TEAM YCS Las Vegas is the first premier event to use the newest Forbidden & Limited List! There were some sweeping changes to the top strategies – here’s a quick look at how some of them were affected.

Tearlaments

The Tearlaments Deck was incredibly powerful in the last format, and even got new options with Tearlaments Kashtira from Photon Hypernova. However, the F&L List dealt a major blow to the strategy and now forces them to mix up their plan of attack. First, Tearlaments Kitkallos is Forbidden. That means Instant Fusion is no longer as powerful, and the Tearlaments themselves can’t fuse into Kitkallos to easily start up their combos. It also means Tearlaments Rulkallos can’t be Fusion Summoned without a substitute like King of the Swamp.

Second, the Main Deck monsters Tearlaments Scheiren, Tearlaments Merrli, and Tearlaments Havnis are all Limited, leaving Tearlaments Reinoheart as the only unrestricted one of the original bunch. Since each Tearlaments monster can only use its effect once each turn, you can still make a lot of the same plays. However, using random Deck destruction effects will no longer allow you to consistently pop off at a moment’s notice. Tearlaments Duelists will need to use more controlled effects to make their plays happen.

Finally, while not Tearlaments, the quartet of Agido the Ancient Sentinel, Mudora the Sword Oracle, Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard, and Keldo the Sacred Protector are all Limited. These were used with Tearlaments (and other strategies) as ways to fill the Graveyard and reuse cards, or to counteract other Graveyard Decks. Limiting these cards will have a big impact on the Tearlaments’ consistency.

Spright

Only one card was affected in the Spright Deck, but it was their most important one – Spright Elf is now Forbidden. This was one of the main ways the Deck would generate advantage and put together their best plays. Without Elf, many of their play patterns are gone, such as leaving an Elf on the board to generate further advantage on the opponent’s turn. Also, Elf used to be the primary way to go into Gigantic Spright, since Elf itself didn’t require multiple Level 2’s.

It isn’t all bad, however. Sprights still have all their other options, including Spright Sprind and all their Main Deck monsters. It remains to be seen if pure Spright or a hybrid, such as Runick Spright, will be the best version of the strategy going forward.

Floowandereeze

Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds is Forbidden. That’s it! The Floowandereeze strategy is still capable of doing everything it used to, except it can’t end with the Barrier Statue to lock out non-WIND Special Summons. Floowandereeze & Empen, Mist Valley Apex Avian, and Raiza the Mega Monarch are all still threats. They can also still use your monsters for their Tribute Summons thanks to Floowandereeze & the Unexplored Winds, and do it during your turn thanks to Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map and Floowandereeze and the Dreaming Town. They’re also a Deck that’s largely unaffected by Kashtira Arise-Heart’s Continuous Effect.

There’s even talk of some Duelists using Small World to play some of the other Barrier Statues, such as Barrier Statue of the Torrent. It remains to be seen if that strategy will work out for them.

Other Notable Changes

Quite a few other things were updated on the F&L List. Artifact Scythe is Forbidden, meaning it’s not as easy to lock opponents down with Artifact Dagda, which used to be doable in just about any Deck.

SPYRAL Resort is now Unlimited, opening that strategy up again, but with SPYRAL Master Plan still Forbidden, it would require a new way of thinking for the Deck to return to its former glory.

Many powerful Tuners have become Unlimited – Jet Synchron, Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion, and Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson. Maybe we’ll get some results from Synchro Decks thanks to these changes!

We will have to wait and see while Duelists figure out the new F&L List. Plus, there are all the new cards from Photon Hypernova last week, and Structure Deck: Beware of Traptrix next week. It’s an exciting time to be a Duelist!