I. Getting Started
II. Card Types
III. Playing the Game
IV. Advanced Concepts
V. Extra Information
I. Getting Started
Before you play, you need to assemble your deck. During the game, the deck will be split into 3 different piles based on card type. Each of those decks must have between 10-20 cards. You cannot have more, or less. This means your total number of cards will be between 30 and 60.
Certain cards may require additional items, like a coin for a coin toss, dice, or counters. Counters are used by certain cards to keep track of information; for example, many Mages will use counters on them as costs for their effects.
You may also want a calculator to keep track of players' Life, or card sleeves to protect cards.
II. Card Types
Cards come in four different broad types: Creatures, Spells, Items, and Fields. During play, all of your Creatures go in 1 pile of 10-20 cards, all Spells go in another pile of 10-20 cards, and all Items go in a third pile of 10-20 cards. Fields are separate from these.
1. Creatures
As you might expect, Creatures form the core of the game. The main part of the game is Creatures battling.
X/X
All Creatures have two numbers at the bottom right. The left one represents offensive power, and the right represents defensive power. Cards refer to the left number as X/ and the right number as /X. Collectively they are the Creature's X/X. If the creatures power in that category is variable or determined by outside information, 'X' will be written instead. The X/X written on the card is a card's original X/X. When other cards modify X/X, the new numbers are not the original X/X.
Name
A Creature's name. This rarely has any effect on gameplay.
Class
A Creature has 1 of 8 Classes: Demon, Angel, Spirit, Mortal, Beast, Plant, Machine, or Mage. A Creature's class is listed directly beneath its picture, to the right of its Element. Creatures of a certain Class tend to be slightly different. For example, Demons tend to focus on destroying Creatures and/or cards and having high X/, while Spirits tend to have low X/X and burn away the opponent's Life through effects, instead. When a card effect calls for a Creature of a specific Class, it will do so like this:
"Sacrifice 1 Mage."
Element
A Creature has 1 of 7 Elements: DARK, LIGHT, FIRE, AQUA, SKY, EARTH, or CHAOS. A Creature's Element is listed directly beneath its picture, to the left of its Class. No Element has any actual advantage over any other. Certain Classes tend to have certain Elements. Demons, for example, are usually DARK. CHAOS is an extremely rare Element reserved for very specific cards. When a card effect calls for a Creature of a specific Element, it will do so like this:
"Destroy 1 Creature (except for a DARK Creature)."
Archetype
Some Creature belong to certain Archetypes. The Archetype is listed directly beneath its picture, to the right of its Class. Some Archetypes include the Kress Mages and the Pain cards. Creatures of an Archetype generally support one another. When a card effect calls for a Creature of a specific Archetype, it will do so like this:
"Your opponent loses 1 Life for each Pain Creature you control."
When destroyed or Sacrificed, a Creature goes to the Graveyard.
2. Spells
Spells are the main cards used to mix up the game. The effect of a Spell often lasts until the end of the turn. Spells are divided into 2 types:
Spell
The regular type of Spells, these have the word "Spell" directly underneath their picture. These cards can only be activated during Pre-battle. They cannot be the 2nd or higher Level of a Stack. (See Stacks in Advanced Concepts)
Quick Spell
Rarer and more flexible cards, Quick Spells have the word "Quick Spell" directly underneath their picture. Quick Spells can be activated any time at all.
Once activated, a Spell is shuffled back into the Deck.
3. Items
Items are used to mix up the game. They are like Spells in that they can only be activated during Pre-battle and cannot be the 2nd or higher Level of a Stack. There are 2 types:
Equip Items
These target 1 Creature, acting like a piece of equipment. They remain on the field as long the equipped Creature. They go wherever that Creature goes. For example, if you have equipped an Equip Item with a negative effect to your opponent's monster, and that monster is returned to your opponent's hand, the Equip Item goes to your opponent's hand, too. They can now use that card as if it were their own, so be careful! However, if the equipped Creature goes to the Graveyard, the Equip Item always goes to your Graveyard.
Permanent Items
These stay on the field indefinitely. You cannot remove them just because you want to, they must be removed by an effect.
When an Item is destroyed, it goes to the Graveyard like a Creature.
4. Fields
Fields are completely optional cards. At the start of the game, players choose 1 Field to have active at the start of the game. Only 1 Field can be in play at a time. When a Field is destroyed/sent to the Graveyard/returned to the Deck/hand/removed from play/etc., it leaves the game completely. Fields not in use do not have any official place on the game mat. There are cards that remove or activate Fields, so any Fields you might possibly use in game should be somewhere near the game mat.
Fields are essentially the field of battle. They affect both players, and have a variety of effects. The standard Field is "Plains of Battle", which allows a player to discard their hand to draw an equal number of cards once per game.
III. Playing the Game
A single game is called a game. It is not called a duel, or a skirmish, or a war, or a foray. It is called a game. 1 games make a game. If you win 1 out of 1 games, you win the game. Simple.
1. Winning the Game
Both players begin with 20 Life. When a player's Life reaches 0, they lose (Life does not go into negatives, OK?). When a Creature is destroyed, the player that controls it loses 1 Life. If a Creature is Sacrificed, the player does not lose Life. Same if the Creature is "sent to thhe Graveyard" or "removed from play". Some card effects cause a player to lose Life. Some cards require Life to be paid as a cost. If both players' Life reaches 0 at the same, it's a draw. Everybody wins! Yay! And before you ask, yes, there is a card that makes the game an automatic draw. It will probably be called "The Big Red Button".
If a player has no Creatures, the opponent's Creatures can attack them directly. The attacked player doesn't lose the monster's X/ or anything like that, they just lose 1 Life.
Some cards will probably come out that let you win through a card effect. They will probably be really situational, and only losers will make decks with them. We'll see.
If a player has no more cards in their Deck, sucks to be them. You can't win by milling away your opponent's Deck. If players have reached a stalemate, the game is a draw. For example, if both players have no more cards and one has a Creature that can't be destroyed by battle and the other player has a stronger Creature, it's a stalemate.
2. Beginning the Game
- Both players must assure that they have no weapons and promise that they will not intentionally injure anyone whilst playing. Then both players set their 3 piles onto the game mat after shuffling them.
- NOTE: When shuffling, you cannot see the cards being shuffled, and you should shuffle thoroughly. Better, have the Asian shuffle your cards for you. Unless the Asian is your opponent, in which case they'll use their Asian-ness to cheat. So find an impartial Asian.
- Find some way to determine who goes first. Flipping a coin is always good.
- Both players draw 5 cards (they can be any combination of cards from their 3 piles).
- The first turn begins. This turn's Battle phase is skipped.
3. Turn Structure
Players alternate turns. Each turn is divided into a few different phases, where different stuff happens.
- Draw: The turn player draws 1 card from any of their piles. That's it. Quick Spells can be activated now, as any other time.
- Preparatory: The turn player makes preparations, often to enter Battle. This is when Spells and Items are activated. Additionally you can arrive Creatures.
ARRIVING CREATURES
Taking a Creature in your hand and playing it onto the field is called Arriving a Creature. You can only Arrive 1 Creature per turn. Some effects let you play Creatures onto the field; this is NOT Arriving.
Arrival Conditions
More powerful Creatures generally have conditions that dictate when they can Arrive. These are listed on the card under the heading of Arrival. You might need to Sacrifice Creatures, or control a certain number of them, or other conditions. If the conditions can't be fulfilled, the Creature can't arrive.
- Battle: Once the Preparatory phase is complete, you can enter Battle. You don't have to Battle with your Creatures. A Creature gets 1 attack, unless otherwise stated.
BATTLE
Here's how you battle.
- Pick 1 of your Creatures to attack with.
- Pick 1 of your opponent's Creatures to attack. If your opponent has no Creatures, your attack is a direct attack, and you skip to 4.
- Compare the X/ of the attacking Creature with the /X of the attacked one. If your X/ is higher, the opponent's Creature is destroyed. If your X/ is lower or equal, nothing happens.
- The creature does not get to attack again this turn, unless it says otherwise (if you like the idea of attacking multiple times, I recommend Machines. You will like CPU Dragon.)
No Replays
In Yu-Gi-Oh!, if your opponent had a monster, you attacked, and your opponent used a card to Summon more monsters, a Replay occurred. Then you got to redo your attack, or even cancel it. No such luck here. Your attack keeps going...with one exception. If your opponent has no Creatures, and you then wage a direct attack, your opponent might use a Quick Spell to get themselves a Creature. Your attack is automatically switched from a direct attack to one on the new Creature. If your opponent played multiple Creatures at once, you can pick which one of them the attack now target, however.
- Turn End: Done already? Quick Spells can be activated her, too, so it's not really the end. Unless your opponent employs a One-Turn Kill deck, in which case it is. Sucker.
IV. Advanced Concepts
1. Stacks
Called chains in many games, Stacks determine which effects are resolved when multiple cards are activated in quick succession. For example:
Player 1 activates the Spell "Necromancy" (Effect: Target 1 Spirit in your Graveyard and play it onto the field.)
Player 2 activates the Quick Spell "Energy Drain" (Activation: Control a Mage. Effect: Negate the effect of 1 opponent's Spell or Quick Spell and destroy it.)
Player 1 activates the Quick Spell "Will of Pain" (Activation: Your opponent activates a Quick Spell that includes the effect of negating a Spell you control. Effect: Negate the effect of the Quick Spell and destroy it. Your opponent loses Life equal to the Level of this card in the current Stack.)
"Necromancy" is the 1st Level of the Stack, "Energy Drain" is the 2nd, and "Will of Pain" is the 3rd. Once the Stack has reached the end, go from the last card activated and work back. In this case, "Will of Pain" negates "Energy Drain", so "Necromancy" continues unabated. Now, look at this: (It's Player 2's turn, during the Preparatory phase.)
Player 1 activates the Quick Spell "Soul Demolition" (Cost: Lose 2 Life. Effect: Destroy 1 Creature.).
Player 2 activates the Spell "Total Suppression" (Effect: Negate the effects of all other cards until Turn End.)
"Total Suppression" negates "Soul Demolition", right? After all, Player 2 activated the Spell in his own Preperatory phase. True, but remember: a Spell can only be Level 1 of a Stack. So by the time Player 2 activates "Total Suppression", "Soul Demolition" has already resolved and its target has been destroyed.
2. Headings
All cards have a few different headings with stuff written after it. Creatures have Arrival conditions, for example. This is what they all mean:
Arrival: The listed conditions must be fulfilled for the Creature to Arrive. Example: "Sacrifice 1 Mage."
Activation: The game mat must have the listed conditions to play the card. Example: "Control a Mage." or "It is your Preparatory phase."
Cost: You must fulfill the listed conditions to use the effect. Example: "Lose 2 Life." If a card is then activated that prevents the cost from resolving (like a card that prevents players from losing Life this turn), the Cost can't be completed and the card's effects are never used.
Effect: The card's effect. Duh. Example: "Gain 3 Life."
General: This effect is always active, and it's not your choice. Deal with it. Example: "This card cannot be destroyed by Spells."
V. Additional Information
Did I miss something? General clarifications go here.
