History GameBreaker / YuGiOhCardGame

** [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Ib_the_World_Chalice_Justiciar Ib the World Chalice Justiciar]] is the Denglong of the late 2010s. Not only is it generic, it also immediately rewards you upon summon and ''floats'' on top of everything, massively aiding combo-based decks. ''Any'' deck that can Synchro and splash in a few World Chalice cards can gain a powerful tool for setting up multi-summon power plays. With [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Crystron_Halqifibrax Halqifibrax]] approaching the TCG, this resulted in Ib becoming one of the few examples of a preemptive ban in the game's history, being banned in the January 2020 TCG Lists. The OCG soon followed suit three months later before the Master Rules April 1st 2020 Revision came into effect. Ib would eventually be moved to Limited four years later, coming off of Forbidden in January 2024.

* Cyber Dragon received [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Cyber_Dragon_Infinity Infinity]] in ''Crossed Souls'', which combines effects of other Extra Deck monsters to create an absolute monstrosity; it's easy to bring out, it can absorb opponent's monsters and negate opponent's effects while also having a sizeable attack. Infinity was one of the main reasons Tellarknight Ptolemaus got banned, and from then on multiple decks have splashed LIGHT Machine-type engines (namely ones using [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Galaxy_Soldier Galaxy Soldier]] and/or Instant Fusion) to get Cyber Dragon Nova out and be able to access this monster.

** [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Majespecter_Unicorn_-_Kirin Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin]] is one of the most powerful and feared Pendulum monsters ever made. Its home Majespecter archetype ironically had difficulty making good use of it. Other Pendulum decks with wider scales however can simply bring it out time and time again with ease, and use its effect to bounce any of your opponent's monsters. It also synergizes with [[http://yugipedia.com/wiki/Performapal_Skullcrobat_Joker Skullcrobat Joker]] and other Pendulum Monsters with effects that activate on summon. Add the inherent destruction and targeting immunities of the Majespecters and you have a very difficult to kill, recurring removal card. Both the OCG and TCG ended up Limiting (and later banning) the card after it became clear that ''every'' Pendulum deck would run it; Kirin was just that good. The card eventually came back to Limited on the TCG's April 2024 banlist, now that a once-per-turn untargetable recurring bounce was no longer considered broken due to power creep.

* The "Sinful Spoils" engine is a small, yet incredibly potent package of cards consisting of "[[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Diabellstar_the_Black_Witch Diabellstar the Black Witch]], a Level 7 Spellcaster that can Special Summon herself from the hand by pitching any card and Sets a "Sinful Spoils" Spell/Trap from the Deck to your field, "[[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/WANTED:_Seeker_of_Sinful_Spoils WANTED: Seeker of Sinful Spoils]]", a Quick-Play Spell that fetches "Diabellstar" and can cycle back any used "Sinful Spoils" Spell/Trap for a draw, and "[[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Original_Sinful_Spoils_-_Snake-Eye Original Sinful Spoils - Snake-Eye]]", a Normal Spell that pitches a card on the field to Special Summon a Level 1 FIRE monster from the hand or Deck. What you get when you put these together is a virtually costless consistency engine that can get playstarters for FIRE decks on the field without using the Normal Summon, can eat the opponent's handtraps even if it fails to go through and at worst put a free body on the board, enabling the rest of your hand to continue playing through disruption. The introduction of this engine significantly boosted the viability of virtually all playable FIRE decks in the format, most prominently "Rescue-ACE", which received the push it needed to become a Tier 1 deck, as well as the later "Fire King" deck with their newly searchable "[[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Legendary_Fire_King_Ponix Legendary Fire King Ponix]]".
* The "Snake-Eyes" archetype is very powerful due to the sheer amount of card advantage it can generate and one-card combo capabilities allowing it to consistently build decent boards even through multiple disruptions. The archetype revolves arround placing monster in the spell/trap card zone in order to summon them later. The boss monster, [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Snake-Eyes_Flamberge_Dragon Snake-Eyes Flamberge Dragon]], is capable of both. It can place any monster on the field or in the GY in its owner's S/T zone and then, as a quick effect, summon it during the oponent's turn. This also includes the opponent's field and GY, so it's effectively a Monster Reborn or Big Eye effect every turn. In addition, when it's sent to the GY, it can summon two Level 1 FIRE monsters (of which most of the rest of the archetype is) from the GY, which both helps maintain field presence if it's eliminated and provides fodder for summons (particularly Link Summons). Finally, it's easily summonable by [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Snake-Eye_Ash Snake-Eye Ash]], [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Snake-Eye_Oak Snake-Eye Oak]], and to a lesser extent [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Snake-Eye_Birch Snake-Eye Birch]], whom all have effects that summon any "Snake-Eye" monster by sending itself and another face-up card to the GY. Ash in particular can search any Level 1 FIRE monster (not locked to archetype, so it can search the likes of Kurikara Divincarnate to break boards if needed), and Oak can revive or add to the hand a Level 1 FIRE monster in the GY, and these effects act on summon, including if they're revived by Flamberge Dragon. The last piece of the puzzle, which is what helps push the archetype's card advantage generation capabilities to absurd, is [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Snake-Eyes_Poplar Snake-Eyes Poplar]]. It can summon itself if added to the hand by effect (such as Ash's), it searches for a "Snake-Eye" spell or trap on summon, and when it's sent to the GY, it can put any FIRE monster in the GY in the S&T zone, including itself. Spells it can search include not only the above Original Sinful Spoils - Snake-Eye, but also the archetype Field Spell Card [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Divine_Temple_of_the_Snake-Eye Divine Temple of the Snake-Eye]], which puts a "Snake-Eye" monster in the S/T zone, gives additional attack to level 1 FIRE monsters, and allows the summon of a monster in the S/T zone if the opponent summons a monster. Finally, due to the in-lore connection, it has full Synergy with the above "Sinful Spoils" engine, and much like the "Sinful Spoils" engine, is splashable into FIRE decks.

