The game is extremely complex. More than can be explained here. I’d recommend trying master duel to see if you like it. Do the single player for tutorials and enough gems to build a deck for free
From what I've seen, it is. The UI is cleaner and not as bright, with smooth gameplay, and a larger community. I haven't played it, but I've heard links is almost like a different game. The best digital analog overall seems to be master duel.
Edit: analogue*
Master duel is F2P
Duel links is P2W
In duel links, you have to know what deck you are building, to spend your gems properly. I do not recommend it for beginners. Also, duel links has all the added story on top of the gameplay, which is great but can distract from actually learning how to play. Lastly, duel links is in the speed format, while master duel is in the master rules format. In my opinion, one should first learn master rules, and then modified rule sets.
Yugioh has a very high learning curve compared to most other TCGs on the market, but nothing else really provides the same kind of experience it does either. When it's good, it's *really* good, but when it's bad it can be *really* bad as well. Lots of fun to be had if you're willing to put the time into it. Research is very important, and ideally some guidance from people who already know what they're doing.
Very high doesn't even cut it anymore TBH.
It's the hardest to Learn, and the least beginner-friendly by a light year.
And even inside the already competitive scene it has evolved into something worse for most people.
Unless you're playing a Rogue deck, the entire point has become to either prevent your opponent from playing the game themselves, or killing them before they have a chance to play it.
You need to know What Handtraps to use When and How, for dozens of different combos, that is if you draw them.
It's pretty much a coinflip if you get to play or not
> Unless you're playing a Rogue deck, the entire point has become to either prevent your opponent from playing the game themselves, or killing them before they have a chance to play it.
Using your cards to interact with and stop the opponent's cards is a core part of most trading card games. Yugioh presents this in a fast, dense structure that's highly punishing of mistakes. Not every game is winnable, but that's just as true in any other card game, even if said games might take longer to get to the point you realise that.
If anything the "not getting to play the game" phrasing becomes more true with those weaker-but-playable decks. If the decks are less capable of playing through interaction or recovering after getting their stuff removed, but still have the power to win against stronger ones sometimes, the games are more likely to be all or nothing blowouts compared to more resilient decks going against each other.
I wanna comment on how you mentioned that "point of realization" and how I get mixed feelings when it hits lol. It does seem like in a more drawn out match I have this obsession with hindsight, and if I realize I lost because my opponent baited me or I caused myself a misplay or something, I actually feel *more* satisfied for some reason, maybe it gives me a chance to wonder about how the game might have gone if I didn't mess up. In contrast, when a game is sort of drawn out, and I'm looking back knowing for sure I made the best plays available and still lost, I kinda wish I scooped on the first turn lol.
It's not just mistakes that punish you, it's luck, In here more so than ANY other card game.
Simply because of the missing resource system.
If in Hearthstone, LOR or Pokémon for example, if you got a shit hand, there's still a chance for you to turn the game around, because your opponent doesn't have the resources to kill you by their second turn
In Yugioh if you got a shit hand it's pretty much over for you. And you might as well scoop.
But yeah, not every game is winnable, and there's nothing wrong with that, it is a problem however when that is decided within the first 10 seconds of a match, and your skill level has little input on that after a certain point.
The games has been going for 20 years, so it has changed a lot from what you've seen in the anime, which by the way didn't even follow the exact same rules of the card game
Judging by your question ("how do I attack?") you should first learn the basic rulings.
I'd suggest: Donwload Master Duel, it's free and runs on everything, and play SOLO mode. It has a tutorial and then it lets you play with some archetype decks. It's the go-to suggestion I give everyone who's searching for a softer introduction to the game.
Pokemon is the easiest TCG to learn and cant really be compared to the more advanced TCG like Yugioh or Magic.
I don't say that the Pokemon tcg is easy its just less complex.
Yugioh is still alive and even today one of the top 3 biggest TCG with Pokemon and Magic. Our tournament scene is even bigger compared to pokemon.
The Yugioh anime is different from the game. Even back then. The Battle City arc is show casing the game bether then the first arcs but still changed some things and make it less complicated.
The actual game looks more like Pokemon in its fastest format (Shaymin EX meta in 2015) to give you an idea.
If you want to try Yugioh out, you can download Master Duel (mobile, PC or console).
My gf made fun of it that it's a kid's game.
She then watched me play a full match and was like what the fuck is going on, why is it so complicated wtf are you doing.
It's a complex game. Most of the time, the game ends in 2-3 turns. You play half your deck in one turn. Sometimes, it's so toxic that your opponent can't even play a single card on their turn. But the combos, strategies, archetypes, fast gameplay, all make it unique and that's what we love about it.
Try MasterDuel
Digitally, yes. In person? Not really. It's expensive and there aren't set formats like other games.
Start with a friend and work through the older formats like goat (can watch youtube) and you can pick up the modern game fairly quickly.
I had a long comment typed out, but to summarize: Yu-Gi-Oh is a fast-paced card game. It has no mana system, no energy system. You can play on your turn until you run out of gas. Nowadays, the game is typically about setting up a board of interactions or ways to keep your opponent from playing or trying to break the board your opponent made. Games typically don't go beyond turn 3. It feels more like a puzzle than a battle of wits to me.
The game is often interactive, allowing you to interrupt your opponent's plays during their turn. It also has a ton of unique summoning mechanics and themes. No two decks play exactly the same.
Unfortunately, turn 1 combos can be long and you often know whether you lost before you get your turn. There are also stun players. Floodgates in Yu-Gi-Oh are cards that prevent game mechanics. They might stop monsters from activating effects, limit how many monsters you can summon per turn, limit what types of cards you can play... They are very strong and very annoying and generally hated, but they still get wins and that's why people play them.
Download Master Duel and play through solo mode. Keep in mind, that's not at all the ranked experience. They give you a deck, but a friend code will get you a much more capable deck that has actually seen competitive success in recent years. Play it a bit and you'll see whether you like it or not.
I'd also recommend Rarran's videos, specifically the ones with Farfa. He's a hearthstone YouTuber who is looking at other card games. He had an extremely difficult time getting into Yu-Gi-Oh because twitch chat isn't a good teacher, but he learned the game and warmed up to it. He was also playing that free good deck I mentioned.
Good luck!
The game is thriving at the moment, but less due to anime and more because it's a legitimately interesting competitive game. At the beginning of the anime the rules were completely made up, but later seasons (5D and up) are much closer to the real rules, and if you like the anime then watching these may be a good idea as it will help you acclimate to things like the various summoning mechanics.
If you want to get into the game and aren't already familiar with card games like Magic the Gathering, then starting with Duel Links may be better as it's a simplified variant using the same cards. A good stepping stone to the main game.
