Painful Choice was released in 2002 as a part of Spell Rulers. It wasn’t banned until the April 2005 ban list. This does bring up the question “Why is Painful Choice Banned?”
What does Painful Choice do?
Painful Choice is a normal spell. When the player activates this card they first select five cards from their deck and show the five cards to their opponent. Then the opponent must select one of the cards to send to the player’s hand, and the other four to go to the graveyard. The card fills the graveyard and can give you a key card. The painful choice is more for your opponent than you.
No Downsides
The card was created pretty early in the game when it was just who could beatdown the other person first. However, the card became too good when the era of Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End began. This card incentivized sending cards to the graveyard, and Painful Choice sends four of them to the graveyard. A player could pick five cards they want in the graveyard, and the opponent has to pick the least bad to be sent to the grave.
Beyond the era of it being banned the card is even better now. Lightsworns would have killed for this card. If you could use a Painful Choice then you could consistently get a Judgement Dragon out in the first couple turns. Zombies and Infernoids would also become way stronger if they had this card. These are older decks, but this would be true of a couple more modern decks.
Can Painful Choice be unbanned?
No chance. The card was too good for Goat Format, and the power level has only gone up from there. The card would fundamentally change the game if it was limited to one. Decks that can use Painful Choice become really good, and decks that can’t will seem weaker. A discard based engine will become insane with this card. It will never be unbanned.
If you are interested in more cards that were banned earlier on in Yugioh’s history may I suggest this article on Graceful Charity?