What is the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME?
In this game, two players Duel each other using a variety of Monster, Spell, and Trap Cards to defeat their opponents monsters and be the first to drop the others LifePoints to 0. you can create and customize your own Deck with your favorite cards. Every Duelist will have their own unique Deck, completely different from every other Duelists Deck, which makes it really exciting to play!BATTLE WITH FANTASTIC MONSTERS & GREAT COMBOSEven if a card does not have enough power on its own, it may become powerful when combined with other cards.
Getting Started
Assemble your favorite cards into a Deck that follows these rules: -TheDeck must be 40 to 60 cards. -You can only have up to 3 copies of the same card in your main Deck, Extra Deck and Side Deck combined. Also, some cards are Forbidden(not allowed), Limited (only 1 copy is allowed) or Semi-Limited (only 2 copies are allowed). -Try to keep your Deck close to the 40-card minimum. Having a Deck with too many cards makes it hard to draw your best cards when you need them.
Extra deck
This Deck consists of Xyz Monsters, Synchro Monsters, link monsters, and Fusion Monsters, which can be used during the game if you meet certain requirements. The rules for Extra Decks are: -You can have up to 15 cards in the Extra Deck. -The Extra Deck can contain Xyz Monsters, Synchro Monsters, link monsters, and Fusion Monsters, in any combination. -These cards are not counted towards the 40-card minimum limit of your Main Deck.
Side Deck
This is a separate Deck of cards you can use to change your Deck during a Match (best out of 3 duels). After each Duel in a Match, you can swap any card from your Side Deck with a card from your Deck and/or Extra Deck to customize your strategy against your opponent. The number of cards in your Side Decks must not exceed 15. The number of cards in your Side Deck before and after you swap any cards must be exactly the same. Meaning; you swap cards from your main deck with your side deck. you cannot just add cards from your side deck to your main deck.
Monster Zones
The Field Consists of 5 normal monster zones. these are, from left to right, M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5. Each monster zone can hold one monster card that can be either normal summoned or special summoned to it. There are 3 ways to position your Monster Cards: face-up Attack Position, face-up Defense Position, and face-down Defense Position. Place the card upright for Attack Position(normal summon) , and sideways, face down, for Defense Position (this face down positioning is called setting).
Extra Monster Zones
There are 2 extra monster zones, M6 and M7. the M6 extra monster zone is located directly above the normal monster zone M2 while the extra monster zone M7 is located directly above the normal monster zone M4. These zones are used when summoning specifically Link type monsters. Normally, each player can only use 1 of these zones. if both are empty, a player can choose which one, M6 or M7, to use. if a extra monster zone is taken up by your opponent, than you must summon to the remaining free location. A monster placed in this zone does not count towards the 5-monster limit of your Main Monster Zone. though any extra deck monster can be summoned to the extra monster zone, only link monsters are not allowed to be in normal monster zones unless co-linked to an all ready excisting link monster in the extra monster zone.
The Spell/Trap Zones
Directly under/below the monster zones are the 5 spell/trap zones. This is where you put Spell & Trap Cards. You can have up to 5 cards here. The spell/trap zones are as follows from left to right: S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5. since they are directly under/below the monster zones, S1 is under/below M1 and so on. You place spells here face-up to activate them, or place them face-down. Traps must be placed face down and must wait one turn to be activiated, but traps, unlike spells, can be used on your opponent’s turn. Only Quick play spell cards can be activiated on your opponent’s turn. Pendulum Monster Cards can be activated in the leftmost and rightmost zones as Spells. This causes the zone you use to also become a Pendulum Zone for as long as the Pendulum Monster Card is there.
Field Spell Zone
Special Spell Cards called Field Spell Cards are played specifically and only in the S6 spell zone which sits off to the side of the field. Each player can have 1 Field Spell Card on their own side of the field. To use another Field Spell, send your previous one to the Graveyard. Field Spell Cards do not count towards the 5-card limit of your Spell & Trap Zone.
Graveyard
When Monster Cards are destroyed, and when Spell & Trap Cards are used, theyre sent face-up to the graveyard. space. The contents of both players Graveyards are public knowledge, and your opponent can look through yours at any time during the Duel. The order of the cards in the Graveyard should not be changed. Graveyard is shortened in the card text to “GY”.
Your deck
Your Deck is placed face-down. You draw cards from here to add to your hand. Only one card is drawn at the start of each turn unless changed by a card effect. The player who goes first does not draw a card to start the duel. If a card effect requires you to reveal cards from your Deck, or look through it, shuffle it and put it back.
Extra Deck
You can look at the cards in your own Extra deck During a Duel, but not your opponent’s unless changed by a card effect.
Extra Deck Monsters may be Summoned to the field using special methods. Extra deck monsters include: fusion, Synchro, pendulum, Xyz, and Link monsters.
WHAT IS A MONSTER CARD?
Monster Cards are used to battle and defeat your opponent. Battles between Monster Cards are the foundation of any Duel.There are many kinds of Monster Cards. This game is more than a simple slugfest, so monsters with high Attack and Defense Points will not be enough. There are also monsters with strong special effects even though their ATK and DEF points are low. Therefore, your success in a Duel depends on how skillfully you can make use of the different kinds of cards.
Lets take a look at the different kinds of monsters.
Normal Monsters: Normal monsters are basic Monster Cards without special abilities. Many Normal Monsters have higher Attack Points and Defense Points than Effect Monsters, instead of having special abilities.
Effect Monsters: An Effect Monster is a monster that has special abilities. The effects of these monsters are split into four categories: * Continuous Effect * Ignition Effect * Quick Effect * Trigger Effect (including Flip)
Continuous Effect: This effect is active while the Effect Monster Card is face-up on the field. The effect starts when the face-up monster appears on the field, and ends once that monster is gone or is no longer face-up; there is no trigger for its activation. These monsters are most useful if you have a strategy to protect them while they are on the field.
Ignition Effect: You use this type of effect just by declaring its activation during your Main Phase. There are some Ignition Effects that have a cost to activate, like discarding cards from your hand, Tributing a monster, or paying LifePoints. Because you can choose when to activate this type of effect, its easy to create combos with them.
Quick Effect: These are special monster effects that you can activate even during your opponents turn. These types of effects have a Spell Speed of 2, even though all other monster effects have a Spell Speed of 1. Since its difficult for your opponent to predict these cards, they can give them an unexpected surprise.(
Trigger Effect: These effects are activated at specific times, such as “during the Standby Phase” or “when this monster is destroyed”. These cards can make for some great combos, but its easier for your opponent to predict what will happen, so they might try to stop you.
Flip Effect: Flip effect is a part of the Trigger Effect.This is an effect that is activated when a face-down card is flipped face-up. This can happen when it is Flip Summoned, attacked while face-down, or flipped face-up by a card effect. These effects start with the word “FLIP:” on the card. When you have a face-down monster, your opponent must be wary because they dont know if it has a Flip effect or not.
Other monster cards include: Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, Pendulum, Xyz, and link monsters. for a further description on these monster cards and how to summon them see the guide on summoning methods.