We continue our second banlist week with another surprising hit: Chicken Game, which is now Forbidden.
 
This card’s primary use has been abuse in FTK Decks to draw through your Deck really quickly, either to pull off a Magical Explosion FTK or to draw into Exodia. Monarch Explosion FTK actually gained some traction, and was probably the reason this card got hit (along with Upstart Goblin being Limited).
 
However, Chicken Game did have another notable use; in Decks that relied on Field Spells, Chicken Game allowed you to run multiple copies of Terraforming while reducing the risk of becoming dead. The idea was that if you drew multiples of Terraforming and/or a Field Spell, you could use Terraforming to search out Chicken Game, draw a card, then activate the other Field Spell, effectively turning Terraforming into Upstart Goblin. It gave Decks that relied on Field Spells more consistency, and losing that play actually kind of sucks.
 
I’m not entirely sure how to feel about Chicken Game. While its design does unfortunately lend itself to being abused, there are many other (arguably better) ways to deal with FTK Decks, such as banning Life Equalizer (which the OCG did) or Royal Magical Library (which always sees use only in FTK Decks), and outside of these FTK Decks and Decks that rely on a Field Spell, the card is actually rather subpar. I do feel like there was a better way to deal with FTK Decks than this, but it was admittedly an effective hit. It’s just a shame that Field Spell-focused Decks took a hit as a result.
 
Rating: 3/5

Chicken Game

This card has an interesting unique design mechanic, but I wouldn't call it a healthy one.  It's effectively an Upstart Goblin with a life point price your opponent must as well.  In order to get rid of it without minusing, the opponent must lose 1000 LP in order to activate its second effect (and if they do that, they won't get to draw from this card).  If the opponent does decide to draw from this card, they'll always be a card behind the player who activated Chicken Game.  On top of that, the player can use it as stall if their life points are lower.  This card deserves the ban, but on the bright side, you'll want to use it in traditional matches.

no rating

It's always fun to see a common card get banned. Chicken Game is a generic draw card that is unique as a Field Spell. We all know they hate generic draw cards, and this one had an added bonus of protecting the player who drew the card from life point damage. They also hate OTK decks, and Chicken Game was an excellent part of an Exodia build or the Magical Explosion deck. Too many cons and not enough pros (for them) means welcome to ban land, the true banished zone. 
 
Score: Banned/5 Game Over.
Art: 3/5 Still prefer the name Chicken Race
 
-WarlockBlitz

Chicken Game

I’ve never been a fan of cards that let you immediately draw 1 card. Eventually it becomes the same thing as all the others, just an engine for lowering deck counts or fueling OTK’s. Now, this card at first glance is actually kind of interesting, not because of the draw effect but because of the protection effect. I tested Chicken Game is a number of decks that take advantage of it, such as Graydles, and it adds some flavor that can be fun. Ramming a Graydle Alligator into a Blue Eyes for no damage and then stealing it is hilarious. But in the end, it became more of a detriment in the long run, because allowing my opponent to draw for free was more disadvantageous than its possibilities.

Really I think this card would have been a lot more fun if it only played around with the LP gaining/subtracting effect and protection effect. The draws led to its current demise, and now it’s useful to no one.

Advanced: 2/5

Future Potential: 1.5/5