Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel Forbidden and Limited card list (September 2024)

Regardless of the format, Konami aims 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 try to prevent specific strategies from being 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’re actively playing Master Duel, here is an overview of the Forbidden and Limited Card list for September 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 ban lists 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 in the meta. Here is the current Master Duel Forbidden and Limited card list for ranked gameplay, which will be in effect from Sept. 12, 2024—with cards listed in the order shown in-game.

All Forbidden/Banned cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

All Limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

All Semi-Limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

All newly Unlimited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel