Introduction to Goat Format
Goat Format is the most popular retro Yu-Gi-Oh! format. It follows the April 2005 ban list, the 2nd ban list in the TCG's history. The name "Goat Format" comes from the historically successful Goat Control deck, which uses Scapegoat and Metamorphosis to make Thousand-Eyes Restrict. Despite the historic success of Goat Control, other decks are also very competitive, including Warrior, Tiger Stun, Chaos Control, Chaos Flip Turbo, Drain Burn, Reasoning Gate Turbo, and Empty Jar. For more information on the latest competitive decks, check out our deck gallery.
The April 2005 Forbidden and Limited List:
The official card pool for Goat Format has been debated at length, but the most widely used card pool is that of SJC Indianapolis on August 21st, 2005. This card pool goes up to the booster set The Lost Millenium, the reprint set Dark Beginnings 2, and Tournament Pack 6. It does not include the 2005 tin promo card Exarion Universe or the booster set Cybernetic Revolution. This is the standard card pool used for the most competitive Goat Format tournaments. It is also the card pool featured in the Goat Lobby on DuelingBook.com. You can search through this card pool in our card database.
Compared to current Yu-Gi-Oh!, Goat Format is practically a different game. It is simpler, more interactive, and more dynamic. That is not to say it is more or less skillful than current Yu-Gi-Oh!, but it certainly emphasizes a different set of skills. There are fewer combos to memorize, fewer move trees to contemplate, and fewer archetypes to consider. Instead, Goat Format requires players to develop skills such as reading unknown cards, bluffing, calculating risk/reward, planning several turns ahead, and resource management. Deck building in Goat Format is also more open-ended, as it largely lacks pre-built archetypes.
In many ways, Goat Format is regarded as a “beautiful accident” by the community, a fleeting moment of classic TCG gameplay that we have chosen to explore more deeply. The more we learn about Goat Format, the more there is to love.