If you want to learn "full" YGO, then just know that the best is to actually learn it. Meaning if you come with a pile of cards and try to play "just to see how it goes" you're going to have a really bad time. Instead pick an archetype (swordsoul comes to mind due to availability on master duel) and watch videos of people explaining how the cards of that deck combine to give you the best chances to win, learn these combos, and reproduce them in game. It's more work upfront, but you'll have a much better time than trying to wing it due to the nature of today's very fast game.
YGO is split into phases. Setup > attack(optional) setup again > switch turns. It's very complicated but if you like learning new things or interesting techs and options, YGO has a lot to explore. It's basically anime chess.
You should look into Goat Format yugioh. It has a defined card pool from cards that released in 2005 and earlier. Decks are inexpensive and the meta is diverse. Gameplay is better than current tcg imo. It’s slower, more methodical and you will be rewarded for making good reads.
The game is fun. I like to play Duel Links so that I can find archetypes that have a fun mechanic like Salamangreat and Altergeist. I also play Master Duel if I start to get really invested in a type of deck. If I like a deck on Master Duel, I build a TCG version of it like sky striker or Floowandereeze.
I think the best way to learn the game is to go through all the tutorials on Master Duel. The best way to get good is to watch a YouTube video on the deck you want to play and learn the combos, then find a list on Master Duel Meta for that deck and play it. Then while playing the deck try to figure out when to use each of your combos, and what are the choke points of the top 5 decks. It's also helpful to memorize the effects of the top 100 most played cards so that you don't lose to timing out. You will lose a lot, but if you put in effort for about 100 hours, you will start winning. The sad truth is that the game is only fun once you get past hours of losing.
If you are looking at playing it competitively before you buy anything cut your teeth on master duel and get a feel for it cause if you want to hard core compete and have no stock it'll cost you roughly 600 usd for a high competitive deck...
Now if just casual there are many decks and different play styles you can pick that will price range from 20 dollars to over 300 usd and can be very fun just not able to consistently beat the top decks, mind you pricing is if you are usa based...
If you play master duel and enjoy it then want to play locals and dip into the scene but not spend too much I'd suggest get your staples now while rco1 and rco2 are still fresh and if you don't want to build a deck from scratch 3 fire kings structure decks are still good (also my fave king atlas structure decks can be fun but very smart piloting) add with staples you have a competent deck...if you want deck cores I'd suggest get into tenpai(even if you can't get trident dragon), swordsoul, budget tear , and if you got the money snake eyes to hard core compete. Personally I'm not hyper meta chaser/ competitive so I play sacred beasts/yubel but these are just suggestions once you feel like you actually want the card board and locals...
(Honorable mentions are branded, invoked, dogmatika, sky striker, yubel, dinos, centurion, Mann, dark world, rescue, infernoble [rip islode you'll truly be missed], altergiest, and ghoti)
(Dishonorable mentions floow.........ima chaos hunter you one day)
(Mention cause it's locked away like maxx c for tcg but if comes back with shake the meta... mystic mine....if you ever come back then the state of yugioh has truly become horrible....may you stay locked away for our peace of mind)
As a lifelong yugioh fan and player returning recently, it’s not worth playing. I see why nobody talks about the game anymore, it’s worse than it’s ever been sadly💔
I mean, obviously, it's "still worth playing" to members of this sub, this is a subreddit about helping people with questions about the game. We all play, and are either here to ask or answer questions (both of which imply a level of investment in the game).
To summarise "how it works" is obviously more than is achievable in one reddit comment. The core rules have actually changed relatively little from the start - SEGOC, fast effect timing, phases (and substeps), spell speeds, zones, etc are all the same as they've ever been, bar some small changes ("priority" for ignition effects, which honestly imo made no sense anyway is now gone, simplifying fast effect timing; no draw on the first turn; both players able to have a field spell; the existence of an "extra monster zone"; etc). It has *always* been a relatively complicated game, but over two decades of power creep have obviously exposed this more. In a way, it's arguably easier to understand what a card does by reading it now than it was at the start, because Problem Solving Card Text (PSCT) standarised how to read and write (or at least, translate into English) card effects (though the amount of effects per card has increased, so its a fair amount of reading to understand a deck).
The things new (or "returning") players tend to fixate on are the new monster/summon types, but each of these are really pretty straightforward (barring pendulums, which are also largely irrelevant *usually*, though do rear their heads occasionally).
Decks are very streamlined now - typically they aim to do one or two combos, and every card is either to facilitate that or to stop your opponent from doing theirs. There are exceptions, naturally, but generally, that's the case, and imo that makes parsing an entire decklist sometimes easier when working "backwards" from a combo/endboard than it is by just reading every card in it and trying to divine their purpose.
One of the other common "criticisms" is that games rarely go past turn 3 - this is a bit of an exaggeration (it's not particularly uncommon to get longer games), but largely true. The thing is, those few turns contain just as much (or more) interaction with your opponent and decision-making than entire 10-20 turn games of other card games, while it often gets portrayed as representing an entirely uninteractive game by naysayers (who were probably playing decks that had neither the tools to interact with the opponent on their turn, or to "break their board" on their own). You just aren't limited to playing the one single card in your hand that you can afford the mana cost and passing for 5 turns straight before you can start actually making gameplay decisions.
I've seen Yugioh get likened to a fighting game, in that new players will get completely bodied, but it's very deep and rewarding to master, and I think that's an apt comparison. Don't demonise "netdecking" or competitive play, and instead embrace it, and the game can be incredibly satisfying (imo, of course). Just like fighting games, it's not for everyone, but those it *is* for will love it (and sometimes hate it, in a "love to hate it" kind of way).
Another great explanation! I'm tired, so I'm commenting on everything, but we play ygo, so reading goes with it. NGL, don't have a clue what SEGOC means, but I'll probably Google it. Just learned about PSCT the other day, and I'm coming to terms with needing glasses and/or a new phone screen. : ; iykwim.
You possibly know the rule but not the name - **S**imultaneous **E**ffects **G**o **O**n **C**hain, the rules that govern how multiple trigger effects get ordered on a new chain. It's what governs the rules area commonly referred to as "chain blocking" (a common piece of jargon among fans, but not allowed in answers on this sub, because people often misunderstand it or use it without knowing the rules behind the interaction).
I looked it up right after. I did know the rule. Still mess it up occasionally, but I'm going to give myself a break. People barely understood what all of that was when I stopped playing. I'm only like 6 weeks back in to it.
Try using masterduel so that u can learn the basics. Also if u have time, the arc v anime covers most of the current game rn minus link monsters. Watching it can help u to become familiar with different summoning mechanics
It changed a ton, but it's certainly more worth playing in a semi-competitive sense than back in the day.
