Yu-Gi-Oh! began in 1996 as Kazuki Takahashi's manga about Yugi Muto, a boy who solves the ancient Millennium Puzzle and shares his body with the spirit of a pharaoh. The card game his characters played, Duel Monsters, became so popular that Konami turned it into a real one: the Official Card Game launched in Japan in 1999, and the Trading Card Game reached North America in 2002. Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician were in that first English set, and both still get new cards today.
Where to begin
In short Play Master Duel's tutorial, learn the starred words, copy a decklist you like, then play lots of games.
Your progress
Which sounds like you? We'll point you to the parts that matter most.
Welcome! Go in order. Chapter 1 teaches you enough to follow a game, and ends with a whole turn played out step by step. Then try the decoder and practise the starred words. Master Duel's tutorial is the best place to learn by playing.
You already know the rules, because Master Duel enforces them for you. What's new is the paper side: buying a real deck, playing at a store, and a separate Banlist. At the table you also track Life Points yourself and call out your chains.
Welcome back. The biggest changes: Link Monsters and the Extra Monster Zone arrived in 2017, handtraps decide most games, nearly every card is hard once per turn, and decks usually play a long combo on turn one. Pot of Greed is still Forbidden.
Download Master Duel. It's free on PC, consoles and phones, and its tutorial and Solo Mode teach the rules one step at a time with ready-made decks. Read the official Rulebook when you want the complete picture.
Choose one because it looks cool or stars your favourite character. The "best" deck changes every few months, but a deck you enjoy keeps you playing.
Don't build from scratch yet. Copy a proven decklist, then work out why each card is in it. You'll learn faster than by guessing.
Practise online, then visit your local game store. Losing a lot at first is normal; every loss teaches you a card you didn't know.
Some cards are restricted, and the list changes several times a year. Check it before you buy anything.
Chapter 1 · Play· 3 min read
In short Get your opponent from 8000 Life Points to 0. You get one Normal Summon a turn but as many Special Summons as your cards allow, and a chain always resolves last in, first out.
This is the short version, just enough to follow a game. The official Rulebook and Master Duel's tutorial fill in the details.
Each player starts with 5 cards. The player who goes first doesn't draw and can't attack on their first turn.
Once per turn you get a free Normal Summon. Level 1 to 4 monsters come straight out. Level 5 and 6 need 1 monster Tributed, and Level 7 or higher need 2.
Special Summons come from card effects or from the Extra Deck, and there's no limit on them. That's where modern combos come from: one card Summons another, which Summons another.
Monsters sit upright in Attack Position or sideways in Defense Position. You can switch a monster's position once per turn, but not on the turn it arrived or after it has attacked.
3000 ATK beats 2500 ATK. Dark Magician is destroyed and your opponent takes the 500 difference.
Card effects can change any of this; the calculator shows the basic rule.
| Your monster attacks… | What happens |
|---|---|
| An Attack Position monster | The one with lower ATK is destroyed, and its controller takes the difference as damage. Equal ATK: both are destroyed and nobody takes damage. |
| A Defense Position monster | Higher ATK than its DEF: it's destroyed, but nobody takes damage. Lower: nothing is destroyed, and you take the difference. Equal: nothing happens. |
| An empty field | A direct attack: your opponent takes your monster's full ATK as damage. |
Whenever something is activated, the other player can respond with something faster. Responses stack up into a chain, and the chain resolves from the top down. Here's the most common chain in the game:
Chapter 1 · Play· 1 min read
In short Monsters go in the middle row with Spells and Traps behind them. The GY, Deck and Extra Deck sit at the sides, and cards move between them all game.
This is your side of the table. Tap a zone to see what goes there, or pick an action below to watch a card move.
Zone
Every card has a set place on the table. Pick a zone to see what it holds, or pick an action below to watch a card move between zones.
Watch a card move
Chapter 1 · Play· 2 min read
In short The frame colour tells you the card type. Yellow, orange, blue and half-green monsters live in the Main Deck with green Spells and pink Traps; purple, white, black and dark blue monsters live in the Extra Deck.
Tap any card for its full text, then test yourself at the bottom.
No effect, just stats and a line of flavour text. Players call these "vanilla" monsters.
The most common card in the game. Its text box says what it does, and when.
Needs its matching Ritual Spell plus monsters to Tribute. The Ritual Spell says exactly which Levels you need.
Can also be placed as a Spell in your leftmost or rightmost Spell & Trap Zone. With two there, you can Pendulum Summon several monsters at once. When one is destroyed on the field, it goes face-up to the Extra Deck instead of the GY.
Mostly played in your own Main Phase. Quick-Play Spells can also be used in response, and on your opponent's turn if you Set them first. Other kinds stay on the field: Continuous, Equip and Field Spells.
Set face-down first, then activated from the next turn on, including during your opponent's turn. Counter Traps are the fastest cards in the game.
Usually needs a Fusion Spell such as Polymerization, which sends the materials listed on the Fusion Monster to the GY.
Send 1 Tuner plus non-Tuners from your field to the GY, with Levels adding up to the Synchro's Level. No Spell needed.
