FuckassCardGameGhosts

Abbreviations:

GY - Graveyard

ATK - Attack

DEF - Defense

LP - Lifepoints

You figure out who goes first by flipping a coin, rolling dice or doing rock-paper-scissors (depends how you wanna do it :p I believe for actual tournaments they use dice)

Make sure to shuffle the deck (DO NOT, FOR THE LOVE OF THE HEART OF THE CARDS, RIFFLE SHUFFLE THE CARDS. ⭐ Just take some cards from the middle, place them on top of the deck, then keep doing that. Split the deck in half, then put the lower half on top, that is called “cutting the deck” which is pretty standard is most shuffling to prevent cheating and such ⭐).

GOING FIRST: Both players start with 5 cards in their hand, whoever goes first doesn’t draw at the start of their turn. You also cannot conduct your battle phase. 

⭐ Remember to check the effects of your cards because sometimes it limits what you can do in each phase! Also, some cards have effects that only activate in a specific phase. ⭐

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TURN SETUP:

Draw Phase: 

You draw a card for the start of your turn, except when you’re going first. Nothing much is really done in this phase.

Standby Phase: 

A phase that is typically unused unless a card effect mentions it. Certain cards can be activated during this phase.

Main Phase 1: 

Where most of the action is done. You can normal summon/set (only once) and special summon (as much as you want unless you used a card that limits that ability). You are allowed to place as many spells or traps face down, as long as you have space on your field for it (see board set up below). You are not allowed to pick up cards and add them back to your hand. You can pick them to check their affects though, but do NOT change the placement. You can also change the poistion of monsters you have on the field manually, as long as they weren’t placed on the field that turn (though you can get around that by using spell/traps).

Battle Phase: 

You cannot enter the battle phase when you go first. This is the place where your monsters can attack. Only monsters in attack position (the card is upright) can attack, unless an effect (spell, trap or monster) prevents them from doing so. Beware when attacking! You are allowed to check your opponents cards! Some cards cannot be targeted for attacks, get a boost when attacked/attacking or have an ability when sent to the graveyard. 

Damage Step (extension): 

The damage step is a step in the Battle Phase where the damage is calculated, you’ll see it mentioned most of the time in the form of “except during the damage step” because it is usually too late to activate effects. Effects, such as adding or subtracting attack or defense points (the ATK and DEF on the bottom right on the cards), are typically done in this step but make sure you understand the wording of the cards.

Main Phase 2: 

This phase can only be entered if you conduct your Battle Phase. Basically the same as main phase one. If a card attacked or attempted an attack and either got a replay or had their attack negated, they cannot change position (the rule about monsters that got on the field the turn still applies).

End Phase: 

You end your turn. Some effects resolve (end) here, other effects can also activate here.

Player 2 goes and all the setup is the same but to start their turn, they draw a card

How to win:

You drop your opponent’s lifepoints to zero

Your opponent runs out of cards to draw from their deck (This is called “decking out”)

You win by an alternate win condition (cards that have alternate win conditions will have it printed in their text)

Your opponent surrenders

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BASIC THINGS TO REMEMBER:

(anyone can comment and I’ll add it to the list)

READ THE CARD EFFECTS, REMEMBER THE RESTRICTIONS

Both players start at 8000 Lifepoints

You don’t draw and cannot conduct your battle phase if you go first. Drawing is REQUIRED every turn after

If your hand goes over 6 cards, you discard the extra cards during your end phase. (There is a card that gives you an infinite hand size tho :p)

A deck consists of 40-60 cards TOTAL. You cannot have less than 40 or more than 60.

You can only have 3 copies of each card in your both your decks (unless the forbidden/limited list says otherwise, i think it comes out once every 3-6 months but you’d have to ask someone who actually checks :p)

Your extra deck is 15 cards MAX

Only one normal summon/set per turn

If a pendulum card from ANYWHERE (spell/trap zone or monster card zone) on the field is destroyed/sent to the graveyard, it goes to the extra deck face up (these do not count towards your 15 cards in the extra deck)

Traps need to be set one turn before they’re activated (occasionally, they can be activated from your hand but it depends)

When a spell/trap is finished with its effect, it goes to the GY unless it’s a continuous effect or only goes to the grave after something specific is fulfilled.

