Wikipedia

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Spring12 (talk | contribs) at 21:25, 22 February 2009 (Mentioning cancelling of OP events in North America). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.


The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game is a collectable card game based on Duel Monsters, which is the main plot device in the popular Japanese manga Yu-Gi-Oh!, as well as the three anime series by Toei and NAS. Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, often shortened TCG, is the part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game manufactured by Upper Deck Entertainment under Konami's direction. The TCG is played Worldwide, but mostly in North America, Europe and Australia. The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG began in 2002. For information on the anime, see the articles Yu-Gi-Oh! (first series anime) and Yu-Gi-Oh! (second series anime).

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game
PlayersTwo, although some special games are called "Tag Duels", consisting of four players, two versus two
Setup time< 1 minute
Playing timeapprox. 15 minutes per game (can be much shorter or much longer), 47 minutes per match
ChanceHigh
Age range6+
SkillsCard playing
Arithmetic
Strategy
Patience
Reading

In these fictional settings, the game is referred to as either Duel Monsters or Magic and Wizards or M&W. Thus the trading card game is the realization of a fictional game which was invented by the author Kazuki Takahashi. The cards and rules of the fictional game are entirely subservient to the plot of the story, and so they cannot be made into an actual trading card game without modification. Konami has produced most of the cards named by Takahashi with the powers he gives them. The rules of the trading card game are quite distinct from those of the fictional game. They are more consistent and balanced and do not change as they do in the fictional contexts. The original manga and the first English printing of Volumes 1-3 and part of Volume 4 used the name Magic & Wizards while the other and newer English productions and both anime versions use Duel Monsters.

The trading cards are distributed in Asian countries by Konami as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters: Official Card Game (OCG). Elsewhere, Upper Deck Entertainment serves as the manufacturer under Konami's direction.

Recent announcements by Konami has their Digital Entertainment department taking back control of the TCG from Upper Deck, effective immediately. [1] In response, UDE has sued Konami for $75 million, supposedly the full amount of the game's global cost, citing a breach in contract. [2] As of December 27, 2008, UDE has won the injunction with Konami, preventing the transfer of distribution rights in the western world. [3] [4]

Formats

Organized play

Many local shops that carry this game have hosted tournaments.[citation needed] In addition, Upper Deck, Konami, and Shonen Jump have organized numerous tournament systems in their respective areas. These tournaments attract hundreds of players to compete for prizes such as rare promotional cards. As of February 2009, however, all Organized Play Events in North America were canceled.[5]

There are two styles of tournament play called "Formats;" each format has its own rules and some restrictions on what cards are allowed to be used. Players must adhere to the rules of that format during tournaments.

  • Advanced Format

The Advanced Format is used in all premier Upper Deck and Konami tournaments, including the World Championship. This format follows all the normal rules of the game, but also places a complete ban on certain cards that are deemed too powerful for tournament play. These cards are on a special list called the Forbidden or Banned List. This list is updated every six months and is strictly followed in all tournaments that use this format.[6]

  • Traditional Format

Traditional format is an alternative format which reflects the state of the game before the Forbidden Card list was created. Cards that are banned in Advanced are typically limited to one copy per deck in this format.[7] This format only applies to the countries where Upper Deck distributes the game and is not widely used by Upper Deck in its sanctioned tournaments, leaving only local and unsanctioned tournaments to use it.

Casual play

Casual players typically agree in advance to follow the rules of either the Advanced Format or the Traditional Format.[citation needed] In addition, there are countless other unofficial variants, such as multiple player duel (where three or more duelists play every-man-for-themselves) and use of the Egyptian God Cards (promotional cards from the anime/manga adaptation, which are illegal in official tournaments). For these unofficial variants of the game, the rules, such as what cards are legal or not, are agreed upon ahead of time. However, very recently, official Tag Duel rules have been introduced into the main game, advertised in the form of Tag Force 2 and Championship 2008.

Product information

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Cards are available in Starter Decks, Structure Decks, booster packs, and occasionally as promotional cards.

