Ghetsis, Hex Maniac, and More Banned from Expanded Format!

orthusaku

Tired Trainer
Member
Do you not actually play Expanded? How do you not know this?

Any deck that wasn't Wailord or Buzzwole pretty much

I'm asking because I haven't played since January so forgive me. So because players abused these things we can't have nice things like momentary ability lock or disruption of another players items?
 

CrownAxe

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I'm asking because I haven't played since January so forgive me. So because players abused these things we can't have nice things like momentary ability lock or disruption of another players items?
Welcome to TCGs. Players abuse things and show that game designers don't know what they are doing
 

orthusaku

Tired Trainer
Member
Welcome to TCGs. Players abuse things and show that game designers don't know what they are doing

I hope we get cards again that allow use from our hand to disrupt items in our opponents hand and let us from our hand (not bench) stall out abilities, maybe even if it is just abilities from cards played from the hand.

I don't want to build turbo item decks anymore.

Edit: sorry for wasting everyone's time, I'm just saddend by these bans to the point of not wanting to play expanded or at all as expanded was my last real chance to enjoy fun cards like hex and wally and not have to be another turbo item deck. :(
 

Connor Ritter

TCG Player
Advanced Member
Member
I hope we get cards again that allow use from our hand to disrupt items in our opponents hand and let us from our hand (not bench) stall out abilities, maybe even if it is just abilities from cards played from the hand.

I don't want to build turbo item decks anymore.

Edit: sorry for wasting everyone's time, I'm just saddend by these bans to the point of not wanting to play expanded or at all as expanded was my last real chance to enjoy fun cards like hex and wally and not have to be another turbo item deck. :(

You can still build decks with disruption like red card or item lock like Seismetoad or Trevenant they’re just less one sided in how it works. You can still get ability lock too with Grennja or Garbodor, but the important thing is these are more counterable and balanced. If you’re not a fan of item turbo decks and that’s the preferred decks then you can run counter decks that punish those like trashvalanche Garbodor. The key to these bans is it removes cards utilized in unhealthy combos that create one sided games with no way feasible way to correct. Maybe when Zoroark rotates from Standard it will get banned and these other cards like will be unbanned similar to how Shiftry was unbanned when Forest rotated and was banned.
 

orthusaku

Tired Trainer
Member
You can still build decks with disruption like red card or item lock like Seismetoad or Trevenant they’re just less one sided in how it works. You can still get ability lock too with Grennja or Garbodor, but the important thing is these are more counterable and balanced. If you’re not a fan of item turbo decks and that’s the preferred decks then you can run counter decks that punish those like trashvalanche Garbodor. The key to these bans is it removes cards utilized in unhealthy combos that create one sided games with no way feasible way to correct. Maybe when Zoroark rotates from Standard it will get banned and these other cards like will be unbanned similar to how Shiftry was unbanned when Forest rotated and was banned.

Its not that I want to run distruption, I just want a slower format be it expanded or standard, I want 2-3 turns of setup. Are you saying zoroark won't even be considered for banning until it rotates?
 

Connor Ritter

TCG Player
Advanced Member
Member
Its not that I want to run distruption, I just want a slower format be it expanded or standard, I want 2-3 turns of setup. Are you saying zoroark won't even be considered for banning until it rotates?
Unfortunately we don’t have slow formats right now. These cards weren’t creating slower setups either, they were creating lopsided games. It may give the impression that it was slower but that was because your opponent has been deprived of resources letting you comfortably setup at your own pace which could be fast or slow.

Based on the bans for Forest of Giant Plants and Puzzle of Time, I wouldn’t expect a card like Zoroark banned until it rotates. In recent years the only Standard ban was Lysandres Trump Card, something that removed an entire win condition and created unhealthy decks that could cycle through 60 cards a turn making games last ages. That ban was implemented a few months after release. We’re past that window and Zoroark doesn’t have nearly as bad an effect on the state of the game. Unless we see some new release that creates a truly terrible combo.
 

pokeraider123456

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Thank you for explaining those two things to me. However I feel you might have missed another point about banning cards. It is not that it is admitting a design flaw but that they may want to adjust the format, We know we are getting back into a item heavy format and likely going to have turbo style engines again which is why I think they banned ghetsis because it would have shut down a new item engine coming to us.

Edit: hopefully I get this in before anyone replies

I think TPCi is using the expanded ban list not to take care of problematic cards, but shape expanded for future cards to ensure those cards sell. Removing Ghetsis and Hex from the pool means that we have build a deck to counter items or counter abilities and not have splashable cards to tech against those kind of decks.
i think they banned specifically to sell future cards. ghetsis is one of those gambling cards, most of the time you only send 1-2 cards back to the deck, often times you dont send any cards, because the opponent doesn't have any items. Most of the time the opponnent has a supporter or draws a supporter to counter ghetsis. buzzwole and zoroark are the main problem, but those cards cash cows for them.
@Connor Ritter: garbodar is easily countered by megaphones and field blowers. Greninjas is not even ability disruption, it will be taken out before it even evolves. GHETSIS is one of those hit or miss cards, majority of the time you dont even send any cards back, or its immediately drawn out by supporters.
@orthusaku: most people dont like to play 10-30minute games.
 
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