We're Sending Drataya to Tartarus! (New BANNED and Limited Card List!) 🚫

Goodbye Drataya! For now...
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[@Elestrals]

An extensive breakdown on our new Ban and Limit list for Elestrals! Thank you for your continued support to Elestrals, we hope these updates will make for a more dynamic and exciting play experience! -aDrive

[@intuneknitter4220]

You aren’t getting any support. My lgs won’t even carry your product past a few boosters. From what I’m seeing here, it’s not a very balanced game if the meta can’t even answer basic removal. I mean how did that not get past play testing?

[@nunudolonia542]

Big fan of the open communication from aDrive on the hits, it’s healthy for both the playerbase and the development team to understand why something is being hit relative to the metagame and having everyone on the same page

[@Zachpi]

I appreciate the quick turn around on shutting this combo down, and the clear communication! Hopefully I get a chance to jump into the game soon!

[@kalcyte725]

super mega fence sitter here: I am located in australia, and I am also a yugioh player. I find even accessing singles for their market price conveniently is a very uphill battle, buying overseas is so expensive and shipping, currency conversion + gst makes it just not worth it. And thats with a very large player base and supply going around, trade groups and locals. so I cannot imagine playing in person or even owning the cards/keeping up with the changing game. looking forward to the online simulator, and if its done well, i would definitely be down to give it a try

[@LordParaDax]

Cards just come out people just start to figure a deck out and cards get banned. This makes wanting to pick anything up not a high priority.

[@KuroeNezumi]

I mean, when it's like...1 card per set that gets banned, it doesn't feel like it is too much of an issue. Much more when the card banned made the game turn into wait for your opponent to fuck up or actually finish their FTK. So for my part I'm glad they killed a single card for it. If anything, with how few cards are being touched at a time WHILE trying to be as minimal as possible in that regard, I think MORE decks might be picked up to try and circumvent any obvious outliers that squeeze past the playtest team on release.

[@Swpht]

Love the clear communication commitment. Would be really cool if these game-health/state meetings could be streamed in some capacity so that the community could see the cards that are under the microscope at that time in the meta as well as provide some additional input into the discussion.

[@javierdurini]

I love that you're creating an alternative to the banned cards so that we those who love those elestras can still play them in some capacity

[@sanic007]

I greatly appreciate this communication. It's miles better than Konami releasing a banlist for financial purposes.

[@choppergrumbles]

I mean it definitely impacted me financially I JUST spent $72 on 3 lavalith and 4 laurels

[@MegaCrow122]

Tbf, that is still cheaper than what you would spend in other tcgs for 7 meta impacting cards.

[@danger_x_dave]

Now you have 3 playsets of each!

[@azurefoxbh9280]

I mean I bought the best deck in Pokémon for that cost

[@choppergrumbles]

It's really not that big of a deal I only put that because he said it shouldn't impact anybody financially but 2 of the 3 limited cards are literally the 2 hardest cards to get right now for a new player, works out for people who didn't invest and not so much for me 🙃

[@brycebledsoe3870]

Im a new player who just got all of my singles for my trifernal upgrade and when i saw him on the thumbnail in the banlist video i was so scared for a sec 😂

[@LordParaDax]

This is a terrible ban list and having a set date for when these come out would be a better system

[@insomniagaming9649]

I feel like eq shouldn't have been limited. everything else I agree with

[@GiovanniBallerinii]

no g golem elestral?

[@astercat49]

Took 1 look at the FTK and said NOPE! Good on you aDrive!

[@wertsTCG]

I'm in shambles

[@datwriterhelen]

The fruit has spoiled

[@jayh3431]

Same, I just really started getting into the game because I loved the lil froot guy. I'm going to have to take a break from the game since I spent so much time playing a fruit deck without the wasp.

[@wertsTCG]

@@jayh3431 Yeah its unfortunate that it enabled a very toxic and strong deck outside of its core deck build around. It is for the better of the game 😢 RIP my boi. If you have friends etc there is always the option to play casually as the cards are necessarily broken in a normal fruit deck. Kitchen table games can be what ever your friend group chooses them to be!

[@jesterzjokester3965]

I feel the same…. Fruit was my favorite….