Send face-up monsters to the GY equal to its Link Rating. Its arrows point at zones where you can Summon more Extra Deck monsters. It has no DEF and is always in Attack Position.
Ten real cards, one of each type. Look at the frame colour and pick what kind of card it is.
What kind of card is this?
Chapter 1 · Play· 2 min read
In short Every monster shows its name, Attribute, Level, Type and ATK/DEF in the same places. Its text follows a fixed grammar: the condition comes before the colon, the cost before the semicolon, and the effect after it.
This is Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, one of the most-played cards in the game. Tap a numbered spot on the card to see what that part tells you.
Modern card text follows the same grammar, called PSCT. Tap a coloured part of Ash Blossom's text.
When a card or effect is activated that includes any of these effects (Quick Effect): You can discard this card; negate that effect.
● Add a card from the Deck to the hand.
● Special Summon from the Deck.
● Send a card from the Deck to the GY.
You can only use this effect of "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" once per turn.
Chapter 1 · Play· 1 min read
In short A simple first turn and your opponent's reply using classic cards, then a real modern combo you can step through. Together they put the basics, the field and the card types to work.
Modern decks fit far more into a turn, but every turn follows this same pattern. Tap any card on the board to read it.
Step 1 of 12 · Your turn · Draw Phase
You won the dice roll and chose to go first. You start with 5 cards, and the player going first skips their first draw.
Here's the same idea with a real modern deck, Swordsoul. Two cards in hand turn into two Synchro Monsters that can stop up to three of your opponent's plays. Each step starts with the word players would use for it, so press Next and watch the jargon happen.
The combo simulator loads as you scroll here.
Now you're the opponent: stop the combo
You're going second, holding Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Effect Veiler and Infinite Impermanence. Pick what stops each moment, and use "Show me" to see it on the board.
1Mo Ye's effect is activated to Special Summon a Swordsoul Token. Which of your cards stops it?
2Longyuan's effect is activated from the hand to Special Summon itself. Which of your cards stops it?
3It's your turn now, and you activate a Spell Card. What can Qixing Longyuan do about it?
Chapter 2 · Talk· 1 min read
In short Players speak in shorthand. Tap a highlighted word, guess what it means, and see the answer.
These are the kinds of sentences you'll hear at a store or read online. Open the plain-English version under each one when you're done.
" I opened and , but they had a and two , so they still made a full ."
I went second and started with two cards that can stop my opponent from my hand. But they had a card that starts their whole combo by itself, plus two backup cards, so they still finished their turn with a full set of blockers on the field.
"My hand : two and a with nothing to break."
I drew a hand that couldn't do anything: two cards that are only in my deck for other effects to use, and a card for clearing my opponent's setup when they didn't have one.
" the , their , and ."
Destroy the card that's stopping you from playing, send their big monster back to their hand (or Extra Deck), then attack for the win.
"That effect is , so the second copy is a until next turn."
You can only use that card's effect once each turn, however many copies you have, so the second copy in your hand does nothing this turn.
"Don't into their . the first, then go for the ."
Don't put everything onto the field while they have face-down cards waiting. Make them use their cancelling effect on something less important first, then try to win this turn.
"They five times, so I dropped and ."
They Summoned five monsters in one turn, which let me play Nibiru from my hand and clear the monsters off the field.
"I my , a , and into my ."
I added the card that starts my combo from my Deck to my hand, sent a monster that replaces itself from my Deck to the GY, and used Link Monsters as materials for bigger ones until I reached my best monster.
"Save your for the . Hit an instead and they'll just it."
Keep your stopping card for the one card their combo can't do without. If you stop one of their backup cards instead, they'll carry on anyway.
"That's a : I two of their with one card."
I came out a card ahead: one of my cards destroyed two of their face-down Spells or Traps.
"Don't into their . a monster and hope you an ."
Don't attack into their monster with the huge DEF. Put a monster face-down and hope your next draw is a card that can deal with it.
"They my , so I couldn't it from the ."
They removed my best monster by banishing it, so my cards that bring monsters back from the Graveyard couldn't reach it.
" to it, then into the bigger Xyz."
Use up one of the materials under your Xyz Monster to cancel their effect, then use that Xyz Monster as material for a higher-Rank one.
" I more , because their has three and an ."
When I go second, I swap more board-clearing cards in from my Side Deck, because by the end of their first turn they'll have three ways to stop me, including one that can cancel almost anything.
"I game one after I , then my for ."
I gave up the first game after drawing a hand that couldn't do anything, then swapped my specialist answer cards in from my Side Deck for the second game.
"They the list that the last , and three floodgates for ."
They copied the list of one of the strongest decks right now, which finished near the top of the last big championship, and swapped in three shut-down cards from their Side Deck for the second game of the match.
Chapter 2 · Talk· 1 min read
In short Players shorten the names of popular cards. These are the ones you'll hear most; tap a card's full name to read it.
Chapter 2 · Talk· 1 min read
In short Flip through flashcards or take a ten-question quiz. Words you get right are marked as learned in the glossary, and your progress is saved in this browser.
