Duel Monsters (デュエル モンスターズ, Dyueru Monsutāzu), originally known as Magic and Wizards (マジック＆ウィザーズ or Ｍ＆Ｗ, Majikku ando Wizāzu), is the card game played in the various Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime series. Created by Maximillion Pegasus, he based the card designs on ancient Egyptian carvings and hieroglyphs.
The name Magic & Wizards is used in the Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and early portions of the English Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, while it was printed in Shonen Jump. The Toei anime and the other anime series, and reprints and new portions of the English manga use Duel Monsters.
Each player starts with 2000 Life Points. If a player runs out of Life Points they lose.[1]
At the beginning of a Duel, each player draws five cards, which become their hand.[4]
The players take turns. Each turn the turn player draws one card from their Deck.[1]
If a player cannot draw because there are no more cards in their Deck, they lose.
The turn player can Summon cards from their hand in Attack or Defense Mode.[1] Attack Mode is vertical. Defense Mode is horizontal.[3]
The turn player can attack with Attack Mode monsters.[3]
If an Attack Mode monster battles another Attack Mode monster, the monster with the lower ATK is destroyed and its controller loses Life Points equal to the difference.[3]
When Attack Mode monsters with equal ATK battle, both are destroyed.
If an Attack Mode monster attacks a Defense Mode monster and its ATK is higher than the defending monster's DEF, the defending monster is destroyed and no Life Points are lost.[3]
If an Attack Mode monster attacks a Defense Mode monster and its ATK is lower than the defending monster's DEF, neither monster is destroyed and the controller of the attacking monster loses Life Points equal to the difference in the ATK and DEF.[3]
If a player does not have a monster to defend from their opponent's monsters attack, the monster's ATK is deducted from the defenseless player's Life Points.[1]
Monsters and Magic-Users have Elements, each with strengths and weaknesses.[8]
The Elements of Magic-Users are Black Magic, White Magic, Demon Magic and Illusion Magic. Black Magic is strong against White Magic, White Magic is strong against Demon Magic, Demon Magic is strong against Illusion Magic, Illusion Magic is strong against Black Magic.[9]
Some video games expand on this to show all the Elements strengths and weaknesses and use another Element, Wind. Earth is strong against Lightning, Lightning is strong against Water, Water is strong against Fire, Fire is strong against Wood, Wood is strong against Wind and Wind is strong against Earth.
What happens when monster of opposing Elements battle is inconsistent. Sometimes the monster of the weaker Element loses half its ATK.[8] More often, nothing happens.
Monsters can be played in face-down Attack Mode.[8] Although this is rarely done.
Monsters can be fused together using the card "Polymerization".[13] "Polymerization" and the fused monsters are still in play after a Fusion. Unlike the OCG and TCG, monsters are not taken from the Extra Deck.[14]
The Expert rules were used with the first version Duel Disks. This alters many of the previous rules and adds more.
Each player can only hold five cards at a time.[14]
If a player has five cards at the start of their turn, they cannot draw a card.[14]
If a player has less than five cards at the start of their turn, they draw until they have five.
The Duel Disk contains five stages; the main card stage and four sub card stages. The main card is played in the main stage. All the player's other cards in their hand are played in the sub stages.[7]
Monsters in the main monster can be played in Attack or Defense Mode. Monsters in the sub stages are all in Attack Mode.[7]
The main card gets special abilities and powers from the sub cards.[7]
Sub cards are face-down until used or attacked.[7]
Sub cards can be flipped face-down and shuffled.[7]
A player's main monster can attack their opponent's main monster or any of the opponent's face-down cards. Normal rules of battle are applied if they attack a Monster Card. Spell, Trap or Virus Cards are automatically destroyed if they are attacked.[7]
The Super Expert rules were introduced in the Battle City tournament. They are based on the standard rules, contain additional rules and alter previous ones. The Expert rules do not apply in Super Expert.
Other ways of playing Duel Monsters have existed throughout the series, usually using one of the previous sets of rules played under particular circumstances with additional rules added. These include:
The first actual Duel Monsters card game to be released was Yu-Gi-Oh! Bandai's Official Card Game, released by Bandai in September 1998. Only three Booster Packs were released before the license to produce a card game was sold to Konami. This game was never released outside Japan.
The current version of Duel Monsters is Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game (OCG). This uses far more complex rules which were introduced in later parts of the manga and anime. The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (TCG) is identical in structure and rules to the official card game, but until 2009 it was manufactured by Upper Deck Entertainment under Konami's direction. Both versions mostly contain the same cards, but there have been cards exclusive to the OCG and TCG, and most cards, such as Booster Packs, Starter and Structure Decks, are first released in the OCG.
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