Booster packs

As in all other Trading Card Games, booster packs are the primary avenue of card distribution. In Konami's distribution areas, five random cards are found in each booster pack, and each set contains between fifty and sixty different cards. However, in Upper Deck's areas, early booster packs contained a random assortment of nine cards (eight common cards and one uncommon card) with the whole set ranging around 130 cards. In order to catch up with the Japanese meta game, two or more original sets were combined into one. Now, more recent Upper Deck sets have simply duplicated the original set. Some booster sets are reprinted/reissued (e.g. Dark Beginnings Volume 1 and 2). This type of set usually contains a larger amount of cards (around 200 to 250), and they contain twelve cards along with one tip card rather than the normal five or nine.

Starter Decks and Structure Decks

Starter Decks are used to help beginners. Starter Decks were released in order for new players to learn most of the basic gameplay and mechanics, also named after various characters from the second animated series. Structure Decks, however, are for more advanced players, as they are focused on a single strategy and tend to have powerful cards and combos. Each Starter Deck contains forty or fifty different cards, a game mat, and a rule book. Each Structure Deck contains exactly forty cards, a game mat, a rule book and a small leaflet with recommendations for cards, strategies and booster packs to improve the deck. Structure decks are usually built to adhere to the current Advanced-Format Forbidden Card list.

Character Starter Decks

There are currently seven Starter Decks available in the United States:

  • Yugi Starter Deck (SDY): features Yugi's Dark Magician.
  • Kaiba Starter Deck (SDK): features Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
  • Joey Starter Deck (SDJ): includes Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
  • Pegasus Starter Deck (SDP): has Pegasus' "Toon" monsters and his Relinquished card.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Starter Deck 2006 (YSD) & Yu-Gi-Oh! Starter Deck 2007 (YSD2): include Elemental Hero cards and old spells and traps. Based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX series.
  • Jaden Yuki Starter Deck (YSDJ): includes cards used by Jaden in the show.
  • Syrus Truesdale Starter Deck (YSDS): includes cards used by Syrus in the show.
  • 5D's Starter Deck (5DS1): includes the new Synchros and Tuners card types, as well as older cards. Based on the new Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's series.

Character Structure Decks

There are also eight character-based Structure Decks released in Japan. They are similar to their U.S. counterparts except that they contain different cards and are called Structure Decks. These decks tend to be more powerful than the Starter Decks and have been notable among fans as being "playable from the box".[citation needed] The Structure Decks are:

  • Yugi Structure Deck (YU): features Dark Magician Girl, the Dark Magician family, and other cards used by Yugi in early parts of the Battle City arc of the anime.
  • Jonouchi ("Joey") Structure Deck (JY): features Jinzo, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, some luck based cards, and other cards used by Jonouchi in early parts of the Battle City arc. Also includes two dice, one red and one blue, based on his cards, Skull Dice and Graceful Dice, respectfully.
  • Kaiba Structure Deck (KA): features the Vampire Lord, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon (three in the deck, one with Japanese writing, one with Chinese writing, and one with English writing, referencing the Manga, which mentioned the previous owners of the BEWD's were from those countries [citation needed]), and other cards used by Kaiba in early Battle City arc of anime. Also includes a coin with the Millennium Puzzle printed on it, usually for card effects which needs a toss coin.
  • Pegasus Structure Deck (PE): features cards that are used by Pegasus in the Duelist Kingdom arc of the anime. Examples include the "toon" monsters and Relinquished. Also includes the three (non-playable) "invitation" cards that were sent to Yugi before the Duelist Kingdom.
  • Yugi Volume 2 Structure Deck (SY2): features cards used by Yugi later in the Battle City arc in the anime. Some examples are Dark Paladin and Dimensional Magic.
  • Kaiba Volume 2 Structure Deck (SK2): features cards used by Kaiba later in the Battle City arc in the anime. Some examples are XYZ Dragon Cannon and Shrink.
  • Jonouchi ("Joey") Volume 2 Structure Deck (SJ2): features cards used by Jonouchi later in the Battle City arc in the anime. Some examples are Gilford the Lightning and Foolish Burial.
  • Marik Structure Deck (SDM): features cards used by Marik in the Battle City arc in the anime. Some examples are Lava Golem, Magic Shard Excavation, and Unholy Calamity.