[@EagletheDuck]

The implications of this list, mainly the limits, will be fascinating to watch in the coming weeks. While I’m sure opinions will be mixed, I think the clear communication is 100% the way to go and is much appreciated

[@aqualeadermatt]

I will say that I like the approach to bans that also releases a "nerfed" version of the card that addresses the issue. In One Piece for example, recently when they have to ban a Leader for being too strong, they release a weaker promo version of that same leader. Usually they aren't even worth playing unfortunately, but they're still there for players who just want to use their favorite characters even though they're banned.

[@598019001]

I love that they took a look at a natural part of the lifecycle of a card game, Bans, And then used it as a chance to create fun little nerfed versions with unique art, while nerfing problem cards and a bit of storytelling at the same time. It's Great!

[@shaggycrow]

that 8th ranked player seems like a nice boy

[@mb778_]

what a nice young man

[@dai7v7]

Nooo, Rip fruit deck, I think a better escape from tartarus for the little guy would be something like, "if you only have earth spirits you draw 2 every time an ambrosia is casted" that way it's still powerful for ambrosia decks but it's restricted to mono-earth

[@Rivejix]

Dang... Lavalith getting kabonked. Fire just got knocked back..😢 EQ, Laurels to 1 I can agree with, just because removal was way too strong, there is a plus side for those sad about it. Pandacine can be used to regain an invoke rune from the underworld. Maybe with those changes Pandacine will be valued in earth decks.

[@MegaCrow122]

Highly agree!

[@jasonsumma1530]

I would have to disagree with fire getting knocked back. How many times did you see lavalith in an actual fire deck? From what I seen in chat, lavalith was usually the ONLY fire elestral in any deck. Fire, on its own, still isn't the best deck. With the removal of drataya, the only decent fire deck got nerfed since it was a fire\fruit deck.

[@b1gkahunatcg]

As always, Dan's transparency is wonderful and appreciated. Banning Drataya was bound to happen so I'm glad it's being addressed now. The limits all make sense and open up decks to find different solutions.

[@PKSparkxxDH]

Wait...Sparkitt Escapped effect leaked? 👀 EDIT: Lavalith to 1?! LAURELS to 1?!? EARTHQUAKE TO ONE!?! LAWWWWDDDDD

[@carlosmtraverzo3121]

will the restricted & limited list have a set date (for example every 4 months) or only when it is deemed necessary?

[@jayh3431]

I second this, I'd love to know the turnaround time for the meta bans etc.

[@st00ben]

Amazing turn around time on making this happen, with clear and focused communication for the community. I call it a dub!

[@shadelawft4736]

O7 to the wertz brand

[@cuddlequeen3225]

Gosh dang it. I just pickked up a starter deck a couple days ago. Turns out it has sparkitts and earthquakes in it. So i guess ill have to buy some cards to replace them

[@BingleBobb]

at first I thought this was stupid but now I think that decks will be much more creative and fun, glad to see the meta rely more on the creativity of the players :)

[@Closer2Zero]

Well, I don’t agree with limiting cards to one, I feel I can trust that- If it doesn’t work out for the game, you will be open to listening community feedback, and possibly change having a list of limits to one.

[@SleepyLain]

limiting to 1 might be a necessary change since sometimes the problem with a card isn't the effect but rather the effect being used multiple times. getting EQed once isn't bad, getting EQed three times tho is toxic

[@jasonsumma1530]

there are some Elestrals that basically duplicate cards like EQ so in theory it is dropping the number of 6 EQ down to 4.

[@jasonsumma1530]

Lavalith did NOTHING to help the fire decks because it seems that it is the only fire elestral being played unless you are doing 5s which has a necruff. Seems you can also find a lavalith in that 5s deck. Now I don't feel too bad for having one lavalith. Thanks for always being transparent. I've got a feeling some of the counter ruins will get 1x like shield. I still remember a video where the creator of it and the opponent only did 1x runes and it was a very interesting match. This was back in the base set days. I don't remember who made it though.

[@BHb-hr6kc]

I find it so amazing that the game you've created, people have found ways to find the hacks. 😂

[@xarrya72]

Very sad about drataya mostly because it seems like it was certain combos that made it bad. I understand the combinations are too OP and rhe Drataya ban makes the most sense. I feel like the cards in the limit list are fair though. Appreciate the transparency.

[@akirandrake414]

Good, none of my decks got hit with this.

[@nathanmccarthy7910]

5:05 beansoldier lost a finals and Adrive said “this cannot be allowed to happen again!”

