Phew, so I'm not going mad; that's what I always thought it did! That makes sense, if played as a one-two with Cantarella, but on its' own kill/steal/play a card of your choice? For 9 provs?! Madness!
When did it change??
They changed it right before the last patch (I mean, the patch before the last patch, if I'm not mistaken).
The thing is, even provision wise this card doesn't strike me as being specifically OP (it's a very good card, don't get me wrong but we need good cards, nobody like playing with trash, obviously).
It's 9 provisions, sure, but it's not as simple as you put it.
I agree with the removal aspect but the stealing one is really conditional. It's far from being "play the card, steal a unit"
You could indeed combo it with Cantarella but Canta is a terrible card on its own so, you absolutely need the combo for it to work, in which case we're not in "9 provisions for removal +stealing" anymore, we're way beyond that in fact.
Also, I feel like Yen invocation is typically the type of card that loses value the more players use it. Yes, it's a very popular card among NG players, I even play it myself in my NG deck but it's exactly what makes it less effective because everybody know it's coming and therefore play around it.
Honestly, I'm not gonna go as far as saying I'm underwhelmed by the card but most of the time, it doesn't provide nearly as much value as I would hope, simply because peoples know that NG players love this card and therefore are playing around it.
It's not like, I don't know, old Sabbath for example, that required a very specific card/effect to add in your deck in order to be beaten (THAT was a very problematic card) here, you can keep your deck the way it is and be perfectly fine as long as you're cautious when you see a NG leader.
I realize I have a different opinion about this card and don't get me wrong, I understand what you mean and respect your point but I think it's more a matter of getting used to the card rather than its effect being too strong.