Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game is based on the card game Magic and Wizards or Duel Monsters, which appears in the popular Japanese manga and anime Yu-Gi-Oh!. Each player is alloted a certain number of life points, and the main objective of the game is to reduce an opponent's life points to zero. Like many other trading card games, Duel Monsters is a game mainly for two players to compete head-to-head, but variations exist where players can allow for three or more players.
Game play
Duel Monsters cards are separated into three categories:
- Monster cards, which allow players to attack opponents and defend from an opponent's attacks
- Spell cards (or Magic cards), cards with various special effects, and
- Trap cards, similar to spell cards but are triggered by an event.
Product information
Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Cards are available in starter decks, and booster packs.
Both the starter decks, and booster packs have their own unique ID's which the cards in that set are numbered with. (For example, the Luster Dragon card from the Legacy of Darkness booster pack has the number LOD-050, where the LOD is the ID for the Legacy of Darkness set.)
Starter Decks
The starter decks are named after various characters from the animated series. Each starter deck contains 50 cards, a game mat, and a rule book.
There are currently four starter decks available in the US:
- Yugi Starter Deck (SDY): features Yugi's favorite card Dark Magician (Yugi Moto is known as Yugi Mutou in the manga and Japanese version)
- Kaiba Starter Deck (SDK): features Kaiba's beloved Blue Eyes White Dragon
- Joey Starter Deck (SDJ): includes Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon (Joey Wheeler is known as Katsuya Jonouchi in the manga and Japanese version)
- Pegasus Starter Deck (SDP): has Pegasus' powerful "toon" monsters (Maxamillion Pegasus is known as Pegasus J. Crawford in the manga and Japanese version)
The Yugi and Kaiba Starter Decks have been re-released with slightly different cards since their initial release in the U.S., and the second set is known as the Evolution series. It is generally thought that the Evoloution series improved the respectve deck of each character, and they are more readily available than the initial release. The codes for the Evolution Series decks are:
- Yugi Evolution Starter Deck (SYE)
- Kaiba Evolution Starter Deck (SKE)
Booster Packs
In addition to the starter decks, a number of booster packs have been released. The booster packs each contain around 110 cards (some have more, some have less), but they are typically sold in nine card packages, with each package featuring at least one rare card.
Where the starter decks are based around characters from the animated series, each booster pack has a different thematic element, which provides for new battle strategies.
The Booster Sets available in the U.S. are:
- Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon (LOB)
- Metal Raiders (MRD)
- Magic Ruler (MRL)
- Pharoah's Servant (PSV)
- Labyrinth Of Nightmare (LON)
- Legacy of Darkness (LOD)
- Pharoanic Guardian (PGD)
- Magician's Force (MFC)
- Dark Crisis (DCR)
- Invasion of Chaos (IOC)
- Ancient Sanctuary (AST)
Using physical cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! video games
Each card has a unique 6-digit code printed on it. When that code is entered into one of the myriad Yu-Gi-Oh! video games which accept said codes, a digital copy of that card will be added to the player's virtual cards. Thus, players can port their real-world decks into the games.
