Introduction

This is a basic guide to Yu-Gi-Oh the trading card game(TCG). In this guide, I will introduce you to the game and guide you through the gameplay of Yu-Gi-Oh.

Yu-Gi-Oh is a trading card game in which players duel against one another with as duel monsters and spells/traps. Each player uses a deck that contains up to 40 cards minimum and 60 maximum cards(main deck) with an optional extra deck containing 15 cards and an optional side deck in which players can swap or add into their main and/or extra deck between games. Each card is limited to 3 per deck and must follow the Forbidden/Limited card list, which are restricted to either 1, 2, or none by Konami. A duel is best out of 3 and each player starts with 8,000 "life points", and the objective is to reduce the oponents life points. The duel is over upon reaching the following conditions:

• A players loses if their life points reaches 0. The game is a draw if both players life points hits 0 at the same time.
• A player loses if they are required to draw a card from their main deck but has no available card to draw.
• Certain cards have a special effects that can trigger an automatic win or lose once the conditions of those carsd are met.
• A player loses if they surrender in which any player can surrender at any time.

Zones

The zones in Yu-Gi-Oh is where certain cards would be placed during a duel. The zones are as follow:

• Deck Zone-Where the player places their main deck.
• Extra Deck Zone-Where the player places their extra deck containing up to 15 cards and consists of fusion, synchro, and Xyz monster cards. Pendulum monster cards are placed on top of the extra deck when destroyed instead of going to the graveyard.
• Graveyard-Where all discarded or destroyed cards go.
• Banished ZoneWhen cards are removed from play they go into this zone. They are considered banished.
• Monster Card Zone-Where the player place your successfully summmoned monsters. There are 5 zones meaning each player can only have 5 monsters summoned max.
• Spell and Trap Zone-Where the player places their spell or trap cards.
• Field Spell Zone-Where the player places their field spell card.
• Pendulum Zone-Where the player places their pendulum monsters when they are treated as a spell card.

The Cards

There are 3 types of cards in Yu-Gi-Oh:

Monster Cards

There are 8 different monster cards.

• Normal Monsters: The standard monsters that can be summoned or tribute summoned once per turn and special summoned under a special condition. Normal monsters have no effect.
• Effect Monsters: Similar to the normal monster when it comes to summoning but these monsters have an effect in their description box which can be used under its given conditions.
• Ritual Monsters: Ritual monsters are stored in the main deck and can only be summoned by using the corresponding ritual spell card and tributing monsters from the hand and/or field that meets the ritual spell cards instructions.
• Fusion Monsters Fusion monsters are stored in the extra deck and can only be summoned by using a card with a fustion effect such as Polymerization. Fusion monsters will have in their description which monster cards are required to use for a fusion summon.
• Synchro Monsters: Synchro monsters are stored in the extra deck. They can be summoned by sending a "Tuner" type monster and one or more non-Tuner monsters from the field to the graveyard, whose total levels equal the level of the synchro monster you're summoning. Normally only one Tuner type monster can be used per synchro summon.(A player cannot synchro summon using only Tuners.)
• Xyz Monsters: Xyz monsters are stored in the extra deck. They can be summoned by overlaying multiple monsters that has the same level as the Xyz monster the player wish to summon. The amount of monsters used to overlay is described in the description of the Xyz monster. To overlay, simply put a monster on top of another, and then the Xyz on top of all monsters used for the summon. Xyz monsters possess ranks and not levels unlike the other monster cards meaning they are unaffected by cards involving a monster's level and they cannot be used for a ritual or synchro summon unless they are assigned a level by a certain cards effect.
• Pendulum: Pendulum monsters are a variation of the other monster cards with a green gradient over each type's respective color. They are stored and summoned the same way their other counterparts do. Unlike their other counterparts, if a pendulum monster is sent from the field to the graveyard, they are instead placed on top of the extra deck. They can be placed in their respective zone on the field and once they are placed there, they are treated as spell cards. They have a spell effect which is the upper description which only works when placed in the pendulum zone. Pendulum monsters also have "scales" which are used to perform a pendulum summon. If there are pendulum monsters in both pendulum zones on the field, the player controlling both pendulum monsters can special summon monsters from the hand as well as pendulum monsters face-up on the extra deck who's level are between both pendulum monsters scale values in the pendulum zone.
• Token: Tokens are monster cards that are brought along in case a player uses a card effect that summons them. They can only exist on the field, and upon removing them, they are removed from the game. Tokens cannot be used for Xyz summons.

