Hey everyone, this is The_SynchroGuy, and I am here to give out my thoughts on the April 1st, 2021 OCG banlist. It was getting close to that time of the month for the OCG. Though I forgot it was getting that close since I was too focused on waiting for the TCG list. This new OCG list is kind of interesting. While they did hit some cards, they mostly just bumped up some of the cards, and from the looks of it, their meta is going to stay the same for a couple of more months. Will this be a good thing or a bad thing? Only time will tell. I may not be an OCG player, but it’s always fun to go over the OCG banlist and see if we can expect any similar changes to happen on a future TCG banlist. Also, if you do not live anywhere in the OCG, which is all of Asia, then this list will not affect you in any way! If you want to see the TCG banlist, click here. Anyway, enough talk, let’s go over the list!
Remember: Forbidden = 0 copies; Limited = 1 copy; Semi-Limited = up to 2 copies; Unlimited/No Longer on the List = up to 3 copies.
Forbidden:
Tempest Magician
I was wondering if they were ever gonna hit this card. Tempest Magician FTK has been seen here and there in the OCG, but not as frequently as the current meta. However, OCG Konami does not want to take any chances. Especially since we may reach a point where a player can accumulate even more Spell Counters in a single turn, so they have decided to ban this card to prevent future problems.
Limited:
True King of All Calamities
You know, I shouldn’t be too surprised by this. Every time something gets banned here in the TCG, it usually gets limited over in the OCG. Anyway, OCG Konami explained that they did this to put a check on Virtual World decks. Which, to them, makes sense since Calamities has been played at 2 copies in every Virtual World deck. However, they decided to put it to one since it is, in their words, an Extra Deck card, so there’s no need to be merciless with it. (Has their reason for limiting a lot of different Extra Deck cards in the past been because they were Extra Deck cards?)
I don’t think this little change is going to take Virtual World out of the OCG meta. And I don’t think OCG Konami will mind this, seeing how pretty diverse the OCG meta is. And the best deck in the OCG right now is actually Zoodiac, which did not get touched anywhere on this list.
Semi-Limited:
Firewall Dragon
Since Firewall got its errata and went to one, it hasn’t caused any problems in the OCG. Unless you want to count giving power to Cyberse decks, and giving rise to Code Talker decks popping up in the OCG meta, a problem. Even so though, they’re still taking it slow and are just putting the card to 2. By next list, this card will be back at 3. Maybe.
Performapal Skullcrobat Joker
Is Konami’s cold heart towards Pendulum decks finally starting to melt a little? Pendulum decks, specifically Pendulum Magician, hasn’t done a whole lot in the OCG meta since it got its hits all of those years ago. Now it looks like OCG Konami wants to see Pendulum decks start to rise back up a little. Either that or to help sell their Ancient Guardians deck building set that has a new Pendulum archetype. Either way, this will be interesting to see how this goes.
Union Hangar
ABC hasn’t done a whole lot since both this card and ABC – Dragon Buster were both limited back in April of 2020. Now OCG Konami feels like they can ease off the restriction on this deck a little, while still keeping Dragon Buster limited. I don’t see this change affecting the OCG meta in any way. Even if they brought both this card and Dragon Buster to 3. Then again, I don’t live in the OCG, so what do I know?
Unlimited:
Altergeist Meluseek
According to OCG Konami, since there’s been a decline of Altergeist decks, they feel that it’s okay to bring one of their cards off the list. I say that because Altergeist Multifaker is still limited over on their list, so the deck is not back at full power just yet. And I don’t see this change affecting the OCG metagame. Although the deck has still made some top, though very few, appearances here in there (thank you Road of the King), this card going to 3 I don’t see changing that frequency by too much.
Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
Hasn’t caused any problems since it got its errata in the Freezing Chain (aka the Ice Barrier) structure deck. And since it’s not possible to make the usual FTK play with his new effect, there’s really no need to keep this guy on the list any longer at this point, so it’s finally time for him to come off the list.
Junk Speeder
Since not a lot of Synchro decks, or Synchron specifically, have done anything to warp the OCG metagame, there’s no need to keep this card on the list any more. I still find it ridiculous that they even limited this guy when we first entered MR5. I don’t know if they did it to be cautious, but after a year of this card doing nothing, it’s finally off the list.
Allure of Darkness
For those of you that don’t remember, this card was hit back when Danger! Dark World was starting to become popular in the OCG. And this was one of the cards they hit in order to put the deck in check. But now that deck has completely fallen out of favor after a little over a year. Now OCG Konami has decided to give a little more power to DARK decks by putting one of their favorite draw cards back to 3.
Sky Striker Mecha Modules – Multirole
Just like with Altergeist, OCG Konami has felt that the deck has declined a lot, so they feel it’s acceptable to take one of their cards off the list. However, the deck is not back at full power yet since both Widow Anchor and Engage are still semi-limited. Even so though, from what we’ve seen, Sky Striker is still a pretty popular deck over in the OCG since it’s made a couple of tops here and there. While not as consistent as the current meta, it’s still doing alright. Now I guess we see if and/or how this change will affect that. Probably not by much though. But who knows.
Symbol of Heritage
Huh. Well alright then. This card used to be limited due to how players used it to facilitate an FTK. But then it went to 2 for the OCG on the April 2020 banlist. After a full year of being semi-limited, Konami feels that this card hasn’t really done anything and have decided to take it off the list. I guess you can say I’m kind of with them on that since we haven’t, or at least I haven’t, seen any degenerate things that have been happening in the OCG due to this card. But anyway, I think this card going to 3 for the OCG will be fine.
Thoughts
Well, not much to say other than how the meta is going to stay the same for the OCG for a couple more months. Unless one of the new archetypes or supports they release becomes absolutely bonkers. But yeah, the only meta thing they hit was Virtual World, and I can still see that deck being meta with just one Calamites. The other meta decks like Zoodiac and Drytron have completely avoided this list.
Zoodiac at this point has established itself in the OCG meta as the deck to beat. And OCG Konami seems to be okay with that. Either because they don’t mind it for right now, or have something planned that they think will topple that deck. And Drytron, while still a big meta contender, seems to be kind of in the same boat as the other decks that have been making a couple of tops here and there. LIke Dragonmaid, Eldlich, Tri-Brigade and such. But, that shouldn’t take away how powerful Drytron is over there.
And, well, there’s nothing much else to say. Overall, I think the list was a decent one. They got rid of Tempest Magician, which is good. We don’t need any FTK shenanigans. They gave a little bit of power back to some of the older decks, which is nice. But again, they have left the current meta almost completely untouched. Hey though, if they think that’s okay, then that’s on them. Now we wait and see how things go for the OCG after this.
I would do a comparison to the TCG list and see what might happen on our next list, but honestly, there’s hardly anything on here that we don’t already have. Tempest is already banned over here. Calamities is banned. We already have some of the stuff they moved up or off on the list at full power. I guess the thing we probably could see is the loosening on Pendulum decks? We did get Ignister back to 3, but that won’t do much. Maybe we could see Skullcrobat Joker come off the list at some point? I don’t know. Just some food for thought.
Thank you guys for reading this! Let me know in the comments what you thought of the OCG’s new banlist! Do you think they did a good job? Or was it not enough? And are there any changes on here you hope to see be made on a future TCG banlist? I would love to hear your thoughts!
I’ll see you guys in the next one! Hope you have/had an awesome day today! 