* Introduced in 2015 as the monthly V-Jump promotional card, [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Hot_Red_Dragon_Archfiend_King_Calamity Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity]]'s effect upon Synchro Summoned stops the opponent from activating any of their effects on the field and they can't respond to said effect. While the card is meant to protect your board from further disruption, if its successfully summoned during the opponent's turn, said opponent won't be able to do to anything besides using a couple of hand and graveyard effects pretty much shutting down their entire turn. While such an effect would have seemingly sent it to the banlist at some point, the materials required to Synchro Summon this card (including at least 2 Tuners) renders it an AwesomeButImpractical strategy and the card ends up being forgotten to the wayside, at least until the introduction of [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Crimson_Dragon_(card) Crimson Dragon]] almost 8 years later where it can cheat out a Synchro Dragon from the Extra Deck by copying the level of another Synchro monster and not only is it treated as if you Synchro Summon the card but its also a Quick Effect to boot. This means that decks that can turbo out at least 2 level 12 Synchro monster are able to consistently summon this card as their victory condition and unless the opponent has Impermanence or Effect Veiler in hand to stop Crimson Dragon, having Calamity on the field pretty much spells instant loss for the opposing player. As a result, Calamity was ultimate banned in the 2024 January OCG banlist.

* [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Mathmech_Circular Mathmech Circular]] is a ''very'' potent support for the [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Mathmech Mathmech]] archetype. Released in ''Power of the Elements'', it's a one-card combo that does ''everything'' the archetype needed to reach competency. It Special Summons itself by milling a Mathmech monster '''as cost''', allowing you to set up and Special Summon [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Mathmech_Sigma Sigma]]. When you Summon another Mathmech monster (like the aforementioned Sigma), you can search a Mathmech Spell/Trap from your Deck, so you can either extend with [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Mathmech_Equation Equation]] or prepare a [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Mathmech_Superfactorial Superfactorial]] to disrupt on the opponent's turn. This puts two Cyberse monsters on the field without even using your Normal Summon, opening up a lot of Cyberse Link climbing combos that can end on bosses like [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Accesscode_Talker Accesscode Talker]] or [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Firewall_Dragon_Darkfluid_-_Neo_Tempest_Terahertz Firewall Dragon Darkfluid - Neo Tempest Terahertz]]. The only drawback is that you only get to attack with one monster for this turn, which is a very lenient restriction coming from a one-card combo. Circular not only pushed Mathmechs into prominence, but it can also condense Mathmech combos into compact engines that can be melded into many other Decks that can accommodate it. The only thing keeping Mathmech from dominating tournaments was that it was pushed out by the even stronger Spright and Tearlament cards, and the combos can be interrupted by Bystials in the next pack. Circular was Limited in the June 2023 TCG list and the July 2023 OCG list in acknowledgement of its power.

* The trio of [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Isolde,_Two_Tales_of_the_Noble_Knights Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights]], [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Crystron_Halqifibrax Crystron Halqifibrax]] (banned in the October 2022 list), and [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Summon_Sorceress Summon Sorceress]] (banned in the April 2019 list) have been the target of much anger from competitive players, and all for largely the same reason: Each of them allows its controller to Special Summon another monster from the Deck for little to no cost. As has been demonstrated above, swarming tactics have become highly abused with the advent of Links, and these three do not help.
** Isolde searches a Warrior to the hand upon being Link Summoned, with the caveat of being unable to summon or use the effects of any more monsters with that name. Her real power comes in being able to send Equip Spells to the GY to Special Summon a Warrior whose Level is equal to the number of Equip Spells sent. Note that this can be ''any'' Warrior, not specifically a Noble Knight; Goukis are Warrior-type, have a Level 1 monster with Octostretch, and love to recur Phoenix Blade as discard fodder for Knightmares. The match practically made itself. As a bonus bit of irony, many players consider Isolde to be sub-optimal in Noble Knights, the very archetype she is a part of and meant to support. As a result, [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Divine_Sword_-_Phoenix_Blade Phoenix Blade]] is now banned in the 2019 OCG lists.

* The "Sinful Spoils" engine is a small, yet incredibly potent package of cards consisting of "[[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Diabellstar_the_Black_Witch Diabellstar the Black Witch]], a Level 7 Spellcaster that can Special Summon herself from the hand by pitching any card and Sets a "Sinful Spoils" Spell/Trap from the Deck to your field, "[[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/WANTED:_Seeker_of_Sinful_Spoils WANTED: Seeker of Sinful Spoils]]", a Quick-Play Spell that fetches "Diabellstar" and can cycle back any used "Sinful Spoils" Spell/Trap for a draw, and "[[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Original_Sinful_Spoils_-_Snake-Eye Original Sinful Spoils - Snake-Eye]]", a Normal Spell that pitches a card on the field to Special Summon a Level 1 FIRE monster from the hand or Deck. What you get when you put these together is a virtually costless consistency engine that can get playstarters for FIRE decks on the field without using the Normal Summon, can eat the opponent's handtraps even if it fails to go through and at worst put a free body on the board, enabling the rest of your hand to continue playing through disruption. The introduction of this engine significantly boosted the viability of virtually all playable FIRE decks in the format, most prominently "Rescue-ACE", which received the push it needed to become a Tier 1 deck, as well as the later "Fire King" deck with their newly searchable "Legendary Fire King Ponix".