For starters, it used to never be called “banished”, but was instead called “removed from play”. Then we got archetypes like D.D. who could actually retrieve these “removed from play” cards, and suddenly the term got a little confusing – I mean, the cards are no longer in play, how can they just come back? And surprisingly, there are a whole bunch of cards that benefit from being banished. Just take a look at Gren Maju da Eiza, a monster that gets more powerful for each banished card. But let’s say you want to banish some cards… what can you use to do that? Well here’s our list of cards for some unique banishing tricks to add into your deck.
15. Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher
This card banishes a lot of cards at once, but the downside is that they’re your cards. If this card is in your hand or graveyard, you can special summon it to the field at quick-effect speed by banishing 8 cards from the top of your deck. On top of that, this guy can then banish 3 more cards from your extra deck to target and destroy any face-up monster on the field. Overall, that’s banishing 11 cards you control – amazing effect for a banish deck strategy, but not the best for most decks.
14. Topologic Trisbaena
Topologic Trisbaena is a neat way of preventing your opponent from using one of their monster zones. Here’s how it works: If a monster(s) is summoned to a zone this card points to, you can immediately banish that monster(s), as well as every spell and trap card on the field, inflicting 500 LP damage to your opponent for each card of theirs that gets banished. If this doesn’t turn off your opponent from summoning in that monster zone, I don’t know what will. And if you want to speed up the banishing process (or get rid of all their spells/traps faster), you can also summon a monster to one of the diagonally-downwards zones this card points to! Sure, it’ll banish your monster. But that could be worth the price of banishing your opponent’s entire backrow all at once.
13. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
Kycoo is the original banisher, being one of the first cards in Yu-Gi-Oh to properly make use of the mechanic. At 1800 base attack, this guy is seriously strong for a level 4 monster, making him a great use of your normal summon for your turn. When Kycoo inflicts any sort of battle damage to your opponent, you can target 2 cards in their graveyard and banish them. This is an amazing way of preventing your opponent from reviving their strongest monsters. We’ve all been there when we think we’ve won the game, then all of a sudden your opponent top-decks a Monster Reborn and it’s game over. Well Kycoo helps to prevent that, making him a worthwhile addition to any deck, banishing-orientated or otherwise!
12. Necroface
Necroface is a great beat-stick for banish orientated decks. When this card is normal summoned, you must shuffle all banished cards back into the deck, having Necroface gain 100 attack for each card shuffled in. In banish decks, this can give Necroface some scary high attacks (nearly as scary as the tentacles and broken doll head…), all at the cost of your banishing efforts so far being shuffled away. However, if you can banish Necroface in any way, each player must then banish the top 5 cards from their deck (or their entire deck if they have less than 5 cards left). This restores your pool of banished cards up to a nice healthy 10 at minimum, leaving you free to use other cards like Gren Maju da Eiza to smack down your opponent.
11. D.D. Warrior Lady
This card single-handedly changed how people thought about the battle phase, and it definitely made people think twice before attacking a face-down monster. Here’s what she does: After damage calculation where this card has been involved in battle (either attacking or being attacked), you have the option of banishing both this card and the monster it battled. If your opponent attacks into this with their big monsters while it’s in face-down defense position, they’re in for a bit of a shock.
10. Eater of Millions
The most popular banish deck around (at the time of this writing) focuses on this guy, Eater of Millions. You can’t normal summon or set this card. It can only be special summoned by banishing 5 or more cards from your hand, field, or extra deck (face-down), with this card gaining 100 attack for each face-down banished card. Decks built around this strategy will often have a 15-card extra deck of complete junk, and simply banish them all at once to give this guy a nice 1500 attack boost when it hits the field. Eater of Millions also gets stronger the more it battles. Because once per turn, if this card battles, you can immediately banish your opponent’s monster face-down – which only adds on more attack stat for this guy.
9. Soul Release
Cards like Kycoo are great for getting rid of your opponent’s cards in the graveyard… But even with Kycoo out, it’s not always possible to inflict battle damage. And what if your opponent has more than 2 cards they could revive? Soul Release is easily the best way of getting rid of threats in your opponent’s graveyard. It’s a normal spell that can banish up-to 5 cards from either graveyard. It’s also been around for a long time, and may be one of the more well-known cards from fans who watched the anime. This card is amazingly flexible, allowing you to get rid of as many cards as you like, while also allowing to banish your own cards! There are a few cards that actually benefit from being banished. For example, banishing Necroface from your graveyard forces each player to banish 5 cards from their deck. Take that effect combined with the power of Soul Release, and you’ll be banishing 15 cards in a single turn!
8. Masked HERO Dark Law
Masked HEROs are the latest HERO deck to hit the scene at the time of this writing. And instead of requiring Polymerization and the right fusion materials like most fusion monsters, they require a HERO monster of a particular attribute – as well as their quick-play spell card Mask Change. So this is an amazingly oppressive floodgate. While it’s face-up on the field, every single card that would be sent to your opponent’s graveyard, gets banished instead! This leaves you free to use the graveyard however you like, while your opponent is completely locked out of theirs. Masked HERO Dark Law is also great for stopping something that’s incredibly common in modern Yu-Gi-Oh: searching. If your opponent adds a card from their deck to their hand outside of the Draw Phase and the Damage step, you can banish a random card from their hand. While you may not banish the card they just searched, this’ll definitely make your opponent think twice before delving deep into their deck for extra resources.
