Due to the unique circumstances this time we would also like to directly explain the ban/restriction revisions announced today, December 18th (Monday). First, please note that our aim is to keep the gameplay environment healthy and facilitate a diverse competitive metagame.

Regarding the decision to ban or restrict cards from the unreleased English version products, EX05 and BT15, please understand we gave it a lot of consideration. We decided it was the best choice after carefully considering the degree to which it affected the tournament situation in Japan and our goal of aiming for a healthier environment for players worldwide.

[BT14-002 Bukamon], [EX5-015 Gabumon (X Antibody)], and [EX5-018 Garurumon (X Antibody)], greatly stabilize the movement of decks that use them, decreasing the diversity of cards used and narrowing the current state of enjoying Digimon Card Game, which is the element of "being able to play with decks of many concepts." Especially for [EX5-015 Gabumon (X Antibody)] and [EX5-018 Garurumon (X Antibody)], in addition to increasing stability, they dramatically strengthen the power of decks that utilize the trash.

EX5-062 Anubismon] can continue to utilize the trash unless directly interfered with, allowing for the repeated appearance of powerful purple Digimon cards. This makes it highly effective in maintaining its effects in the battle area, making it a powerful and challenging-to-handle card.

[BT15-102 Apocalymon] is a difficult card to counter as it can repeatedly be played at a low cost when multiple types of cards with the [Dark Masters] trait are in the trash. Moreover, if you cannot remove the first instance of this card that has been played, another [BT15-102 Apocalymon] can easily be played, creating no way to stop consecutive trashing of cards from the deck, and the total amount of cards trashed from the deck must be restrained. From a comprehensive perspective, it was necessary to limit the frequency of this card's appearance.

Since [EX5-062 Anubismon] and [BT15-102 Apocalymon] are both high-rarity cards, we had many discussions about how to handle the situation. However, in the end when considering the possibility that these two cards could be further strengthened with the inclusion of new cards with the [Dark Masters] trait in the future, and which would lead to the need to improve the environment by designating other cards as restricted/banned cards, we decided to directly restrict (to 1) only these two cards.

Most of the cards specified as restricted cards this time are cards that utilize the trash so there has also been an increase in decks that frequently use the trash. In addition to the above reasons, the complexity of movements also increases due to the need to confirm more locations. This might raise the hurdle for those who say, "I want to try the Digimon Card Game!" and make the game seem difficult to new users. To ensure that everyone can enjoy Digimon Card Game with peace of mind, we decided it necessary to significantly restrict these types of cards.
For these reasons, we chose to revise the banned/restricted cards and add these 5 cards.

Regarding this revision, we sincerely apologize for causing concerns by designating many cards as banned/restricted at once, and that this decision comes before their release for those playing the English version. We would also like to apologize that our development team inaccurately estimated the effect of these cards which lead to a short span between release and banning/restricting. Of course, we aim to create products that will not require adjustments through banned/restricted cards and thank you for your understanding when such action is necessary to provide a better game environment. We hope that you will also kindly understand that for cards judged to have a strong impact on the environment, there may be additions to the list of banned/restricted cards regardless of the release or reprint timing.

Thank you for your understanding.

Digimon Card Game Team