Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel banlist: Forbidden, Limited, and Semi-Limited cards

Banlists are common in card games, especially in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. Unlike other card games, the vast majority of the game’s library is available to play. Magic: The Gathering rotates sets out, but Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel keeps most of it around for competitive play.

However, some cards are simply too powerful and need to be banned, or at the very least, limited. Konami makes it a habit to look at their banned list every couple of months, so a card that is banned now could likely be unbanned later.

What is the current list of cards that cannot be played?

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What is Forbidden, Limited, and Semi-Limited in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel?

Another facet of Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel’s banlist, is that it’s not the same as the physical TCG. There are three forms of restriction in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel: Forbidden, Limited, and Semi-Limited. Normally, players can have three of a card in their deck total.

However, Forbidden cards cannot be used at all. They’re marked with a red circle icon in the game and simply cannot be added to a player's deck. Limited cards have a red circle with a “1” in them, signifying that players can only have one per deck.

Semi-Limited is slightly less restricted and allows a player to have two of these cards per deck, and are marked the same way as a Limited card, but with a “2” instead. This could change in the future, but this is the current banlist for Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel.

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Forbidden Cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Forbidden cards are among the most powerful and game-breaking cards in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! These cards simply break the game, or make particular decks far too meta-shattering to deal with.

Forbidden card list:

• The Tyrant Neptune
• Grinder Golem
• Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition
• Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King
• Redox, Dragon Ruler of Boulders
• Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls
• Blaster, Dragon Ruler of Infernos
• Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin
• Performapal Monkeyboard
• Eclipse Wyvern
• Cyber Jar
• Dandylion
• Djinn Releaser of Rituals
• Yata-Garasu
• Magical Scientist
• Glow-Up Bulb
• Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon
• Elder Entity Norden
• Ancient Fairy Dragon
• Tempest Magician
• Number 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon
• Outer Entity Azathot
• Lavalval Chain
• Number 16: Shock Master
• Tellarknight Ptolemaeus
• Zoodiac Broadbull
• M-X-Saber Invoker
• Number S0: Utopic Zexal
• Topologic Gumblar Dragon
• Summon Sorceress
• Knightmare Goblin
• Guardragon Agarpain
• Knightmare Mermaid
• Guardragon Elpy
• Linkross
• Graceful Charity
• Pot of Greed
• Change of Heart
• Last Will
• Heavy Storm
• Confiscation
• Deliquent Duo
• The Forceful Sentry
• Giant Trunade
• Painful Choice
• Cold Wave
• Dimension Fusion
• Snatch Steal
• Premature Burial
• Mystic Mine
• Card of Safe Return
• Mirage of Nightmare
• Mass Driver
• Zoodiac Barrage
• Set Rotation
• Time Seal
• Sixth Sense
• Last Turn
• Magical Explosion
• Life Equalizer
• Ultimate Offering
• Royal Oppression
• Phoenixian Luster Amaryllis
• Cannon Soldier MK-2
• Blackwing - Gofu the Vague Shadow
• Cannon Soldier
• Amazoness Archer
• Toon Cannon Soldier
• Performage Plushfire
• Zoodiac Ratpier
• Fiber Jar
• Wind-Up Hunter
• Blackwing - Steam the Cloak
• Substitoad
• Mind Master
• Fishborg Blaster
• Level Eater
• Ib the World Chalice Justiciar
• Metamorphosis
• Soul Charge
• Butterfly Dagger - Elma
• Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade
• Spellbook of Judgment
• Self-Destruct Button
• Trap Dustshoot
• Return from the DIfferent Dimension

Among the forbidden cards is the Red-Eyes Black Dragoon (Image via Konami)

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Limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Limited cards are also wildly powerful, but keeping them limited to one per deck makes it less frustrating to deal with. These cards can still be found and activated early through combos, but nonetheless, a limit on them is helpful in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel.

Limited card list:

• Reinforcement of the Army
• Monster Reborn
• Raigeki
• Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms
• Astograph Sorcerer
• Dinowrestler Pankratops
• Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight
• Altergeist Multifaker
• Cyber-Stein
• Morphing Jar
• Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird
• ABC-Dragon Buster
• Thunder Dragon Colossus
• Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
• PSY-Framelord Omega
• T.G. Hyper Librarian
• Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder
• True King of All Calamities
• Zoodiac Drident
• Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity
• Toadally Awesome
• Saryuja Skyll Dread
• Heavymetalfoes Electrumite
• Crystron Halqifibrax
• Predaplant Verte Anaconda
• Sky Striker Ace - Kagari
• Harpie's Feather Duster
• Card Destruction
• Foolish Burial
• Terraforming
• Gold Sarcophagus
• Instant Fushion
• One for One
• One Day of Peace
• Trickster Light Stage
• Gateway of the Six
• Infernity Launcher
• Brilliant Fushion
• Trickstar Reincarnation
• Metaverse
• Red Reboot
• Imperial Order
• Vanity's Emptiness
• Chronograph Sorcerer
• Thunder Dragonhawk
• Armageddon Knight
• Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer
• Double Iris Magician
• Exodia the Forbidden One
• Night Assailant
• Genex Ally Birdman
• Speedroid Terrortop
• Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio
• Salamangreat Gazelle
• SPYRAL Quik-Fix
• Galatea, the Orcust Automaton
• Divine Wind of Mist Valley
• Draconic Diagram
• Sky Striker Mecha - Hornet Drones

The Double Iris Magician can be played, but only once per deck (Image via Konami)

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Semi-Limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Thankfully, there are not nearly as many Semi-Limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. Players can have two of each in a deck, and are still decently powerful cards, like Exodia the Forbidden One. A card built for a specific deck or combo, two of them in a deck does not slow down the actual combo in any way.

Semi-Limited list:

• Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
• Souleating Oviraptor
• Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!
• Memories of Hope
• Scapegoat
• Super Polymerization
• Called by the Grave
• Destiny HERO - Malicious
• Thunder Dragonroad
• Danger!? Jackalope?
• PSY-Framegear Gamma
• The Beginning of the End
• Cursed Eldland
• Emergency Teleport
• Mask Change II
• Sky Striker Mecha - Widow Anchor

The ever-popular Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage! is playable, two per deck (Image via Konami)

As of now, there’s no further information on when this banlist will be revisited, as Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is still a relatively new game. It’s likely that some of these will leave the banlist in the coming months, as there is still a wealth of powerful cards, trap and otherwise, in the game.