Weiss Schwarz Updated Ban List [06/19/2025]

It’s getting pretty hot outside. I’m feeling literally cooked in my house as the summer waves pour in. Speaking of hot, we’ve got some hot new changes to the restriction list that will be live on June 21st, 2025.

Compared to my earlier predictions, Bushiroad has gone on a harsher route this time around. With a choice list of four, the current most played standby pile in Love Live! Hasunosora is being heavily altered. As I had predicted earlier, there was some sort of impact to the standby profiles within the main played deck. I had thought they would have more likely punished 3/2 Megumi, but they’ve seemed to have decided to cut off the cards that made the overall deck as consistent as it was. 2/2 Megumi is the first on the list and being one of the prime standby targets in the early to mid game, having this hit reduces the options that the deck is able to run with. This also removes the deck’s ability to bounce targets, which could impact the deck based on the metagame. 1/0 Ginko being removed takes away the deck’s ability to cycle itself for climaxes to more readily repeat the standby spawning cycle. 0/0 Megumi greatly reduces the standby power of the deck in the early game, preventing you from performing the “Foolish Burial” effect and gaining additional free hand advantage when she bounced back to hand during battle. 0/0 Megumi’s hit is big since her ability to search and dump out a character from your deck as soon as possible made it so that you were almost guaranteed to bring out your level one combo, which kick-started your entire deck by turn one. Speaking of which, that same combo is also on the list with 1/1 Rurino. Rurino was the bread and butter of the deck, refilling your hand, setting up your triggers, and standing Megumi.

What is absurd to me is how many of the cards presented here are genuinely all part of the same archetype. More so, I think this is the most vivid lesson on how “Foolish Burial” and standby are a horrible combination to begin with and how much more care has to be taken to consider the ways in which standby and cards that interact with standby flow into the game.

I am sure many changes are going to take place. While 3/2 Megumi is untouched, spawning her out and getting her rolling will not be as easy as before. The free heals from her arriving are still around, but pushing for board dominance and cheating out cards with standby just won’t be as easy.

As predicted, both the finisher Rem and the 3/2 stock shuffler are both placed on the same choice list. I would have wished for more harsh restrictions, but some changes were made. 3/2 Rem’s finisher will potentially be less damaging now, as players have protection with some compression since the deck can no longer easily decompress them. Even still, 3/2 Rem is a powerhouse finisher, and her damage can likely still close out games.

Not exactly my prediction, but this is effectively similar. The Fumio Arisa and stock flush event have been here for ages, and I don’t predict them coming off anytime soon, especially given the recent restriction changes for other series. 1/0 Sakiko joins the list. Sakiko swapped and spawned into her 1/0 version, an advantage combo for Ave Musica (Ave Musica). With Sakiko here, it is clear to me that Bushiroad doesn’t want the deck to have any decompression tools whatsoever to give opponents a chance to survive the new set’s finishers. You’ll just have to fight through your opponent’s cards fairly this time around.

This felt like a strange hit to me. Rather than facilitating any singular deck, Nadeshiko and Aki here are generic profiles that don’t particularly push any specific deck archetype. They are both on a choice list, but I think it’s to reduce the same cards being used throughout commonly played competitive lists. It’s definitely a minor hit for sure, but the idea here is to reduce a bit of the overall power for the series. With the loss of Nadeshiko, you’ll have to more fairly beat down your opponent in the late game to close out for a win. With Aki gone, you’ll have to more fairly play your cards from hand and also search or hold onto your endgame climax. You’ll have to decide between either of these outcomes, not allowing you to have the best of both worlds.

If I were to provide a statement about how I feel about the restrictions, it’d be that this restriction list this time around gives us a better glimpse into what Bushiroad is thinking and considering. Bushiroad clearly thinks that there needs to be changes in the pacing of the game. All the hits this time around, outside of Hasu, had some sort of connection to a decompression tool, whether it be some sort of stock flush/shuffle or a Fumio profile. The point here is that they want players to have to fight through their opponent’s cancels rather than relying on certain profiles to just cheese the compression game. I’m guessing these changes are looking to give players more of a chance to survive their opponent’s finishing turn, presuming they have a decent deck state and good stock compression. Still, I think this is just one of the myriad of issues that are currently plaguing the current metagame. Making it harder for people to fight through compression is good, but given the amount of damage that modern finishers do and the constant influx of random finishers that perform their own “decompression” abilities as part of their finishing blow (e.g. Icy Tail), it’s hard to say how well this will really impact the overall metagame. At the very least, I think this is a step in the right direction, but more changes will need to be considered.

Furthermore, given that all these series were relatively new, it may be that Bushiroad is performing their “spring cleaning” so out with the old series and in with the new.

There were a few unrestrictions this time around, but I don’t think any of these cards will likely have any deep rippling effects across the board. Junyou at a single copy, has not really shaken up the metagame as Kantai’s effects are rather outdated. There may be more soul cheese tactics coming out or returning, but in 2025, Kantai carries nowhere close to the general speed and power of modern deck profiles. Kanaho is an odd piece that I honestly think should just be removed from the ban list entirely. Kanaho is from an old combo in Assault Lily that has long fallen from its grace years ago. They are likely trying to release older series from these types of restrictions with a slow roll-out (Kanaho can be played with three copies a deck). The same thing for Kanaho applies to that of Mille here from Puzzles and Dragons. Puzzles and Dragons may be the newest of the batch, but Ney still leaves a sour taste in people’s tongues. Mille is probably part of the slow unrestrictions to just give a bit more power to the series while trying to make sure things don’t explode (Mille is fully unlimited).

Shout-outs to Avis at Weiss Tea Time for this wonderful and collected image of the updated ban list in English.

As a final conclusion, I think Bushiroad really needs to carefully consider standby interactions and maybe start reconsidering the designs of its current end-game finishers. With their recent announcements, we are definitely getting many new series and returning ones coming into the game, and with the power vacuum left, there are many series vying to take up the spots of these contenders. Only time will tell if these series can hold onto their crowns or others will take up the mantle.