Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel: Forbidden And Limited List, Explained

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• What Is The Forbidden And Limited List?

• What Are Forbidden, Limited, Semi-Limited, And Unlimited Cards?

• How To See Forbidden And Limited Cards In Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

• The Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Forbidden And Limited List

With a game as long-running and constantly evolving as Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's no surprise there have been a few cards banned from play over the years. With over 10,000 of those cards available at launch, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel had to use a lot of the same bans to ensure its own balance.

The Forbidden and Limited List can be confusing for new players. Which card can you only play one of? Or two? Or none at all? Why does it keep changing? And which list does Master Duel even use? Here is everything you need to know about Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Forbidden And Limited List.

What Is The Forbidden And Limited List?

The list is a living document that lists which cards are allowed in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Regularly updated multiple times a year, it sets out the ban list for organised play both in tabletop and on digital adaptations like Master Duel. The list can be split into four categories: Forbidden, Limited, Semi-Limited, and Unlimited.

Each format runs its own Forbidden and Limited List. The Japanese and International versions are treated differently, with the OCG (the Japanese game played in Japan and other Asian regions) maintaining its own list. In the International releases, the list is split between TCG Advanced and TCG Traditional.

Advanced is the format most organised play uses, and utilises a full Forbidden and Limited list. After the introduction of Forbidden cards, the Traditional format was devised and only uses Limited and Semi-Limited cards. For Magic and Pokemon players, it helps to think of these as Yu-Gi-Oh!'s equivalent of Vintage and Legacy or Extended and Unlimited.

As Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel isn't quite up-to-date with the tabletop game and is missing a number of sets, it uses a modified version of an older Forbidden and Limited list from the OCG format. Specifically, it currently uses the OCG 2021/04 List with a few changes. Those modifications generally involve adding cards that are in Master Duel, but were Forbidden or Limited after the 2021/04 list, such as Zoodiac Barrage moving from Limited to fully Forbidden.

What Are Forbidden, Limited, Semi-Limited, And Unlimited Cards?

The Forbidden and Limited List has four 'tiers' of severity.

The most severe category is Forbidden. Cards that are Forbidden are completely banned, and can't be used in any official play. This includes a lot of the game's most infamously broken cards, like Change of Heart and Pot of Greed, but also cards that became more of a problem later on, like Tempest Magician. A card that is on the Forbidden List isn't banned forever, though. Over time, answers to it may become more popular, and cards can move from this to another category.

The next tier is Limited. In a normal Yu-Gi-Oh! deck, you're allowed a maximum of three of the same card in a deck. If a card is Limited, though, you're only allowed one. In organised tournament play this rule is taken a bit further, and you're only allowed one in any deck you submit.

The less severe counterpart of Limited is Semi-Limited, where cards that may be a concern are put. With Semi-Limited cards, you're only allowed two copies in one deck.

Limited cards can be seen as being on very thin ice – if they continue to pose a problem while Limited, they could easily be upgraded to becoming fully Forbidden (such as the aforementioned Zoodiac Barrage, which was Limited before being fully Forbidden late last year). If being Limited completely locks them out of being useful, they may instead be downgraded to a Semi-Limited or even Unlimited status.

Finally, Unlimited cards are unbanned, and you can run the full three copies of them in any deck. Unless stated otherwise on the list or the card itself, every card is Unlimited. Each new revision of the Forbidden and Limited List will include a section listing which cards have been made fully unlimited since the last edition.

How To See Forbidden And Limited Cards In Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Fortunately, you don't need to scour the Yu-Gi-Oh! website to find the right banlist, as Master Duel maintains an in-game version.

On the main menu, select the Submenu button in the top right corner. Under "How To Play/Settings", there will be an option called "Forbidden/Limited". The first page you see will be an explanation of how Master Duel organises the list, but at the very bottom you'll see a button that says "Forbidden/Limited List". Select it, and you'll be asked to confirm the format (at launch, only Standard is available).

You should see a large gallery view of every card on the list. The first tab shows Forbidden cards, while the other two Limited and Semi-Limited.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Forbidden And Limited List

If you'd rather not trawl through game menus, here is every card currently limited or forbidden in Master Duel.

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