Controversial Yu-Gi-Oh Card Unbanned After 17 Years

Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game has come a long way since it began back in 1999. As of January 2021, the game is estimated to have sold over a whopping 35 billion cards which is a number I can barely wrap my head around.

Over the years, certain cards have been officially banned after they were deemed to be too powerful for tournament play. Every tournament is going to have a winner, but it’s not exactly fair if a single card makes the entire thing one-sided. That could soon change though, as one major card has been unbanned after 17 years.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game players can now officially add the ‘Change of Heart’ card back into their tournament decks. The card was unbanned by Konami during their most recent update to the list of limited and forbidden cards.

‘Change of Heart’ was banned back in 2005. The spell card allows you to “Target one monster your opponent controls” and “take control of it until the End Phase”. As the card grants you complete control over your opponent, it’s easy to see why the card was banned from tournaments.

That’s not to say that ‘Change of Heart’ is now without restrictions. The card is no longer banned but it was moved by Konami to the ‘limited’ list, which means that players can only have one ‘Change of Heart’ card in their “Main Deck, Extra Deck, and Side Deck combined”.

Yu-Gi-Oh! has always maintained its popularity, but it’s certainly seen a surge in the last year or so. That’s partly down to the digital version of the card game Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel which contributed to Konami’s record breaking profits in the most recent financial year, after the game shifted 20 million copies. Well, if you happen to have ‘Change of Heart’ in your possession, now is the time to crack it out.