0 of 16 known · 16 to go
Which word means…
Chapter 3 · Build· 3 min read
In short Pick a deck you like, copy a proven list, test it for free in EDOPro, then buy a Structure Deck and the singles you're missing.
Find a deck to start with
Three quick questions, three decks to look at. Each one links to its full page on this site.
What sounds most fun?
How much thinking per turn?
Pick a look
Answer all three to see your matches.
Building a deck from scratch is one of the hardest skills in the game, so don't start there. Netdeck a list someone already tested, play it for a while, and work out why each card made the cut. Once you know the deck, swapping cards to suit your style comes naturally.
The strongest deck changes with every new set and every Banlist. The deck you love the look of will still be fun in a year. Every archetype on this site has a page covering its playstyle, key cards and combos. Try the deck finder above, browse them all, or use Random Archetype on the home page for inspiration.
Build the deck in the free EDOPro simulator (or in Master Duel, if you have the cards) and play a dozen games before buying paper cards. It costs nothing, and it's the quickest way to find out whether a deck suits you.
A Structure Deck is the easiest way in: a playable core of one theme in a single box, and many players buy two or three copies to get more of the key cards. For anything else, buy singles. Opening booster packs is fun, but it's a lottery, not a way to build a specific deck.
Keep the Main Deck at or close to 40 cards, so you draw your best cards more often. A typical modern deck splits into two parts:
The engine is your archetype: starters, extenders and searchers that make your plays. The non-engine part (handtraps and board breakers) stops your opponent. Roughly two-thirds engine is a common shape, but it varies a lot from deck to deck.
Chapter 3 · Build· 1 min read
In short Learn in Master Duel, test decks in EDOPro, and bring small-size sleeves plus pen and paper to your local store.
Konami's free-to-play online game for PC, consoles and phones. It uses the same rules as the paper game and handles every ruling for you, which makes it the best place to learn. You unlock cards over time, and it has its own card release schedule and Banlist.
A free, fan-made simulator for computers. Every card is available straight away, so it's ideal for testing a deck before buying it. It saves replays as .yrpX files, which our Replay Analyzer can break down turn by turn.
Official Tournament Stores run regular events called locals. Ask what their nights are like, since some are relaxed and some are competitive, and tell your opponents you're new. Most players are happy to explain a card.
Chapter 3 · Build· 1 min read
In short Forbidden means 0 copies, Limited 1 and Semi-Limited 2. The TCG, OCG and Master Duel each keep their own list.
Konami limits cards that are too strong with the Forbidden & Limited List, usually just called the Banlist. It changes several times a year, so a deck can lose a key card overnight. That's why step 6 says to check it before buying.
Forbidden
0 copies
Can't be played at all. Pot of Greed simply draws 2 cards, which turned out to be far too good.
Limited
1 copy
Only one copy per deck, like Harpie's Feather Duster, which destroys every Spell and Trap your opponent controls.
Semi-Limited
2 copies
Up to two copies per deck, like the handtrap Droll & Lock Bird.
Unlimited
3 copies
Not on the list, so the normal 3 copies are allowed. That's most cards.
The TCG, the OCG and Master Duel each keep a separate Banlist, so the same card can be legal in one and banned in another. Make sure you're reading the right one. For example, right now:
| Card | TCG | OCG |
|---|---|---|
| Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring | Unlimited | Semi-Limited |
| Maxx "C" | Forbidden | Limited |
| Heavy Storm | Forbidden | Limited |
Our Banlist page always shows the current status for all three.
Chapter 3 · Build
Always. You can ask to read any face-up card, check how many cards are in their hand, Deck and GY, and look through either GY. Nobody knows every card, and asking is completely normal, at locals and at big events alike.
Your opponent is giving you the chance to respond to what they just did. Say "no" to let it go through, or activate a handtrap or Quick Effect.
Probably not. Facing a full end board when you go second is part of the game. That's why decks play handtraps and board breakers, and why you can side in more between games. Going first is a big advantage, so don't judge a deck on a single game.
Open them for fun if you enjoy it, but don't rely on them to build a deck. A Structure Deck plus the singles you're missing gets you a real deck for much less.
Usually, yes. Locals range from very casual to very competitive, so ask the store what their night is like. Tell your opponents you're new; most will happily slow down and explain their cards.
The r/Yugioh101 community on Reddit exists for exactly this, and the official Rulebook covers the basics. At an event, ask a judge; that's what they're there for.
Reference
In short 125 words in plain English. Start with the 16 starred ones, and tap any word to open its full entry.
No words match that. Try a shorter word, or clear the search.
The pieces of the game: zones, piles, and the kinds of Summon. Practise these
Your health total. Both players start at 8000, and you lose when yours reaches 0.
You'll hear "I'm at 2000 LP, one more attack and I'm done."
The face-up pile beside your field. Destroyed, used, discarded and Tributed cards go here. Either player can look through either GY at any time. Many modern cards have effects that work from the GY, so treat it as a second hand rather than a trash can.
