The table
Each duelist starts with 8,000 Life points, a shuffled deck of 40 cards and a hand of 5 cards. On the table there are:
- 5 monster zones for each player;
- 5 spell and trap zones for each player;
- one field zone for the whole table;
- each side's deck, hand and graveyard.
Who goes first
The server draws who starts, fifty-fifty. You cannot choose.
The flow of the turn
Drawing cards
At the start of each of your turns, you draw up to 5 cards in hand. Anyone who already has 5 or more does not draw. There is no maximum hand size.
One play from your hand per turn
You can play one card from your hand (summon a monster, activate a spell, set a trap…) or make one fusion. A fusion of two or three cards counts as the single play. After it, your hand rests until the next turn, but the rest of the turn goes on: attacks, position changes and cards you already set.
Set cards
A spell, equipment or field can be set face-down in its zone to be activated later. Activating a card you already set does not spend your play from hand, and you can activate as many as you like. Traps only enter face-down and trigger on their own; you do not activate them by hand.
The turn 1 rule
No tribute
Any monster enters directly, whatever its level: nothing needs to be sacrificed. A freshly summoned monster can attack the same turn (except on the starting player's turn 1).
Ending the turn
When you are done, tap End turn (on a phone, End), the yellow button next to your hand. It glows once your play from the hand is done and no attack is left: only optional moves remain, such as changing a monster’s position or activating a card you set. The line above the buttons says: “Done? Tap End ➜”.
If no move is left (no attack, no position change, no set card to activate), the turn ends by itself: the notice “No moves left — ending the turn…” appears, the button shows “Ending…” with a bar that empties in 1.5 s, and the turn ends. Opening a card or a panel meanwhile holds the turn until you close it. You can turn it off in Settings → Duel.
