Goyo Guardian
So first, the basics, this is a Level 6 Synchro monster… A GREAT Level for Synchro Summoning into as well as having 2800 ATK and 2000 DEF, not only are these good stats, but that it’s a Level 6 only serves to make it better.
And for it’s effect:
“When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon that monster to your side of the field in face-up Defence position.”

That Goyo Guardian has such a large attack means that being able to destroy an opponent’s monster by battle should, most of the time, be quite an easy feat to achieve. And if you are able to successfully destroy your opponent’s monster, and assuming that it also goes to the Graveyard, this card may well up giving you further options for Main Phase 2.

Now certainly this card does have some weaknesses, firstly, to destroy an opponents monster by battle you are going to have to run the gauntlet of backrow, and with very little in the way of backrow removal as well as large’ish amounts of backrow currently this is going to effect Goyo Guardian’s efficiency. Second, not all monsters are able to be destroyed by one single attack, some have inbuilt survivability, and not only that, destroying an opponents Xyz monster will rarely result in as great an advantage for you as a player than it would if you (as in the past) were grabbing an opponents Effect or Synchro monster. So basically, Goyo Guardian may well in many instances provide you with little more than a HUGE attack.

Thirdly, and quite probably most importantly, Synchro monsters for the most part aren’t even seeing play in quite a lot of Extra Decks, mostly because of Xyz’s, so this begs the question, “Is it going to see play?”
Now while I believe that it will see play, I also believe that it’s impact won’t be so great… Mostly because of this point.

I’m going to be straight to the point, this is still a great card, while maybe it’s not going to be as potentially influential on the outcome of games as it once was, this is still going to have the ability to swing games into your favour, and that’s nothing to take lightly. Personally, I look forward to seeing how this cards return from being Forbidden to being Limited will impact on the game, even if that impact ends up being very little.

Traditional: 2 (Disclamer, I don’t play Traditional), but even in a fast game, this is still sure to have some uses?

Advanced: 4 Still as great an effect as ever, even considering “Power creep.” And don’t believe those who say that it’s “No longer that great,” I don’t believe this to be true.

Hello Pojo Fans,

I never thought this guy was coming off the ban list. Goyo is one of the best Synchro monsters ever. High stats, easy summoning conditions, and the ability to steal almost any monster he destroys by battle and sends to the graveyard, strong cases for an all-out amazing monster. Level 2 Tuner monsters are abundant (Plaguespreader at 3) so making this guy isn't hard (Summoner Monk + Road Synchron is a great combo as well). His attack lets him run over almost any monster he faces and if turned into defense, Goyo has a strong enough one to hold off against plenty of attackers. Warrior Returning Alive will send him back to the Extra Deck, and Colossal Fighter can Special Summon him from the graveyard with its effect.

The new Pendulum monsters won't be afraid of his effect, as they go back to the Extra Deck when destroyed, and you won't want to attack a searcher monster with Goyo, but aside from those situational inconveniences, Goyo will be back in every Extra Deck.

Traditional-4/5
Advanced-4.5/5
Art-3.5/5

Allow me to clear things up, my dears. I did not review the Gusto and the Scrap cards in the previous week not because they were all-powerful engines of destruction (I did, after all, review Spellbook of Judgment), but because they represent something I find to be a critical failure in card design. Gusto and Scraps were not archetypes meant to special summon a bunch of monsters, and then Konami printed their two new cards. It essentially shows that Konami's idea of support is "let the archetype summon more monsters". It's rather unsightly.

ANYWAY, Goyo Guardian. Yeah, it's a good card still. The main argument anyone can have against him is him needing the battle phase. Anyone that uses this to say Goyo Guardian is bad, is folly incarnate. You see, my dearest readers, Goyo still has 2800 ATK, is level 6 (and thus ridiculously easy to summon) and, most importantly, is an Extra Deck monster. This means he's always at your fingertips, which means his "weakness" of needing to attack to get his effect off is entirely within your control. Your opponent has no backrow cards? Goyo. Your opponent has backrow cards? Wait until you deal with them and then Goyo. Your opponent has background cards you can't deal with? Goyo and force them to activate those.

Goyo is one of the two most powerful Extra Deck monsters for a reason, kiddies.