Evolution Starter Decks

The Yugi and Kaiba Starter Decks have been re-released with slightly different cards since their initial release in the U.S., and the second set is known as the Evolution series. It is generally thought that the Evolution series improved the respective deck of each character, and they are more readily available than the initial release.[citation needed] The codes for the Evolution Series decks are:

  • Yugi Evolution Starter Deck (SYE): contains the Ritual Monster Black Luster Soldier, the Ritual Spell Card Black Luster Ritual, and Dark Magician (LOB artwork)
  • Kaiba Evolution Starter Deck (SKE): includes a Kaiser Sea Horse card along with the Continuous Trap Card Shadow Spell and Blue-Eyes White Dragon (LOB artwork)

Type Structure Decks

The Type Structure decks contain forty cards each. These decks do not follow the theme of being based on a character from the show, though some characters from the show may use similar decks. Instead they are based on a specific Monster type or attribute. The main purpose is to help new players start the game with stronger cards and combos.[citation needed] These decks may also contain multiple copies of same named cards and common versions of hard-to-find cards, making these decks powerful even without modifications.

In addition, all decks include an instruction booklet with tips on how to use the deck's current goal (for example, the Fury of the Deep Structure Deck explains how to use Gravity Bind and A Legendary Ocean as a combo to allow four-starred monsters to attack), and how to expand on that goal with new cards. Each Structure Deck also contains one or more cards that can only be found by buying that deck. The codes for the structure deck, and what they are based on, are:

  • Dragon's Roar Structure Deck (SD1): Based on Dragon Type monsters. The new card is Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon.
  • Zombie Madness Structure Deck (SD2): Based on Zombie Type monsters. The new card is Vampire Genesis.
  • Blaze of Destruction Structure Deck (SD3): Based on Fire Attribute monsters. The new card is Infernal Flame Emperor.
  • Fury of the Deep Structure Deck (SD4): Based on Water Attribute monsters. The new card is Ocean Dragon Lord - Neo Daedalus.
  • Warrior's Triumph Structure Deck (SD5): Based on Warrior Type monsters. The new cards are Gilford the Legend, Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, and Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade.
  • Spellcaster's Judgment Structure Deck (SD6): Based on Spellcaster Type monsters. The new cards are Dark Eradicator Warlock, Mythical Beast Cerberus, Magical Blast, (and for TCG) Nightmare's Steelcage, Magical Dimension, and Mystic Box.
  • Invincible Fortress Structure Deck (SD7): Based on Earth Attribute monsters. The new cards are Exxod, Master of the Guard; Great Spirit; and Canyon.
  • Lord of the Storm Structure Deck (SD8): Based on Wind Attribute monsters. The new cards are Simorgh, Bird of Divinity; Sonic Shooter; and Hysteric Party.
  • Dinosaur's Rage Structure Deck (SD09): Based on Dinosaur Type monsters. The new cards are Super Conductor Tyranno, Jurassic World, Big Evolution Pill, Tail Swipe, Hunting Instinct, Survival Instinct, Volcanic Eruption, and Seismic Shockwave. The Special Edition Version of this Deck also released for the first time in the TCG the Five-Headed Dragon (known as Five-God Dragon in Japan).[8]
  • Machine Re-Volt Structure Deck (SD10): Based on Machine Type monsters. The new cards are Ancient Gear Gadjitron Dragon, Ancient Gear Engineer, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera, Boot-Up Soldier-Dread Dynamo, Ancient Gear Workshop, Ancient Gear Fist, Ancient Gear Explosive, and Ancient Gear Tank. This deck also releases in the TCG the Gadget cards Red Gadget, Yellow Gadget, and Green Gaget monsters and Stronghold the Moving Fortress.
  • Surge of Radiance Structure Deck (SD11): Based on Light Attribute monsters. The new cards are Neo Parshath the Sky Paladin, Metius, Sage of the Sky, Harvest, Angel of Wisdom, Freya, Spirit of Victory, Nova Summoner, Radiant Jeral, Gellenduo and Aegis of Gaia. This deck has not been released in the TCG, although the new cards are already available as Secret Rares in the "Strike of Neos" set.[citation needed]
  • Curse of Darkness Structure Deck (SD12): Based on Dark Attribute monsters. The OCG version is available. Due to the rumors of no release for SD11 there is speculation that there will be no deck either in TCG. The new cards in this deck were released as secret rares in Force of the Breaker, except for Shield Crush.[9]
  • Rise of the Dragon Lords (SDRL),TCG: Based on reviving Dragon type monsters from the Graveyard.[10]
  • The Dark Emperor (SDDE): Based on the infamous "Monarch" monsters and removing monsters from play. OCG release by December and TCG release in 2008. This deck was released in April 2008 and featured only the new DARK Monarch, 'Caius, The Shadow Monarch' and revolves around removing monsters from play.
  • Zombie World(SDZW): This Deck contains widely popular Zombie-Type monsters, adapting it to the new format to build and create new Zombie-Type decks. Also includes the the Red-Eyes Black Dragon counterpart, the Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon.