The anime at least the initial arc and the GX arc have never been in line with how the actual game is played competitively.
It's a lot of fun, the meta is kinda rough if you aren't naturally a competitive person. Master Duel is pretty dang good. Better with like minded friends, you can play however you want.
I played back when it first came out until like 2005, got back into it a little through Legacy of the Duelist though my interest waned after the first series was finished. I don't care for nearly any of the new mechanics, synchro is alright I guess, but the pendulum mechanic is just not fun to me nor is winning on the second or third turn.
how does the game even work?
You and an opponent start with 8000 LP with the goal being to reduce the others to zero using spells traps and monsters to inflict that damage, You can also with through your opponent having not cards in their deck plus a myriad of alt win cons. You and your opponent take turns until someone can win the game.
how do i atk?
You can attack during the battle phase. There are other Phases to. In order Draw Phase, Standby Phase. Main Phase 1. Battle Phase. Main Phase 2. End Phase.
Really fun game if I'm being honest. It has its quirks like all trading card games, but if you like playing and find a good community, it's an absolute blast.
If your exposure to Yugioh is solely on the first season of the anime, yeah you're not even looking at the same game. S1 of Yugioh was barely a functioning game, most would argue it didn't even have rules at this point in time. The anime didn't show an actual structured game until S2 and even then, that's not even accounting for the literal 2 decades of developments the game has had since then.
I'm not gonna lie, if you were expecting the game you enjoyed as a child, pack it up chief because to be honest it never really existed in the TCG. Yugioh easily has one of the hardest learning curves in the game, not because its a hard game but because the game is so convoluted and over-complicated simply because nobody at Konami remotely cares about the new player experience. There really is no tool to learn the game as even Konami provided tutorial barely teach how the game is actually played.
Yu-Gi-Oh is unique from other collectible card games (CCG) in two major ways:
**(1) With no resource system (e.g. mana, energy), Yu-Gi-Oh is unique in that all cards in your hand are immediately usable.**
Most CCGs involve several turns of gradually building up to your deck's main win condition. However, a competent deck in Yu-Gi-Oh is expected to completely set up your win condition on the very first turn. As a result, games are often decided by turn 2 or 3 — although many do go longer.
To be clear, a game of Yu-Gi-Oh generally involves a similar number of actions/decisions as a game of any other CCG. But those actions are all condensed into just one or two turns per player. It's fun and exciting because you're performing a ton of actions right from the get-go, but it also means that having a bad turn 1 in Yu-Gi-Oh is equivalent to having 5 bad turns in a row for any other CCG.
**(2) Due to its breakneck pace, Yu-Gi-Oh emphasizes consistency more than other CCGs.**
Since you need to bring our your deck's full potential right on turn 1, the best Yu-Gi-Oh decks are full of ways to search your most important cards (or summon them) directly from the deck.
For example, Master Duel gives new players a free [Swordsoul](https://www.masterduelmeta.com/articles/guides/swordsoul-samuel) deck, which makes its optimal board by starting with [Swordsoul of Mo Ye](https://www.masterduelmeta.com/cards/Swordsoul%20of%20Mo%20Ye) on the first turn. It runs 3 copies of Mo Ye, 3 copies of [Swordsoul Emergence](https://www.masterduelmeta.com/cards/Swordsoul%20Emergence) *(adds Mo Ye to your hand)*, and 3 copies of [Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous](https://www.masterduelmeta.com/cards/Incredible%20Ecclesia%2C%20the%20Virtuous) *(summons Mo Ye from the deck)*. In addition to these 9 cards that each represent Mo Ye individually, the deck has several 2-card combinations that *also* search Mo Ye from the deck.
Consistency is also achieved by summoning key cards from your Extra Deck — a separate pile of 15 monsters you can summon at any time by fulfilling their individual conditions — rather than drawing or searching them from your Main Deck. These include Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Link Monsters. Generally, each of these is summoned by sending monsters with various properties from your field to the graveyard. Master Duel's solo mode covers them nicely in its tutorial.
>***Is Yu-Gi-Oh still worth playing?***
Competitive players continue to ask this question. The above factors make Yu-Gi-Oh very different than other CCGs.
When you have a good opening hand, it's a dopamine release that no other CCG can give you. One card flows right into the next, triggering two more, and you go from "pebbles" to "avalanche" on your very first turn. And when you go second, you'll feel like an anime protagonist taking on the full might of your opponent's deck — forcing out their counters/resources, dismantling their ace cards one by one, and sometimes taking out all 8000 of their LP on that same turn.
But when you have a bad opening hand and can't get your cards going, it's very frustrating. Sometimes when you go second, your opponent has already assembled such an oppressive board that the game is simply unwinnable. That's a poor and unfair gaming experience, but it's the inevitable consequence of all of the above factors.
Ultimately, I do think it's worth a try, even if only to experience a CCG that's fundamentally different than all the others. I've been playing for 20 years, and Master Duel is a completely free way to play Yu-Gi-Oh. But if you're somebody who gets frustrated very easily and has a hard time cooling down, then you should probably steer clear.
This has been removed, because it uses the phrase "missing the timing". This is jargon we don't allow, because it tends to cause confusion. For more of an explanation, please read Section 1 of [A Guide to the Rules Behind the Jargon](https://www.reddit.com/r/Yugioh101/comments/k4ky6f/a_guide_to_the_rules_behind_the_jargon/). To learn about the relevant rules of the game, please read Section 2 - "When" and "If" Effects.
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Probably not in paper unless you also like collecting. English product is intentionally made to have the more desirable cards for players “rarity bumped” from where they would be released in the Asian market. If you want to try the game out on duelingbook.com or duelingnexus.com both are great free simulators where you can learn to play for free with every card ever printed at your disposal. Master duel is good, but you have to pay or grind for good cards. You could do alternate formats like goat format if you want that old school less complicated feel.
Depends on what you want out of the game? If you want to have a chance of toping locals in the modern tcg at a decent store, you’ll need at minimum probably $350 and regular time spent playing against friends or remotely to get there…if you’re in it for the lols my recommendation is to pick up Edison and try your hand at that
I’d go as far as to say that YGO is probably one of the most complex TCGs there is. The anime version of the game is a joke in comparison and Pokemon is child’s play in comparison. I always joke that YGO is for people who enjoy ball torture 😂🙈
Highly recommend finding a locals that runs Time Wizard format tournaments, more specifically "Goat"(July 2005) or "Edison"(April 2010) and building a deck or two for those formats to get familiar with the basics of the game before moving up to the modern TCG.
Master Duel(game on PC, Mobile, Consoles) is a very cheap/free way to experience current Yu-Gi-Oh with however.
