Chapter 144. The Reason K-snake Won't Unban Cards Exposed! So not unbanning is for this?
If Point Five really is the core and essence, then Yusaku Fujiki and Leader Zuo could hardly imagine it.
In other words.
As long as they keep pumping out "super-meta" Decks to attract Duelists to buy, then keep weakening those super-meta Decks and keep printing new cards to attract Duelists to buy again.
Round and round like that!
The profit in it really would reach a terrifying level!
After all, the price to build a full Deck is actually very expensive.
Even in their Duel worlds there's no exception.
On this point.
In the 5D's world, the Duelists of the Satellite Sector feel it keenly.
Especially Yusei Fudo, when he heard the essence of the Forbidden & Limited List was "to sell cards," he clenched his teeth a little.
Because back in the Satellite Sector he didn't have the money to buy cards.
The cards in his Deck at the time were all fished out of trash cans.
Exactly because of that.
His Deck had Junk Warrior and Junk Synchron.
How much were Satellite folk looked down on by Duelists from New Domino City back then?
He knows best.
"Damn K-snake! It's just the same as some people in New Domino City!"
"How many of us in the Satellite Sector can barely get access to Decks!"
"Don't even talk about Tribute Summons and Fusion Summons; people in the Satellite Sector who can even do a Synchro Summon are vanishingly few!"
"Damn it!"
Beside him, Crow Hogan seemed to think of something and began speaking excitedly.
Other Duelists from the Satellite Sector lowered their heads, too.
Cards really were a rare commodity for the Satellite Sector back then.
But junk cards weren't.
The stronger a card is, the rarer it is!
"If the banlist really is just to pave the way for stronger cards!"
"It really will hurt the hearts of many who love Dueling."
"For rich kids it's no big deal, but for ordinary folks like us."
"It'll wound a Duelist's burning heart."
"Hopefully, those cards that were Forbidden."
"Or rather, those cards blocked because they get in the way of selling cards, can get out of 'prison' one day."
After murmuring that, Yusei Fudo reined his thoughts back in.
His gaze returned to the short video.
Old Furicon Player: "Those five points are my explanation for why K-snake bans cards."
Old Furicon Player: "Of course, if you Duelists have other ideas about bans, you can share them."
Old Furicon Player: "But I'll still say this! The most essential, most core reason is still to make money!"
"As long as that Forbidden card is strong enough to affect Duelists' coin-explosion."
"And the newly released pack can't sell at a good price!"
"Then the Forbidden card can only go straight into the little black room with everyone else."
"Forcing you 553 to go play the newly released cards and engines!"
"In summary, there's no 'innocent' ban, but there is innocence buried inside."
"Next, we move to Part Two of the video."
"That is: can a Forbidden card see the light of day again? The answer is definitely yes."
"What happens if we unban a Forbidden card?"
"How do we unban a card?"
"Is it easy to get banned, but also easy to get unbanned?"
"My answer is: unbanning is very difficult, but under certain conditions it can happen!"
"Point One: the card's combos or power level can't keep up with the times anymore."
"Or, it's already a tear of the era."
"Simply put, its strength is no longer enough to be a Forbidden card."
"Then K-snake can consider releasing it."
"For example, the famous 'Yata-Garasu.'"
[Card Name: Yata-Garasu (Level 2)]
[Attribute: WIND]
[Type: Fiend]
[ATK/DEF: 200/100]
"As a Spirit monster, it returns to the hand at the end of the turn it's Summoned!"
"Its effect is: if this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent, it must activate—skip your opponent's next Draw Phase."
"Back then, 'specialized' Decks spammed this card to lock the opponent out of draws until their resources collapsed!"
"It ended up Forbidden; now, looking back."
"Once unbanned—look around, is anyone still playing it?"
"Your precious Normal Summon; are you giving it to this?"
"Or take 'Raigeki.' Reading the effect back then—one card wipes multiple monsters!"
"So strong! Unbeatable! But nowadays, protection from effect destruction is everywhere!"
"Is 'Raigeki' still unbeatable?"
"Or look at 'Injection Fairy Lily.'"
"That one's also an ancient Forbidden card!"
"Its effect is: during that battle's damage calculation, once per battle, you can pay 2000 LP; this card gains 3000 ATK only during that damage calculation."
"A powerhouse that could spike ATK!"
