Lightning Storm
- Pot of Desires
- Runick Fountain
- Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! (Previously Limited)
- Spright Starter
No longer on list
The following YuGiOh cards used to be on the banlist, but as of the September 25 update, they’re totally free to use.
Monster/Effect
- Herald of Orange Light (Previously Semi-Limited)
- Salamangreat Gazelle (Previously Limited)
What is the Yu Gi Oh banlist?
Yu Gi Oh! Trading Card Game’s publisher, Konami, releases an updated version of the Yu Gi Oh banlist on its official website every couple of months. This lists restrictions on the cards you can include in constructed Yu Gi Oh! decks.
The Yugioh banlist’s rules are simple:
- If a card is ‘Forbidden’, it cannot be used in your Main Deck, Extra Deck, or Side Deck
- If a card is ‘Limited’, you can only have one copy of it in your main Deck, Extra Deck, and Side Deck combined
- If a card is ‘Semi-limited’, you can only have two copies of it in your Main Deck, Extra Deck, and Side Deck combined.
There are separate banlists for the game’s ‘Advanced’ format (which is used in Regional, National, and World Championship events) and the much looser ‘Traditional’ format. For example many cards are Forbidden in Advanced, but only Limited in Traditional format.
Forbidden, Limited, and Semi-limited cards can be cards of any type, and the Yu Gi Oh banlist typically contains numerous Monster, Monster/Effect, Monster/Fusion, Monster/Link, Monster/Synchro, Monster/Xyz, Spell, and Trap type cards.
Konami says the banlist will get its next update “in a few months”.
Disappointed that the prize cards in your collection aren’t viable with the latest banlist? You could look into other TCGs. The first Disney Lorcana set is hard to get hold of but due a reprint in Winter 2023, so now’s a great time to get on board with a new game.
Source: Wargamer