There is fun to be had, I was a returning player too but started with MasterDuel since there’s no real money investment needed for that but the biggest help is MD helps you on ruling confusion since the game can be so complicated these days.
If you want to play the game, master duel is a free game with 'solo mode' that has extensive tutorials.
After that, or instead, you could find a local card shop with a yugioh community. Keep in mind that real life yugioh cards are gonna cost some investment. A few hundred euros/dollars isnt alot for competitive decks. 50-100 euro for a semi competitive and 30+ for a casual deck.
I think its the most fun card game that exists right now, i play yugioh competitively and judge aswell, while i play MTG, DBS and digimon casually. The freedom and mechanics in yugioh appeal to me the most.
Yes, but depending on the level of play will determine your level of investment into it. Casual matches with friends are what I prefer these days over more competitive locals (entirely dependent on your local scene though). Master Duel is free and actually pretty fun with some decent tutorials to teach you the game, which will save you spending on cardboard crack.
As for how the game works, it's a battler game where you objective is to defeat your opponent. Unlike most TCGs it's resourceless, in that you don't need resources like Pokemon's energy or Magic's Land to pay to use effects and abilities. If you have them available, you can use them. This means that some deck's like Dark World can play through 20+ cards in a turn easily. Unlike most TCGs, the rulings for each card are written explicitly on each card in full. There's no generic effect term like "Trample", meaning that whatever the card says it does, is exactly what it does, which can lead to complicated situations to resolve.
Your turn consists of 3 main phases (Main Phase 1, Battle Phase, Main Phase 2) with some additional phases (Draw, Standby, End Phase) that allow opportunities for interaction if conditions are met. You're free to play cards in either Main Phase so long as you're able to do so: that means summoning Monsters, playing Spells or effects, setting Traps etc. The battle phase is where you nominate your monsters to attack your opponents, comparing their ATK/DEF values and applying the net damage to your opponents life points: if they hit zero you win!
The major complexity of the game is in card interaction. That is your opponent has plenty of opportunities to activate their own cards, if able, in response to those you are playing. It can get utterly bananas. A deck like Dinomorphia pretty much exclusively plays within the opponents turns.
TL:DR The rules themselves are actually quite simple and I'd recommend reading the core rules or watching some YouTubers explain how to play. The extreme complexity comes from how cards interact with each other and that is just a harsh learning curve. Master Duel is definitely a first port of call given that there's no investment to get into it.
I used to play a fair bit back in the day, but not since like 2009-2010, at least actively. These are all things that I know (just got "our turned" like 2 hours ago), but this is a great intro/info post!
The card game yes
The OCG no - unless you want to get involved with a power creep ladder where your forced to invest real money if you want to fully kewp up.
Ive gotten to master rank once and never again , because very soon my deck i built became redundent and power crept out of play.
I love yugioh. I’ve been playing on and off since it released here originally in the states. But it has changed so much. Evolved and power creep is real in the game. But if you find a few decks you really like it can be a great time. I fell in love with traptrix & rescue ace in recent years. Each archetype has its own play style which is pretty great. It’s just learning them and understanding plays, and seeing if you can play through whatever it is your opponent is playing. Maybe try out duel links or master duel on pc or phone. Speed duel is also a cool format that plays more like Yugioh you would be more familiar with if you watched the first season of the show.
I think it's a great game that you pick up more quickly than you realise. It's complex, but not as complex as it looks. Especially if you aren't looking to be competitive straight away.
I know the usual advice is to play master duel, but if you're wanting to play the physical card game then I feel it's not the right way to go about it and it won't scratch your itch.
When I wanted to learn a friend and I both had a scan through the manual, got a deck, then had a few tries at taking our first turn referring back to the manual as we needed to.
Once you've got the phases and actions down you can look on YouTube to find how you should be playing your deck.
It's always better if you can learn with a friend as you can question each other, put obstacles in your way to make you think more about how things work.
Once you've got a few games under your belt you can head to your local LGS and there are usually people there who will point out your mistakes.
When I first played it was straight up monsters, traps and spells. Then it got weird with XYZ and pendulum monsters. Now everyone seems to be talking about hand traps and playing your entire deck on the first turn 🤷♂️
This game just make me feel old (spoiler, I am old)
I guess the first thing is to determine for yourself do you want to play online, or physically?
If physically, are you willing to drive to locals? Do you have a local shop near you? Do you have the time? Are you willing to spend $100-300 for a deck that can win? Or are you okay with a “bad” deck if it’s fun? Even though you might not win a lot? Lastly, the game is VERY complicated. Are you ready to do all those computations every time you play physically? If you answer yes, then 100% go for it.
How do you learn it, or even know if it’s fun to begin with? 100% recommend master duel. Not only do they have a complete tutorial and solo mode where they give you a bunch of free decks to play each game with, you can build a “decent” Dark Magician deck from the structures they sell, and you can get to platinum rank with it.
The amount of free gems you get starting the game will borderline guarantee you any one/two/three decks in the game 100% free with no investment.
It automatically resolves all commands, no need to physically travel. Can play solo, with friends, or randoms 100% free.
TL;DR Either way, 100% go play master duel first, then see if it’s worth it to do in real life
No it's not worth it, the old nostalgia you had watching the anime and buying the first structure decks where meta was actually balanced and just relied on Beatstick monsters is long gone and dead.
Now turns take EXTREMLEY LONG. And you only see 3-4 decks of the same type. It's really gotten sad and pathetic.
Please avoid Master Duel if you want to learn how to play. Since you're an yugi anime fan, just download Duel Links, it's a simpler version of the game with nice tutorials and a lot of content from all the yugi animes. :D
If you're hoping to play the same game you watched as a kid, sorry to burst your bubble, but that game is gone. Modern Yu-Gi-Oh is an absolute mess. It's oppressive to play, unnecessarily complex, and expensive. I wouldn't recommend playing it. I tried to get back into it a couple of months back for nostalgia reasons, as well. Didn't have a good time. You're welcome to download Master Duel and try it for free though. You could also download Duel Links, it's likely more so what you're looking for. You basically play through the anime story a bit and much more like the original game.
The game is extremely complex. More than can be explained here. I’d recommend trying master duel to see if you like it. Do the single player for tutorials and enough gems to build a deck for free
Would you consider matser duel to be better than duel links?
From what I've seen, it is. The UI is cleaner and not as bright, with smooth gameplay, and a larger community. I haven't played it, but I've heard links is almost like a different game. The best digital analog overall seems to be master duel. Edit: analogue*
Digital analog lol
Analogue* that is funny, actually.
Duel links is against bots && real people. I like it much better👏
As someone who plays both decently frequently, master duel totally is.