"At the time it caused quite a stir!"
"But now—3000 ATK? Is it useful?"
"It's not!"
"So, Point One for unbans is power level. In fact, there are plenty on today's list that could be freed!"
"As for why they aren't, we'll talk about that later."
"We'll set that aside for now!"
"...…"
No longer useful?
Indeed!
After hearing the first reason for unbanning, Duelists from every world wore thoughtful expressions.
It's also something they could have guessed!
That is, the strength just can't keep up with the era!
Keeping it locked really is pointless.
But many Duelists still sighed.
A ban can last until the meta shifts by several tiers!
That's a long time to be Forbidden!
It gives you the feeling of being jailed since the "primitive age" and released in the "agricultural age!"
When it finally comes out.
All you can do is lament, "Sir, the times have changed."
Old Furicon Player: "With Point One done—"
Old Furicon Player: "Let's look at Point Two."
Old Furicon Player: "Namely, unbanning via effect changes."
"Let's look at this Synchro Monster: 'Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier'!"
"Its current effect is to discard any number of cards from your hand to the GY, then target the same number of your opponent's cards on the field; return them to the hand."
"The restriction is: you can only use this card name's effect once per turn."
"That's the effect after being released from the little black room!"
"But before it ever went in, Brionac had no 'once per turn' limit!"
"That's why Brionac was hot stuff back then!"
"It could pair with a lot of Decks to do all kinds of crazy combos!"
"For example, the Infernity infinite Trishula loop! Brionac was the key!"
"But once it got the 'once per turn' name-based limit!"
"Its power went down, and naturally it walked out of the little black room!"
"Or this monster: 'Dark Magician of Chaos!'"
[Card Name: Dark Magician of Chaos (Level 8)]
[Attribute: DARK]
[Type: Spellcaster]
[ATK/DEF: 2800/2600]
[Effect: You can only use this card name's effect once per turn.]
[● During the End Phase of the turn this card was Normal or Special Summoned, you can target 1 Spell in your GY; add it to your hand.]
[● After damage calculation, if this card destroyed an opponent's monster by battle: banish that opponent's monster.]
[● If this face-up card leaves the field, banish it.]
"This is also the post-release, errata'd effect!"
"Maybe many have already forgotten this card was once sent into the little black room!"
"Back then, Effect 1 added the Spell immediately when it was Normal or Special Summoned!"
"Just with that effect alone!"
"Dark Magician of Chaos enabled a lot of combos!"
"The simplest was spamming Monster Reborn and other powerful Spells on the same turn!"
"So, effect-change unbans follow common patterns!"
"First is adding a 'once per turn' name clause, or taking something with no usage limit and making it once per turn!"
"Second is changing timing—like 'during the Main Phase,' 'before the End Phase,' or 'next turn' and so on."
"Third is adding or removing certain clauses."
"These are the usual cheeky ways to change effects!"
"Cards like 'Future Fusion,' 'Exchange of the Spirit,' 'Deck Devastation Virus,' 'Sinister Serpent,' 'Sangan,' etc."
"All walked out of the little black room only after effect changes and new rulings."
After Point Two, many Duelists across the worlds froze for a moment!
Huh?
What?
You can unban like that?
Change the effect?
Doesn't that mean the older prints people bought are all invalid now?
And saying "change the effect," in practice, is just adding or subtracting lines!
Which, seen plainly, is just a straight-up nerf, right?
In the Duel Monsters world.
Yugi Muto went pale when he saw that his often-used Dark Magician of Chaos was used as an example!
That Dark Magician of Chaos!
He doesn't even know how many crises it helped him survive!
He didn't think they'd just change it like that!
K-snake really is foul!
If it only adds the Spell back at the End Phase—
Then Dark Magician of Chaos's meaning is gone, hey!
Seto Kaiba, by contrast, narrowed his eyes slightly.
He actually thinks this approach is quite reasonable.
Since a card wants out of prison, but you don't want it completely obsolete, then changing its effect is indeed a feasible path.
In the GX world.
"Jaden, what do you think of this unban method?"
"I think it's feasible. At least the card appears again, which is better than being locked up forever."
Jaden Yuki and Aster Phoenix whispered about the reasons for unbanning.
Setting aside the outcome of being jailed forever in the little black room.
Maybe releasing it like this is actually a wise choice!
