The recently-released list of Yu-Gi-Oh TCG card bans and restrictions in effect from 1 October 2024 in tournaments in Japan and Asia-Pacific spawned a major talking point among the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG community in Japan: that of the upcoming unban of Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon. Many expressed apprehension at the effect that its unban would have on the metagame; others looked forward to a meta with Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon in it—the first since September 2020.

About Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon (Legendary Gold Box LGB1-JP001)

Although Konami doesn’t typically state the rationale behind each card’s ban and restriction, it had generally been agreed upon that Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon had been banned not for being too powerful, but for having a harmful effect upon the meta. Many said that the card design of Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon led to a disruption of the game’s balance, causing a decline in many players’ gameplay experiences.

However, at this point the meta within Japan and Asia-Pacific had shifted enough to the point that Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon was no longer deemed by Konami to have this same harmful effect on the regions’ meta (it had never even been restricted outside Japan and Asia-Pacific). Its high level of splashability, low-risk nature, and promotion of uninteresting gameplay requiring little to no in-game intelligence which got it banned in the first place have now been deemed to be as damaging to the meta as they once were.

This card from the Legendary Gold Box comes in the rarity of 20th Secret Rare to honor the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG’s 20th anniversary. It also contains a reference to the Yu-Gi-Oh anime; the card is an upgraded form of Dark Magician—a card owned by protagonist Yugi Muto—fused with Red-Eyes Black Dragon, a card owned by Yugi’s friend Joey Wheeler. As such, this card is likely to interest those who got into Yu-Gi-Oh via the anime.

Release Details

This card has already been released in English.

A Quarter Century Secret Rare Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon (Legendary Gold Box LGB1-JP001) card sells for 20,000 JPY (~US$140).

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