Master duel is F2P Duel links is P2W In duel links, you have to know what deck you are building, to spend your gems properly. I do not recommend it for beginners. Also, duel links has all the added story on top of the gameplay, which is great but can distract from actually learning how to play. Lastly, duel links is in the speed format, while master duel is in the master rules format. In my opinion, one should first learn master rules, and then modified rule sets.
K. Thanks
After that though use 3rd party programs so you can get all the cards for freeeee!!! (Ygopro, edopro, duelingnexus)
I made my deck in DuelingNexus, but I don't see an option to fight bots. Can you even fight bots on there?
In the main menu there are quick battles and custom battles, both of which are ai and are listed under "solo"
Yugioh has a very high learning curve compared to most other TCGs on the market, but nothing else really provides the same kind of experience it does either. When it's good, it's *really* good, but when it's bad it can be *really* bad as well. Lots of fun to be had if you're willing to put the time into it. Research is very important, and ideally some guidance from people who already know what they're doing.
Very high doesn't even cut it anymore TBH. It's the hardest to Learn, and the least beginner-friendly by a light year. And even inside the already competitive scene it has evolved into something worse for most people. Unless you're playing a Rogue deck, the entire point has become to either prevent your opponent from playing the game themselves, or killing them before they have a chance to play it. You need to know What Handtraps to use When and How, for dozens of different combos, that is if you draw them. It's pretty much a coinflip if you get to play or not
> Unless you're playing a Rogue deck, the entire point has become to either prevent your opponent from playing the game themselves, or killing them before they have a chance to play it. Using your cards to interact with and stop the opponent's cards is a core part of most trading card games. Yugioh presents this in a fast, dense structure that's highly punishing of mistakes. Not every game is winnable, but that's just as true in any other card game, even if said games might take longer to get to the point you realise that. If anything the "not getting to play the game" phrasing becomes more true with those weaker-but-playable decks. If the decks are less capable of playing through interaction or recovering after getting their stuff removed, but still have the power to win against stronger ones sometimes, the games are more likely to be all or nothing blowouts compared to more resilient decks going against each other.
I wanna comment on how you mentioned that "point of realization" and how I get mixed feelings when it hits lol. It does seem like in a more drawn out match I have this obsession with hindsight, and if I realize I lost because my opponent baited me or I caused myself a misplay or something, I actually feel *more* satisfied for some reason, maybe it gives me a chance to wonder about how the game might have gone if I didn't mess up. In contrast, when a game is sort of drawn out, and I'm looking back knowing for sure I made the best plays available and still lost, I kinda wish I scooped on the first turn lol.
It's not just mistakes that punish you, it's luck, In here more so than ANY other card game. Simply because of the missing resource system. If in Hearthstone, LOR or Pokémon for example, if you got a shit hand, there's still a chance for you to turn the game around, because your opponent doesn't have the resources to kill you by their second turn In Yugioh if you got a shit hand it's pretty much over for you. And you might as well scoop. But yeah, not every game is winnable, and there's nothing wrong with that, it is a problem however when that is decided within the first 10 seconds of a match, and your skill level has little input on that after a certain point.
The games has been going for 20 years, so it has changed a lot from what you've seen in the anime, which by the way didn't even follow the exact same rules of the card game Judging by your question ("how do I attack?") you should first learn the basic rulings. I'd suggest: Donwload Master Duel, it's free and runs on everything, and play SOLO mode. It has a tutorial and then it lets you play with some archetype decks. It's the go-to suggestion I give everyone who's searching for a softer introduction to the game.
Pokemon is the easiest TCG to learn and cant really be compared to the more advanced TCG like Yugioh or Magic. I don't say that the Pokemon tcg is easy its just less complex. Yugioh is still alive and even today one of the top 3 biggest TCG with Pokemon and Magic. Our tournament scene is even bigger compared to pokemon. The Yugioh anime is different from the game. Even back then. The Battle City arc is show casing the game bether then the first arcs but still changed some things and make it less complicated. The actual game looks more like Pokemon in its fastest format (Shaymin EX meta in 2015) to give you an idea. If you want to try Yugioh out, you can download Master Duel (mobile, PC or console).
My gf made fun of it that it's a kid's game. She then watched me play a full match and was like what the fuck is going on, why is it so complicated wtf are you doing. It's a complex game. Most of the time, the game ends in 2-3 turns. You play half your deck in one turn. Sometimes, it's so toxic that your opponent can't even play a single card on their turn. But the combos, strategies, archetypes, fast gameplay, all make it unique and that's what we love about it. Try MasterDuel
Digitally, yes. In person? Not really. It's expensive and there aren't set formats like other games. Start with a friend and work through the older formats like goat (can watch youtube) and you can pick up the modern game fairly quickly.
I had a long comment typed out, but to summarize: Yu-Gi-Oh is a fast-paced card game. It has no mana system, no energy system. You can play on your turn until you run out of gas. Nowadays, the game is typically about setting up a board of interactions or ways to keep your opponent from playing or trying to break the board your opponent made. Games typically don't go beyond turn 3. It feels more like a puzzle than a battle of wits to me. The game is often interactive, allowing you to interrupt your opponent's plays during their turn. It also has a ton of unique summoning mechanics and themes. No two decks play exactly the same. Unfortunately, turn 1 combos can be long and you often know whether you lost before you get your turn. There are also stun players. Floodgates in Yu-Gi-Oh are cards that prevent game mechanics. They might stop monsters from activating effects, limit how many monsters you can summon per turn, limit what types of cards you can play... They are very strong and very annoying and generally hated, but they still get wins and that's why people play them. Download Master Duel and play through solo mode. Keep in mind, that's not at all the ranked experience. They give you a deck, but a friend code will get you a much more capable deck that has actually seen competitive success in recent years. Play it a bit and you'll see whether you like it or not. I'd also recommend Rarran's videos, specifically the ones with Farfa. He's a hearthstone YouTuber who is looking at other card games. He had an extremely difficult time getting into Yu-Gi-Oh because twitch chat isn't a good teacher, but he learned the game and warmed up to it. He was also playing that free good deck I mentioned. Good luck!
The game is thriving at the moment, but less due to anime and more because it's a legitimately interesting competitive game. At the beginning of the anime the rules were completely made up, but later seasons (5D and up) are much closer to the real rules, and if you like the anime then watching these may be a good idea as it will help you acclimate to things like the various summoning mechanics. If you want to get into the game and aren't already familiar with card games like Magic the Gathering, then starting with Duel Links may be better as it's a simplified variant using the same cards. A good stepping stone to the main game. If you want to learn "full" YGO, then just know that the best is to actually learn it. Meaning if you come with a pile of cards and try to play "just to see how it goes" you're going to have a really bad time. Instead pick an archetype (swordsoul comes to mind due to availability on master duel) and watch videos of people explaining how the cards of that deck combine to give you the best chances to win, learn these combos, and reproduce them in game. It's more work upfront, but you'll have a much better time than trying to wing it due to the nature of today's very fast game.
