Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel/Useful Notes

This page contains detailed information about the rules of the card game Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel.

Quick Glossary

The following terms are constantly used in the game.

LP: Shorthand for "Life Points". The first player to reach 0 LP loses.
Zone: A specific location in the game mat where an appropriate card is placed.
- Monster Zone: A Zone where you play your monsters. Each player gets 3.
- Spell & Trap Zone: A Zone where you play your (non-Field) Spells and Traps. Each player gets 3.
- Field Spell Zone: The Zone where you play your Field Spells. Each player gets 1.
- Deck Zone: The Zone where you place your deck face-down. Each player gets 1.
- Extra Deck Zone: The Zone where you place your Extra Deck. Each player gets 1.
- GY: Shorthand for Graveyard. Serves as the game's "discard pile", fallen monsters and used Spells/Traps go here.
Summon: Playing a monster card.
- Normal Summon: Playing a monster from the hand face-up.
- Tribute Summon: Playing a Level 5 or higher monster from the hand by Tributing a required amount of monsters. Counts as a Normal Summon.
Set: Playing a card face-down. Despite being hidden information, monsters still need to go to a Monster Zone, and Spells/Traps still need to go to a Spell & Trap Zone.
Battle Position: A stance taken by a monster while on the field. A monster can either be in Attack Position, face-up Defense Position or face-down Defense Position.

Preparation

A player's deck may contain between 40 to 60 cards. No more than 3 copies of the same card can be in a deck. No more than a total of 1 Legend card can be in a deck.

Each player starts with 8000 LP and 4 cards in their hand.

Objective

The aim of the game is to reduce the opponent's LP to 0. A player will also lose if they're unable to draw a required amount of card(s) from their Deck.

Turn Flow

Each turn comprises of the following Phases, in order:

Draw Phase: The turn player draws until they have 5 cards in their hand. If they already have 5 or more cards in their hand, they draw 1 instead. There is no hand size limit.
Main Phase 1:
- The turn player may Normal Summon or Set as many monsters from their hand as they possibly can.
- The turn player may activate the effect of monsters they control, if the requirements are met.
- The turn player may activate or Set as many Spells or Traps from their hand as they possibly can. Traps need to be Set from the previous turn to be activated, while Spells can be activated during the same turn they are Set.
- The turn player may change the battle position of as many monsters they control as possible. Outside of card effects, a monster cannot change its battle position during the turn they are Summoned, or if they already have their battle position changed that turn.
Battle Phase:
- The turn player chooses a monster to attack the opponent. If the opponent controls a monster, the turn player may only attack the opponent's monster, unless the attacking monster is under an effect that lets it attack directly. If the opponent controls no monster, the turn player may attack the opponent player directly.
  - When attacking an opponent's Attack Position monster, compare the attacker's ATK and the defender's ATK. The monster with the lower ATK is destroyed, and its controller takes damage equal to the difference in ATK between the two battlers. If the attacker and defender have the same amount of ATK, both monsters are destroyed.
  - When attacking an opponent's Defense Position monster, compare the attacker's ATK and the defender's DEF. If the defender's DEF is lower, the defending monster is destroyed and neither player takes damage, unless the attacking monster is under an effect that lets it inflict piercing damage, in which case the destroyed monster's controller takes damage equal to the difference between the attacker's ATK and the defender's DEF. If the defender's DEF is higher, neither monster is destroyed and the attacking monster's controller takes damage equal to the difference between the attacking monster's ATK and the defending monster's DEF. If the attacker's ATK and the defender's DEF are equal, nothing happens.
  - When attacking a player directly, the attacked player takes damage equal to the attacking monster's ATK.
- Each monster can only attack once per turn, unless given the effect to do additional attacks through card effects.
End Phase: Certain cards' effects may may automatically activate, resolve or expire during this Phase. After everything is done for the turn, the turn player ends their turn, and the turn switches to the next player. Each player exchanges turns until one of them becomes the Winner.

Card Types

There are 3 main card types in Rush Duel; Monster Cards, Spell Cards and Trap Cards.

Monster Card

Monsters are the backbone of most Rush Duel decks, as the game mainly revolves around the combat between monsters. Monsters attack the opponent or defend the player from the opponent's attacks. Each monster has a Level, ATK and DEF.