Tournament Boosters

There are special booster packs that are given to those who attend a tournament. These sets change each time there is a different tournament and have less cards than a typical booster pack.

  • Tournament Season 1
  • Tournament Season 2
  • Tournament Season 3
  • Tournament Season 4
  • Tournament Season 5
  • Tournament Season 6
  • Tournament Season 7
  • Tournament Season 8
  • Champion Pack: One
  • Champion Pack: Two
  • Champion Pack: Three
  • Champion Pack: Four
  • Champion Pack: Five
  • Champion Pack: Six
  • Champion Pack: Seven
  • Champion Pack: Eight(coming soon)

Promo cards

Some cards in the TCG have been released by other means, such as inclusion in video games, movies, and Shonen Jump manga magazines. These cards often are exclusive and have a special type of rarity or are never-before-seen to the public.

Character Booster Packs

  • Jaden Yuki's Duelist Pack 1
  • Jaden Yuki's Duelist Pack 2
  • Jaden Yuki's Duelist pack 3
  • Chazz Prinston's Duelist Pack
  • Zane Truesdale's Duelist Pack
  • Aster Phoenix's Duelist Pack
  • Jesse Andersen's Duelist Pack
  • Yuesi Fudo's Deulist Pack(coming soon)
  • Yugi Muto's Duelist Pack(coming soon)


Card rarity

  • Common

A Common card is identified by having a black or white card name and the image is not holofoiled. Some common cards are short printed or super short printed by UDE. A listing of all super short or short prints can be found in Beckett's Official Magazine.

  • Normal Rare

Normal Rares are identical to Commons, except they are slightly harder to find. Comparable to the now-discontinued TCG Short Print and Super Short Print rarities, Normal Rares only exist in the OCG.

  • Short Print

Short Prints are identical to Commons, except they are slightly harder to find. This only existed in the TCG, and were discontinued after Ancient Sanctuary, but have since been re-introduced in the TCG in Phantom Darkness.

  • Super Short Print

Super Short Print's are identical to Commons and Short Prints, except they are much harder to find. They only existed in the TCG, and were discontinued after Ancient Sanctuary.

  • Holofoil Rare

Holofoil Rares are used for early Gameboy Promos. They are akin to Super Rares, but have a coating very similar to Parallel Common cards. However, this coating has none of the consistent layout and texture of the usual Parallel coating.

  • Rare

A Rare card is identified by having a silver card name and the image is not holofoiled. There is a rare in every pack but would be replaced by a something higher than a rare. Only in "The Duelist Genesis" and "Crossroads of Chaos" you can get a rare and a something higher than a rare.

  • Super Rare

A Super Rare card is identified by having a black or white card name and the image is a holofoil. More recent video game promo cards have been Super Rares. Currently there is a 1:5 chance of getting one in a booster pack.