7. Pot of Desires
Draw power is incredibly important in Yu-Gi-Oh. There’s a reason Pot of Greed has been banned all this time. Well Pot of Desires is the closest we’re ever going to get to Pot of Greed in modern day Yu-Gi-Oh, and I think it’s well worth the cost. By banishing the top 10 cards off your deck face-down, you can draw 2 cards. Having those extra cards in hand can make the difference between winning and losing in Yu-Gi-Oh. You may draw cards that can start a whole combo chain, or maybe you’ll draw a hand-trap that can completely shut down your opponent. There are so many powerful cards worth drawing that banishing 10 cards might be well worth it in a bind. By banishing the top 10 cards off your deck face-down, you can draw 2 cards. Having those extra cards in hand can make the difference between winning and losing in Yu-Gi-Oh. You may draw cards that can start a whole combo chain, or maybe you’ll draw a hand-trap that can completely shut down your opponent. There are so many powerful cards worth drawing that banishing 10 cards might be well worth it in a bind.
6. Gandora the Dragon of Destruction
As one of the signature cards of Yugi Muto, this is nearly as powerful as the duelist himself! While this card is on the field, you can pay half of your life points to destroy and banish every single card on the field, except for this guy. This card then gains 300 attack for each card banished this way, meaning the more cards you can banish, the better Gandora will be at destroying your opponent. This is a great way of ensuring that your opponent takes damage this turn, and can be useful for finishing them off when they’re low on life points.
5. Macro Cosmos
This trap card is so powerful that it’s been limited to 1 copy per deck – and I don’t see that changing any time soon! While this continuous-trap card is face-up on the field, any card sent to the graveyard is banished instead. This is actually an amazing option for any deck, not just banishing decks. Modern Yu-Gi-Oh is all about using the graveyard as a second hand, accessing various spells, traps, and monsters there whenever you need them. So being able to shut your opponent off from using the graveyard can be absolutely devastating to their deck’s strategy. And simply flipping this card face-up at the right time could win you the game.
4. Bottomless Trap Hole
Bottomless Trap Hole is one of the most iconic trap cards in Yu-Gi-Oh’s history. It was phenomenal when it was initially released, and it’s just as phenomenal now. In case you’re not familiar with this ‘hole’ card, here’s how it works: Whenever your opponent summons a monster with 1500 attack or more, you can flip this card face-up to destroy and banish that monster. While this doesn’t negate the actual summon like other traps (i.e. Solemn Warning, Solemn Judgement etc.) it does banish the monster, meaning it permanently removes that monster from your opponent’s clutches. This is especially potent if the monster you target is from the extra deck. A lot of players tend to avoid multiple copies of a card in their extra deck, so removing that monster can basically ruin that strategy for the rest of the duel.
3. D.D. Crow
With the rise in popularity of graveyard effects recently, D.D Crow has seen a lot of play in the current metagame. And here’s how it works: You can discard D.D. Crow to target and banish a card in your opponent’s graveyard at quick effect speed. This is amazing for stopping effects that trigger while a particular monster is in the graveyard (i.e. Plaguespreader Zombie), and for stopping your opponent from reviving their strongest monsters. Many combo decks rely on these graveyard strategies to keep their plays going. So using D.D. Crow at the right time can totally shut them down. No matter what deck you’re playing, D.D. Crow is a worthwhile addition to consider. And if it isn’t already in your main deck then it could certainly be in your side deck!
2. Dimensional Fissure
Dimensional Fissure is exactly like Macro Cosmos, with the added bonus that it’s a continuous spell card instead of a trap – meaning you don’t have to set the card and wait a turn before the banishing can take place. This powerful floodgate is also limited to 1 on the ban list, being one of the best banishing cards ever printed. If you can get this card on the board, your opponent is going to have a seriously tough time keeping up in the duel, whether you’re on a banishing strategy or not! This card also goes amazingly well in pendulum decks. When pendulum monsters are destroyed, they never actually hit the graveyard, since they instead go the extra deck face-up. This means your opponent will suffer from their complete lack of a graveyard, all while your gameplan is left unaffected.
1. Evenly Matched
This has to be the most brutal trap card in all of Yu-Gi-Oh. And it’s definitely the best way to banish a bunch of your opponent’s cards all at once. At the end of the battle phase, if your opponent controls more cards than you, you’re able to activate this card to force them to banish cards from the field (face-down) until they have the same number as cards as you. And as if that wasn’t broken enough, there’s more: If you control no cards then you can activate this trap card from your hand! This completely changed the whole dynamic of going first or second in a duel. The general consensus in Yu-Gi-Oh is that going first is the best option – that way, you can set your board up with a bunch of negates such that your opponent can’t touch you. With Evenly Matched in the meta, this decision is a lot trickier. If you go first then there’s a real chance your opponent will simply skip to the battle phase, activate Evenly Matched, and your entire board is gone.