Some effects are mandatory, make sure you remember to check your card’s text. 

Level 4 and below monsters (the number of stars they have) require no tribute (you can normal summon/set them without having to send a monster(s) to the grave yard

Levels 5 and 6 require one tribute, to tribute summon, you send a monster from your field to the GY and normal summon/set the Lvl 5 or 6 monster

Level 7 and above require 2 tributes. (By 2 tributes, I mean simultaneously. You need two monsters on your field to send to the GY to normal summon a level 7 or above monster)

Tribute summoning counts as your normal summon/set so if you choose to tribute summon, you can’t normal summon or set another monster (unless a card effect allows it)

Some cards (like rocket warrior) state that a player, their opponent, or both of you don’t take battle damage from battles involving the card, make sure to keep that in mind as well as keeping in mind if effects were negated. For example, one of rocket warrior's effects is “You take no battle damage from attacks involving this card” if your opponent uses a card to negate its effect, then you are able to take damage from attacks involving Rocket Warrior.

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Dueling phrases and what they mean:

Top 50 Yugioh Slang Words!!! 

100 Yu-Gi-Oh! Terms You Need To Know! 

Discard: Send to GY

Piercing battle damage: Can deal damage even when a monster is in defense mode.

Deck(ed) out: A player needs to draw more cards than they have in their deck

Backrow: The spell/trap zone. It’s just way faster to say.

Burn: To deal effect damage. You might hear ‘burn decks’ mentioned. Basically, those are decks that focus mainly on using card effects to reduce their opponent’s lifepoints to zero.

Floodgate: Negate that affects both players (typically is a continuous spell)

Handtrap: Any card effects that activate from your hand, typically to interrupt your opponent.

Heart of the cards: Luck. (joke– joke)

Tier: How decks rank (competitively). Tier 0 (Zero) is the highest.

Missing the timing: “If” vs “When” effects. “When” means immediately. You have to chain when effects right after their condition is met. “If” effects can be activated as long as the requirement was fulfilled. (This is a more sophisticated/complicated rule if your just playing irl without the game to tell you when you can activate which card so i wouldn’t worry too much about it. This is a very good video for this :o 

Yu-Gi-Oh! Missing The Timing Explained!

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How Battling Works

ATK vs ATK: Monster with higher attack wins and difference is taken out of the LP of whoever had the monster with lower ATK (there are ways to get around this like negating battle or damage, using an effect so your monster isn’t destroyed etc.)

ATK vs DEF: If ATK is higher, DEF monster is destroyed but no damage is dealt to the player (unless a card says it has “piercing damage” which basically means that it can bypass the defense and deal damage.) If DEF is higher, the attacking player takes damage but neither monster is destroyed.

ATK vs empty board: What i mean by empty board is that your opponent has no monster cards to protect their LP, meaning you can attack directly. When you attack directly, you subtract the monster’s attack from the lifepoints

TYPES OF SPELLS AND TRAPS:

there is this thing called spell speeds, it dictates how a chain works.

Normal Spell/Trap: Traps have to be set one turn before they are activated and can be activated during your opponents turn (unless the card effect states otherwise like with Infinite Impermanence, which allows you to activate it from your hand if you don’t have any cards on the field)

Continuous Spell/Trap: These cards have an infinity symbol by the part that says either “[Spell Card]” or “[Trap Card]” They stay on the field unless an effect removes them.

Equip Spell: A spell that equips onto a monster. It has a cross symbol by “[Spell Card]”

Quick-play spells: Can be activated during your opponent’s turn. It has a lightning bolt symbol.

Field Spell: These go to the Field Spell zone (above the extra deck zone) It has a symbol resembling a compass cross.

Ritual Spell: Spells used to summon ritual monsters (A Ritual summon is a special summon). Ritual monsters go into your main deck. The icon is a sacrificial fire.

