The object of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is to win a Match against your opponent.

A single Match consists of 3 Duels. Each card battle against an opponent in which a win, loss, or draw is determined is referred to as a Duel.

A WIN

The player who:
Is the first to win 2 Duels in a Match OR
Has 1 win and 2 draws, is declared the WINNER.

A Draw

If the Duel results are:
1 win, 1 loss and 1 draw OR
3 draws, the match is considered a DRAW.

Winning A Duel

The outcome of a Duel is decided according to the following Official Rules:

Each player begins a Duel with 8000 Life Points.
Life Points decrease as a result of damage calculation after battle (see Damage Step).
You win a Duel if you reduce your opponent’s Life Points to 0. If your opponent reduces your Life Points to 0, YOU lose!
If you and your opponent both reach 0 Life Points at the same time, the Duel is declared a DRAW.
If either player’s Deck runs out of cards during a Duel, the first player unable to draw a card is declared the LOSER. Bearing this in mind, a good duelist should make every card count.
If at any time during the Duel you hold the following cards in your hand, you instantly win the Duel:

• Right Leg of the Forbidden One
• Left Leg of the Forbidden One
• Right Arm of the Forbidden One
• Left Arm of the Forbidden One
• Exodia the Forbidden One

Preparing Your Deck
The Starter Deck contains all the cards you'll need to challenge an opponent to a Duel. Following you'll find basic rules for preparing your Deck: The Deck used for dueling should contain a minimum of 40 cards. Aside from this minimum limit, your Deck can contain as many cards as you like.

In addition to your dueling Deck, you can also have 15 additional cards in a separate pile known as the Side Deck. The Side Deck allows you to modify your Deck to better suit your strategy during a Match.

Between Duels, you can exchange any card from your Side Deck with any card in your Deck - as long as you end up with the same number of cards that your Deck began the Match with.

The Side Deck you create must contain exactly 15 cards at the beginning of a Match. In other words, if you don't have enough cards to create a 15 card Side Deck, you cannot use one at all. NOTE: A Starter Deck contains 50 cards, so you will need 5 more cards to create a Side Deck.

In any Match, the Deck and Side Deck combined cannot contain more than 3 copies of the same card. Also, be aware of Forbidden and Limited Cards.

Gameplay

In accordance with the Official Rules, a Duel is conducted in the following manner:

Before you start a Duel, greet your opponent with a friendly handshake.

Both players shuffle their respective Decks and hand them to their opponent to shuffle (this is called Cutting the Deck). The Decks are then returned to their owners and placed face-down in their respective Deck Zones on the Duel Field.

When using Fusion Monster Card(s), place the card(s) face-down on the Fusion Deck Zone of the Duel Field. A Fusion Deck is a card or a group of cards consisting only of Fusion Monsters formed by fusing 2 or more monsters during a Duel (Fusion Monsters). NOTE: The cards of the Fusion Deck are NOT counted in the 40 cards minimum limit of the Deck.

Show your opponent that your Side Deck contains exactly 15 cards (the cards may be counted face-down). When your Side Deck cards are exchanged with those in your Deck, count the cards of your Side Deck with your opponent once again to verify that the Deck still contains the same number of cards.

For the first Duel in a Match, decide who starts first with a coin toss. For subsequent Duels in the Match, the loser of the previous Duel decides who starts first.

Finally, each player draws 5 cards from the top of their respective Decks. Once both players have 5 cards in their hand, the Duel begins, following the rules in Phases of Gameplay. Before you learn how a Yu-Gi-Oh! turn proceeds, it is important to fully understand the Duel Field and game cards. Understanding how each type of card works will help you plan strategies to ensure that you will emerge from the Match victorious!

Manners in Dueling

Remember the following codes of conduct when facing an opponent:
Always declare each move in a loud, clear voice before you execute any play.
Your opponent is entitled to know the contents of your Graveyard and the number of cards in your hand. If asked, you are obligated to answer truthfully.
Never touch an opponent's cards without asking permission.