Game Play Rules

Ok, so now you know what the card types do and the basic rules of summoning, you next need to know the rules and how the game is played.

Game Play

The game is played in turns, which consist of 6 phases of play. In the old days the youngest player had the first turn, but now who goes first and second is decided through "Rock, Paper, Scissors". Follow the phase rules and you should avoid most arguments.

Draw Phase

This is the first phase of the game. Both players start with 5 cards in their hand and draw 1 card during their Draw Phase unless it is the first turn of the duel and you have the first move. Personally, I don't see what difference it makes if the first player draws a card or not. I don't get too upset if they do. If you're playing in a tournament, you will not be allowed to draw, but if you're playing against friends for fun, I don't think it matters, but ask them first. The turn then continues to the Standby Phase.

Standby Phase

Nothing happens in this phase unless it is mentioned in a card effect. You can use this phase to plan the rest of your turn. In most cases you can skip this phase. As soon as you play a card, it becomes your Main Phase 1.

Main Phase 1

Your first Main Phase is when you can Summon your Monsters and Set your spell and Trap cards (face down, vertical). You can also activate Spell Cards during this phase. Many Effects can activate during this phase and there is no limit to the number of effects that can be activated in a turn.

Battle Phase

This is the phase where you can attack your opponents Monsters or attack them directly and cause damage to their Life Points. Most Trap Cards can be activated during this phase, so be wary when attacking.

Main Phase 2

This phase works exactly like Main Phase 1. You can activate more spells, set more Traps or Monsters and Normal Summon a Monster (if you haven't already). You can not Flip Summon a Monster if you Set it during your Main Phase 1. You can continue to Special Summon during this phase.

End Phase

This is the last phase of your turn. Some effects activate during this phase, normally allowing you to add cards from your deck to your hand or inflict more damage to your opponent's Life Points. The Rules only allow for a maximum of 6 cards in your hand at the end of a turn, so if you have 7 cards or more, you must discard until you have 6 cards in your hand. There is no restrictions on what cards can be discarded, so if you find yourself in this situation, try and discard high level Monsters that you can Special Summon from your Graveyard or rid your hand of "Dead Draws". It then becomes your opponent's turn and they will go through the same 6 phases.

Winning (or Losing) the Duel

You win the Duel when you meet 1 of 4 Victory Conditions. You lose the Duel when your opponent meets 1 of the 4 Victory Conditions.

Life Points

Both players start the Duel with 8000 Life Points. Life Points can be depleted through Battle Damage (which occurs during the Battle Phase) when you attack, or opponent attacks. Battle Damage is calculated in one of four ways.

1) If you attack an opponents attack mode Monster (your Monster must be in attack mode to attack) and your opponents Monster is weaker, your opponents Monster is sent to the Graveyard and the difference between the two Monster's ATK points is subtracted from your opponents Life Points. For example, your Monster has 1700 ATK points and your opponent's Monster has 1300 ATK points. 1700-1300=400 so your opponent will subtract 400 Life Points from their total.

2) If you attack an opponent's attack mode Monster and your Monster is weaker (due to your opponent activating an effect or you decide to suicide your Monster) your Monster is sent to the Graveyard and you take the difference between the two Monsters from your Life Points. For example, if your Monster has 2000 ATK points and your opponents Monster has 3000 ATK. 3000-2000=1000 so you will subtract 1000 Life Points from your total.

3) If you attack an opponents defence mode Monster who is stronger than your Monster (their Monster may have been face down when you attacked which flipped it and the Monster has more DEF points than your Monster's ATK points, or your opponent activates an effect) neither Monster is sent to the Graveyard and you take damage equal to the difference between your Monster's ATK and your opponents Monster's DEF. For example, your Monster has 1800 ATK points and your opponents Monster has 2500 DEF points. 2500-1800=700 so you subtract 700 points from your total.

4) Your attack mode Monster attack your opponents Life Points directly. When this occurs, your opponent subtracts the ATK points of your Monster from their Life Points. For example, your Monster has 2500 ATK points so your opponent subtracts 2500 points from their total.

Life Points are not lost if the attack is negated, if both Monsters have equal ATK points (this results in both Monsters being sent to the Graveyard) or if you destroy an opponents Monster whose DEF points is lower than your Monsters ATK points.

Life Points can be lost by other means. Your opponent may activate Spell, Trap or Monster effects that inflict damage to your Life Points (or you can do the same to them). You or your opponent may activate Spell, Trap or Monster cards effects that require the player to pay Life Points to use.

You win the Duel if your opponents Life Points reach 0 before yours. You lose the Duel if your Life Points reach 0 before your opponents. If both players Life Points reach 0 at the same time due to a card effect, the Duel is declared a Draw.

Surrender

If you or your opponent place a hand on top of their Deck and do not Draw a card they are considered to have Surrendered and you are declared the winner (or your opponent is declared the winner of you Surrender) regardless of Life Points.

Deck Out

The game requires each player to Draw a card at the start of every turn. If you or your opponent have no cards left in your deck, the other player wins the Duel regardless of Life Points. To make this clearer, if you can not draw a card at the start of your turn, you lose the Duel. If your opponent can not draw a card at the start of their turn, you win the Duel. There are cards that have effects that don't allow you or your opponent to draw a card. This does not result in a Deck Out because you may still have cards in your Deck, however, if this effect activates while you or your opponent have no left in your deck, you (or your opponent) will not Deck Out when the turn begins because the effect would prevent the player from drawing a card so they wouldn't be able to draw even if they could. Instead, they will Deck Out on their next turn.

Alternate Victory Condition (AVC)

Some Cards allow a player to be declared the winner if they complete a specific requirement, or a set of requirements, legally. A common AVC is Exodia. If a holds all 5 pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One" then that player is declared the winner. A less common AVC is to summon "Horakhty, the Creator God of Light". I have pulled this off in the Traditional Format where banned cards are allowed to be used, but I am yet to see this done without the use of cards like "Return From the Different Dimension". Even using banned cards it requires a large amount of planning and a bit of luck. To summon "Horakhty" you must tribute three Monsters whose original names are "Obelisk the Tormentor", "Slifer the Sky Dragon" and "The Winged Dragon of Ra" (the three Egyptian God Cards) so to do it legally requires you to tribute 12 Monsters (3 for each God Card and then the Gods themselves). "Horakhty" is a Special Summon Only Monster and when legally summoned, the player wins the Duel.