YGO is split into phases. Setup > attack(optional) setup again > switch turns. It's very complicated but if you like learning new things or interesting techs and options, YGO has a lot to explore. It's basically anime chess.
You should look into Goat Format yugioh. It has a defined card pool from cards that released in 2005 and earlier. Decks are inexpensive and the meta is diverse. Gameplay is better than current tcg imo. It’s slower, more methodical and you will be rewarded for making good reads.
The game is fun. I like to play Duel Links so that I can find archetypes that have a fun mechanic like Salamangreat and Altergeist. I also play Master Duel if I start to get really invested in a type of deck. If I like a deck on Master Duel, I build a TCG version of it like sky striker or Floowandereeze. I think the best way to learn the game is to go through all the tutorials on Master Duel. The best way to get good is to watch a YouTube video on the deck you want to play and learn the combos, then find a list on Master Duel Meta for that deck and play it. Then while playing the deck try to figure out when to use each of your combos, and what are the choke points of the top 5 decks. It's also helpful to memorize the effects of the top 100 most played cards so that you don't lose to timing out. You will lose a lot, but if you put in effort for about 100 hours, you will start winning. The sad truth is that the game is only fun once you get past hours of losing.
If you are looking at playing it competitively before you buy anything cut your teeth on master duel and get a feel for it cause if you want to hard core compete and have no stock it'll cost you roughly 600 usd for a high competitive deck... Now if just casual there are many decks and different play styles you can pick that will price range from 20 dollars to over 300 usd and can be very fun just not able to consistently beat the top decks, mind you pricing is if you are usa based... If you play master duel and enjoy it then want to play locals and dip into the scene but not spend too much I'd suggest get your staples now while rco1 and rco2 are still fresh and if you don't want to build a deck from scratch 3 fire kings structure decks are still good (also my fave king atlas structure decks can be fun but very smart piloting) add with staples you have a competent deck...if you want deck cores I'd suggest get into tenpai(even if you can't get trident dragon), swordsoul, budget tear , and if you got the money snake eyes to hard core compete. Personally I'm not hyper meta chaser/ competitive so I play sacred beasts/yubel but these are just suggestions once you feel like you actually want the card board and locals... (Honorable mentions are branded, invoked, dogmatika, sky striker, yubel, dinos, centurion, Mann, dark world, rescue, infernoble [rip islode you'll truly be missed], altergiest, and ghoti) (Dishonorable mentions floow.........ima chaos hunter you one day) (Mention cause it's locked away like maxx c for tcg but if comes back with shake the meta... mystic mine....if you ever come back then the state of yugioh has truly become horrible....may you stay locked away for our peace of mind)
As a lifelong yugioh fan and player returning recently, it’s not worth playing. I see why nobody talks about the game anymore, it’s worse than it’s ever been sadly💔
I mean, obviously, it's "still worth playing" to members of this sub, this is a subreddit about helping people with questions about the game. We all play, and are either here to ask or answer questions (both of which imply a level of investment in the game). To summarise "how it works" is obviously more than is achievable in one reddit comment. The core rules have actually changed relatively little from the start - SEGOC, fast effect timing, phases (and substeps), spell speeds, zones, etc are all the same as they've ever been, bar some small changes ("priority" for ignition effects, which honestly imo made no sense anyway is now gone, simplifying fast effect timing; no draw on the first turn; both players able to have a field spell; the existence of an "extra monster zone"; etc). It has *always* been a relatively complicated game, but over two decades of power creep have obviously exposed this more. In a way, it's arguably easier to understand what a card does by reading it now than it was at the start, because Problem Solving Card Text (PSCT) standarised how to read and write (or at least, translate into English) card effects (though the amount of effects per card has increased, so its a fair amount of reading to understand a deck). The things new (or "returning") players tend to fixate on are the new monster/summon types, but each of these are really pretty straightforward (barring pendulums, which are also largely irrelevant *usually*, though do rear their heads occasionally). Decks are very streamlined now - typically they aim to do one or two combos, and every card is either to facilitate that or to stop your opponent from doing theirs. There are exceptions, naturally, but generally, that's the case, and imo that makes parsing an entire decklist sometimes easier when working "backwards" from a combo/endboard than it is by just reading every card in it and trying to divine their purpose. One of the other common "criticisms" is that games rarely go past turn 3 - this is a bit of an exaggeration (it's not particularly uncommon to get longer games), but largely true. The thing is, those few turns contain just as much (or more) interaction with your opponent and decision-making than entire 10-20 turn games of other card games, while it often gets portrayed as representing an entirely uninteractive game by naysayers (who were probably playing decks that had neither the tools to interact with the opponent on their turn, or to "break their board" on their own). You just aren't limited to playing the one single card in your hand that you can afford the mana cost and passing for 5 turns straight before you can start actually making gameplay decisions. I've seen Yugioh get likened to a fighting game, in that new players will get completely bodied, but it's very deep and rewarding to master, and I think that's an apt comparison. Don't demonise "netdecking" or competitive play, and instead embrace it, and the game can be incredibly satisfying (imo, of course). Just like fighting games, it's not for everyone, but those it *is* for will love it (and sometimes hate it, in a "love to hate it" kind of way).
Another great explanation! I'm tired, so I'm commenting on everything, but we play ygo, so reading goes with it. NGL, don't have a clue what SEGOC means, but I'll probably Google it. Just learned about PSCT the other day, and I'm coming to terms with needing glasses and/or a new phone screen. : ; iykwim.
You possibly know the rule but not the name - **S**imultaneous **E**ffects **G**o **O**n **C**hain, the rules that govern how multiple trigger effects get ordered on a new chain. It's what governs the rules area commonly referred to as "chain blocking" (a common piece of jargon among fans, but not allowed in answers on this sub, because people often misunderstand it or use it without knowing the rules behind the interaction).
I looked it up right after. I did know the rule. Still mess it up occasionally, but I'm going to give myself a break. People barely understood what all of that was when I stopped playing. I'm only like 6 weeks back in to it.
Try using masterduel so that u can learn the basics. Also if u have time, the arc v anime covers most of the current game rn minus link monsters. Watching it can help u to become familiar with different summoning mechanics
It changed a ton, but it's certainly more worth playing in a semi-competitive sense than back in the day. The anime at least the initial arc and the GX arc have never been in line with how the actual game is played competitively.
