On Monday, Yugioh creator Konami released an update to the Yugioh banlist, adding new cards to the game’s Restricted and Forbidden lists. These changes will take place early next month, from October 3. But a card that many Yugioh fans expected to be banned, or at the very least restricted, was curiously absent from the announcement.
Mystic Mine is a Field Spell card that’s been a thorn in Yugioh players’ sides, arguably ever since it was printed in the Dark Neostorm set. Shutting down monster-heavy decks by preventing them from attacking or using effects, Mystic Mine is particularly controversial due to the roadblock it presents to normal Yugioh gameplay. Players relying on monsters, who can’t instantly remove Mine, are basically forced to sit and twiddle their thumbs, passing the turn ad infinitum until the game concludes.
Understandably, many fans find this enormously aggravating. Mystic Mine has always had its fair share of haters, but lately the card has dominated competitive play as well.
The strength of Mystic Mine encourages decks with almost no monsters at all, like Lespin J. Lopez’s Mystic Mine Burn deck that won the 2022 Honduras Regional earlier this month. Meanwhile, the latest batch of national tournament-winning decks are overwhelmingly running Mine. Hansel Aguero, who won the 2022 North American Yugioh Championship, had three copies of the card in his Swordsoul Tenyi deck, while the second place competitor ran two.
The Japanese Yugioh OCG banned Mystic Mine in September 2021, and the card’s also Forbidden in the online Yugioh Master Duel. Given the prevalence of the card in the current Yugioh meta, and the strong reactions to it from fans, many players expected to see Mystic Mine on the October banlist.
This Yugioh ban update comes more than four months after the previous one from May and includes bans to Fairy Tail – Snow; Crystron Halqifibrax; Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon; and Red Reboot. Though announced on September 26, it comes into effect on October 3.
For some cards that aren’t banned yet, check out the best Yugioh Master Duel meta decks.