Regardless of the format, Konami always has ways to ensure Yu-Gi-Oh! remains a fair and balanced game—at least on the surface. The Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Forbidden and Limited list is always a hot topic of discussion in the community, especially since it sees frequent updates.
Yu-Gi-Oh! uses a Forbidden and Limited list to put restrictions on certain cards to ensure specific strategies can’t be abused in any given format for more than a few months at a time. For Master Duel, this means more frequent bans and unbans as Konami navigates an all-digital format that spans both the TCG and OCG audience. So, if you are actively playing Master Duel, here is an overview of the Forbidden and Limited Card list for May 2024.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Forbidden and Limited Card list, explained
With a curated pool of more than 10,000 cards that is constantly growing with new packs, Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is a rare instance where TCG and OCG players compete in the same format instead of using different banlists for physical products.
As a result, Master Duel has been separated from both the TCG and OCG formats, becoming its own independent form of Yu-Gi-Oh! This means the Forbidden and Limited card list for Master Duel is entirely original and will help cultivate a unique meta based on the cards you can craft, pull, or unlock.
Despite these distinctions, the ban list is still broken down into three specific parts, along with a fourth being included at the end of certain updates to show which cards are no longer having their usage limited.
- Forbidden: A card is not allowed to be used in a player’s Main Deck, Extra Deck, or Side Deck.
- Limited: Only one copy of a card is allowed to be used in a player’s Main Deck, Extra Deck, or Side Deck.
- Semi-Limited: Only two copies of a card are allowed to be used in a player’s Main Deck, Extra Deck, or Side Deck.
Master Duel usually gets a new ban list once a month, typically in the first week, as Konami doesn’t need to work around product releases to gather more data and make informed decisions about which cards to hit next. The game also runs events that circumvent the ban list, so alternate methods of play exist even with these frequent shifts to the meta. Here is the current Master Duel Forbidden and Limited card list in effect for ranked gameplay, which will be in effect from May 2, 2024—with cards listed in the order shown in-game.
All Forbidden/Banned cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
| Cyber-Stein | Cannon Soldier | Graceful Charity |
| Pot of Greed | Ultimate Offering | Last Will |
| Heavy Storm | Snatch Steal | Confiscation |
| Delinquent Duo | The Forceful Sentry | Giant Trunade |
| Painful Choice | Cyber Jar | Imperial Order |
| Premature Burial | Time Seal | Card of Safe Return |
| Cold Wave | Amazoness Archer | Fiber Jar |
| Smoke Grenade of the Thief | Royal Oppression | Last Turn |
| Mirage of Nightmare | Trap Dustshoot | Toon Cannon Soldier |
| Terraforming | Metamorphosis | Card of Demise |
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| Magical Scientist | Mass Driver | Butterfly Dagger – Elma |
| Silve, Warlord of Dark World | Self-Destruct Button | Sixth Sense |
| Return from the Different Dimension | Magical Explosion | Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade |
| Silve, Walord of Dark World | Dandylion | Life Wqualizer |
| Barrier Stature of the Stormwinds | Instant Fusion | Grinder Golem |
| Cannon Soldier MK-2 | Substitoad | Mind Master |
| Tempest Magician | Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis | Fishborg Blaster |
| Level Eater | Djinn Releaser of Rituals | Appointer of the Red Lotus |
| The Tyrant Neptune | Glow-Up Bulb | Vanity’s Emptiness |
| Wind-Up Hunter | Lavalval Chain | Number 16: Shock Master |
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| Eclipse Wyvern | White Dragon Wyverburster | Soul Charge |
| Elder Entity Norden | Number 86: Heroic Champion – Rhongomyniad | Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker Armor |
| Outer Entity Azathot | Number 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon | Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL |
| Performage Plushfire | Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin | Phantasmal Lord Ultimitl Bishbaalkin |
| Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition | Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow | Block Dragon |
| Toadally Awesome | Destiny HERO – Celestial | Zoodiac Broadbull |
| Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King | True King of All Calamities | Set Rotation |
| Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker | Crystron Halqifibrax | Summon Sorceress |
| Knightmare Mermaid | Knightmare Goblin | Topologic Gumblar Dragon |
| Guardragon Elpy | Guardragon Agarpain | Ib the World Chalice Justiar |
| Mystic Mine | Union Carrier | Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon |
| Linkross | Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon | Tearlaments Merrli |
| Branded Expulsion | Kelbek the Ancient Vanguard | Agido the Ancient Sentinel |
All Limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
| Right Leg of the Forbidden One | Left Arm of the Forbidden One | Left Leg of the Forbidden One |
| Left Arm of the Forbbiden One | Exodia the Forbidden One | Morphing Jar |
| Harpie’s Feather Duster | Card Destruction | Monster Reborn |
| Foolish Burial | Reinforcement of the Army | Yata-Garasu |
| Kaiser Colosseum | Rivalry of Warlords | Skill Drain |
| Gold Sarcophagus | Eradicator Epidemic Virus | Herald of Orange Light |
| Gozen Match | One for One | Swap Frog |
| Gateway of the Six | Pot of Duality | Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird |
| T.G. Hyper Librarian | One Day of Peace | M-X-Saber Invoker |
| Blackwing – Steam the Cloak | Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer (was Semi-Limited) | Tellarknight Prolemaeus |
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| Brillian Fusion | PSY-Framelord Omega | Performapal Monkeyboard |
| Pot of Desires | Zoodiac Ratpier | Foolish Burial Goods |
| That Grass Looks Greener | Astrograph Sorcerer | Chronograph Sorcerer |
| Dragonic Diagram | Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom | Trickstar Reincarnation |
| Performapal Five-Rainbow Magician | Awano-Iwato | Nimble Beaver |
| Inspector Boarder | Saryuja Skull Dread | Right Arm of the Forbidden One |
| Heavymetalfoes Electrumite | Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones | Thunder Dragon Colossus |
| Pot of Extravagance | Crossout Designator | Predaplant Verte Anaconda |
| Mathmech Diameter | Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder | Pot of Prosperity |
| Branded Opening | Floowandereeze & Empen | Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map |
| Branded Fusion | Runick Destruction | Runick Fountain |
| Spright Jet | Tearlaments Gavnis | Tearlaments Kitkallos |
| Primval Planet Perlereino | Tearlaments Sulliek | Keldo the Sacred Protector |
| Mudora the Sword Oracle | Bystial Magnamhut | Bystial Saronir |
| Bystial Druiswurm | Kashtira Fenrir | Purrely Delicious Memory |
| Tearlaments Kashtira | Pressured Planet Wraitsoth | Synchro Zone |
All Semi-Limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
| Rageki | Change of Heart | Anti-Spell Gragrance |
| Necroface | D.D. Dynamite | Destiny HERO – Malicious |
| Emergency Teleport | Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier | Infernity Launcher |
| Mask Change II | PSY-Framegear Gamma | Superheavy Samurai Wagon |
| Trickstar Light Stage | Quick Launch | Sekka’s Light |
| Called by the Grave | Red Reboot | Sky Striker Mobilize – Engage! |
| Cynet Mining | Fusion Destiny | Dimension Shifter |
| Parallel eXceed | Nadir Servant | Chaos Space |
| Alluber the Jester of Despia | Rite of Aramesir | Water Enchantress of the Temple |
| Labrynth Chandraglier | Labrynth Stovie Torbie | Runick Tip |
| Runick Freezing Curses | Runick Slumber | Spright Blue |
| Tearlaments Scheiren | Spright Starter | Kashtira Unicorn |
| Kashtira Birth | Purrely | Snake-Eye Ash (was Unlimited) |
| WANTED: Seekr of Sinful Spoils (was Unlimited) |
All newly Unlimited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
No cards were removed from the Forbidden and Limited list in the most recent update.
Konami has not confirmed the release date for Master Duel’s next Forbidden and Limited card list update.
