(Copied from Yu-Gi-Oh! wikia)
Who are Duelists?
This term Duelist originated from the usage in the anime and manga of the franchise. While it is not an official term, it is still used by Konami, making it a de facto term for a player of sorts.
Essentially, the term can refer to a player in a Duel, and to extension, anyone who frequently plays the card game.
What is a Duel?
People who Duel against each other are called Duelist.A Duel is one "game" between you and an opponent. The objective of a Duel is to Win, and there are a variety of ways to do so. The most common way is to reduce your opponent's Life Points to zero, before they do the same to you.
In a Duel, each player starts off with 8000 Life Points. The only prerequisite for a player to participate in a Duel is a Main Deck that consists of 40-60 cards; A Side Deck and Extra Deck is optional at this point, and are covered in the "Intermediate Gameplay FAQ".
To decide who goes first you can:
- Toss a coin
- Play Rock-Paper-Scissors
- Roll a die
The winner decides who goes first. Both player then draw 5 cards. The player who goes first then draws a sixth card, and commences his/her turn. The person who goes first does not get a Battle Phase that turn.
===================================================It's easy, isn't it?
Lesson two: Winning, Losing and Drawing a Duel
There are many ways to both win, and lose a Duel.
You can win by either:
- Reducing your opponent's Life Points to zero.
- Forcing your opponent to "Deck Out".
- Certain cards' effect allow you to win once a particular condition is met.
Conversely, the opposite is also true, and you can lose the Duel if your opponent manages to do any of the above to you.
You can also lose if you are given a Game Loss from a Konami Judge during a Konami Sanctioned Tournament, for any number of possible reasons, which are explained in the "Tournament Guidelines FAQ".
Drawing a Duel is a bit different. The most common way for a Duel to result in a Draw is for both player's Life Points to hit zero simultaniously, such as with "Ring of Destruction" or "Self-Destruct Button".
===================================================It feels like I look like a kid who's excited for the first time. But definitely this one is almost over.
What are different Cards?
There are many different types of cards in the OCG & TCG, but they all boil down to three basic types.
Monster Cards
Monster Cards are the mainstays of every Deck out there, and are on average the most versatile type of card you'll use. Monster Cards are typically sorted by Type, Attribute, Level, ATK and DEF, as well as their own categories (Or Archetypes), which will be explained a bit later.
Spell Cards
Spell Cards are the typical "support" cards, with a focus on helping you, and/or boosting Monsters or other cards you control, but this is not always the case.
Spell Cards were, once upon a time, referred to as Magic Cards. All cards that have "Magic Card" in their text are automatically treated as saying "Spell Card". The different types of Spell Cards will be explained later.
Trap CardsTrap Cards are mostly about keeping your opponent in check; hence the name "Trap". Most of these cards are about hindering your opponents, but that is not always the case. The different types of Trap Cards will be explained later.
===================================================Of course, our lesson ends with this.
Basic of Monster Cards
Monster Cards have a number of different elements to them, which you can use to your advantage during a Duel. To begin, lets examine a classic card, "Jinzo".
Name
Level
All Monster Cards have a Level. In this example, we see that "Jinzo" is a Level 6 monster. This means that you need to Tribute 1 monster to Tribute Summon it; Tribute Summons will be explained in detail later on.
Attribute
All Monster Cards have an "Attribute"; this can be the first step for determining what cards can be used or with or against the card in question. We can see here that "Jinzo" is a DARK monster, able to take advantage of support cards like "Mystic Plasma Zone". Many Support Cards go for either Attribute or Type, and rarely ask for both to be met to fulfill a requirement.
Card ArtworkThis is the illustration artwork used on every card; some card artworks have been edited to reflect cultural differences, as well as to cater to the tendencies of the parents of western children who frequently hold Trading Card Games, and related media responsible, in lieu of good parenting, for spreading unwanted influences to their offspring. The editing of artwork handily bypasses this, though it has been frequently criticised by the more "mature" audience, who object to the stigma of "playing a children's card game", citing that it was marketed to teenagers and young adults in Japan.
Type and Monster Category
All Monster Cards have a "Type"; this can often be the second step for determining what cards can be used or with or against the card in question, but often, many Support Cards go for either Attribute or Type, and rarely ask for both to be met to fulfil a requirement.
Lore
A "Lore" is present on all Cards, and provides an overview of how to use the card, or to provide a flavor text where no effect is present.
ATK and DEF
ATK and DEF are the fundamentals of battling monsters against each other; generally speaking, the higher the value is, the greater the monster for the related stat. Many card effects can alter ATK and/or DEF, and many cards require monsters with specific ATK and/or DEF values to be activated or used.
Card Number
This is an eight-digit number used on most cards, although there are some that lack them for unknown reasons. The numbers correspond to those used in Video Games, enabling players to re-create their Decks in their favourite Video Game(s).
Copyright
This section holds two pieces of information; the first, is to confirm that all Intellectual Property is © Kazuki Takahashi, the original creator of what would become Duel Monsters in Japan. The second piece of information is the "Eye of Anubis" mini-holofoil; Gold designates that it is a Limited Edition or 1st Edition card, while Silver designates that is is an Unlimited Edition card. Both types are designed to tell the player that the card they have is Genuine.
Card Editions
There are four card editions; 1st Edition, Unlimited Edition, Limited Edition and Duel Terminal. These will be explained in greater detail later.
Set Numbers
Every card released in the TCG has a Set Number, while all but the earliest OCG cards have one. This is a reference to several pieces of information, such as Language, the Set ID of the Set the card is from, and the order of the card in the set, though it does not list how many cards total are in the set.
===================================================Well, I tried. At least this is for beginners. Of course, these lessons won't ruin my updates in this blog. The lessons continues on every Sunday.
