My take on everyone's ban (with the disclaimer that I haven't thought about these nearly as much as they probably have. I'm sure they have good reasons why they picked the cards they did):
Higurashi vs pikachufan2164It's interesting that pikachufan didn't bother banning any PC. It makes for an interesting dilemma for Higs because now she has to decide whether or not to "waste" 2-3 card slots on Explosions she may not need. Antimatter and Immolation seem like weak bans though. Most of Aether's creatures are immortal or Fractal'd and Phase Spider is weak to CC. Without Immolation, Fractix is slowed, but Aether Pends make it a viable deck still. Higs did a pretty good job blocking alternate damage and Momentum'd creatures, but there's still a few holes that pikachufan can still try to take advantage of.
QuantumT vs HyroenHyroen definitely has something up his sleeves. Banning BE on top of Explosion and Steal? Banning all the reflecting shields in the game? I think he really wants to use those UGs.
And Chaos Seed? Really? Honestly, I doubt QuantumT had even considered using Chaos Seed in his decks. QuantumT's bans however look like more reasonable and logical bans.
Kael Hate vs TheonlyrealbeefHoly Light was an obvious one for both. Enchant Artifact was a nice pick by Kael, but I'm not sure why he banned Explosion when Darkness has Steal. I'm suprised he left out SoGs and Fractal as well. Those are some powerful cards. Antimatter was an interesting but very logical pick by ToRB. And it seems they both don't want to mess with Nova-Grabby decks.
MrBlonde vs ThatnewguyInteresting thing here is that TNG didn't ban SoGs and MrBlonde banned Explosion and Steal. Normally I would think that PC isn't all that useful in Death vs Death, but TNG is gonna wish he had some because MrBlonde is gonna pack those SoGs in every deck. It's gonna be uphill work for TNG I think. MrBlonde can expect to see a nice Fire-Death stall from TNG though I bet. Eclipse seems like a weak ban since it helps both sides . . . unless you're not plan on playing any Death creatures. But then again, he banned RoF which makes you think he'll use lots of creatures. I think TNG is just messing with MrBlonde's mind. An interesting ban that was not made by MrBlonde was Purify. Again, it's one of those things where TNG has to decide whether to "waste" a couple card slots for Purifies on the off-chance that MrBlonde will still use them, or just hope MrBlonde doesn't use them since MrBlonde knows he could use Purify as a hard counter to Poison.
Terroking vs KakerlakeHehe, they both messed up one of their bans. Oh well, at least they both did it together.
Interesting that Kakerlake didn't ban SoGs. Also, in Earth vs Earth, banning PC cards seems kinda weak since they have PAs and Pulverizers. I think Terro's Phase Shield is a better ban than Kaker's Gravity Shield. Miracle, Poison, Immolation, and Pests are all good bans though.
Zeru vs AmillirZeru and Amillir banned all the same cards almost. However, the funny one is Amillir banning Purify, but Zeru banning Poison. Zeru has mad mind-reading skills.
Still, there's more than one good way to poison someone and having to calculate that possibility in every game limits Zeru's deck possibilities. Interesting that Zeru didn't ban both Steal and Explosion, though I'll admit that Graboids are really nasty. Those Nova-Grabby decks are a pain to consider with every deck you build. All told, a fairly even ban I'd say, but I might lean just a little to Zeru's bans.
kevkev60614 vs Napalm GrenadeWhile some decided to give themselves a free 7th ban (SoG), kevkev and Napalm are so hardcore that they decided to go with only 5 bans each.
Bone Walls are a given since that's the best shield against Fire creature decks. It's interesting though that they both decided to ban Phase Shields too even though they have Explosions. I wonder if PA would've been a better ban to ensure you could get rid of any shield including Fire Shield. Also, I'm not sure why Steal was banned by Napalm when Fire has Explosions. Also, I'm surprised Basilisk Blood and Reverse Time weren't banned. Those are the best cards against Phoenix decks and Immo decks, imo. And I guess no one is afraid of Fractix either. And with EQ banned by both, I think both have a nice Bolt deck planned.
girlsgeneration vs majofaI think GG was hoping to use Flying Titans and so banned RT, but majofa didn't like the idea of catapulted Titans either so he banned FW too. Also, I'm not sure why GG would ban Pest in a Grav vs Grav fight unless she's really going to depend on her Mark and not use Pendulums. While banning Lightning helps to protect your Chargers some, Gravity duos well with Fire which also has RP. So it's kind of a weak ban, imo. Looks like majofa blocked two common Grav duos in his ban (Fractal Charger and AdrenaGuards). Not sure why the Poison ban though.
killsdazombies vs WizelsnarfI think kdz doesn't want Wizelsnarf to stop his creatures with shields and mass CC. Fortunately for Wizelsnarf, he banned Fractal. It's interesting that Wizel banned the common PC cards to protect his permanents, but then kdz goes and bans many of the most useful perms.
xdude vs Ryan666Some people make bans to mess up their opponent's strategies and some make bans to keep their opponent from messing up their strategies. xdude and Ryan basically just did the latter. Even Fractal is being banned more because of Hope than being overwhelmed by swarms of creatures. The only difference between their bans is EQ and SoGs. Both are good bans but SoGs are useful in more situations I'd guess. I expect to see some fast Pegasus decks and Fire-Light stalls, but I hope one of them tries an Aether-Light Silence deck. I'd say pretty even bans here.
Xinef vs SpikeSpiegelI think Spike really doesn't want Xinef to mess with his permanents. But banning BE was probably not necessary. Purify was an interesting ban but probably not necessary either . . . unless he's planning on using a certain Scorpion deck a lot. I think Spike should've banned SoG instead of one of those cards. Xinef made some pretty straight-foward bans.
RavingRabbid vs nilsieboySeems like they both banned many of the common cards that get used in Water duos. So we'll hopefully be seeing some more innovative decks here. With all of Water's CC, I'm kind of surprised nobody banned Quintessence.
Again, this is just my off-the-cuff thoughts. I'm sure there are good reasons behind their picks that we'll find out soon enough.
