Yugioh banlist - May 2026

Konami's official Yugioh banlist is updated every few months and includes all banned Yugioh cards in the game right now. These cards are made Forbidden, Limited, or Semi Limited to restrict their use and keep the game fair, fun, and balanced. To help you keep your beloved tournament decks legal, we regularly check for Konami's newest card bans and unbans in order to track the full list in this guide.

Once you've pored through the Yu Gi Oh banlist, you might also enjoy our guides on the most expensive YuGiOh cards around. Be sure to check out the YuGiOh Master Duel banlist for changes to online play, too.

Most recent changes
Full banlist
Forbidden
Limited
Semi Limited
FAQ

Yugioh banlist changes - February 2, 2026

The most recent version of the Yugioh banlist came into force on February 2, 2026. This was revealed in late January via the Official Yugioh TCG Instagram channel.

These cards are now Forbidden:

Barrier Statue of the Torrent
Maliss Q White Binder
Herald of the Arc Light
Harpie's Feather Storm

These cards are now Limited:

Dracotail Mululu
K9-66a Jokul
Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue
Yummy★Snatchy
Ame No Habakiri No Mitsurugi
"A Case for K9"
Ketu Dracotail

These cards are now Semi-Limited (Limited 2):

Droll & Lock Bird

These cards are now Unlimited:

Black Dragon Collapserpent
Dark Grepher
Vanquish Soul Razen
White Dragon Wyverbuster
Zoodiac Drident
Change of Heart
Crystron Inclusion
Snatch Steal
Stake Your Soul!

Konami's official site says to expect the next banlist update "a few months from now." That's vague, but we typically expect to hear of changes every three to four months. That being said, sudden emergency bans from month-to-month are possible, so keep a close eye on our guide for updates!

Full YuGiOh banlist as of May 2026

Below is the complete, current list of Forbidden, Limited, and Semi Limited Yugioh cards, checked and updated as of May 1, 2026.

Forbidden Yugioh cards

Monster/Effect

Agido The Ancient Sentinel
Archnemeses Protos
Artifact Mjollnir
Artifact Scythe
Barrier Statue of the Drought
Barrier Statue of the Inferno
Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds
Barrier Statue of the Torrent
Blackwing - Gofu The Vague Shadow
Block Dragon
Cyber-Stein
Dandylion
Djinn Releaser Of Rituals
Eclipse Wyvern
Fairy Tail - Snow
Fiber Jar
Fishborg Blaster
Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
Gimmick Puppet Nightmare
Grinder Golem
Jowgen the Spiritualist
Kelbek The Ancient Vanguard
Knightmare Gryphon
Level Eater
Link Decoder
Magical Scientist
Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin
Maxx "C"
Mind Master
Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis
Ronintoadin
Spyral Master Plan
The Tyrant Neptune
Victory Dragon

Monster/Fusion

Elder Entity Norden
Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom
Tearlaments Kitkallos

Monster/Synchro

Baronne de Fleur
Borreload Savage Dragon
Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon
Herald of the Arc Light
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity
Tempest Magician

Monster/Xyz

Abyss Dweller
Bahamut Shark
Beatrice, Lady Of The Eternal
Evilswarm Ouroboros
Kashtira Arise-Heart
King of the Feral Imps
Lavalval Chain
M-X-Saber Invoker
Number 16: Shock Master
Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk
Number 67: Pair-A-Dice Smasher
Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad
Number 89: Diablosis The Mind Hacker
Number 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon
Number S0: Utopic Zexal
Outer Entity Azathot
True King Of All Calamities
Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity
Zoodiac Broadbull

Spell

Butterfly Dagger - Elma
Card Of Safe Return
Cold Wave
Confiscation
Delinquent Duo
Dimension Fusion
Giant Trunade
Graceful Charity
Heavy Storm
Kaiser Colosseum
Last Will
Mass Driver
Metamorphosis
Mirage Of Nightmare
Mystic Mine
Original Sinful Spoils - Snake-Eye
Painful Choice
Pot Of Greed
Premature Burial
Smoke Grenade Of The Thief
Soul Charge
The Forceful Sentry

Trap

Appointer of the Red Lotus
Branded Expulsion
Dimensional Barrier
Harpie's Feather Storm
Imperial Order
Last Turn
Red Reboot
Return From The Different Dimension
Royal Oppression
Self-Destruct Button
Sixth Sense
Summon Limit
Trap Dustshoot
Ultimate Offering
Vanity's Emptiness

Limited Yugioh cards

Monster

Left Arm Of The Forbidden One
Left Leg Of The Forbidden One
Right Arm Of The Forbidden One
Right Leg Of The Forbidden One

Monster/Effect

Ame No Habakiri No Mitsurugi
Archnemeses Protos
Astrograph Sorcerer
Bystial Druiswurm
Bystial Magnamhut
Dimension Shifter
Dracotail Mululu
Exodia The Forbidden One
Ext Ryzeal
K9-66a Jokul
Keldo The Sacred Protector
Maliss P Dormouse
Mathmech Circular
Miscellaneousaurus
Psy-Framegear Gamma
Substitoad
Summon Sorceress
Tearlaments Havnis
Tearlaments Merrli
Tearlaments Scheiren
Tenpai Dragon Chundra
Vanquish Soul Hollie Sue
Zoodiac Ratpier

Monster/Fusion

Fiendsmith's Lacrima
Gem-Knight Master Diamond
Phantom of Yubel

Monster/Link

Linkuriboh
Striker Dragon
Sunavalon Dryas
Sunvine Healer
Yummy★Snatchy

Monster/Synchro

Psy-Framelord Omega
T.G. Hyper Librarian

Monster/Xyz

Daigusto Emeral
Number 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings
Number C40: Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings
Ryzeal Detonator

