One thing Yugioh can be commended for in comparison to other TCGs is its willingness to take risks with unbannings. The sentiment that Konami uses the banlist as a form of ‘soft rotation’, alongside general power trends, is soundly held by many in the community. This was seen in the slow sunset of the previous Core Set storyline’s cards, the Diabellestars & Snake-Eyes, which previously held a dominance over the meta that was untouchable, not just because of its design potency, but also because Konami refused to hit it in a timely fashion while the storyline played out across sets. Snake-Eye should have been hit earlier-on in its lifespan, that’s a fair point to make, but in the recent September Forbidden & Limited List announcement, Konami seems to have suffered short-term memory loss. Of course, reasonable hits were applied across the board, to things that ended the turn, or secured a win, but crucially, multiple pieces of the previous year’s best deck came off the list. Let’s talk about why that choice might have been premature, and the recent Top 8 for Snake-Eye Yummy.
This deck was piloted card-for-card by Thomas Rolph at the Preston WCQ to a Top 8 finish—impressive, especially for an explored combination like this. Aside from his placement, every other list was what you’d expect, from pure Yummy to VS K9 keeping up even with the recent hits. The philosophy behind Snake-Eye Yummy, however, is quite different from its contemporaries Unlike standard Yummy, which does its best to flexibly play through removal & negation as a ‘floor’ deck focused on low-impact play through interaction, the Snake-Eye variant is far more midrangey, with a much higher power ‘ceiling’.
This is down to the fact that not only do you have access to 3 copies of Snake-Eye Ash, and 2 copies of Snake-Eyes Poplar, but a means by which these two can readily become fully Yummy combo: An unbanned Linkuriboh.
For those unaware, Linkuriboh is one of the most individually-power Link-1s ever produced, able to convert and climb even without Yummy’s ability to turn it into a functional Tuner monster. Comparing the ways Yummy was hit to K9 builds, largely with a Limit on both Obedience Schooled & Herald of the Arc Light, Konami took pieces away from both the start & end of its core combo. K9 meanwhile saw several reductions in consistency, meaning that strategy has much higher highs when you draw Vanquish Soul Razen, and lower lows…when you don’t.
Yummy can pivot easily into a Snake-Eye package to supplement both halves of its recent limitations, while K9, both in the form of VS K9 and Crystron K9, must ‘suck it up’ and play worse starters. This fact explains an oddity present in Thomas’ list: The inclusions of -1 searchers like Small World & Jack in the Hand.
When I call these ‘-1 searchers’, I’m referring to net card advantage upon their resolution. Generally, this is a class of cards that is only played if the payoff is great enough to afford reducing ones’ available cards to reach a hyperspecific endpoint. In Thomas’ case, he was ingeniously able to include these because you’re now far more likely to run up against bunk hands from the K9 opposition, and the power level of the format overall has been decreased. Not only that, both of these options unlock searchability for yet another neat tech, Magicians’ Souls Not only is Souls a free Special Summon, able to convert errant Yummy bodies left onboard into full combo, but by sending Snake-Eyes Diabellestar from the Deck to the GY as cost, it turns Poplar’s ability to reset the very same thing from your yard into a huge advantage Not just that, but Souls can also bin the Snake-Eyes in your Spell & Trap Zone with relative ease for card draw, if you know the opponent lacks negation. It is Magicians’ Souls which ties these engines together, even with a 58 card Main Deck.
That’s probably worth mentioning—Thomas was only 2 cards shy of the maximum legal deck size, which normally works against consistency for tight-knit strategies. The likelihood of drawing your now single copy of Obedience Schooled goes from 12.5% at 40 cards to only 8.6% in 58, and without any means of searching it that certainly feels worse. Still, the boon of playing more cards is that reduction, as Snake-Eye asks you to play cards you’d much rather search than draw, so their reduced likelihood of appearing as bricks (or ‘garnets’) in the opening hand is well-warranted.
After all, Thomas plays a variety of searchers, from the aforementioned -1 pieces, to Bonfire, One For One, and even a small Sky Striker package with triple Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!. Due to the fact that really any combination of 2 soft starters gets you to full combo, the specifics are less important; every Yummy is about as good as any other, as is the case with Souls, Ash, or Engage.
Let’s take a moment to talk about the Extra Deck, however, as beyond just Linkuriboh, there’s some important choices made here. The absolute stand-outs come in the form of an Xyz package made available by Snake-Eyes by turning two of your Level 8s, in the form of either Snake-Eye Main Deck monster or Snake-Eyes Doomed Dragon, into Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy. Hope Harbinger does two big things for you: The most obvious is that you’re allowed a Spell negate, which certainly helps against the most powerful Yummy opening hands, and to deny VS K9 their access to one half of the engine. This also absolutely dunks on exactly Crystron K9, with only a single copy of Crystron Inclusion now available, so I assume we’ll see less of that strategy from here on out. The more subtle advantage of Hope Harb however is its combat redirection, rerouting attacks to it; this has been a huge point of stoppage for Yummy, as you previously were able to just go to combat and run over any of the various Synchros, or even Arc Light. Given the latter must be protected at all costs, now being limited, and the former are played as single copies, Harbinger is truly the hero of an endboard.
Thomas’ Side Deck is something I’d expect in all honesty, with some Kaijus, Nibiru, and the currently-popular Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay It’s obvious, built to win, and covers your bases.
The thing more worth talking about is the inclusion of a shocking card: D.D. Crow Crow has been off-and-on playable for the better part of two decades, and here it serves a dual purpose as both a relevant handtrap against both Yummy & K9, and in its being a Level 1 monster Perhaps the more shocking thing is the lack of its primary searcher, Lyrilusc - Recital Starling, a card included in previous decks which made use of the bird’s Level & capacity as a hand trap in formats prior, like SPYRAL.
Another surprising facet of this list, which I only realized in watching the deck tech by the pilot himself, is that this was all accomplished prior to DOOD format In Doom of Dimensions, Yummy receives not just one, but two pieces of outstanding support. Yum☆Yum☆Yummys, a card delightfully difficult to say with a straight face, is a fantastic 1-of flex piece once your engine has been set up, not unlike Floowandereeze and the Unexplored Wind. Then, there’s Marshmao☆Yummy, a bona fide extender for the archetype, and likely a 3-of staple to round out the list’s 60 card Main Deck, upon its release Yes, Yummy does appear to be the top dog (top cat?) following the banlist, but lists like this go a long way to show it’s far from stagnant. The Cross-Sheep in the Extra is potentially the single-strongest indicator of this, intended to be used alongside Snake-Eyes Doomed Dragon as a soft reborn of your Yummy Synchros, once expended.
A huge congratulations to Thomas Rolph for his performance, and in showing the format’s wider open than many may attest! How have you enjoyed the game in the wake of the September 2025 banlist? Did the hits to K9’s secondary engines go too far, in comparison to its competition in Yummy? Was it safe to unban the Snake-Eyes so soon? Let me know in the comments below!
