Banned List is your friend - Shuriken
Hey guys and gals, Shuriken here with another article for you Pojo fans out there ^^. This one is about the banned list, set to be instituted to action this fall. If you don't already know what cards will be banned they are: Yata Garasu, Injection Fairy Lily, Harpie's Feather Duster, Change of Heart, Raigeki, Imperial Order, Cyber Jar, Fiber Jar, Delinquent Duo, and Painful Choice. A lot of people are saying they will quit once the banned list comes out because a lot of the staples are being restricted. I say that the banned list just helps with what I want more of in the game, originality. Originality is what makes the game fun, which it needs now. Personally I think the Chaos Duo (Dragon and Soldier), should be restricted, but the other 10 cards will allow people to be more original in their picks for cards. I mean most decks will have 5-8 spots open when the banned list comes into effect, allowing you to add cards that you didn't think would do as well as the banned list cards. I mean for Raigeki, we still have Dark Hole, Tribe-Infecting Virus, even Needle Ceiling and Torrential Tribute. Harpie's Feather Duster will be gone for Heavy Storm, and there's also another spot for anything you would want. Cyber Jar and Fiber Jar, although they really don't have a replacement, it will free up spots in your deck for possibly cards you wanted to put in, but didn't want to change your deck. The same goes for all the others.
 
Let's put it this way, most people will worry their deck will get worse, but if you think about it for a bit, you would realize that not only will your deck lose them, but so will other people. You won't have to worry as much about playing monsters and spell/trap cards, because HFD and Raigeki will not be there to get rid of them. Everyone will lose some cards, but there's much originality to be gained from this. Cookie-cutter decks could be almost eliminated (for those of you that don't know what a cookie-cutter deck is, it's basically a beatdown deck or hand disruption deck that everyone copies so they can win).
 
I leave you with the following: give the banned list a try, if you've never won a tournament, or only won like 2 (like me ^^'), you may find it might be easier, because there won't be as much power cards to run into. You can always find alternatives to everything in your deck, and who knows, you might like it. Also, the cards in the banned list will switch from time to time, so you won't always have that Raigeki sitting in your binder ^^.
 
Aaron aka. Shuriken
ShurikenWolf@yahoo.com