Advanced: 5/5 (There are no tournament results with this being legal yet, so this is just an approximation)
Traditional: 2/5

So the forbidden and limite list is in full swing and what better to touch on than the only card to leave the land of the forbidden, the kabuki warrior Goyo Guardian. Goyo, for you newer players, was amongst the first synchros to hit the game. It being level 6 and having 2800 attack meant it could EASILY attack over almost anything your opponent put out. His forbiddening..is that a word?..lets go with it..confused quite a few players. We originally thought that if Goyo would destroy an Xyz in battle that the materials would come with it, which was obviously quickly proven false. I dont think anyone considered it as brutal as Brionac, but it still got the banhammer and has sat in trade binders for awhile. Is Goyo still as powerful as it was, say, 5 years ago?

1 - Ease of Summoning - Back when Goyo was released, tuners were everywhere and everyone had room in Extra decks to fit a variety of cards. It was simple enough to summon Stratos, get a search, then E-Tele a Krebons to the field to make a quick Goyo. Now, tuners are either more reserved in what they can summon or they have completely different utilities such as Effect Veiler. The only decks I see being played right now that have the ability straight out the deck box with no changes that can utilize Goyo are Blackwings(thanks to Blizzard and any Lv4), X-Sabers(which sadly aren't doing much on the competitive scene), Infernity's(ONLY if running the less good synchro build vs Xyz build) and honestly I believe that's it..though I could be wrong

2 - Power Creep - Goyo having 2800 attack upon arrival left it as a monster with few peers. Stealing an opponents Stardust or Thought Ruler was HUGE. Now you're faced with more stuff like Blaster, Dracossack, Scrap Dragon(which came out much later than Goyo mind you), and even a post Goyo Big Eye can really ruin someone's day. There's a lot more "Big Monsters" in the game to which Goyo simply cannot function

3 - Spell/Trap Support - I went looking at some old TeleDAD decklists and found the ones that took 1st/2nd for SJC Houston 2009. Back then you had 3 Solemn Judgment, which was huge. Defensively however, the game changed drastically post Goyo with Dimensional Prison, which also got changed to 3 on the f/l list, Mirror Force going from 1 then to 3 now, Forbidden Lance, the Hands, and so much more.

Verdict - Goyo is powerful, make no mistake, but with all the changes, it simply doesn't hold up as well as it used to. Five years ago it received a rating of 4.57 from the reviewers, including a very erroneously 3/5.

However....

Traditional - 2/5
Advanced - 3.25/5 - Today's game is so vastly different from five years ago, Goyo simply in my mind cannot keep up with the times. He'll be a boost to decks such as Blackwings for sure, because they can make him without changing anything about themselves. However most decks simply do not have a way to reliably make him without sacrificing something and I believe that is a cost simply not worth paying.

Monday - Goyo Guardian

Hey guys Vendetta here. Starting out Banlist week with Goyo Guardian! People have been screaming for this cards return for years. Since the ban of Brionic there have been no good level 6 Synchros for decks to play, which is enough to make decks like Blackwings and TeleDAD fall out of favor on this reason alone. Goyo Guardian is a very powerful card, but the obvious question with old power cards making a return is "Is this card as powerful as it used to be"? Short answer is no. Why? There are so many things that can go wrong now. 2800 is pretty much the cap this format, aside from Judgment Dragon, which means this card is only insanely powerful in the early game, where in the past pulling this out late game unopposed was very auto-win. Throw that in with all battle traps being newly unlimited + effect negation and damage step shenanigans like Forbidden Lance and this card will rarely go unopposed. Lets take a step back. Black Horn of Heaven is a massive factor in the meta game and though it may fall out of favor it is still very relevant right now. Don't get me wrong though, the card is still very powerful in the sense that it is 2800 atk, which is a very high stat to boast. It's also insanely generic. Any deck can play Effect Veiler. The interaction between this card and HAT is ridiculous. You can bluff your opponent to the highest extent by allowing them to do their plays, thinking you don't have an answer, then with any combination of Call of The Haunted/Begalltach + Ignition/Sanctum + Effect Veiler you can Blast away any problematic cards, be it a floodgate or another monster sitting on the board, then make Goyo Guardian to capitilize on advantage. In a mirror match this is so auto-win its stupid. If they try to Moralltach your Goyo then you can Breakthrough Skill it, take it with Goyo then make Pleiades. Backed by Wiretap and traps there isn't a whole lot your opponent can do to recover.

Traditional: 2 - A lot of cards I will never rate high in Traditional because of the state of that format. Goyo Guardian is a prime example here, where its high stats can be lethal when your opponent has ring of destruction.

Advanced: 3.5 - In certain decks this card can be good, with the right hand-trap and trap support. I rate it 3.5 because it is so generic.