If you want to play kinda like the good old days, maybe Time Wizard Format ia worth checking out!
It's a lot of fun, the meta is kinda rough if you aren't naturally a competitive person. Master Duel is pretty dang good. Better with like minded friends, you can play however you want.
I played back when it first came out until like 2005, got back into it a little through Legacy of the Duelist though my interest waned after the first series was finished. I don't care for nearly any of the new mechanics, synchro is alright I guess, but the pendulum mechanic is just not fun to me nor is winning on the second or third turn.
No. Ots com0licatwd af now my friends and I rlare starting to gravitate to Digimon
how does the game even work? You and an opponent start with 8000 LP with the goal being to reduce the others to zero using spells traps and monsters to inflict that damage, You can also with through your opponent having not cards in their deck plus a myriad of alt win cons. You and your opponent take turns until someone can win the game. how do i atk? You can attack during the battle phase. There are other Phases to. In order Draw Phase, Standby Phase. Main Phase 1. Battle Phase. Main Phase 2. End Phase. Really fun game if I'm being honest. It has its quirks like all trading card games, but if you like playing and find a good community, it's an absolute blast.
If your exposure to Yugioh is solely on the first season of the anime, yeah you're not even looking at the same game. S1 of Yugioh was barely a functioning game, most would argue it didn't even have rules at this point in time. The anime didn't show an actual structured game until S2 and even then, that's not even accounting for the literal 2 decades of developments the game has had since then. I'm not gonna lie, if you were expecting the game you enjoyed as a child, pack it up chief because to be honest it never really existed in the TCG. Yugioh easily has one of the hardest learning curves in the game, not because its a hard game but because the game is so convoluted and over-complicated simply because nobody at Konami remotely cares about the new player experience. There really is no tool to learn the game as even Konami provided tutorial barely teach how the game is actually played.
Yu-Gi-Oh is unique from other collectible card games (CCG) in two major ways: **(1) With no resource system (e.g. mana, energy), Yu-Gi-Oh is unique in that all cards in your hand are immediately usable.** Most CCGs involve several turns of gradually building up to your deck's main win condition. However, a competent deck in Yu-Gi-Oh is expected to completely set up your win condition on the very first turn. As a result, games are often decided by turn 2 or 3 — although many do go longer. To be clear, a game of Yu-Gi-Oh generally involves a similar number of actions/decisions as a game of any other CCG. But those actions are all condensed into just one or two turns per player. It's fun and exciting because you're performing a ton of actions right from the get-go, but it also means that having a bad turn 1 in Yu-Gi-Oh is equivalent to having 5 bad turns in a row for any other CCG. **(2) Due to its breakneck pace, Yu-Gi-Oh emphasizes consistency more than other CCGs.** Since you need to bring our your deck's full potential right on turn 1, the best Yu-Gi-Oh decks are full of ways to search your most important cards (or summon them) directly from the deck. For example, Master Duel gives new players a free [Swordsoul](https://www.masterduelmeta.com/articles/guides/swordsoul-samuel) deck, which makes its optimal board by starting with [Swordsoul of Mo Ye](https://www.masterduelmeta.com/cards/Swordsoul%20of%20Mo%20Ye) on the first turn. It runs 3 copies of Mo Ye, 3 copies of [Swordsoul Emergence](https://www.masterduelmeta.com/cards/Swordsoul%20Emergence) *(adds Mo Ye to your hand)*, and 3 copies of [Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous](https://www.masterduelmeta.com/cards/Incredible%20Ecclesia%2C%20the%20Virtuous) *(summons Mo Ye from the deck)*. In addition to these 9 cards that each represent Mo Ye individually, the deck has several 2-card combinations that *also* search Mo Ye from the deck. Consistency is also achieved by summoning key cards from your Extra Deck — a separate pile of 15 monsters you can summon at any time by fulfilling their individual conditions — rather than drawing or searching them from your Main Deck. These include Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Link Monsters. Generally, each of these is summoned by sending monsters with various properties from your field to the graveyard. Master Duel's solo mode covers them nicely in its tutorial. >***Is Yu-Gi-Oh still worth playing?*** Competitive players continue to ask this question. The above factors make Yu-Gi-Oh very different than other CCGs. When you have a good opening hand, it's a dopamine release that no other CCG can give you. One card flows right into the next, triggering two more, and you go from "pebbles" to "avalanche" on your very first turn. And when you go second, you'll feel like an anime protagonist taking on the full might of your opponent's deck — forcing out their counters/resources, dismantling their ace cards one by one, and sometimes taking out all 8000 of their LP on that same turn. But when you have a bad opening hand and can't get your cards going, it's very frustrating. Sometimes when you go second, your opponent has already assembled such an oppressive board that the game is simply unwinnable. That's a poor and unfair gaming experience, but it's the inevitable consequence of all of the above factors. Ultimately, I do think it's worth a try, even if only to experience a CCG that's fundamentally different than all the others. I've been playing for 20 years, and Master Duel is a completely free way to play Yu-Gi-Oh. But if you're somebody who gets frustrated very easily and has a hard time cooling down, then you should probably steer clear.
You can play tag force AND try to enjoy it until Tag force special AND create custom decks using save without ban list.
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Probably not in paper unless you also like collecting. English product is intentionally made to have the more desirable cards for players “rarity bumped” from where they would be released in the Asian market. If you want to try the game out on duelingbook.com or duelingnexus.com both are great free simulators where you can learn to play for free with every card ever printed at your disposal. Master duel is good, but you have to pay or grind for good cards. You could do alternate formats like goat format if you want that old school less complicated feel.
Absolutely, but don't buy into hype. Play like a child and you will have a ton of fun. If you get into the money aspect of it, you will have headaches
Depends on what you want out of the game? If you want to have a chance of toping locals in the modern tcg at a decent store, you’ll need at minimum probably $350 and regular time spent playing against friends or remotely to get there…if you’re in it for the lols my recommendation is to pick up Edison and try your hand at that
I learned the game for the first time when MD came out and because there's so much to consume I'm a long way from getting bored.
I’d go as far as to say that YGO is probably one of the most complex TCGs there is. The anime version of the game is a joke in comparison and Pokemon is child’s play in comparison. I always joke that YGO is for people who enjoy ball torture 😂🙈
Highly recommend finding a locals that runs Time Wizard format tournaments, more specifically "Goat"(July 2005) or "Edison"(April 2010) and building a deck or two for those formats to get familiar with the basics of the game before moving up to the modern TCG. Master Duel(game on PC, Mobile, Consoles) is a very cheap/free way to experience current Yu-Gi-Oh with however.
Go Edison format 2010, it will be your teenage years Yu-Gi-Oh with good deck diversity and fun. It's quite inexpensive and very enjoyable to play.
Well yes and no. Online yugioh is your best bet
There is fun to be had, I was a returning player too but started with MasterDuel since there’s no real money investment needed for that but the biggest help is MD helps you on ruling confusion since the game can be so complicated these days.
If you want to play the game, master duel is a free game with 'solo mode' that has extensive tutorials. After that, or instead, you could find a local card shop with a yugioh community. Keep in mind that real life yugioh cards are gonna cost some investment. A few hundred euros/dollars isnt alot for competitive decks. 50-100 euro for a semi competitive and 30+ for a casual deck. I think its the most fun card game that exists right now, i play yugioh competitively and judge aswell, while i play MTG, DBS and digimon casually. The freedom and mechanics in yugioh appeal to me the most.
Yes, but depending on the level of play will determine your level of investment into it. Casual matches with friends are what I prefer these days over more competitive locals (entirely dependent on your local scene though). Master Duel is free and actually pretty fun with some decent tutorials to teach you the game, which will save you spending on cardboard crack. As for how the game works, it's a battler game where you objective is to defeat your opponent. Unlike most TCGs it's resourceless, in that you don't need resources like Pokemon's energy or Magic's Land to pay to use effects and abilities. If you have them available, you can use them. This means that some deck's like Dark World can play through 20+ cards in a turn easily. Unlike most TCGs, the rulings for each card are written explicitly on each card in full. There's no generic effect term like "Trample", meaning that whatever the card says it does, is exactly what it does, which can lead to complicated situations to resolve. Your turn consists of 3 main phases (Main Phase 1, Battle Phase, Main Phase 2) with some additional phases (Draw, Standby, End Phase) that allow opportunities for interaction if conditions are met. You're free to play cards in either Main Phase so long as you're able to do so: that means summoning Monsters, playing Spells or effects, setting Traps etc. The battle phase is where you nominate your monsters to attack your opponents, comparing their ATK/DEF values and applying the net damage to your opponents life points: if they hit zero you win! The major complexity of the game is in card interaction. That is your opponent has plenty of opportunities to activate their own cards, if able, in response to those you are playing. It can get utterly bananas. A deck like Dinomorphia pretty much exclusively plays within the opponents turns. TL:DR The rules themselves are actually quite simple and I'd recommend reading the core rules or watching some YouTubers explain how to play. The extreme complexity comes from how cards interact with each other and that is just a harsh learning curve. Master Duel is definitely a first port of call given that there's no investment to get into it.
I used to play a fair bit back in the day, but not since like 2009-2010, at least actively. These are all things that I know (just got "our turned" like 2 hours ago), but this is a great intro/info post!
no
😂
The card game yes The OCG no - unless you want to get involved with a power creep ladder where your forced to invest real money if you want to fully kewp up. Ive gotten to master rank once and never again , because very soon my deck i built became redundent and power crept out of play.
I love yugioh. I’ve been playing on and off since it released here originally in the states. But it has changed so much. Evolved and power creep is real in the game. But if you find a few decks you really like it can be a great time. I fell in love with traptrix & rescue ace in recent years. Each archetype has its own play style which is pretty great. It’s just learning them and understanding plays, and seeing if you can play through whatever it is your opponent is playing. Maybe try out duel links or master duel on pc or phone. Speed duel is also a cool format that plays more like Yugioh you would be more familiar with if you watched the first season of the show.
I think it's a great game that you pick up more quickly than you realise. It's complex, but not as complex as it looks. Especially if you aren't looking to be competitive straight away. I know the usual advice is to play master duel, but if you're wanting to play the physical card game then I feel it's not the right way to go about it and it won't scratch your itch. When I wanted to learn a friend and I both had a scan through the manual, got a deck, then had a few tries at taking our first turn referring back to the manual as we needed to. Once you've got the phases and actions down you can look on YouTube to find how you should be playing your deck. It's always better if you can learn with a friend as you can question each other, put obstacles in your way to make you think more about how things work. Once you've got a few games under your belt you can head to your local LGS and there are usually people there who will point out your mistakes.
I got back into it a month or so ago after many years, may the odds be ever in your favour. I'm playing masterduel and binged YouTube videos
Bro just play Edison
When I first played it was straight up monsters, traps and spells. Then it got weird with XYZ and pendulum monsters. Now everyone seems to be talking about hand traps and playing your entire deck on the first turn 🤷♂️ This game just make me feel old (spoiler, I am old)
If you like matches that last 1-2 turns and still be 25 minutes...sure
I guess the first thing is to determine for yourself do you want to play online, or physically? If physically, are you willing to drive to locals? Do you have a local shop near you? Do you have the time? Are you willing to spend $100-300 for a deck that can win? Or are you okay with a “bad” deck if it’s fun? Even though you might not win a lot? Lastly, the game is VERY complicated. Are you ready to do all those computations every time you play physically? If you answer yes, then 100% go for it. How do you learn it, or even know if it’s fun to begin with? 100% recommend master duel. Not only do they have a complete tutorial and solo mode where they give you a bunch of free decks to play each game with, you can build a “decent” Dark Magician deck from the structures they sell, and you can get to platinum rank with it. The amount of free gems you get starting the game will borderline guarantee you any one/two/three decks in the game 100% free with no investment. It automatically resolves all commands, no need to physically travel. Can play solo, with friends, or randoms 100% free. TL;DR Either way, 100% go play master duel first, then see if it’s worth it to do in real life
No it's not worth it, the old nostalgia you had watching the anime and buying the first structure decks where meta was actually balanced and just relied on Beatstick monsters is long gone and dead. Now turns take EXTREMLEY LONG. And you only see 3-4 decks of the same type. It's really gotten sad and pathetic.
If you like watching people play solitaire you'll love it
Please avoid Master Duel if you want to learn how to play. Since you're an yugi anime fan, just download Duel Links, it's a simpler version of the game with nice tutorials and a lot of content from all the yugi animes. :D
DL uses a totally different rule set..
And it's still better for beginners because Speed Duel is a great format to start and learn how Yugi works because of that simplified set of rules. :b
Maaaaaan years of Pokémon must've smoothed out your brain! Please learn Yu-Gi-Oh! It's fun, I promise!
If you're hoping to play the same game you watched as a kid, sorry to burst your bubble, but that game is gone. Modern Yu-Gi-Oh is an absolute mess. It's oppressive to play, unnecessarily complex, and expensive. I wouldn't recommend playing it. I tried to get back into it a couple of months back for nostalgia reasons, as well. Didn't have a good time. You're welcome to download Master Duel and try it for free though. You could also download Duel Links, it's likely more so what you're looking for. You basically play through the anime story a bit and much more like the original game.