First Ban of Unreleased Cards in December Digimon Ban

Esports News

December 19, 2023

Andrew Ogunnaike

We are getting a more extensive ban list of cards this month, and likely one more in January.

The previous ban list that saw the Gabumon package restricted would not be the last time that the line would see restrictions. This ban list would mark the first ban on a Digi Egg, and a ban on a card higher than R rarity. Despite these cards being announced for Ban/Restriction prior to western release, the ban list goes into effect March 1, 2024. Meaning the cards will be unrestricted at time of launch. This is particularly notable for the EX5 cards, which will be at full power for US Nationals.

X | @digimon_tcg_EN

First ban of a Digi-Egg

Digi-Eggs have had some very powerful generic additions, but none more game warping than BT14-002 Bukamon. The card is misprinted, but the errata’d effect is “[Your Turn] While your opponent has no Digimon with equal or more digivolution cards than this Digimon, this Digimon gains [Jamming]”. This allows for an empty field to meet the conditions for the egg. This allows rookie Digimon to get Jamming checks in for aggro, and make OTK decks such as MetalGarurumon overly consistent due to having Jamming.

Gabumon Line hit again

Following the ban of ST6-03 and BT2-069 Gabumon in the previous list, EX5’s new entries will be limited to 1. EX5-015 Gabumon (X Antibody) and EX5-018 Garurumon (X Antibody) have been pre-emptively been limited to 1.
Gabumon X gives a search for up to 2 targets, and sets up a card in trash. Its inherited ability gives the battle protection that the deck is known for. Coupled with Garurumon X, who’s ability Draws and Trashes 2, the line is very efficient for card draw. Garurumon X has a unique battle protection, where the owner sends 2 cards of the same level to the bottom of the deck for battle protection. Meaning that twice per turn, the Digimon stack has protection from battle, as cards in trash is a much larger pool of cards to use.

As a result of these cards’ release, many blue and purple decks in the east have been using the Gabumon lower end due to its sheer consistency and protection. Limiting creativity across the board. These sentiments were echoed in the ban list explanations, and in the interview by producer Kouhei Murata.

First ban of an SR

EX5-062 Anubismon is the second printed Anubismon since BT4. With a Digivolving/Main effect that allows for playing cards from trash for cheap. A likely unintended combo with BT11-086 Mervamon makes Anubis a likely pick to win US Nationals. Next to MetalGarurumon. The combo allows for Anubismon to play 3 Digimon, all with Rush and Blocker for 2 memory or better under easy optimal conditions.

First SEC rare banned

BT15 is due to launch in February. The secret rare “Apocalymon” is the final antagonist of the first anime series. The previous ban list was designed to slow down the generic draw/trash engine that sped up Apocalymon. Which immediately dominated the eastern format. Apocalymon represents a difficult to remove deck out strategy that can end the game within a few turns if multiple Apocalymon hit the field early. Something very easy to do. As a result, rather than limiting the engine, Apocalymon has been limited 1, which will potentially affect future sales.

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