Basic Game Mechanics (Monsters)

Alright, so before you start playing you need a deck and before you build a deck, you might find it useful to know what each card type of card does. Generally I will provide links to at least one example of a card, but if for whatever reason I haven't, the cards and types can be easily found with a quick Google search. The first type of Card I'll be covering is Monster Cards. A quick guide to the layout of a Monster Card is this: The Monsters' name appears at the top of the card, followed by the Monsters' Attribute (of which there are 6: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Dark and Light), below the name and attribute there is a row of stars indicating the Monsters' Level (or Rank for Xyz Monsters). Below that is a picture of the monster, then there is a box that will tell you the type of the Monster and whether or not the Monster has any effects. Lastly there is the attack (ATK) and defence (DEF) points of the Monster in the bottom right corner. You can only control 5 monsters maximum at any one time (overlaid monsters for Xyz Monsters do not count in this limit)

Types of Cards:

Normal Monsters

Normal Monsters don't see much play in today's game, which is a shame because I enjoy pulling out the old "Dark Magician" (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Magician) or "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" in duels (occasionally these specific cards see some play with cards like "Maiden With Eyes of Blue" or "Skilled Dark Magician"). Normal Monster cards are the basic attack and defence cards of the game. They have no effects that impact the game. While normally useless by today's standards, they can be useful to pull out some quick Syncro or Xyz summons. Normal Monsters are indicated by a yellow border.

Effect Monsters

Effect Monsters, as the name suggests, have effects that impact the game. For example, "Solar Flare Dragon" (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Solar_Flare_Dragon) can not be attacked while the player controlling it also controls another Pyro-type Monster, and "Solar Flare Dragon" also inflicts 500 points of damage to the opponent's Life Points at the end of every turn as long as it stays on the field. Effect Monsters are the most common type of Monster you'll face in today's game, due to the popularity of Archetypes like "Lightsworn" and "Evilswarm" (both of which will cause you headaches, Archetypes will be discussed in later posts, this is just a basic overview). Effect Monster can also be hard to summon as some have Summoning Conditions. These will be discussed in the "Summoning" post. Effect Monsters are indicated by an orange (some times a browny-yellow if it's a very old card). There are also Flip Effect Monsters. These Monsters have their effects activated when you flip them or when they are attacked while Set (Setting will be explained in Summoning Methods). These also have an orange border.

Fusion Monsters

Fusion Monsters are Monsters that require two or monsters to be sent to the graveyard by a special spell card named "Polymerisation" (there are substitute cards, but again, this is a basic overview). Fusion Monsters sort of went out of popularity after the Yugioh GX series ended and cards like Syncro Monsters and Xyz Monsters were introduced, but they have come back mostly due to "Masked Hero" decks. A Fusion Monster may be a Normal Monster, like the "Flame Swordsman" and have no real impact on the game other than giving you a semi-strong beatstick, however others, like the "Dark Paladin" (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Paladin) have effects which might swing the game in your favour, depending on your situation. Fusion Monsters must be correctly Fusion Summoned first before they can be summoned from the Graveyard. Fusion Monsters are indicated with a Purple border and they are placed in the Extra Deck.

Ritual Monsters

Ritual Monsters have recently come back into the game thanks to Nekroz decks. They are special monsters that are Special Summon only and must be summoned by a Ritual Spell Card. "Magician of Black Chaos"(http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Magician_of_Black_Chaos) is a strong Ritual Monster that requires tributes that equal level 8 or higher (for example, two level 4's. The layout's of each card will be described later). Ritual Monsters can be summoned from the Graveyard, but they MUST BE SUMMONED CORRECTLY FIRST. I cannot stress that enough. For example, you can summon "Magician of Black Chaos" from the Graveyard if you correctly Ritual Summoned it first, but you CAN NOT summon it from the Graveyard if it was discarded from your hand or deck by a card effect. Ritual Monsters are indicated with a blue border.

Xyz Monsters

Xyz Monsters are some of the most recent additions to the game. They require a certain number of Monsters of the same level to be overlaid to summon. For example, "Number 39: Utopia" (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Number_39:_Utopia) requires two monsters, each of Level 4 to summon. Xyz Monsters do not have Levels, but rather have Ranks. All Xyz Monsters I am aware of have effects which can massively impact the game. Xyz Monsters (like Fusion and Ritual Monsters) CAN NOT be special summoned from the Graveyard unless the are properly summoned first. Xyz Monsters are indicated with a black border and they are placed in the Extra Deck.

Syncro Monsters

Syncro Monsters are also new additions. They require at least one 'Tuner' and another monster to summon but the Levels of the 'Tuner' Monster and the other Monster(s) must equal the Level of the Syncro Monster. For example, "Lightning Warrior" (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Lightning_Warrior) requires 1 'Tuner' and at least 1 other monster and the levels of all the monsters used must equal 7 in order to summon it. All Syncro Monsters I am aware of have effects. Syncro Monsters (Like Fusion, Ritual and Xyz Monsters) CAN NOT be summoned from the Graveyard unless they were correctly Syncro Summoned first. Syncro Monsters are indicated by a white border and are placed in the Extra Deck.

Pendulum Monsters

Pendulum Monsters are new additions and I'll admit, I don't know much about them. You can have two Pendulum Monsters in what is called a "Pendulum Zone" each Pendulum Monster has a Pendulum Scale. I'll explain all of this more thoroughly when I go through each summoning method. When Pendulum Monsters are destroyed while in the Pendulum Zone, they are placed face up in the Extra Deck and can be special summoned from that moment onwards to the field (not back to a Pendulum Zone). Pendulum Monsters are indicated with a Yellow-to-Green border (or Orange-to-Green if it is an Effect Pendulum Monster).