You'll hear "Banish it so they can't use it in the GY."
See also Banish, Revive / Reborn, Mill
Set a card aside away from the field, face-up unless the card says face-down. Banished cards are much harder to get back than cards in the GY, so banishing is one of the strongest ways to get rid of something.
Example Called by the Grave banishes a monster from your opponent's GY and shuts its effects off for a while.
See also GY (Graveyard)
The face-down pile you draw from: 40 to 60 cards. You can play up to 3 copies of any card (fewer if the Banlist says so). Staying close to 40 means you draw your best cards more often.
See also Extra Deck, Side Deck / Siding
A separate pile of up to 15 Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Link Monsters. You never draw these. You Summon them straight from the Extra Deck when you meet their requirements, and most combos end with Extra Deck monsters on the field.
You'll hear "That effect locks me out of my Extra Deck for the rest of the turn."
See also Materials, EMZ (Extra Monster Zone), Lock / Summoning restriction
Up to 15 extra cards you can swap into your deck between games of a match, to prepare for the deck you're facing. "Siding in" a card means putting it in for the next game.
You'll hear "I sided in three floodgates for game two."
See also Tech / Tech card, Match / Game 1, 2, 3
Your Spell & Trap Zones (the row behind your monsters), or the face-down cards in it. A lot of backrow usually means Traps are waiting to go off.
You'll hear "They Set three backrow, careful."
Example Mirror Force is the classic Trap that sits in the backrow waiting for an attack.
See also Set / Face-down, Board breaker
The two monster zones in the middle of the table, shared by both players. You can only use one of them. Link Monsters (and face-up Pendulum Monsters from the Extra Deck) must be Summoned there or to a zone a Link Monster points to. Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Monsters can go straight into your regular Main Monster Zones. The field diagram shows where it is.
See also Extra Deck
Place a card face-down. A Set monster is in face-down Defense Position and uses your Normal Summon for the turn. Set Spells and Traps wait in the backrow, and a Trap can't be activated the turn it was Set unless its text says otherwise.
See also Backrow, Normal Summon / Tribute Summon
Your one free Summon each turn: put a monster from your hand onto the field. Level 1 to 4 monsters need nothing. Level 5 and 6 need you to Tribute 1 monster you control, and Level 7 or higher need 2. Setting a monster face-down uses the same once-per-turn allowance.
You'll hear "It uses your Normal Summon, so it's a big commitment."
See also Special Summon
Any Summon that isn't your Normal Summon: one made by a card effect, or from the Extra Deck using materials. There's no limit per turn unless a card says so, which is why a modern turn can include ten or more Summons.
Example Nibiru, the Primal Being punishes a player who Summons five or more monsters in one turn.
See also Combo / Line, Materials
The monsters you use up to Summon an Extra Deck monster. Fusion, Synchro and Link materials go to the GY. Xyz materials are tucked under the Xyz Monster instead, and get detached to pay for its effects.
See also Tuner, Link climb
A kind of monster needed for Synchro Summons: 1 Tuner plus any number of non-Tuners whose Levels add up to the Synchro Monster's Level. It says "Tuner" on the card's type line.
Example Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Effect Veiler are both Tuners, a handy bonus for Synchro decks.
The number that says how big a monster is. Most monsters have a Level (the stars). Xyz Monsters have a Rank instead, and Link Monsters have a Link Rating ("Link-3") equal to the number of materials they need. A Rank or Link Rating is not a Level, so effects that care about Levels ignore them.
The element in the circle at the top right of a monster: DARK, LIGHT, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, WIND or DIVINE. Many effects care about it, such as "add 1 Level 1 FIRE monster".
Example Snake-Eye Ash searches a Level 1 FIRE monster, so only FIRE monsters count.
See also Type (monster type), Level, Rank & Link Rating
A monster's species, printed in square brackets above its text, like [Dragon] or [Spellcaster]. There are more than 20 Types, and many archetypes and effects care about one of them. Don't mix it up with the card type (Normal, Effect, Fusion and so on), which the frame colour shows.
Example Reinforcement of the Army only searches Warriors.
See also Attribute
A stand-in monster created by a card effect. It isn't a real card: it can't be in your Deck or hand, and if it leaves the field it simply disappears. Tokens are often used up as Tribute or Link material.
Example Nibiru, the Primal Being hands your opponent a big Token after it Tributes the field.
See also Materials
A Spell with a lightning-bolt icon. You can activate it from your hand during your own turn, even in response to something. If you Set it, you can also use it on your opponent's turn, but not on the turn you Set it.
Example Called by the Grave and Book of Moon are Quick-Play Spells.
See also Spell Speed, Set / Face-down
A Spell or Trap with an infinity icon. It stays on the field after it's activated and keeps working until it leaves the field.
Example Skill Drain and Call of the Haunted are Continuous Traps.
See also Continuous effect, Floodgate
A Trap with an arrow icon, and the fastest card in the game: only another Counter Trap can be activated in response to it. Most Counter Traps negate something.
Example Solemn Judgment and Solemn Strike are Counter Traps.
See also Spell Speed, Negate
A Spell that goes in the Field Zone. Each player can have one; if you activate a new one, your old one is sent to the GY. Many archetypes have a Field Spell that powers up the whole deck.
See also Field / Board
A Spell attached to one monster, usually to power it up. If that monster leaves the field or is turned face-down, the Equip Spell is destroyed.
See also Continuous Spell / Trap
An effect marked "FLIP:" that activates when the monster is turned face-up, for example when a Set monster is attacked or Flip Summoned.
Example Man-Eater Bug: "FLIP: Target 1 monster on the field; destroy it."
See also Set / Face-down
How card effects are used, answered and limited. Practise these
When a card or effect is activated, both players get the chance to activate something in response. Each response is a new Chain Link, and the chain then resolves backwards: the last card activated happens first. The chain example above walks through one.
You'll hear "Chain Link 2: Ash Blossom."
See also Respond / Chain to, Resolve, Spell Speed
Activate a card or effect right after your opponent activates one, so yours goes on top of the chain and resolves first. When an opponent asks "any responses?", they're giving you that chance before they carry on.
You'll hear "In response to the search, I discard Ash."
See also Chain / Chain Link
The moment an activated effect actually does what it says. Activating a card and resolving it are two separate moments, and in between it can be responded to or negated.
See also Chain / Chain Link, Negate
Cancel something. Negating an activation stops the card completely. Negating an effect stops what it does (for a monster, often until the end of the turn). Negating a Summon means the monster never arrives.
Example Solemn Judgment negates a Summon or a Spell/Trap activation, and destroys that card.
See also Omni-negate, Interruption / Disruption
A monster effect you can use during either player's turn, even in response to something, not only in your own Main Phase. Handtraps are Quick Effects, and newer cards print "(Quick Effect)" in their text.
See also Spell Speed, Handtrap
An effect that activates when something happens: "If this card is Summoned…", "If this card is sent to the GY…". Many starters are trigger effects that search as soon as they're Summoned.
Example Snake-Eye Ash: "If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 Level 1 FIRE monster from your Deck to your hand."
See also Missing the timing
A monster effect you activate yourself during your own Main Phase, much like a Spell Card. It needs no special timing, but it can't be used in response to anything.
An effect that is simply always on while its card is face-up. It never starts a chain. Many floodgates work this way.
Example Once Skill Drain is active, it keeps negating the effects of every face-up monster on the field.
See also Floodgate
Decides what can respond to what. Spell Speed 1: Normal Spells, Ignition effects and most Trigger effects. They start chains and can't respond to anything. Spell Speed 2: Quick-Play Spells, Traps and Quick Effects. They can respond to Spell Speed 1 or 2. Spell Speed 3: Counter Traps. Only another Spell Speed 3 card can respond to them.
See also Chain / Chain Link, Quick Effect
Text like "You can only use this effect of [card name] once per turn" limits that effect to once per turn across every copy you have. Nearly every modern card has it, and it's the main thing that stops combos from looping forever. A close cousin, "You can only activate 1 [card name] per turn", limits activating the card itself.
You'll hear "It's HOPT, so the second copy does nothing this turn."
Example Sangan's search is hard once per turn.
See also Once per turn (soft OPT)
"Once per turn" with no card name attached. Each copy can use the effect once per turn, so a second copy can use it again.
See also Hard once per turn (HOPT)
An effect targets when its text says "target", and you pick the card when you activate it. Some monsters can't be targeted, so removal that doesn't target ("destroy all", "banish face-down") gets around them.
You'll hear "It can't be targeted, so you need a non-targeting out."
Example Evenly Matched doesn't target, so it can remove cards that are protected from targeting.
See also Out
What you do to activate a card, before anyone can respond: pay LP, discard, Tribute, detach. In card text, the cost comes before the semicolon (;). If the activation gets negated, the cost stays paid.
Example Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring discards itself as its cost.
See also PSCT (Problem-Solving Card Text)
A limit a card puts on you for the rest of the turn, such as "you cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck, except Fiend monsters". Being "locked into" a type means you can only use that kind of monster for the rest of the turn, so the order of your plays matters. "Lock" can also mean a board of floodgates that stops the opponent from playing at all.
See also Floodgate
Konami's standard way of writing card text. A colon (:) ends the condition for activating. A semicolon (;) comes right after the cost or target. "And if you do" means both parts happen together, but only if the first part succeeded. "Then" means one after the other. "Also" means both happen independently.
See also Cost, Target / Non-targeting
An old rule that still matters. An optional "When … you can" effect fails to activate if its trigger wasn't the very last thing that happened, for example if it happened partway through a chain. "If … you can" effects don't have this problem, which is why modern cards almost always say "If".
See also Trigger effect
Words for the job a card does in a deck. Practise these
A card that begins your combo. A "one-card starter" needs nothing else in your hand and can make your whole end board alone; other starters need one specific partner card, which players call a two-card combo. The more starters a deck plays, the more often it gets going.
You'll hear "Snake-Eye Ash is a one-card starter, so almost any hand with it plays."
Example Snake-Eye Ash is a one-card starter in Snake-Eye decks: it searches the next piece as soon as it's Summoned.
See also Extender, Combo / Line
A card that makes your combo longer or bigger, or lets it keep going after the opponent interrupts it, but usually can't start the combo on its own. Starters get you going; extenders get you further.
You'll hear "They had one starter and two extenders, so one handtrap wasn't enough."
See also Starter / One-card starter, Play through
A card you use straight from your hand during your opponent's turn to stop part of their combo. Handtraps are how the player going second fights back before their first turn.
You'll hear "I'm holding two handtraps and waiting for the right moment."
Example The classics: Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Effect Veiler, Infinite Impermanence and Droll & Lock Bird.
See also Choke point, Going first / going second
A card that clears or gets around the opponent's finished board, usually when you go second. Some destroy everything, some negate, some banish. "Breaking" a board means clearing enough of it that you can make your own plays.
Example Harpie's Feather Duster (all their Spells and Traps), Lightning Storm, Dark Ruler No More and Evenly Matched.
See also Going first / going second, Nuke / Board wipe
The big payoff monster your deck is built to reach: strong, hard to remove, or both. Most archetypes have one or two.
You'll hear "Once the boss hits the field they can't do anything."
Example Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon for classic Blue-Eyes, or Accesscode Talker as a finisher in many Link decks.
A group of cards that work together as a unit. "The engine" is the core of your deck, and you'll also hear about adding a small engine from another archetype into a deck.
See also Non-engine, Archetype
The cards in your deck that aren't part of your combo, mostly handtraps and board breakers. They're there to stop your opponent, not to make your own plays.
See also Engine, Handtrap, Board breaker
A card whose job is to search: take a specific card from your Deck to your hand. Decks full of searchers are consistent, because any card can fetch the one they need.
Example Reinforcement of the Army searches a Level 4 or lower Warrior.
See also Consistency
A monster that replaces itself when it leaves the field, usually by Summoning or searching another card. Destroying a floater doesn't really get rid of anything.
Example Mystic Tomato Summons a monster from the Deck when it's destroyed by battle. Sangan searches when it goes from the field to the GY.
A card that almost every deck plays or considers, because it's good whatever your archetype. Most handtraps and board breakers are staples.
You'll hear "Ash is a staple, it's never a wasted pickup."
See also Generic
A card added to beat specific decks or situations, rather than to help the deck's own plan. "Teching" a card means adding it for that reason.
You'll hear "I teched a Kaiju for their big boss monster."
See also Side Deck / Siding
A card your deck needs to contain, because other effects use it from the Deck, but that's bad to draw. Drawing garnets is one of the most common ways to brick.
A hand that can't do anything useful, or a single card that's awful to draw. "I bricked" means you drew a hand that couldn't make a play.
You'll hear "Five Spells and no monster, full brick."
See also Garnet, Dead card, Consistency
A card that does nothing in the current situation.
Example Harpie's Feather Duster is dead if your opponent never Sets a Spell or Trap.
A monster whose job is simply to attack hard: high ATK, little or no effect.
Example Blue-Eyes White Dragon: 3000 ATK and no effect at all.
A Normal Monster: no effect, just stats and a line of flavour text, on a yellow card. A few archetypes are built around them.
Example Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
A monster that's hard to attack past, usually thanks to very high DEF or protection effects.
Example Big Shield Gardna, with 2600 DEF.
A card with an ongoing effect that shuts off a whole type of play, such as no monster effects, or only one monster of each Type. Some hit both players. Decks built around them are called Stun decks.
Example Skill Drain negates every face-up monster's effects. Anti-Spell Fragrance makes Spells wait a turn. There Can Be Only One allows each player only one monster of each Type.
See also Continuous effect, Combo, control & stun decks
A card that can get you out of a losing position. "What are my outs?" means "what could I draw that wins this or saves me?"
You'll hear "My only out to that floodgate is Harpie's Feather Duster."
See also Topdeck
How a deck actually plans to win. Usually that's attacking with big monsters, but it can also be burn damage, making the opponent run out of cards, or a special win like holding all five pieces of Exodia.
A deck that can search or Summon one of many different answers depending on the situation, like reaching into a toolbox for the right tool.
The verbs. Most of these are shorthand for something a card effect does. Practise these
Take the top card of your Deck into your hand: once per turn in your Draw Phase, or more with effects. Extra draws are powerful because they give you cards you'd never otherwise see.
Example Pot of Greed (draw 2) was so strong that it has been Forbidden for years.
Send a card you choose from your Deck to the GY. Great for decks whose cards work from the GY.
Example Foolish Burial dumps any monster.
See also Mill, GY (Graveyard)
Send cards from the top of your Deck to the GY. Unlike a dump, you don't get to choose which cards.
Example Card Trooper mills up to 3 cards.
See also Dump / Send
Send a card from your hand to the GY. "Pitching" a card usually means discarding it to pay for another effect.
Example Handtraps like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring discard themselves.
See also Cost
Send a monster you control to the GY, either for a Tribute Summon or to pay for an effect. Older players still call it a "sacrifice".
See also Normal Summon / Tribute Summon
Take a material out from under an Xyz Monster and send it to the GY, usually to pay for that monster's effect. An Xyz Monster with no materials left often can't use its effect.
Example Number 39: Utopia detaches a material to stop an attack.
See also Materials
Destroy a card, usually a single card with an effect.
You'll hear "Pop the Field Spell before you Summon anything."
Example Mystical Space Typhoon pops one Spell or Trap.
See also Nuke / Board wipe
Destroy or remove everything, or everything on one player's side.
Example Raigeki destroys all your opponent's monsters. Dark Hole destroys every monster on the field.
See also Board breaker, Overextend
Return a card from the field to its owner's hand. A bounced Extra Deck monster goes back to the Extra Deck instead, which makes bounce great against big bosses.
Example Compulsory Evacuation Device bounces one monster.
See also Spin
Return a card from the field to its owner's Deck, either shuffled in or put on top. Like bounce, a spun Extra Deck monster goes back to the Extra Deck.
Example Phoenix Wing Wind Blast puts a card on top of the Deck. Knightmare Unicorn shuffles one in.
See also Bounce
Special Summon a monster from the GY back onto the field.
Example Monster Reborn revives a monster from either player's GY. Call of the Haunted revives one from yours.
See also GY (Graveyard), Recycle / Add back
Get a used card back from the GY (or from banishment) to your hand or Deck. Decks that do this a lot have good "recursion" and are hard to run out of cards.
Example Monster Reincarnation adds a monster from your GY back to your hand.
See also Grind game
Reveal cards from the top of your Deck, usually to pick one of them and put the rest back or away.
Example Pot of Prosperity excavates 3 or 6 cards and adds 1 of them to your hand.
Take control of an opponent's monster and use it as your own, usually until the end of the turn.
Example Change of Heart.
Attack. To "swing for game" or "swing for lethal" is to make the attack that wins.
See also Lethal / Game, Crash
Attack into a monster with equal or higher ATK on purpose, either to clear it (equal ATK destroys both) or to set off an effect when your own monster is destroyed.
Damage from a card effect rather than an attack. "Burn decks" try to win this way.
Example Ookazi deals 800 damage. Magic Cylinder turns an attack back on the attacker.
See also Win condition (wincon)
Give up the game (you "scoop up" your cards). In a best-of-three match, scooping a lost game early to save time for the next one is completely normal.
See also Match / Game 1, 2, 3
Use a Link Monster as material for a bigger one: a Link-2 into a Link-3, then a Link-4. A Link Monster can count as a number of materials equal to its Link Rating, so a few monsters can climb into a big finisher.
See also Level, Rank & Link Rating, Materials
Summon a higher-Rank Xyz Monster by using one you already control as the material, usually with a "Rank-Up-Magic" Spell. The old materials come along underneath.
See also Level, Rank & Link Rating
How players talk about turns, plans and games. Practise these
A string of card effects played one after another in a single turn, each leading into the next, to build a strong board. One specific route through a combo is called a "line". Many deck pages on this site have a step-by-step combo simulator.
You'll hear "What's the line if they Veiler my first monster?"
See also Starter / One-card starter, End board
In game one, the winner of a dice roll or rock-paper-scissors chooses. If you go first, you can't draw or attack on your first turn, but you set up a board before your opponent does anything. If you go second, you draw and can attack right away, but you face whatever they built. Most modern decks prefer to go first, and decks that like going second pack board breakers.
See also End board, Board breaker, Handtrap
What's on your field when you end your turn, especially your first turn. A good end board holds several interruptions to stop the opponent's turn.
You'll hear "The end board is two negates and a floodgate."
See also Interruption / Disruption, Board breaker
The one card or effect a combo can't do without. Hit the choke point with your handtrap and most of the turn falls apart; hit the wrong card and they play through it.
See also Handtrap, Play through
Make a less important play first so the opponent spends their negation on it, then make the play you actually care about.
You'll hear "Bait the negate with the first monster, then go for the real combo."
See also Omni-negate
Keep your combo going after an interruption, usually thanks to extenders or a second route. "Can it play through Ash?" asks whether the deck still does something when its first search is negated.
See also Extender
An OTK (One Turn Kill) takes the opponent from 8000 LP to 0 in a single turn. An FTK (First Turn Kill) wins on the very first turn of the game, before the opponent plays at all. FTKs are rare, and the Banlist usually shuts them down.
See also Lethal / Game
Enough damage to win this turn. "I have lethal" or "that's game" means the opponent is about to lose.
Counting cards. If one of your cards takes out two of your opponent's, you gained a card (+1). A card that draws 2 is also a +1. It matters most in long games; in fast combo games, what the cards do matters more than how many there are.
See also Grind game
Commit more cards to the field than you need, so that one board wipe or one big negate costs you everything.
See also Nuke / Board wipe
How often a deck gets to do what it wants. Plenty of starters and searchers and few garnets make a deck consistent.
See also Starter / One-card starter, Brick / Bricking
A long game where both players trade resources over many turns. Decks with lots of recursion and card advantage are good at grinding.
See also Recycle / Add back, Card advantage (+1 / −1)
Three broad playstyles. Combo decks build a big board in one explosive turn. Control decks answer everything the opponent does and win slowly. Stun decks use floodgates to stop the opponent from playing at all. Plenty of decks sit somewhere in between ("midrange").
See also Floodgate, Combo / Line
The card you draw at the start of your turn, or needing that draw to be exactly the right card. "I topdecked my out" means you drew the one card that saved you.
See also Out
A card that's only good when you're already winning. It looks strong, but it does nothing when you're behind, which is exactly when you need help.
New cards slowly getting stronger than old ones over the years. It's why older favourites need new support to stay competitive.
See also Support
A game in which both players use the same deck.
Losing because you have to draw a card but your Deck is empty. A few decks try to make the opponent deck out on purpose by milling them.
See also Mill, Win condition (wincon)
Words from deck lists, events and the wider player base. Practise these
A family of cards that share part of their name and are designed to work together, like Blue-Eyes or Snake-Eye. Most decks are built around one or two. This whole site is organised by archetype: browse them here.
New cards printed for an existing archetype. When an old deck gets support, it can suddenly become strong again. On the home page, sort by "Support (Newest)" to see which archetypes just got new cards.
See also Power creep
The decks that are currently the strongest and most played: the "meta decks". The meta shifts with every new set and every Banlist.
See also Tier 0 / 1 / 2 / Rogue
An informal ranking of decks by tournament results. Tier 1 decks win a lot. Tier 2 decks are strong but less common. Rogue decks are off the radar but can surprise people. "Tier 0" means one deck is so dominant that everyone has to play it or plan to beat it. Nobody agrees on the exact cut-offs.
See also Meta
Copy a decklist that someone else published, often one that did well at a tournament. It's the smartest way to build your first deck.
See also Decklist / Ratios
The exact cards in a deck and how many copies of each: the "ratios".
See also Netdeck
Finishing high enough at a tournament to reach the final elimination rounds. "This deck topped a YCS" means it placed near the top of one.
Two versions of the same paper game. The TCG (Trading Card Game) is played in the Americas, Europe and Oceania. The OCG (Official Card Game) is played in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. The OCG usually gets new cards months earlier, and each has its own Banlist.
See also Banlist (F&L list), MD (Master Duel)
Konami's official, free-to-play online version of the game. It uses the same rules as the paper game, but it releases cards on its own schedule and has its own Banlist.
See also TCG / OCG
The rules and card pool you're playing with. The normal, current format is called Advanced Format. Some players enjoy fan-run retro formats that only allow cards up to an older date, such as Goat or Edison.
The Forbidden & Limited List. Forbidden cards can't be played, Limited cards can be played at 1 copy, and Semi-Limited cards at 2. It's updated several times a year, and a card that "got hit" was put on it. See the Banlist section below, or our live Banlist page.
See also TCG / OCG
The regular tournaments at your local game store. They're the friendliest place to start playing in person.
See also OTS
An Official Tournament Store: a shop that runs official Konami events. Its yearly OTS Championship can award invitations to bigger events.
See also Locals, Regionals, YCS & WCQ
The bigger events. Regionals are large one-day tournaments. A YCS (Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series) can draw thousands of players. WCQs (World Championship Qualifiers, called Nationals in some regions) decide who goes to the World Championship.
See also Top / Top cut
An event where you can play with a new set before its official release. Its older name was Sneak Peek.
Tournament rounds are usually a match: the best of three games. Between games both players can side, swapping cards with their Side Deck, so game 1 is always played with the main deck alone.
See also Side Deck / Siding
A pre-built deck sold as one box and built around one theme. It's the easiest way to own a playable core in paper, and many players buy two or three copies to get more of the key cards.
See also Singles
Individual cards bought on their own instead of in random packs. If you want a specific deck, buying singles usually costs far less overall than hoping to open the right cards.
See also Structure Deck
An unofficial program for playing Yu-Gi-Oh! online for free. EDOPro is the most popular. Every card is available straight away, which makes it perfect for trying a deck before you buy it.
See also Replay, MD (Master Duel)
A recording of a game you can watch back. EDOPro saves replays as .yrpX files, and you can upload one to our Replay Analyzer for a turn-by-turn breakdown.
See also Sim (simulator)
A judge is the official who answers rules questions and fixes problems at a tournament. Calling one is normal and never rude. A ruling is an official answer on how a specific interaction works when the card text alone isn't clear.
See also PSCT (Problem-Solving Card Text)
Plastic covers for your cards. Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are smaller than Magic or Pokémon cards, so buy "small" or "Japanese size" sleeves. Double sleeving adds a snug inner sleeve for extra protection.
Keep going
This page was inspired by the "Introduction to Yu-Gi-Oh!" guide on r/Yugioh101. The explanations here are written fresh for this site. Spot something unclear or wrong? Use the suggestion form at the bottom of the page.
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