Teach me Yu-Gi-Oh

[Zocelot]

I saw a Help Wanted sign at my FLGS, and I wanted to apply. My knowledge of MTG, Pokemon and tabletop gaming will certainly be useful, but one of the job requirements is Yu-Gi-Oh knowledge. I haven't played since elementary school, so I need to relearn pretty much everything. I'd like to learn as much as possible about Yu-Gi-Oh in the next few days, and I need the help of people familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh to do so.

Where can I find the basic rules for Yu-Gi-Oh? How about the advanced rules?
Where can I find out about strategy for Yu-Gi-Oh?
Where can I find a Yu-Gi-Oh online community?
Where can I find lists of top decks and/or powerful cards?
Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks to everyone who helps me out.

[AtlanteanTroll]

I saw a Help Wanted sign at my FLGS, and I wanted to apply. My knowledge of MTG, Pokemon and tabletop gaming will certainly be useful, but one of the job requirements is Yu-Gi-Oh knowledge. I haven't played since elementary school, so I need to relearn pretty much everything. I'd like to learn as much as possible about Yu-Gi-Oh in the next few days, and I need the help of people familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh to do so.

Where can I find the basic rules for Yu-Gi-Oh? How about the advanced rules?
Where can I find out about strategy for Yu-Gi-Oh?
Where can I find a Yu-Gi-Oh online community?
Where can I find lists of top decks and/or powerful cards?
Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks to everyone who helps me out.

This will sound dumb, but pick up a Video Game, that should teach you right quick. I'm sure the Official Site (http://www.yugioh.com/en) has something. Oh, and the Wiki (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) is amazing, though I've never used it for official rules, it's god good strategy and errata.

[Pie Guy]

Yeah, the video game taught me a lotmore than playing in person did.

[Starwulf]

Yeah, the video game taught me a lotmore than playing in person did.

I'll disagree with this. The Yugioh video games I've played have a significantly smaller card base to work with. The deck I use has cards in it that I've yet to see in most Yugioh video games, and quite frankly, could beat the pants off of any deck I've ever built inside said video games(Then again, it's an extremely evil deck that can't be beat very easily, period. I've had friends specifically build decks in order to counter my deck build, and still only win 1 out of 5 duels). I'd say both read the official rules via the website, pick up a video game, and maybe pick up a starter deck and a couple of packs and look at the cards.

Unfortunately, I can't help you, as I stopped playing regularly when 5ds came out, which I view as absolutely retarded. Poorest design decisions ever made for a card game imho.

[Xefas]

I may not have a lot of experience with the actual cards, but if the anime is any indication, your skill at Yu-Gi-Oh will be mostly proportional to how well you can utilize the power of friendship to pilot a jet made of sharks.
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad91/bluejanus/342px-AeroSharkGENF-JP.jpg

[Seerow]

Get one of the newer video games, it helps a lot. Basically all of the championship series that I've tried followed the rules to the letter (more or less), and had almost every card that was released at the time it was released available on it. This will help you reacquaint yourself with the rules, and get yourself refamiliarized with the game and various deck types. Don't expect it to make you a tournament level player, but to get a firm grounding in the basics, and the ability to experiment with a deck without shelling out hundreds of dollars, that's really the way to go.

As for finding an online Yu-Gi-Oh community, back when I was big into it Pojo was a pretty large active community, I have no idea what's happened to them though, as this was back when Yu-Gi-Oh was brand new, over a decade ago. I know another community I migrated to from there has long since fallen apart. You could also try tracking down YVD, it's a tool made to play Yu-Gi-Oh online, and I'm pretty certain if it's still around (and I know it was as of less than a year ago when I considered getting back into the game briefly), there's probably a thriving community of duelists on their forums.

Also, YVD is a step up from the games in terms of always having sets up to date. It was made extremely easy to add new sets to it, so the new sets are generally up within days of a new set being released. So unlike the DS games, you can be guaranteed any card you want is available here, but you do need to be able to find partners to play with and already understand the rules to a fair degree to use it.

Any online community you find built around the game will probably have plenty of resources to help you find what's strong in the current metagame, and the other advanced stuff you asked for. There's been like about a dozen new packs and several ban list changes since the last time I played seriously, so I'm pretty useless there, sorry.

[BladeofOblivion]

There's an online community here in the Playground, actually. We keep up with the metagame, too. A couple of us have already fitted Exceed Monsters into our decks.

Here's the link. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182796)

[Raroy]

Learn what chains and priority are. There, you now know the answer to 80% of all queries.

I'm not exaggerating. In fact, I may be low balling that.

[Archonic Energy]

I saw a Help Wanted sign at my FLGS, and I wanted to apply. My knowledge of MTG, Pokemon and tabletop gaming will certainly be useful, but one of the job requirements is Yu-Gi-Oh knowledge. I haven't played since elementary school, so I need to relearn pretty much everything. I'd like to learn as much as possible about Yu-Gi-Oh in the next few days, and I need the help of people familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh to do so.

Where can I find the basic rules for Yu-Gi-Oh? How about the advanced rules?
Where can I find out about strategy for Yu-Gi-Oh?
Where can I find a Yu-Gi-Oh online community?
Where can I find lists of top decks and/or powerful cards?
Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks to everyone who helps me out.

if you have money then you can screw the rules!...
sorry someone had to!

i'd agree with AT pick up YGO 2009 Champ for the DS (did they release a 2010 version?)
you can uplosd the current version of the rules & new cards too. quite handy!

[Winthur]

Does anybody here even know the rules to this game? :smalltongue:
My voice gives me super strength

[Archonic Energy]

Does anybody here even know the rules to this game? :smalltongue:
My voice gives me super strength

with out joking.

1 Draw
2 standby
3 main 1
4 battle
5 main 2

:smallredface:
sorry those are burned in there... along with the phrase "you activated my trap card"
invisible gun

[Seerow]

Does anybody here even know the rules to this game? :smalltongue:

The rules are easy, but putting them all into words takes a while, and given they're laid out pretty clearly in the wiki, in the handbook you get with any starter deck, in the games, and a dozen other places, I doubt anyone wants to make the effort to write it all out

[Mando Knight]

with out joking.

1 Draw
2 standby
3 main 1
4 battle
5 main 2

:smallredface:
You forgot #6: the End Phase. Like the Standby Phase, it's usually skipped in gameplay unless someone activated my trap card some kind of effect that takes place then.

That's the basics of the basics, really... the advanced gameplay basically builds off of that, trying to summon as many ridiculously strong monsters in one turn as possible. Without needing to say "Screw the rules, I have money."

[BladeofOblivion]

You forgot #6: the End Phase. Like the Standby Phase, it's usually skipped in gameplay unless someone activated my trap card some kind of effect that takes place then.

That's the basics of the basics, really... the advanced gameplay basically builds off of that, trying to summon as many ridiculously strong monsters in one turn as possible and not letting your opponent do anything about it. Without needing to say "Screw the rules, I have money."

Fixed that for you.

[Zevox]

There's an online community here in the Playground, actually. We keep up with the metagame, too. A couple of us have already fitted Exceed Monsters into our decks.

Here's the link. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182796)
We have a play-by-post Yu-Gi-Oh thread here :smallconfused: ? Huh, I never would have guessed.

...you know, I'm a little tempted to join in myself, but I haven't played the game in over six years, so I'm sure my rules knowledge is rusty even if the fundamental rules haven't changed, there are hundreds of new cards I'm unfamiliar with and would thus constantly have to look up, I may have to modify my old deck to fit new banned/restricted lists, and if there's been any sort of power creep my old deck would probably be underpowered even after that...

Zevox

[Zocelot]

i'd agree with AT pick up YGO 2009 Champ for the DS (did they release a 2010 version?)
you can uplosd the current version of the rules & new cards too. quite handy!

I picked up the 2010 version today for cheap. I got a few cards with it that I have no idea what I'm going to do with, but that's not really a problem.

[Seerow]

We have a play-by-post Yu-Gi-Oh thread here :smallconfused: ? Huh, I never would have guessed.

...you know, I'm a little tempted to join in myself, but I haven't played the game in over six years, so I'm sure my rules knowledge is rusty even if the fundamental rules haven't changed, there are hundreds of new cards I'm unfamiliar with and would thus constantly have to look up, I may have to modify my old deck to fit new banned/restricted lists, and if there's been any sort of power creep my old deck would probably be underpowered even after that...

Zevox

Yeah, that's my main reason for not getting back in, suddenly catching up on several years worth of expansions at once takes time, and even being rusty on old cards I used frequently just makes it hard.

For example I recently picked up one of the GBA championship games again, since its card list was roughly at the same point as the game was when I quit playing, so I had familiarity with the sets there... and it was amazing how often I still had to look stuff up. Even major cards that were central to my deck I was finding myself googling to remember the name and what pack they're in to hunt for them.

[Mando Knight]

Fixed that for you.
I assumed it went without saying. I mean, it's kinda obvious that you'd want to protect your horde of XX-Sabers (or whatever archetype is cool to use now) from random effects like Morphing Jar #2 or something...

[Spartacus]

Yeah, that's my main reason for not getting back in, suddenly catching up on several years worth of expansions at once takes time, and even being rusty on old cards I used frequently just makes it hard.

Man, try jumping into M:tG at this point, especially in a format like Legacy or EDH that uses all the different sets. Standard isn't so bad, Extended is only slightly worse, but anything that uses sets further back...

[Brother Oni]

Man, try jumping into M:tG at this point, especially in a format like Legacy or EDH that uses all the different sets. Standard isn't so bad, Extended is only slightly worse, but anything that uses sets further back...

It's not the cards, it's the rule changes.

The biggest recent one was in M10 when they changed combat damage assignment - previously, you could respond to combat damage going on the stack, making cards like Mogg Fanatic very good.
Now, combat damage is assigned and dealt at the same time, causing these card to plummet in value and card price (from 3USD to 0.7USD).

These days, anything involving licids and phasing are generally more trouble than they're worth.

[Maxios]

You cannot be taught Yu-Gi-Oh. To know Yu-Gi-Oh, you must be one with the Yu-Gi-Oh, you must join it, and only then will you succumb to the state of mind known only as Yu-Gi-Oh :smalltongue:

[Mando Knight]

Rule 1: Believe in the Heart of the Cards.

[Pie Guy]

Rule 1: Believe in the Heart of the Cards.

Rule 2: Read the rules, or bribe someone to say that you're following them.

[Nameless Ghost]

Screw the money, I have rules!

I've been an on-and-off competitive players for several years now, and I know the rules relatively well.

I advise that, if you'd be helping players with rules, you learn and fully understand the Priority, Chaining and Spell speed mechanics. Knowing those lets you solve 90% of rulings problems without needing to look things up.

If you're interested in the competitive environment, the official site (http://www.yugioh-card.com/en/) and related articles page (http://www.konami.com/yugioh/articles/) might be a good place to look.

I should note that the Synchro mechanic has massively changed the way the game is played, and Exceed mechanic might do so too (if they actually bring out any good Exceed monsters :smallsigh:). Almost every tournament deck now is based around Synchro Summoning.

Also, while almost all of the older cards are still legal, the game has changed considerably from the old 'Chaos' era, and theme decks actually work now. Thus, most decks run cards specific to their theme along with a standard support lineup.

You can get an idea of what these cards are and which decks do well by looking at tournament decklists. The Yu-Gi-Oh! wiki is a fairly accurate source of information on the cards and has complete set listings, text, pictures and effects for card, by set, in order.

In terms of cost, Yu-Gi-Oh! can get expensive quickly. The rarer and more powerful cards often go for £80, and it's not uncommon for a lot of cards in a deck to be at £20+, and for you to need multiples of them. That said, it is entirely possible to build a deck 'on the cheap', which eschews the expensive cards (Pot of Duality and Solemn Warning, for example), for cheaper alternatives.

[BladeofOblivion]

It's not the cards, it's the rule changes.

The biggest recent one was in M10 when they changed combat damage assignment - previously, you could respond to combat damage going on the stack, making cards like Mogg Fanatic very good.
Now, combat damage is assigned and dealt at the same time, causing these card to plummet in value and card price (from 3USD to 0.7USD).

These days, anything involving licids and phasing are generally more trouble than they're worth.

Banding. 'nuff said. :smalltongue:

Actually, I've relearned MtG just this year. In the legacy format. It actually isn't too bad, up until someone pulls out Banding, Phasing, Etc.

[Starwulf]

Get one of the newer video games, it helps a lot. Basically all of the championship series that I've tried followed the rules to the letter (more or less), and had almost every card that was released at the time it was released available on it. This will help you reacquaint yourself with the rules, and get yourself refamiliarized with the game and various deck types. Don't expect it to make you a tournament level player, but to get a firm grounding in the basics, and the ability to experiment with a deck without shelling out hundreds of dollars, that's really the way to go.

As for finding an online Yu-Gi-Oh community, back when I was big into it Pojo was a pretty large active community, I have no idea what's happened to them though, as this was back when Yu-Gi-Oh was brand new, over a decade ago. I know another community I migrated to from there has long since fallen apart. You could also try tracking down YVD, it's a tool made to play Yu-Gi-Oh online, and I'm pretty certain if it's still around (and I know it was as of less than a year ago when I considered getting back into the game briefly), there's probably a thriving community of duelists on their forums.

Also, YVD is a step up from the games in terms of always having sets up to date. It was made extremely easy to add new sets to it, so the new sets are generally up within days of a new set being released. So unlike the DS games, you can be guaranteed any card you want is available here, but you do need to be able to find partners to play with and already understand the rules to a fair degree to use it.

Any online community you find built around the game will probably have plenty of resources to help you find what's strong in the current metagame, and the other advanced stuff you asked for. There's been like about a dozen new packs and several ban list changes since the last time I played seriously, so I'm pretty useless there, sorry.

Woot, thank you for pointing out that YVD program. Now I can duel with a buddy of mine without having to call long-distance ^^ Was able to fully recreate my deck, and even add a few other cards I always wished I'd had but could never seem to acquire.

[BladeofOblivion]

There's an online community here in the Playground, actually. We keep up with the metagame, too. A couple of us have already fitted Exceed Monsters into our decks.

Here's the link. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182796)

Reposted for emphasis.

[Archonic Energy]

You forgot #6: the End Phase. Like the Standby Phase, it's usually skipped in gameplay unless someone activated my trap card some kind of effect that takes place then.

:smallredface:
yeah... End is so easy to forget about!

I picked up the 2010 version today for cheap. I got a few cards with it that I have no idea what I'm going to do with, but that's not really a problem.

ooooo. 2011 version is out now too...
i wonder if 2012 will be a 3DS ARG game? that'd be SO COOL...