SanganDark, Level 3, [Fiend/Effect]
ATK: 1000, DEF: 600
SYE-018, Common
"When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, select 1 monster with an ATK of 1500 or less from your Deck, show it to your opponent, and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your Deck."
Card Review
Here's the Ban Week Review for Sangan, even though Ban Week is long since passed. I came down
sick with a bad virus that weekend and so I wasn't able to review the card when I was supposed
to finish it, and I've been really busy since then.
Sangan is somewhat the lesser of the two banned searchers. His limit on ATK allows fetching monsters with any defense rating, but this isn't usually what his target is -- he can also search out a large number of useful effect monsters with low attack, allowing him to double with Witch for those cards. Among notable cards that Sangan can search out are all 5 Exodia pieces, Alpha and Gamma the Magnet Warriors, almost the entire family of Amazoness cards, Beastking of the Swamps, Cannon Soldier, the popular D.D. Warrior Lady, virtually all of the Gravekeeper's cards, virtually all of the Dark Scorpions, Great Maju Garzett, Relinquished, Solar Flare Dragon, and tons more. I have used Sangan in many decks, but not nearly as many as Witch. This is probably because of the particular cards I tend to run, as Sangan can be more or less useful depending on what he can search from your deck. I give Sangan a 7.0/10 rating.
Why the Card is Banned
Like with Witch, Sangan alone cannot win duels. He has the same lack of a guarantee on being
able to play the cards he searches, he requires the same showing of the card to your opponent,
which lays bear your strategy, and there are quite a few ways for his effect to get negated in
the current metagame, including the dreaded Nobleman. So, as for why this card is banned, the
only reasons I can come up with are flexibility and popularity.
Best Replacements
There is also no worthy replacement for this card. Though the elemental summoners CAN reach
monsters based on their ATK, all of them still require the monster to be summoned directly,
and all of them still require being destroyed in battle rather than simply being sent to the
Graveyard. The elemental searchers are very useful in their own right, but they cannot provide
the same functionality as Witch or Sangan in far too many cases to be considered replacements.
My Opinion of the Ban
I don't like this ban much more than I like the one on Witch, but it doesn't break my heart
since I used Sangan much less often. I usually find searching for low DEF monsters to be more
important to my strategies than low ATK monsters. Still, I'd like to see this card come back.
Searching power is one way to help make up for low drawing power, and this game has really low
drawing power no matter what you put in your deck.
Probability of Unbanning
Just see my Witch review. He's probably gone forever. :(