What is in the Rule Book?
As with any game or system, Yu-Gi-Oh! has a rules to be played by written down in a rule book (downloadable here). What this page is going to do is go through section by section what the rule book says, but in a more duelist friendly fashion.
Section 1a: The Decks
In order to play the game of Yu-Gi-Oh!, you will need to have a Yu-Gi-Oh! deck. A Yu-Gi-Oh! deck must be between 40 and 60 cards (no less than 40 but no more than 60). It is advised to keep your deck as close to 40 as possible so that it is easier to draw the cards you want to draw in a given duel.
You are allowed to have an Extra Deck, which can range between 0 cards and 15 cards. Your Extra Deck is where all of your Fusion Monsters, Synchro Monsters, and Xyz monsters are placed. An Extra Deck is not mandatory to have in order to play the game of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but because of the state of game you may find yourself with at least 1 monster in the Extra Deck. There will be moments were Pendulum monsters will be put to the Extra Deck; for more on Pendulum monsters, click here.
You are also allowed to have a Side Deck with up to 15 cards. The Side Deck is also optional and is only utilized in tournaments (or if you are practicing for a tournament). This is where you can house cards that you can trade in for some cards in your Main deck that may help you against a particular match up. You are allowed to have any kind of (legal) card in your Side Deck, including monsters that would normally be housed in your Extra Deck.
You are allowed up to 3 copies of any given card between the Main Deck/Extra Deck and your Side Deck (there are some exceptions, which are listed at this website). This means that you CANNOT have 3 copies of a card in your Main Deck and 1-3 copies of the same card in your Side Deck.
Here is an example of a Yu-Gi-Oh! deck with a 40 card Main deck, a 15 card Extra Deck, and a 15 card Side Deck.
Section 1B: Other items useful for dueling
There are some non-card items that will be useful for your dueling experience:
Section 1a: The Decks
In order to play the game of Yu-Gi-Oh!, you will need to have a Yu-Gi-Oh! deck. A Yu-Gi-Oh! deck must be between 40 and 60 cards (no less than 40 but no more than 60). It is advised to keep your deck as close to 40 as possible so that it is easier to draw the cards you want to draw in a given duel.
You are allowed to have an Extra Deck, which can range between 0 cards and 15 cards. Your Extra Deck is where all of your Fusion Monsters, Synchro Monsters, and Xyz monsters are placed. An Extra Deck is not mandatory to have in order to play the game of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but because of the state of game you may find yourself with at least 1 monster in the Extra Deck. There will be moments were Pendulum monsters will be put to the Extra Deck; for more on Pendulum monsters, click here.
You are also allowed to have a Side Deck with up to 15 cards. The Side Deck is also optional and is only utilized in tournaments (or if you are practicing for a tournament). This is where you can house cards that you can trade in for some cards in your Main deck that may help you against a particular match up. You are allowed to have any kind of (legal) card in your Side Deck, including monsters that would normally be housed in your Extra Deck.
You are allowed up to 3 copies of any given card between the Main Deck/Extra Deck and your Side Deck (there are some exceptions, which are listed at this website). This means that you CANNOT have 3 copies of a card in your Main Deck and 1-3 copies of the same card in your Side Deck.
Here is an example of a Yu-Gi-Oh! deck with a 40 card Main deck, a 15 card Extra Deck, and a 15 card Side Deck.
Section 1B: Other items useful for dueling
There are some non-card items that will be useful for your dueling experience:
- Card Sleeves: These are used primarily to protect your cards from excessive wear and tear. You will also find it to be easier to shuffle your deck (NOTE: This is not the case with all sleeves. I recommend Ultra Pro or Player's Choice sleeves)
- Calculator or note pad (or both!): Since each player starts with 8000 Life Points, it can get hard to figure out how many Life Points a player has with their memory while they are dueling. A calculator will suffice, but I recommend that you bring a notepad or a notebook to keep track of Life Points manually and use the calculator to calculate damage taken and Life Point deductions/additions.
- Coins, Dice: Some cards require you to toss a coin or roll a six-sided dice. If so, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the minimum number of dice (you can get away with using one coin for card effects). You can also use the dice and coin to determine who goes first.
- Counters: Some card effects require (or are easier to keep track of with) counters. It doesnt really matter what you use for them, but I suggest using either pebbles (like Pokemon damage counters), coins, or even a dice. NOTE: If you are running a deck that utilizes multiple counters, or a need for multiple types of counters for other uses, I HIGHLY advise that you use a system that is easy to tell the difference between the counters.
- Playmat: While a playmat isn't mandatory, it will help keep your cards from getting dirty or sticky from whatever is on the playing surface. Here is an example of a playmat.
- Monster tokens: If you deck utilizes monster tokens, you will need to bring something to represent those tokens. Now, while there is no official token you have to use, you CANNOT use a Yu-Gi-Oh! card as a token (it can get VERY confusing). The only requirement for tokens is that you are able to show when it is in Attack Position or when a monster is in Defense Position.