Yu-Gi-Oh TCG Tutorial

Extra Monster Zones (2 zones available at a time)

FIELD SPELL ZONE

Main Monster Zones (5 zones available per field)

GRAVEYARD
(Abbreviated
"GY")

EXTRA
DECK
ZONE

Spell & Trap Card Zones (5 zones available per field)
(also for activated Pendulum Monsters, 2 per field)

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Playing the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG

The Yu-Gi-Oh TCG has 3 main types of cards: "Monster, Spell and Trap. Each Type has been properly broken down for anyone wanting to learn how to play.

Below is a sample view of how the current dueling field is designed.

Monster Cards
Monster Cards are one of the three main types of cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG and OCG. Each monster has a different border color, which indicates what type of Monster Card they are and at minimum one type but they can sometimes have at least one sub-type as you'll learn below. They also will have one of these attributes: DARK, LIGHT, WIND, EARTH, FIRE, WATER and DIVINE, though special Monster Cards can have unique ones.

Normal Monsters
These cards have a yellow border not unlike the color you see here and are identified with
"/ Normal", such as "Warrior / Normal") above text that tells the monster's story. You may also find some of these Monster Cards with an additional line of text confirming they are part of what is called an Archetype (a series of cards listed by name like "a 'Dark Magician' monster". Generally though, these cards have little impact on the game itself other than as mentioned above. Summoned Skull and Axe of Despair are prime examples of being put into an Archetype as they are designated "Archfiend" cards.

Effect Monsters
These are probably the most abundant type of card in the game and have "/ Effect" above whatever effects they have and a dark orange/brown border. In previous years, there have been cases of Effect Monsters lacking this distinction such as Toon monsters (designated as
"/ Toon" at the time of their debut). More recently, there's been the additon of Flip Monsters (designated "/ Flip" in middle of their types like "Fiend / Flip / Effect"), indicating they're a type of Effect Monster whose effect starts with "FLIP" before anything else. This type of Efect Monster also now has a line break after the line containing "FLIP", separating that effect from the card's other effects such as the following:
FLIP: Draw 1 card.
Cannot be destroyed by battle.
You may also encounter so-called Match Winners, which do as their name suggests. Since a Match is best 2 of 3 Duels, these proved to be a mess in tournaments as their effect wins the player using them the entire Match if the card attacks their opponent directly and makes them 0 as a result (though later versions of these cards became a bit more strict in making this happen). As a result, players would forfeit the Duel involving them to prevent their opponent from winning this way. Despite their illegal status, they've still been given out for players winning their event's championship title in the past, though Victory Dragon was actually given out as a magazine promo.

Ritual Monsters
You'll recognize these easily by their blue border and "/ Ritual" above any effects or requirements. Early versions of these required a specific Ritual Spell (see Spell Cards) and often lacked anything else for text. These days, their wording has changed to make it optional like "You can Ritual Summon this card with "X", though there are also those that aren't played the typical way.

Fusion Monsters
A purple border makes these cards easy to identify and they were the first to have a separate Deck called the "Fusion Deck" (now known as the "Extra Deck", but otherwise the same, with up to 15 spaces available) and "/ Fusion" above any effects or requirements. Like Ritual Monsters these started out fairly basic and only listed Fusion Materials, which are often listed by name, but now have expanded to have some of them be brought out a different way.

Synchro Monsters
Arguably among the more complicated additions to the game, you can find these monsters with "/ Synchro" among their card types in their text boxes in addition to a light gray/white border. Much like Fusion Monsters, these were also very basic to start and go in the Extra Deck, listing just the Synchro Materials (such as "1 Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters (a non-Tuner is literally any monster not designated with "/ Tuner") These can sometimes have additional types like "/ Tuner", indicating you can use it to fill the requirements of another Synchro Monster, sometimes one listing a specific Synchro Monster.

Xyz (ik-seez) Monsters
These cards give you a feeling of being in outer space and differ completely from most other Monster Cards. They come with the designation "/ Xyz" above all effects and requirements and use Ranks instead of Levels that are aligned on the left side of the card and dark blue and light yellow colored (vs. Levels, which are on the right and orange and yellow). These cards are unaffected by effects mentioning Levels and are typically Summoned by basically stacking the required monsters on your field of the same Level (and this is specified in their texts such as "2 Level 4 monsters"). You'll often find they require "detaching an Xyz Material" (ie taking it out from under the Xyz Monster itself and sending it generally to the Grave unless otherwise specified). Like the other types above, there are also versions without effects, but are not considered Normal Monsters.

Pendulum Monsters
Probably the most unique of all Monster Cards given they're hybrids of monsters and Spell Cards and thus have two sets of effects depending on where they're placed. These cards were generally fairly simple at the start, taking on the properties of Normal Monsters while having no effects in the top text box where the Pendulum Scale is (a set of two numbers that determine the range of Levels you can Pendulum Summon from your hand (a type of Special Summon). For example, if your Pendulum Scales are 2 and 5, you'll be able to Pendulum Summon monsters with Levels of 3 and 4 from your hand. These types of monsters also used to have their own designated zones on the field, but have since moved to the Spell & Trap Zones. Quite a few of these have high Pendulum Scales with side-effects for their Pendulum Effects as a result, like the Qliphort monsters.
As a Monster Card, they work like most others do, but instead of going to the Grave once they leave the field, they're placed on top your Extra Deck face-up. Some of these Monster Cards have effects that place them in your Pendulum Zone, which today is part of your Spell & Trap Zone.

Link Monsters
The latest and certainly the more unusual additions to the TCG. They're identified with a number of properties:
1. A Link Rating (the minimum number of required monsters to Link Summon that Link Monster) instead of DEF.
2. A hexagonal pattern in place of what had been basically 1 solid color in the past.
3. Orange and white triangles around the monster's artwork called Link Arrows that highlight spaces where Extra Deck monsters can be played and are typically involved with the Link Monster's effects.
4. The phrase "/ Link" with their other Monster Types such as "Cyberse / Link / Effect". Like most other Monster Cards above, these start in the Extra Deck and move to the Extra Monster Zone later, unless a Link Monster points to an open Main Monster Zone.

Tokens
Originally just being whatever you had available like coins, they've since become actual cards with some even having the properties of the Token brought out by a card's effect. As stated where their 16-digit passcode would be, these cards can't be in the Deck and thus have to be out of play during a Duel until they're Summoned by an effect. As a result, they also cannot be Xyz Material for an Xyz Monster and disappear when taken off the field. Regardless, pretty much anything you want can be used to represent a Token these days, but the cards themselves are obviously pretty ideal choices.

Egyptian God Cards
While available as actual cards, they're simply collector's items and as a result are not on the Forbidden & Limited List despite not being tournament legal. For those unaware, they are:
Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor and The Winged Dragon of Ra. Their releases are pretty much always exclusive to specific products like the first Legendary Collection and early video games. They have no way to define how they work on their cards (which is especially crucial for Slifer and Ra, which don't even have defined ATK or DEF) and even remind you that they can't be used in official Duels where their passcodes would be. They can still be fun using the anime effects provided both players agree to using them though. Save them for that rainy day when you want to have a Duel with a friend.

Spell Cards (aka "Magic Cards")
The 2nd of 3 card types in the TCG and OCG.

Normal Spell Cards
Somewhat as their name suggests, they have no icon attached to them, but otherwise follow all rules regarding Spell Cards and effects that mention them. They can either be Set or activated during your turn, unless an effect allows them at other times. These were probably the most abundant in the early days of the game and contained several big names that would eventually generate the Forbidden & Limited List, which determines how many of a card you can use from 3 (the maximum per Deck) down to 0 (none).

Equip Spell Cards
Perhaps the most straghtforward type of Spell Cards, next to Continuous and Normal Spells, they are able to give Monster Cards certain effects they may not have like piercing damage (dealing damage even if the monster being attacked is in Defense Mode.) Some of the earliest Equip Spells are also the most potent and consequently were quite hard to find at the time they were initially released. These effects last generally until they or the equipped monster are taken off the field.

Quick-Play Spell Cards
While working somewhat like Trap Cards, they can also be used from your hand during the opponent's turn, making them a bit more useful at times. However, if they're Set, they work very much like Trap Cards in that you have to wait until at least the opponent's turn to use them unless otherwise stated. Often, these effects don't last very long.

Continuous Spell Cards
This time, the name truly says it all. While they're on the field, generally the effect continues applying, and this is also true for quite a few Effect Monsters as well. Of course, how long they stay on the field may depend on the opponent's strategy or the costs the card may have to stay on the field such as discarding 1 card or paying Life Points (this generally happens at the controller's Standby Phase).

Ritual Spell Cards
Exclusive to specific Monster Cards called Ritual Monsters, these tend not to have a lot of uses during a Duel. Early Ritual Spells just had the requirements and thus were poor when you didn't have both cards in your hand. These days, they've generally expanded to include effects while in the Graveyard, adding to their possibilities.

Field Spell Cards
Originally always applied to both players, these cards have their own designated zone on the field called the Field Spell Zone. Generally, these effects apply to Monster Cards meeting certain criteria such as DARK or having a certain Level, ATK or DEF, but have expanded to include effects applying to players using them when they meet the criteria. Previously, only one Field Spell could be active at a time, but this has since been removed to allow both players to control one at the same time.

Trap Cards
These cards are the last main type of card in the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG and OCG and all have a dark pink card border and generally have to be Set before they can be activated.

Normal Trap Cards
Pretty similar to Normal Spell Cards in that their effects generally last for 1 turn at best, though there are generally fewer potent effects as a whole.

Continuous Trap Cards
Really not much to say with these over Continuous Spells as they're mostly the same. Though these tend to have costs to stay on the field.

Counter Trap Cards
Metal Raiders brought the first big names with these types to the game and some of them still hold up to this day. Basically, the only thing that can stop them at activation is another Counter Trap Card.

Gameplay
Most Duels are between two players, though you can generally have up to 4 players at once (as a Tag-Team Duel). Once you've determined the players you need to determine who goes first. Pick something like Rock, Paper Scissors to decide and then get everyone's Life Points to 8000. Then, everyone draws 5 cards.

Draw Phase
Little happens in this phase as it's mostly for drawing 1 card, though there are some effects that can happen in this phase. This is not used for the first player of the Duel like it was previously.

Standby Phase
Mostly for effects that mention it. This would certainly be used for paying costs to keep cards on the field.

Main Phase 1
This is where I'd say the "meat" of the Duel begins. Most cards or their effects are played here and strategies start to unfold.

Battle Phase
Your strategy is realistically proven here as attacks are usually made between monsters and some cards are activated as a result. Damage Calculation is a big factor here as you're looking at the ATK and DEF of each monster based on their battle position. Generally, monsters in Defense Mode that are attacked and/or destroyed don't deal the opponent any damage, though there are exceptions.

Main Phase 2
You might call it the identical twin of Main Phase 1 as it's for certain effects to resolve or be activated or to perform moves not done during Main Phase 1.

End Phase
The player's turn is literally coming to an end. Relevant mostly for some effects to be activated.

Chains
These can happen just about any time during a Duel. One player's cards are activated in response to their opponent's. Whichever player's cards start the chain become Chain Link 1. Responding cards become Chain Link 2, 3 and so on until there are no more responses. After that, the chain resolves backwards. Take the example below.
1. Player 1 uses Raigeki (Chain Link 1) to destroy the opponent's monsters.
2. Player 2 uses Magic Jammer (Chain Link 2) to negate Player 1's Raigeki by discarding 1 card from their hand.
3. Player 1 uses Seven Tools of the Bandit (Chain Link 3) to negate Magic Jammer by paying 1000 of their Life Points.
If nothing else happens, Player 1's Seven Tools negates Magic Jammer and then Raigeki is able to resolve normally, destroying the opponent's monsters.

Wrap-Up
Don't worry if this confuses you. I've compiled some tips below to help you get started.

Tips

1. Start with Starter Decks and work your way up to the more difficult aspects as this is also the cheapest way to go.
2. Stay out of tournaments until you're absolutely sure you're ready (read up on the rules of tournaments you're intending to visit).
3. Once you've mastered the ability to Duel and are ready for tournaments, check up on on the current Forbidden & Limited List. (The newest list might not necessarily be new, but will probably be close.) While players may figure out you're new to the game and cut you a break, this won't likely last more than one or two trips to an event.
4. Keep your Deck to around 40 cards to increase your chances of drawing what you need when you need it.
5. Don't fill your Deck with too many Level 5 or higher monsters (max of around 2 total) and/or ones with Summon requirements or restrictions. This'll clog your hand at times and can ruin your strategy.
6. Don't feel too discouraged if you don't have much success the first or second time around.
7. When you have enough cards, get a binder to store them in for trading with other players.
8. Be courteous with others, whether Dueling them or not.
9. Know the value of your cards and keep an eye on your cards at all times to minimize theft.
10. Shuffle your Deck well before Dueling. (I recommend the "Pile Shuffle", where you make three piles and put 1 card on each one until there are no more cards. Then stack 1 pile on top of the other.)
11. Make sure your Deck and Extra Deck have the same card sleeves (preferably different sleeves for each Deck, like black sleeves for your Main Deck and white sleeves for your Extra Deck) to avoid suspicions of cheating.