[@MegaCrow122]

Feel free to think like this, but realistically its something that has been spoken to death in the community in various circles so this was a long time coming.

[@astercat49]

@MegaCrow122 dude, it’s a joke…

[@jahadkennedy4662]

My earth stall deck is in shambles but I get y they did it it was fun While it lasted.

[@freeflyerhoag]

Really like that Drataya still gets to exist in the form of it's Excape from Tartarus card, and in such a way that involves the banning in Drataya's lore

[@GatorEX]

Me who only pulled one Lavalith anyway 😮‍💨

[@xarrya72]

What about limiting the draw 2 to once per turn.

[@numnut154]

I wish Astrabbit caught a stray lol.

[@RosebudsASled]

Oh my god, I’ve been trying to get my partner into Elestrals and built them a fruit deck with all of these banned and restricted cards 😅 I get the reasoning, but wow, I’ve got some bad news for them

[@westhescrub]

The best thing is, unless y'all plan to compete with the decks, there's nothing saying you can't play 'em at home or in a friend group

[@shinyhoohtcg2074]

So I think it’s Funny because waspyer or eruption should get banned and waspyer is getting a stellar soon love the game doing a great job on the lore

[@Elestrals]

Waspyres stellar is already released!

[@gabrielkaiper]

elestrals in Brazil when?

[@st3ckst4ck8]

Rip half the starter decks no longer being playable in events out of the box.

[@Elestrals]

for SD only events they are fine!

[@Metallica995987]

Great choices imo

[@Rayquaza894]

Another ban so soon?

[@MrZacdeath]

cringe

[@sleepynuigurumiamalgamation]

Nice

[@thatgospelguy]

I just got Ambrosia Cornucopia, and just built the deck blinged out... I never got to play it. 😢

[@IronBoffin]

Absolutely LOVE these changes. I always felt that big elestrals were never rewarded in elestrals and these changes give you some great opportunity to use some bigger elestrals! So excited

[@christheenbyVT]

while it sucks that fire nexus has to lose 2 copies of their best 2-drop, i guess it just encourages fire players to go in on some less-played 2-drops like Blazerus more, and to make Chains of Prometheus more of a consideration.... i guess in a way it also kinda lessens the cost of fire because lavalith was like a 15 dollar card.

[@darkloarddarkbird3933]

finally resting on your laurels is LIMITED, FINALLY

[@hatster401]

Werts in shambles

[@kiwitchi5053]

nothing wrong with pushing your players to craft more interesting and unique strategies! excited for the future of this game.

[@LordParaDax]

Don’t ban drataya ban the waspyre instead

[@Elestrals]

Drawing your entire deck in 1 turn is problematic with or without Waspyre.

[@lost_pantheon]

Waspyre is a non-once-per-turn. Sooner or later the developers will run into the same problem as Cannon Soldier so it will end up banned.

[@vitorfrizzo2358]

Drataya definitely was going to become a provlem at some point, but what I am sad about is that the fruit deck is pretty much inexistent now, since the new drataya doesn't sinergyse with the deck that well. I would have liked if the new lil guy was a good card that worked specifically on a fruit deck without being too generic, since the pure ladogon version of it isn't really competitive at all, but a discard 1 (of the cards you want to play) to draw 2 just doesn't feel like something worth using really, especially since cornucopia doesn't count golden apple of discord for it's effect. Not useless, just really underwhelming

[@KyodaiGG]

Why? Just dont ban earth nexus cards please im trying to build it. Why Resting and EQ makes no sense to me. They help against Big Body Beatdown and other decks I cant think of at the moment.

[@VooDooSaurus]

Very strong FTK that’s starting to catch steam

[@KyodaiGG]

​@@VooDooSaurusoh ok makes sense

[@aksharpatel5119]

Earth Nexus is fine

[@astercat49]

Resting doesn’t do all that much against Fives because they barely put Spirits on board in the first place. Plus it and Lavalith just punish decks using Divines and Stadiums way too hard.

[@remx73]

This did not hit earth nexus

[@598019001]

I love the Communication, So often card games feel like they are screaming at a big stone monolithic god that throws lightning bolts without explanation.