  • Ultra Rare

An Ultra Rare card is identified by having a gold card name and a holofoil image. The odds of getting an Ultra Rare in a Booster Pack was around 1:12 in Booster Packs before Soul of the Duelist. from Soul of the Duelist onwards the odds became around 1:24. However reprint sets released after Soul of the Duelist such as Dark Revelation Volume 3 use the 1:12 ratio. Although after Tactical Evolution the odds dropped back down to 1:12.

  • Ultimate Rare

An Ultimate Rare card has an "embossed" foil on the Card Artwork, including the borders of artworks, Attribute icon, and on Monster Cards, the Level Stars. The card name is printed gold, like an Ultra Rare. When scanned, the embossed image may be muted and the image indistinct from the background. This card rarity is very hard for Scalers to find, since the card is much thinner than a normal Super Rare or Ultra Rare, with a weight comparable to that of to a Common. Ultimate Rare cards usually also come in a less rare variety that can be found in the same booster with the same card number.

OCG Ultimate Rares tend to scan much better than their TCG counterparts, due to a slightly reflective coating present on all OCG cards (but lacking on TCG cards). This has the advantage of brightening the image, and making the foil image more distinct than on a TCG equivalent. In the OCG, Ultimate Rares have been known to be printed as independant rarities, while they are used exclusively as an additional Booster Pack rarity in the TCG.

On the internet market, Ultimate Rare Cards are often much more valuable than others, even if their effectiveness in the game is only above average.

  • Ghost Rare

Ghost Rare is a fairly recent rarity introduced in the TCG version of Tactical Evolution. It appears to have a very shiny silver lettering, much like a Secret Rare, with some colours removed from the card image. The overall effect of these changes is a pale, "Ghost-like" appearance to the card art, especially when scanned. There are only 6 Ghost Rare TCG Cards: Rainbow Dragon, Elemental Hero Chaos Neos, Rainbow Neos, Honest, Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon, which each represent alternative foil patterns for a single secret rare card in their respective sets. This is the TCG version of Holographic Rare. The odds of obtaining a ghost rare in a box of 24 booster packs stands at approximately 1 in 36.

  • Holographic Rare

Holographic Rare is a fairly recent rarity introduced in the OCG version of Tactical Evolution. It appears to have silver lettering like a Secret Rare Card, with many colours removed from the card image, while the entire card appears to be holographic. Currently, there are six Holographic Rare cards: Rainbow Dragon, Rainbow Neos, Elemental Hero Chaos Neos, Stardust Dragon, Honest and Black Rose Dragon. This is the OCG version of Ghost Rare.

The angle of the card changes the reflected colour, just like a hologram.

  • Secret Rare

A Secret Rare card is identified by having a silver card name and the image has a unique holofoil known as a parallel holofoil (named due to the parallel dot effect on the image). In sets that are older than Tactical Evolution, secret Rares are all either the first (#000) or last cards in a set.

Secret Rares were at first discontinued due to excessive use of electronic scales, however, they have been re-introduced in Strike of Neos. Currently, the odds of getting a Secret Rare in a Booster Pack is 1:24.

  • Prismatic Secret Rare

This refers to European Secret Rare promos, whose glittery holographics follow a very different 'prism' pattern to their North American counterpart(s).

  • Ultra Secret Rare

A Ultra Secret Rare has the Ultra Rare foil over the image, but has the sparkly silver card name like a Secret Rare. There are very few of these cards; only one currently exists in English (the GSE version of "Elemental Hero Wildheart"), with the remaining ten in Japanese.

  • Secret Ultra Rare

A Secret Ultra Rare has the Secret Rare foil over the image, but has the Gold card name like a Ultra Rare.

There are two images known for this type of rarity, is an apparently misprinted version of "Gaia the Dragon Champion" and "Tri Horned Dragon" in the original Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon booster pack.