Spell

"A Case for K9"
Brilliant Fusion
Bonfire
Called By The Grave
Card Destruction
Card Of Demise
Chain Strike
Chaos Space
Chicken Game
Crossout Designator
Divine Wind Of Mist Valley
Final Countdown
Foolish Burial
Gateway Of The Six
Gold Sarcophagus
Harpie's Feather Duster
Infernity Launcher
Instant Fusion
Into The Void
Ketu Dracotail
Magical Mid-Breaker Field
Mind Control
Monster Gate
Monster Reborn
Obedience Schooled
One Day Of Peace
One For One
Pot of Prosperity
Reasoning
Reinforcement Of The Army
Sangen Kaimen
Sangen Summoning
Sekka's Light
Set Rotation
Sky Striker Mecha - Hornet Drones
Slash Draw
Terraforming
Triple Tactics Talent
That Grass Looks Greener
Zoodiac Barrage

Trap

Anti-spell Fragrance
Gozen Match
Magical Explosion
Naturia Sacred Tree
Rivalry of Warlords
Skill Drain
Solemn Judgment
There Can Only Be One

Semi-limited Yugioh cards

Monster/Effect

Droll & Lock Bird
Ice Ryzeal
Maliss <P> White Rabbit
Sword Ryzeal
Unchained Soul of Sharvara

Spell

Branded Fusion
Maliss In Underground
Purrely Delicious Memory
Purrely Sleep Memory
Runick Fountain

Yugioh banlist FAQ

What is the Yu Gi Oh banlist?

Yugioh TCG publisher Konami releases an updated version of the Yu Gi Oh banlist every few months. This lists all the restrictions on the cards you can include in constructed Yu Gi Oh! decks (and tells you when previously banned or restricted cards have been unbanned!)

The three restricted types in Yugioh banlist are:

Forbidden - This card cannot be used in your Main Deck, Extra Deck, or Side Deck.
Limited / Limited 1 - You can only have one copy of this card in your main Deck, Extra Deck, and Side Deck combined.
Semi-limited / Limited 2 - You can only have two copies of this card in your Main Deck, Extra Deck, and Side Deck combined.

There are separate banlists for the game's 'Advanced' format (which is used in Regional, National, and World Championship events) and the much looser 'Traditional' format. For example, many cards are Forbidden in Advanced, but only Limited in Traditional format.

Forbidden, Limited, and Semi-limited cards can be cards of any type, and the Yu Gi Oh banlist typically contains numerous Monster, Monster/Effect, Monster/Fusion, Monster/Link, Monster/Synchro, Monster/Xyz, Spell, and Trap type cards.

Why do Yugioh cards get banned?

As with all the best trading card games, the Yugioh TCG regularly releases new sets of cards to keep the game fresh and offer players new strategies, themes, and options for their decks. When players get their hands on the new cards, they quickly discover the most powerful options, especially cards that create strong combo effects with existing or older cards. This is, of course, part of the fun!

However, it can lead to just a handful of decks becoming dominant, able to beat any other decks they face - and thus the game's overall scene (often called its 'meta') becomes very samey, as everyone is forced to play with similar decks and cards if they want to have a chance of winning games.

Konami generally tries to maintain competitive balance with the range of new cards it releases - but with a game as complex and high-powered as Yugioh, cards will always emerge that 'warp the meta' and generate bad player feedback.

These are the sorts of cards that end up getting banned - either Semi-Limited, Limited or Forbidden - because they:

Are inherently too powerful (normally in combat power).
Are part of a combo that is too powerful / too easy to win with.
Are too versatile in cancelling out, or 'shutting down' multiple other strategies.
Are likely to cause problems in one of the above ways, after an upcoming release joins the meta.

Are there any permanently banned Yugioh cards?

While there's no official status for a Yugioh card being banned forever, there are a few cards we expect will never return from the Forbidden zone, because the features that made them too powerful are only becoming more overpowered as time goes on.

Because matches of the Yugioh TCG can be dominated by extremely powerful, quick combo plays that can end the game very quickly, some of the most powerful banned cards tend to be ones that let you draw extra cards, or find exactly the cards you need from your deck, without a significant cost attached.

The three most prominent examples of these long banned cards are:

Pot of Greed (Spell card) Draw two cards.
Painful Choice (Spell card) Select five cards from your deck and show them to your opponent. They choose one card to add to your hand, and the rest go to your Graveyard.
Graceful Charity (Spell card) Draw three cards, then discard two cards.

What's the difference between the Yugioh TCG and OCG?

There are two separate forms of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game: the Trading Card Game (TCG) - which is sold and played worldwide, with cards printed in English and several European languages - and the Official Card Game (OCG), which is only available in Japanese language, and played mainly in Japan.

The Japanese OCG has a different release schedule for new sets and products; it runs on slightly different tournament rules; it gets its own exclusive cards not available in the TCG; and it has its own separate banlist of Forbidden and Limited cards, which gets updated via its own Japanese language website.

It's a key difference from the Pokémon TCG, where the main differences between Japanese Pokémon cards and English ones are in the card designs, print quality, and release schedule, but the game rules are the same and there's no structural separation between the two.

And that's it for our complete guide to the official Yugioh TCG banlist - for now! If you want to trade hot takes and predictions for upcoming bans, or just hype about Yugioh and every other bangin' tabletop game on the planet, join us in the free Wargamer Discord community!