Each card is in a different color to help distinguish them from each other. Monsters with a level of 5 or more needs to be tribute summoned unless stated in their description. Levels 5 and 6 requires 1 tribute, while 7+ levels require 2 or more tributes. To tribute summon a card, simply send a monster on your side of the field (face-up or not) to the graveyard (considered tributed and not destroyed) then summon the monster you wished to summon. Below is a guide on what is on a monster card and a pendulum monster card. (Note: Summoning fusion, synchro, xyz, or ritual monsters are considered "special" summon and tribute summoning counts as a normal summon.)

(Note: A monster can have multiple types)

Spell Cards

There are 6 types of spell cards. Each are classified by the symbols below: (Note: Normal spell cards have no symbol and all spell cards are same color.

• Normal Spell: Normal spell cards are speed 1 and can be set or activated during the players turn.
• Continuous Spell: A speed 1 spell card that stays on the field once activated unless destroyed by a card effect.
• Equip Spell: Spell cards that are equipped to a face-up monster on the field.
• Field Spell: Field spell cards can only be placed in the Field spell zone. They are speed 1.
• Quick-Play Spell Speed 2 spell cards that can be activated from the hand during any phase of a player's turn but if the quick-play spell is face-down it can be activated during any phase of either player's turn except for the turn they are set.
• Ritual Spell: Used to summon Ritual monsters from the player's main deck.

Trap Cards

There are 3 types of trap cards. Like spell cards, they also have symbols to classify them and a normal trap card does not have a symbol.

Trap cards must be set face-down and cannot be activated until the turn the player sets the card down is over. Afterwards the card card may be activated during either player's turn. Exception only if stated otherwise via card effect.

• Normal Trap: A speed 2 trap card that can be activated in response to a speed 1 or speed 2 card effect.
• Counter Trap: Speed 3 cards which are the fastest cards. Only other counter trap cards can be activated in response. Counter trap cards are mainly used to negate other card effects/summons or chain with other card effects/summons.
• Continuous Trap: Same as a continuous spell where it stays on the field once it is activated.

Speed 1 are the slowest, speed 2 are faster than speed 1, and speed 3 are the fastest. Speed 3 card will take effect before speed 2 and speed 1 and speed 2 will take effect before speed 1.

Phases

Before a duel begins, both players shuffle eachothers decks then draw 5 cards from their deck. A duel consists of 6 phases and proceeds in the following order:

1. Draw Phase: The phase in which the play who's turn it is draws a card from their deck. If there are no cards available to draw, then the player loses. The player going first does not draw.
2. Standby Phase: Nothing happens in this phase except certain card effects that takes place during this phase resolves.
3. Main Phase 1: Monsters are summoned or set and spells and trap cards are also activated and set. Monsters can have their battle position changed if it wasn't summoned this turn. Only one monster can be normal/tribute summoned or set per turn.
4. Battle Phase: The phase in which the player declares an attack with their face-up attack position monsters. When attacking, a monster on the other player's side must be chosen as a target, if there are no monsters, it is a direct attack at the other player which will result in more damage to their lifepoints. If you wish to not attack, you may skip this phase.
5. Main Phase 2: Similar to the first main phase. Monsters can only be summoned once per turn and have their battle position changed once per turn. If you summoned or changed a monsters battle position during your main phase 1 you cannot do it again during your main phase 2.
6. End Phase: This phase exists for card effects that takes place during this phase. During this phase, the player who ended their turn must discard cards in their hand if they have more than 6.

Monster Zone Positions

There are 3 positions in which monsters are in when summoned onto the field. They are known as battle positions (except for face-down position).

• Face-up Attack Position
• Face-up Defense Position
• Face-down/Set Position

A player may switch their monsters position during their main phase 1 or main phase 2 but not on the turn they were summoned. A set monster cannot be flipped face-up on the turn the player set the monster. (Note: You can only attack with a face-up attack position monster during your battle phase.)

Spell and Trap Zone Positions.

There are only 2 ways to play spells or traps. When a spell or trap card is in face-up position, it is activated unless negated by a card effect in which their effects do not activate. Trap cards MUST be placed face-down or set where as spell cards are optional.