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North America Deck Master FAQ

In Effect as of July 1st, 2022

SECTIONS

  • Basic Rules
  • Additional Rules

BASIC RULES

Deck Master is an alternate format for local tournaments that is offered by Official Tournament Stores (OTS) that is designed to encourage Duelists to flex their Deck building skills in a fun and creative way. The format is primarily intended to be fun and casual, rather than being competitive, allowing Duelists different ways to enjoy participating in Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) tournaments.

As this Format is intended to be fun, OTS are allowed to limit options Duelists can select for their Deck Master in the interest of preventing powerful Deck Masters from limiting the fun of the format.

As with all local tournaments, each OTS determines the tournament entry and prizing. So please check with your OTS for these details. Each Duelist will receive Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG product prizing with a value equal to or greater than the entry fee.

The tournament can use either the Advanced or Traditional Forbidden & Limited List, so make sure you check in with your OTS on which Forbidden & Limited list to prepare for.

Additional Rules

Here are some special rules that apply to all Deck Master tournaments. If your question isn’t answered here, please check with your OTS or email us-opsupport@konami.com to request additional information!

  • The Deck Master can be any Monster Card from the Main Deck or Extra Deck. The Deck Master begins each game outside of the Deck. However, the Deck Master is not considered to be on the field.
  • The Deck Master can be Special Summoned to the field during a Main Phase by the turn player whenever there is an open game state. This Special Summon does not use the Chain.
  • Once the Deck Master has been Special Summoned to the field, if it leaves the field for any reason, that Duelist loses the game.
    • As an exception to this is when the Deck Master is Tributed for a Tribute Summon or used as material for a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon, the newly Summoned monster becomes the Deck Master.
    • If the opponent Tributes a Duelist’s Deck Master or uses it as material for a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon, the Duelist loses the game.
  • If a Deck Master has a card effect that applies while the monster is face-up on the field, that card effect applies as if the Deck Master is face-up on the field.
  • The Main Deck and Extra Deck must still be legal after the Deck Master is chosen. This means if the Deck Master is chosen from the Main Deck, the Main Deck must still have at least 40 cards after the Deck Master has been removed.
  • The Deck Master does count as part of the Deck for Deck Building. This means a Duelist would not be allowed to build a Deck with 4 copies of a Monster Card with the intention of using the 4th copy as the Deck Master. The Main Deck and Extra Deck must be legal before the Deck Master is chosen.