It lets the card show up in the meta again.
And keeps it from being too overtuned.
Take 'Sangan' and the like.
Even if it truly falls out of favor.
It still had undying glory in the past.
And who knows—
Maybe it can still enable a few combos!
Old Furicon Player: "With those two points done, let's see Point Three!"
Old Furicon Player: "Before I say it, a question."
Old Furicon Player: "In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, how many cards are there in total?"
"Does anyone know? Whether Monster, Spell, or Trap!"
"Anyone know the total if we lump them together?"
"After tossing that out there, let's get to Point Three!"
"Namely: K-snake forgot!"
"That's right! Exactly!"
"They forgot!"
"Even they might forget what all they've Forbidden!"
"If no one specifically brings up unbanning in a meeting!"
"I believe that even someone very familiar with cards—even a card manager—"
"May not be able to remember exactly how many they've Forbidden!"
"So, when discussing unbans, the first thing they consider is popularity!"
"That is, among these Forbidden cards, which ones are extremely popular!"
"If popularity is extreme, and the card fits many main engines, then they might consider unbanning."
"Of course, if it targets a super-meta, then they'll unban something for other meta Decks while banning your super-meta again!"
"Same old trick. As for single cards that have been Forbidden for ages!"
"Like 'Snatch Steal!'"
"I'll say it: if 'Change of Heart' is back, then letting 'Snatch Steal' to one to test the waters isn't too much, right?"
"Sadly, it's still Forbidden in the OCG!"
"Or take 'Trap Dustshoot!'"
"Its effect is: if your opponent has 4 or more cards in hand, you can activate it; look at your opponent's hand, choose 1 monster, and return that card to its Deck."
"That one's Forbidden too, but I feel like it could be tested!"
"The problem is, it isn't!"
"That's just helpless."
Indeed!
There are so many cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters; forgetting a few Forbidden ones is understandable.
But during discussion you can recall some.
Or just look at the list.
Yet if they still choose not to free them at the end, that means unbanning those single cards is meaningless to K-snake!
As for changing effects.
For these single cards, changing then releasing them doesn't seem to mean much either.
If it's a monster from another engine, maybe an errata would let it shine again!
A perfect example is the popular Red-Eyes card: Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!
After thinking it through.
Duelists from every world disliked K-snake even more!
So many cards jailed in the little black room!
They're crying out!
They all want to come out and see the modern Dueling world!
Why keep them locked up?
Especially some old cards!
It's time to let them out!
Old Furicon Player: "And now the last point!"
Old Furicon Player: "Point Four!"
Old Furicon Player: "To be honest, this is also the most essential and most core!"
"Put simply, K-snake wants to make money."
"Some cards, if unbanned, might still have a little value!"
"For example, freeing them could drive some pack sales! Then they can rake in another big haul!"
"But some cards, if unbanned, have zero value!"
"In plain terms! They can't drive pack sales anymore, can't make more money!"
"So the result is: no need to unban!"
"Think about it—your power level is still not fully controllable, and what you'd cause in today's meta is uncontrollable."
"The key is, if unbanned you still won't bring sales or money."
"What's in it for K-snake?"
"Following the principle of 'the less trouble the better!'"
"Or say it's for more profit—take 'Pot of Greed' as the example!"
"As long as 'Pot of Greed' stays Forbidden, then I can keep printing all kinds of Pots that draw 2 with conditions."
"When the time comes, won't huge crowds of Duelists keep speculating and buying?"
"And so, naturally, K-snake won't care about these Forbidden, or even Limited, cards!"
???
Nani?
What the heck?
So it is for money?
So not unbanning is for this too?
The Duelists of every world, who originally thought the core interest behind unbans would be power-level shifts, all twitched.
Each one showed a look of surprise mixed with a bit of anger!
"K-snake really has fallen into a money pit."
"Right? Bans might be to sell new cards, and unbans might also be to sell new cards!"
"Hiss! I didn't expect a company could go this far! I'm impressed!"
"If unbanning doesn't make money, they just don't unban—fine, I'm convinced. Looks like a lot of cards' shining moments in the higher world are just going to be gone."
The group chat instantly exploded with chatter from Duelists in every world!
None of them expected it!
The essence of unbanning would turn out to be tied to profit, too!
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Paid member can read 150+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts