Part 1: Preparation + Monster Types
This blog is about the basics of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. Here we will mainly tell you what you need to play at all, and explain some basics. In future blogs, you will be able to learn much more about the card game!
1. Preparation
What do I actually need to play Yu-Gi-Oh!?
• Deck
• Dice
• Calculator / Neuron App or, very classically, pen + paper
• Preferably a table with playmats on it (see picture)
• And of course, an opponent!
2. The Field
Here we explain how the zones on the field (see picture) work!
Let's start at the bottom right. This is the Deck Zone. So, you place your Deck there first. The 5 zones next to it are called "Spell & Trap Zones". You can activate Spell/Trap Cards there, or set them face-down. On the far left, we have the "Extra Deck Zone". So, if you have an Extra Deck, you can put it there. You will learn exactly what an Extra Deck is and how it works in this blog!
Top right (above the Deck Zone) is the Graveyard. This is where all cards that have been used, destroyed, Tributed, etc., end up. Then we have the 5 Main Monster Zones. You can Summon monsters there or set them face-down in Defense Position. On the left side (above the Extra Deck) is the Field Spell Zone. Field Spell Cards can only be activated or set there! Finally, at the very top in the middle, we have the 2 Extra Monster Zones. One belongs to you, and the other to your opponent. It's up to you which one you use. You can only Summon monsters from the Extra Deck there. Link Monsters can ONLY be Summoned to an Extra Monster Zone. Alternatively, you can also Summon Link Monsters to a Main Monster Zone if another Link Monster points to it with a Link Arrow.
3. The Decks
Main Deck, Extra Deck & Side Deck
Your Main Deck must consist of at least 40 cards and a maximum of 60 cards! You can play each card up to 3 times, but there are also cards that are Forbidden, Limited to 1, or Limited to 2! You can find the current list of Forbidden and Limited cards on Konami's official website.
The Extra Deck is not mandatory, but highly recommended. It can consist of a maximum of 15 cards. The following monsters go into the Extra Deck:
• Fusion
• Synchro
• XYZ
• Link
Here too: Maximum 3 cards with the same name! You can Summon monsters from the Extra Deck at any time during your Main Phase, as long as you meet the Summoning requirements.
Then we have the Side Deck, which is also optional but recommended. It can also consist of a maximum of 15 cards. And here too, only a maximum of 3 cards with the same name, but the cards in your Main and Extra Deck count towards this. So, if you already have e.g. 2x "Dark Magician" in your Main Deck, you can only have one more in your Side Deck.
The purpose of a Side Deck is to exchange cards from your Main Deck between Duels. So, if you have cards that seem useless against a certain Deck, you can replace them. You might even have exactly the right anti-cards in your Side Deck! Caution: The number of cards in your Main Deck must not change! So you can't, for example, take 2 cards out of your Main Deck and only put 1 from your Side Deck in! The cards must be replaced 1-to-1.
4. Monster Types
In this illustration, you see a Normal Monster. These have no effects.
Effect Monsters
You can recognize these by their brownish color. Effect Monsters are generally much better than Normal Monsters because, in addition to their ATK and DEF, they also have an effect. What exactly the effect does, how often you can use it, etc., is different for each card. However, the effect of a card is clearly and understandably stated in the effect box.
Ritual Monsters
You can recognize these by their blue color. Ritual Monsters can only be Summoned with the corresponding Ritual Spell Card. There are many Ritual Monsters that also have an effect. However, in this illustration, you see a Ritual Monster without an effect.
Fusion Monsters
You can recognize these by their purple color. Fusion Monsters are a combination of several monsters. In this case, for example, it's a mix of 3 white dragons. You Summon Fusion Monsters with a Fusion Card (usually a Fusion Spell Card), and you typically need the 3 Fusion Materials (in this case, 3 white dragons) in your hand or on the field. However, there are also methods that allow you to use materials from the Graveyard, Deck, etc. Most Fusion Monsters also have powerful effects. In this example, you see one without effects again.
Synchro Monsters
You can recognize these by their white color. Synchro Monsters must be Summoned from the Extra Deck by sending 1 Tuner + 1 or more other monsters from the field to the Graveyard. The combined Levels of these monsters must exactly match the Level of the Synchro Monster. So, in this case, it would be a Level 8 Synchro Monster. This means you would have to send, for example, a Level 4 Tuner monster and another Level 4 monster from the field to the Graveyard to Summon this Synchro Monster.
XYZ Monsters
You can recognize these by their black color. XYZ Monsters must be Summoned from the Extra Deck. You can do this by overlaying 2 monsters on the field with the same Level (in this case, 2 Level 4 monsters), and then Summoning an XYZ Monster that has the same Rank as the Level of the monsters (in this case, Rank 4). The XYZ Monster is then placed on top of the 2 other monsters. The 2 monsters are now the materials of the XYZ Monster. XYZ Monsters usually have effects that they can only use by detaching one of these materials (i.e., sending it to the Graveyard).
Pendulum Monsters
You can recognize these because they are monsters in the upper half and Spells in the lower half. Pendulum Monsters can be Summoned just like any other monster. However, you can also place them face-up as Spell Cards in the outer Spell/Trap Zones. There you can use their Spell effect. But this has a significant advantage. Because if you have 2 Pendulum Monsters in your Spell/Trap Zones (i.e., 1 on the far right, and 1 on the far left), you can perform a Pendulum Summon once per turn. This is because Pendulum Monsters have a Scale value.
All monsters in your hand that have a Level between these two values can be Special Summoned to the field simultaneously. So, if you have the Scale values 4 and 10 (in this case, we already have one with Scale value 4) on the field, you can Special Summon any number of monsters with Levels 5 to 9 from your hand.
If a Pendulum Monster is sent from the field to the Graveyard, it is instead placed face-up in the Extra Deck.
There are also Fusion, Synchro, and XYZ Pendulum Monsters. These naturally belong in the Extra Deck.
Link Monsters
You can recognize these by their blue color. Easily confused with Ritual Monsters. However, you can see the difference immediately by the red arrows (see picture). Link Monsters must be Summoned from the Extra Deck by sending the same number of monsters from the field to the Graveyard as the number of red arrows on the Link Monster. So, in this case, it would be 4 monsters. However, in this case, you could also send, for example, a Link Monster with 2 arrows from the field to the Graveyard, which would then count as 2 monsters. This means you could Summon this monster by sending 2 Link 2 monsters from the field to the Graveyard. Or 1 Link 3 monster + any other monster.
Tuner Monsters
Directly next to the monster type, it says "Tuner" (see arrow). As mentioned earlier, you need at least 1 monster of this type to perform a Synchro Summon!
Twin Monsters
Here too, you can recognize directly next to the monster type that this is a "Twin" monster. Twin Monsters are treated as Normal Monsters until they are Summoned again. Only then are their effects unlocked.
➡️ Conclusion
Be sure to check out Part 2! There we will show you the different Spell and Trap Cards and explain how they work!
Leave a comment
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.