  • Parallel Rare

Parallel Rare is a generic term, used to refer to cards where the entire card surface is holographic (that shows up as an even "haze" on most scans). There are four types of Parallel Rare:

  • Normal Parallel Rare: Normal black or white title, normal picture. Also known as "Parallel Common."
  • Super Parallel Rare: Normal black or white title, holographic picture.
  • Duel Terminal Parallel Rare: Only found on Duel Terminal Series cards, these are based on Normal Parallel Rares, but with a different Parallel Coating design.
  • Ultra Parallel Rare: Gold title, holographic picture.
  • Rare Parallel Rare

A Rare Parallel Rare is a theoretical rarity that has all the characteristics of a Rare card (ie. no foil image and a silver card name) but has a coating which makes the whole surface reflect. The coating tends to stiffen the card and when scanned the coating creates a uniform haze on the card.

  • Normal Parallel Rare

A Rare Parallel Rare is a theoretical rarity that has all the characteristics of a Rare card (ie. no foil image and a silver card name) but has a coating which makes the whole surface reflect. The coating tends to stiffen the card and when scanned the coating creates a uniform haze on the card.

  • Super Parallel Rare

A Super Parallel Rare has all the characteristics of a Super Rare (ie. foil image and a black card name) but has a coating which makes the whole surface reflect. The coating tends to stiffen the card and when scanned the coating creates a uniform haze on the card.

  • Ultra Parallel Rare

An Ultra Parallel Rare has a gold card title like Ultra Rares, but also has a coating across the surface to make the whole card reflect. The coating tends to stiffen the card and when scanned the coating creates a uniform haze on the card.

  • Gold Ultra Rare

Gold Ultra Rare is a new type of rarity introduced in the Gold Series. It has gold lettering and a holographic foil image like an Ultra Rare, but also has a holographic gold image border, lore text border, and card border. On Monster Cards, the Level Stars are embossed in gold foil, similar to what is found on Ultimate Rares.

Using physical cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! video games

Nearly every card has a unique eight-digit code printed on it. When that code is entered into one of the Yu-Gi-Oh! video games which accept said codes, a digital copy of that card will be added to the player's virtual cards. Thus, players can port their real-world decks into the games.

Some cards do not have this code. For example, all but two copies of Japanese Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon cards say "Replica" where the code should be (They are considered replicas of the other two that were given as prizes in a Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament in Tokyo).

Some cards do not have anything at all. For example, the Shadow Ghoul monster card from the English Metal Raiders and Dark Beginning 2 booster sets has no code number, as opposed to being a replica card. Some other examples of cards that don't have any codes at all are Labyrinth Wall, Gate Guardian and its "pieces", Cosmo Queen, and Dian Keto The Cure Master.

Controversy

Due to the nature of the inspirations of some of the cards, such as ancient mythology and Japanese folklore, the card game was an obvious potential target for Christian advocate groups to accuse of promoting idolatry, among other things. Perhaps to alleviate their concerns, the English names of the cards were not always given a direct translation, instead opting for a name less controversial. For example, the "Black Magician" in the original Japanese was changed to the "Dark Magician" in English, which reduced its association with black magic.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://shriektcg.twoday.net/stories/5383180/ Konami to take back control of TCG from UDE
  2. ^ http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-nvdce/case_no-2:2008cv01737/case_id-63327/ UDE's Lawsuit against Konami
  3. ^ http://www.upperdeck-international.com/tabid/56/language/en-US/Default.aspx?AnnouncementID=11 Dutch courts rule in favor for UDE
  4. ^ http://shriektcg.twoday.net/stories/5412898/ California courts support Dutch finding in UDE vs. Konami case
  5. ^ http://metagame.com/yugioh.aspx?tabid=33&ArticleId=10624
  6. ^ Official YuGiOH U.S. Site - "Yugioh Forbidden/Limited Cards: Advanced Format - Limited and Forbidden Lists"
  7. ^ Official YuGiOH U.S. Site - "Yugioh Forbidden/Limited Cards: Traditional Format - Limited Lists"
  8. ^ Seven Days – September 25, 2006 "metagame.com". URL Accessed December 10, 2006
  9. ^ Structure Deck 12 - Curse of Darkness "manjyomethunder.twoday.net". URL Accessed December 9, 2006
  10. ^ Structure Deck 13 - Revival of Great Dragon "www.dmcomet.net". URL Accessed March 14, 2007

Template:Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game sets

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yu-Gi-Oh!_Trading_Card_Game&oldid=272577734"