[@aidenwren0403]

Imo waspyre was the problem not drataya

[@psych0536]

no drataya is definitely a broken card it allows for the whole draw 40 cards in a turn engine to work. i have been labbing fruit burn stuff for months and someone beat me to breaking this deck. people didnt believe in fruit because they had been doing pure earth stuff that doesnt take advantage of the insane card advantages that you get which are basically spirit neutral. like i regularly have positions at the end of turn 1 where ive got like 20 cards in my hand, 4 backrow and im at like 17 spirits

[@Elestrals]

I believe drawing your entire deck turn 1 is a problem. -aDrive

[@aidenwren0403]

@@Elestrals ik, just sad that my favourite deck and elestral and just gone now

[@Creepy___]

since I am in europe my elestrals knowledge is not that great but I like to watch videos about the game, it sounds fun when you dont know anything about it really. One thing I noticed people say a lot is that the very cool and big 3 cost elestrals dont really see a lot of or any play because the removal is so good in this game. which is a shame because I think it should feel more rewarding to cast these big flashy creatures and maybe even create more decks around them. limiting the removal is a step in the right direction to enable that. I imagine it must feel bad as a game designer to have all these cool big creatures and have artists draw these cool artworks and alternate rarities etc and then nobody considers casting them because they die so easily. I hope this changes things up a bit

[@CcReap3r]

Whew glad I wasn't able to buy the playset of lith I was looking for

[@Soulesslaplace]

Small request can we make the removal easier to pull maybe through a stat pack? Because I just got into the game, really don’t want to drop money on starter deck to gain access to the good ruin cards.

[@Ironpecker]

As someone who's just a spectator of elestrals I'm happy to see a lot of the removals toned down. While it's great to have back and forth games with very efficient decks, like big guys/5s, I felt really sad seeing that many other strategies just couldn't keep up especially those that wanted to commit a bit more to the board. I'm really interested to see where the meta game will head moving forward, and excited to try the digital client once it releases

[@regentmango7533]

Ws all around! Can’t wait to actually use cool strategies and decks and see the shake up the meta!

[@meguy7735]

This is awesome. Feels like a real dedicated team is in touch with the meta and the players.

[@jessequeen4550]

Solar stays untouched 😎

[@apezplays9925]

Mods? Call Drataya names

[@diales6452]

Based choices.

[@RImeri31]

No not my baby boy

[@oakapigang2944]

Sus

[@dracoteam4793]

2 in Tartarus

[@chavosaur2221]

Don’t listen to MBT, this rocks

[@CcReap3r]

Never listen to mbt

[@FatePokemon]

Lavalith should just be banned. It’s gonna feel really bad when your opponent manages to draw it since it’s such a swing card.

[@tcc3905]

unless you’re on fire no one’s gonna slot 2 fire spirits for one lavalith

[@FatePokemon]

@@tcc3905 that’s probably true, but then I would still say what’s the point of leaving it

[@tcc3905]

@@FatePokemon maybe for fire nexus idk you’re right actually

[@trickyplays240]

What is the player base? Seems this is still too small of a community. Also shouldn’t have a championship until a well established player base has been built

[@AnEvilUnicorn]

So a card that triggers a low probability OTK, and causes some slower turns… versus putting a card “on watch” that is seen in 80+% of decks because it doesn’t require any additional cards to gain value. It is what it is, but the logic is a bit lacking.

[@Elestrals]

Not slower turns, we're talking 20+ minute turns. The probability of success with a rehearsed and highly practiced FTK player is probably much higher, 75+% from our testing.

[@AnEvilUnicorn]

@@Elestrals as someone that’s played fruit for a bit now, I have genuinely never seen a turn take 20+ mins. I get you have to support the decision, but in a game with a 40 card deck, 1 actual summon the probability of taking that much time for a combo is either a lack of understanding what you’re doing in the combo or you are just spinning wheels. You are more likely to deck yourself than you are to get to 20 mins.

[@Elestrals]

@@AnEvilUnicorn Check out this video that the Elestronauts just posted. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aImaq4OBiNSXY7M

[@Iceyia]

Drataya enables an ftk that can win the game before your opponent even gets the chance to play a card. This is an incredibly unhealthy position for a card game to be in, just look at firewall formats from yugioh. The card needed to be banned because the ftk only requires you to see one drataya to draw through your entire deck, something that can easily be accomplished with support like Nectar. I'm not sure what the "on watch" card is, but the big ones i can think of are the newly limited removal cards that don't immediately win the game, or popular cards like astrabbit and gorgon's gaze who also don't immediately win the game.