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 August 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 in effect for ranked gameplay, which will be in effect from Aug. 7, 2024—with cards listed in the order shown in-game.
All Forbidden/Banned cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
| Catapult Turtle | Cyber-Stein | Cannon Soldier |
| Graceful Charity | Pot of Greed | Ultimate Offering |
| Last Will | 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 | Kaiser Colosseum |
| Magical Scientist | Mass Driver | Butterfly Dagger – Elma |
| Dimension Fusion | Self-Destruct Button | Sixth Sense |
| Return from the Different Dimension | Magical Explosion | Divine Sword – Phoenix Blade |
| Sillva, Warlord of Dark World | Dandylion | Life Equalizer |
| Barrier Stature of the Stormwinds | Instant Fusion | Grinder Golem |
| Cannon Soldier MK-2 | Substitoad | Mind Master |
| Tempest Magician | Ido the Supreme Magical Force | 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 | Eclipse Wyvern | White Dragon Wyverburster |
| Gimmick Puppet Nightmare | 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 |
| Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity | 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 Leg of the Forbidden One | Right Arm of the Forbidden One |
| Left Arm of the Forbidden One | Exodia the Forbidden One | Morphing Jar |
| Harpie’s Feather Duster | Card Destruction | Monster Reborn |
| Heavy Storm | Foolish Burial | Reinforcement of the Army |
| Rivalry of Warlords | Skill Drain | Gold Sarcophagus |
| Eradicator Epidemic Virus | Summon Limit | 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 |
| Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer | Brilliant Fusion | PSY-Framelord Omega |
| 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 | There Can Be Only One |
| Heavymetalfoes Electrumite | Sky Striker Mecha – Hornet Drones | Thunder Dragon Colossus |
| Pot of Extravagance | Crossout Designator | Predaplant Verte Anaconda |
| Mathmech Diameter | Pot of Prosperity | Branded Opening |
| Floowandereeze & Empen | Floowandereeze and the Magnificent Map | Branded Fusion |
| Runick Destruction | Runick Fountain | Tearlaments Havnis |
| Tearlaments Kitkallos | Primeval 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 | Snake-Eye Ash | WANTED: Seeker of Sinful Spoils |
All Semi-Limited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
| Raigeki | Change of Heart | Anti-Spell Fragrance |
| Necroface | D.D. Dynamite | Destiny HERO – Malicious |
| Emergency Teleport | Mask Change II | PSY-Framegear Gamma |
| Trickstar Light Stage | Quick Launch | Called by the Grave |
| Red Reboot | Cynet Mining | Fusion Destiny |
| Dimension Shifter | Parallel eXceed | Nadir Servant |
| Chaos Space | Aluber the Jester of Despia | Water Enchantress of the Temple |
| Labrynth Chandraglier | Labrynth Stovie Torbie | Runick Tip |
| Runick Freezing Curses | Runick Slumber | Spright Blue |
| Spright Jet | Tearlaments Scheiren | Spright Starter |
| Kashtira Unicorn | Rescue-ACE Air Lifter | Purrely |
| Purrelyly | Bonfire |
All newly Unlimited cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
| Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier | Infernity Launcher | Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder |
| Sekka’s Light | Superheavy Samurai Wagon |