Each monster has a Level. Levels generally govern on the monster's general power level, as well as how easy it is to bring them onto the field. Level 4 or lower monsters can be Normal Summoned or Set freely; Level 5 to 6 monsters require 1 Tribute to Normal Summon or Set; Level 7 or higher require 2 Tributes.

Each monster has an ATK (Attack) value and a DEF (Defense) value. These values are used during battles, or for card effects.

A monster can be in either Attack Position or Defense Position, and needs to be in Attack Position to declare an attack. A monster is always Normal Summoned in Attack Position and Set in face-down Defense Position. Monsters can't be in face-down Attack Position or be Normal Summoned/Set in face-up Defense Position. Monsters can be Special Summoned in either Attack Position or face-up Defense Position, unless the Special Summoning effect specifically states the Special Summoned monster to be Special Summoned in a specific battle position.

Monsters are Summoned to the Monster Zone. A player is allowed up to 3 Monster Zone on their field. Monsters cannot be Summoned if there's not enough space in the Main Monster Zone (Tributing or using a monster for Fusion Summon count as freeing up a space; that means if you already have 3 monsters, you can still for example, Tribute Summon a Level 5 or 6 monster by Tributing 1 of those 3 monsters). However, there's an exception to this rule with a certain subtype of Effect Monster (see "Maximum Monster" below).

Each monster is assigned 1 of 6 Attributes:

Attributes do nothing on their own, but may be used for certain card effects.

Most monsters are each assigned 1 of 23 Types:

Certain Fusion Monsters possess 1 of the 5 following Types instead:

Celestial Warrior
Cyborg
High Dragon
Magical Knight
Omega Psychic

Just like with Attributes, Types do nothing on their own, but may be used for certain card effects.

There are 3 monster card types (not to be confused by Types above); Normal Monsters, Effect Monsters and Fusion Monsters.

Normal Monsters are color-coded yellow and don't possess special effects. These tend to have good ATK and DEF for their Level, and thus are often used for their raw stats alone. Effect Monsters are color-coded orange and possess special effects.

Maximum Monsters are a subset of Effect Monsters. They always come in sets of 3 specific cards. Each Maximum Monster "pieces" can be used as individual monsters. A complete set of Maximum Monster can be Maximum Summoned from the hand as one single monster that takes the space of 3 monsters. When there are not enough space on your field to Maximum Summon, you can just make space by sending your current monsters from the field to the GY. Once Maximum Summoned, a Maximum Monster enters Maximum Mode. During Maximum Mode, a Maximum Monster uses its MAXIMUM ATK stat instead of its regular ATK, possess no DEF (and thus can't become Defense Position), and has all three of its effects unlocked.

Fusion Monsters are special monsters that reside in the Extra Deck. Each Fusion Monster has a list of "Fusion materials" in them. To play a Fusion Monster, you must first control both its Fusion materials face-up on your field, and then use the Spell Card "Fusion" to Fusion Summon that monster.

Spell Card

Spells are one-use cards that have various effects. Spell Cards are color-coded green, and are played on the Spell & Trap Zone. Once used, Spell Cards are placed in the GY. When Set, a Spell remains in the Spell & Trap Zone until they're flipped face-up to be used. Each player are allowed 3 Spell & Trap Zone in their field. Just like with monsters, a player cannot activate a Spell if they don't have a free space in their Spell & Trap Zone.

Field Spell is a special kind of Spell, denoted by a special icon on its card. Instead of being one-use, they stay on the field and apply their effects passively. Instead of the Spell & Trap Zone, Field Spells go to the Field Spell Zone. A player is only allowed 1 space in the Field Spell Zone, but the player can simply replace a Field Spell they control with another one (the replaced Field Spell is then sent to the GY).

Trap Card

Traps are reactive one-use cards that have various effects. Trap Cards are color-coded pink, and are played on the Spell & Trap Zone. Traps need to be Set before they can be activated, and they cannot be activated during the turn they're Set. Each Trap has a specific requirement to be activated, such as when the opponent attacks or when a monster the owner controls is destroyed by battle. Each player are allowed 3 Spell & Trap Zone in their field. Just like with monsters, a player cannot Set a Trap if they don't have a free space in their Spell & Trap Zone.