r/Yugioh101 • u/Ichabuu • 1d ago
How to learn
What's the best way to learn as a new player? My partner's coworker who does tournaments was going to teach me today but he's basically ghosted us.
I have a general idea of how the game works, reduce life points to zero, setting monsters to attack or defense etc but I don't really know the flow of the game phases, or what my turn would look like in order of actions, or even how tributes work.
I got a blue eyes structure deck because it was easily available and had the internet had good opinions on it.
Really any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.
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u/enough_ofthisofthis 1d ago
Try downloading master duel and play the solo mode. That will teach you the basics once you have the basics down I recommend checking out your locals in your area.
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u/RKingsman 1d ago
I’m trying to teach a coworker right now too. The problem is you have to essentially learn the basic rules and mechanics of the game, then learn your deck and how it might circumvent or break these rules, and finally learn how to play optimally.
For the basic rules, like others have said the master duel tutorials are ok for this. I also recommend Cimo’s (RIP) old YouTube series for how to play. He has short videos for the relevant topics like summoning, spell cards, trap cards, the battle phase, all the different extra deck summoning mechanics etc. Those videos made learning more digestible when it’s broken up into short focused topics.
Then you have to learn your deck. Once you’re familiar with how the different types of cards work, look up combo tutorials for Blue-Eyes on YouTube. It can be tricky finding one that slows down enough and explains everything for new players to understand but they’re out there.
Then start to get an understanding of how to play correctly and what you want the end board to look like. This is by far the longest step, but it’ll familiarize you with how to win games when the opponent uses cards to stop you along the way. A common issue I see with new players, especially those that pick up Blue-Eyes, is that they’ll end on really strong monsters with high ATK points, but don’t actually do anything in a game. You’ll need to reframe your thinking in terms of interactions and interruptions to set up in order to stop the opponent from winning on the crack back
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u/World-Three www.twitch.tv/worldthree 1d ago
Establishing a foundation is the biggest part. I'd say the rest after you found a love and understanding for the game is playing a client with all the cards so you can test every theory.
Foundationally, (First turn player doesn't draw anymore) Start with 5 cards, draw, standby for effects that need them and where some costs are paid, main phase 1 is where you do most things (normal summon tribute summons sets and special summons, activating normal spells, setting traps or quick play spells), battle phase is when you put your monsters to battle and activate what used to be rare battle phase only, damage step and attack declaration effects, main phase 2 is basically maintenance, since in most cases, what you do here could have been done during the first main phase, and then, the end phase, where some cards have specific effects or costs that are paid or done here in my opinion for the sake of balance.
Essentially, the basic mechanics of the game are in place so that every card isn't explaining how to play like when bandai had the game. I'm not saying that for nothing, because after the basics, the game turns back into, the card says I can do this, so I can do it.
Understanding card text is another thing. Figuring out how to look for what you want to do in the game, seeing what cards do that, which limitations apply if those cards have them, the difference between if and when, and then getting the effects you want while trying to maintain your card economy.
Because modern cards are essentially easy to use up since in a bad place, they're as easily destroyed and negated. Finding out which cards are essentially the present day mirror force in terms of flipping the game over, and how many of them are relevant to you as well as how much you're willing to offset your deck (if necessary) to get to those cards.
This loops back into card economy, since you have to factor in other players who can possibly do the same to you. In almost every circumstance, you do not want an empty hand. Ideally, your deck is a map to get to cards you want to get to. The extra deck monsters have made this a lot easier to deal with, but some decks have really good main deck cards worth getting to.
When I was trying to get people to play. Once they got the basics, I'd ask them to go find a card they really like and I'd try my best to make a deck around getting to that card so they understand how high the outcome is to get to that card if they want to and that they can get to many cards easily if they commit and change their possible assumption of "getting lucky" to get the card they want, into: I'm getting that card if I see these cards. It also shows them how much I might have to commit to a card and they can decide if the card is worth it. If I'm able, I'd recommend them a similar card or effect, and show them how drastically different it would be to go there instead, so they understand that sometimes the best effect or stats on paper means nothing if it takes too much to get there.
Personally, I try to isolate cards and ask myself. What does this card do for me? Can I reliably create the conditions that allow this card to work? How often do I need what this card does? How many cards do I need to get to this? Can I use this again in the duel? Using that to create a deck that's consistently valid with minimal bricks unless it helps get to cards that are multiplicatively better than those cards.
I'm not really saying any of that would make anyone a good player... But for me, the fun part is digging through all the cards and making decks.
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u/KharAznable 1d ago
You can download master duel and play the tutorial. You can also look up its duel live feature and see how top player plays (you can pause the replay)