Counter Trap: Fastest type of card. Only other counter traps can be chained to counter traps. I’ll explain chaining below.

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CHAINS EXPLAINED:

Ohhhhhh god, here we go.

Okay, so basically imagine this:

Player A, LP 8000

Player B, LP 8000

Player A: Activates “Call of the Haunted” (Effect: “Activate this card by targeting 1 monster in your GY; Special Summon that target in Attack Position. When this card leaves the field, destroy that monster. When That monster is destroyed, destroy this Card”)

Player B: Activates “Solemn Judgement” (Effect: When a monster would be summoned, OR a Spell/Trap would be activated: Pay Half your LP, negate the summon or activation , and if you do, destroy that card) Pays half their LP (Player B 8000 -> 4000), negates the summon that would’ve occurred due to “Call of the Haunted”

I hope that makes sense– the gist of it is that chains revolve backwards. Solemn Judgement was chain link 2, while Call of the Haunted was Chain link 1. So yea. There’s also a vid on here about speed spells, it’s a bit more of advanced stuff but easy to get. It’s not that important for casual play, just know that you can’t chain anything but a trap to a trap. Also, unless a monster’s effect says “Quick Effect” you can’t chain it because monsters are speed spell 1 by default.

I don’t play often so you’d have to ask someone more experienced—

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HOW TO SUMMON EXTRA DECK METHODS (plus pendulums & Rituals):

My duel links vids on tumblr (so you can see the summons, also duel links gives explainations). You will notice that there are 3 monster zones and 3 spell and trap card zones rather than 5 and that’s because Duel Links employs Speed Dueling. I can give an explanation later.

SYNCHRO SUMMONING TUTORIAL

XYZS SUMMONING TUTORIAL #1

XYZS SUMMONING TUTORIAL #2

PENDULUM SUMMONING TUTORIAL

LINK SUMMONING TUTORIAL

SYNCHRO SUMMONING: 

For synchro summoning, you have to have tuners. You can only use one tuner to make a Synchro Monster.

How to summon a synchro is that your monsters levels must add up to the level of the Synchro Monster you’re trying to summon (sometimes synchro monsters will need you to have a specific tuner)

Example:

Black Rose Dragon is a level 7 Synchro monster

To summon it, I need a tuner and non-tuners Naturia Rosewhip is a level 3 tuner so by combining it with White Rose Dragon (level 4) 3+4=7

Tuner monsters are marked like this: [TYPE/EFFECT/TUNER]

XYZ SUMMONING: 

A relatively easy summoning method. You need cards of the same level to summon out a XYZs monster

Take Number 39: Utopia It’s a rank 4, the text states you need 2 level 4 monsters to summon it so you get those two monsters, and stack them, those monsters are called “overlay units” they’re used for the XYZs monster’s effects (though some can activate an effect without using an overlay unit, it just depends)

There are also cards called “rank-up magic” in which you can take a monster, such as Number 39: Utopia and transform it into a card of a higher rank

In “Rank Up Magic Numeron Force” the main part of text we’re looking at is this: Target 1 face-up Xyz Monster you control; Special Summon from your Extra Deck, 1 "Number C" monster with the same Type as that monster you control, but 1 Rank higher, by using it as the Xyz Material.

You can use that to rank Number 39: Utopia to Number C39: Utopia Ray Victory (Rank 5) or some other card you’d like to use.

Also, on some card texts (such as Number C39: Utopia Ray) you can use a XYZs monster on your field to summon it

Here’s the part of the effect where it states that: “You can also Xyz Summon this card by using a "Number 39: Utopia" you control as material.” XYZs, for me, are fairly easy. It probably gets harder when you use higher ranks though. 

PENDULUM SUMMONING: 

It looks veryyyyy complicated when you first see it because the cards are half-spell and half-monsters (trust me, I was so damn confused til I watched ARC V)

Basically, you can set a pendulum scale, and summon monsters in between the two numbers you set up

Confused? Here’s something more in-depth: Pendulum cards have pendulum scales: It’s the blue and red diamonds. You need two monsters with different pendulum scales to activate a pendulum summon some cards will state you can only summon specific types (like in the DD archetype, most pendulum monsters, or all, I don’t play DD, state that you can only summon DD monsters and the effect cannot be negated) Others, like Timegazer magician, state that you have to have a specific type of card in the other pendulum zone or the pendulum scale will change (in timegazer’s text, if you don’t have an odd-eyes, or magician, in the other zone, it’s scale will drop down to 4) The two effects of Pendulum cards are separate (one can be activated when in the pendulum zone, the other is a monster effect) 

SO, HOW TO ACTUALLY PENDULUM SUMMON: 

First, you set the scales (it doesn’t matter which number is on which side) Let’s say, Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician You can summon monsters from levels 2 through 7 at the same time so basically it’s just that inner part of the numbers lol 

When your pendulum monsters are destroyed, they go to the extra deck (I mentioned the rule on this in the basic things to remember section but here it is again)

Here is smth from the fandom page:

“Pendulum Monster card (even if face-down) would be sent from the field to the Graveyard (either as a Monster Card or Spell Card), it is placed face-up in the Extra Deck instead. This can cause the total size of the Extra Deck to be larger than would be allowed during Deck building. A Pendulum Monster is sent to the Graveyard like normal if it is sent from any location other than the field (including if it has its activation as a Spell Card or Summon negated). If a card effect causes cards to not go to the Graveyard ("Macro Cosmos" or "Grave Protector"), this will override the Pendulum Monster's mechanic to go to the Extra Deck, and instead would be moved to the zones designated by such effects (or banished).

“Pendulum Monsters cannot be used to pay costs that require sending cards from the field to the Graveyard, as they would not be able to go to the Graveyard but would be placed in the Extra Deck instead; however, they can still be Tributed for costs and used as Materials for Summons. They can otherwise be sent from the hand or Deck to the Graveyard.”

LINK SUMMONING: 

You just need monsters (sometimes of a specific type, the requirements are always the first thing in the text :3) and when you have those specific monsters, you can Link Summon by sending those cards to the graveyard.

Another thing about link summoning is that you can use another link monster as material (it counts as it’s link rating) Decode Talker is a Link-3 monster, meaning I need to use 3 (effect) monsters to link summon it I could also just use Elphase (Link-2) and another effect monster to summon out Decode talker (decode talker’s summon conditions: 2+ Effect Monsters) 

Link summoning is interesting where you have to make the link arrows connect. The link arrows are red and are placed around the border (it’ll be easy to spot). To link summon, you must have either no link monsters (in which, the link monster is placed in one of the two extra monster zones) or is linked with a monster in the extra monster zone you occupy (each player only gets one extra monster zone, unless someone makes an extra link, in which case, they can fill up both of them). When link summoning when there’s already a link monster on the field, you either summon your second link monster next to the existing one’s link, OR you make the link of the monster you’re summoning point towards the existing link monster.

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SPEED DUELING

Things changed from Master Dueling:

Your lifepoints start at 4000, rather than 8000

Your hand is decreased by one. You start with 4 cards and the hand size is 5.

Monster and Spell/Trap zones have been lowered to 3 each, all other zones (GY, field spell, extra deck) are the same.

Your main deck has to be 20-30 cards. You have a max of 8 monsters in extra deck 

There is a thing called a “skill” which can be used during the duel (mostly during your turn, or sometimes activating before the duel. I don’t believe there’s a skill that activates during your opponent’s turn but then again, i haven’t played Duel Links in awhile.) In Duel Links, you can gain skills by using the in-game currency (you do need to unlock specific characters for some) or leveling up your characters). In IRL play, skill cards are included in speed duel decks you buy.

There is no change in cards printed other than a very faint “SPEED DUEL” over where the card text would go

All other rules from Master Duels apply to Speed Duels, I don’t believe I missed anything (then again, i legit forgot to write how to win until a vid reminded me–)