Let’s get on with it!

Shuffling

I can remember the early days of Yu-Gi-Oh! when I worked on the mall tour. Young kids would come in, carefully extract their decks from their pockets, and set them on the table. I’d shuffle my deck, notice them just sitting there, and say “Okay, you need to shuffle!” They’d look at me blankly.

“Shuffle?”

“Yes. You need to mix up your cards like I’m doing.”

“But if I do that, I won’t know what card I’m going to draw!” They’d meticulously arranged their decks so they’d get the “good cards” right at the beginning. Eventually they learn, and shuffling becomes second nature. There are specific guidelines for shuffling in a tournament, though, and players need to be aware of those guidelines.

You need to thoroughly randomize your deck before you present it to your opponent. That means you’re not supposed to know where specific cards are in your deck, or try to manipulate the distribution. You can’t sort the cards into any specific order during this process. Use a combination of shuffling techniques, such as pile shuffling and riffle shuffling, to make sure that your deck is completely randomized. Once you’re done, present the deck to your opponent. He or she then must shuffle it for at least ten seconds—and that means really shuffle, not just a single cut. Once your opponent is done, you cannot alter the order of cards in your deck.

You should shuffle quickly! Players get 30 seconds for shuffling during a duel, and two minutes to shuffle at the beginning of the match or in between duels. When you shuffle, hold your deck above the table so your hands are visible. Don’t hold the deck sideways, because you can get a glimpse of your cards if you do that. Even if you weren’t looking, your opponent could claim later that you were shuffling incorrectly.

When you shuffle your opponent’s deck, treat the cards carefully so that none of them get damaged—I’ve had opponents who shuffled so roughly that they split my card sleeves. If your opponent is mishandling your cards, call over a judge and explain the situation. You do need to let your opponent shuffle your deck, but if he or she is damaging your cards, a judge can assist with the shuffling process.

Conceding a Game or Match

This can be open to misunderstanding, as some players are unaware of the policies regarding game and match concession. Occasionally, two players might be paired up who don’t wish to play out the game or match—it happens often with close friends or siblings, and married couples might find themselves in this dilemma—and in that case, one player may concede to the other. A player may concede a game in progress if he or she doesn’t think there is any way to win, to save having to play things out. Players may also occasionally concede due to an emergency that requires them to end the match immediately.

It’s perfectly legal to concede, and you can do so at any point in the match . . . but a player may concede only if there is no compensation offered to induce either player to do so. A player can say “Hey, you know what? I don’t want to play it out, I concede.” However, they can’t make a deal for it, by saying something like, “You know, I’ve already got my Regionals invite. Tell you what . . . after the duel, you give me both of your D. D. Assailants and I’ll concede.” You can’t offer or ask for a bribe or any other type of compensation in exchange for conceding the game or match. Players need to be very careful when they’re conceding games and matches, making sure their intentions are very clear and not open to misinterpretation. Don’t assume your opponent has conceded if they say something like, “Oh, there’s no way to win, I should give up!” Always ask him or her, “Do you wish to concede?” to make sure you both know exactly what is going on.

Side Decking

Players are allowed to bring a fifteen-card side deck to a tournament, although side decks are not required. Side decks can’t be used in the first game of a match, but any number of cards can be exchanged between the side deck and main deck before any of the subsequent duels. Remember, when you use your side deck, you must remove one card from your main deck for each card you put in from your side deck.

If the first game doesn’t happen due to a tournament penalty, players may still use their side decks for the next game. All cards that have been exchanged from the side deck must be removed before the beginning of the next match, as players need to begin each round with their deck exactly the same as their deck list. Also, all card limits apply to both the side deck and main deck. You can’t have more than three copies of any unlimited card, more than two copies of any semi-limited card, or more than one copy of any limited card in both your side and main decks.

Before the match begins, take your side deck and place it face down on the table. Your opponent is allowed to count the deck to make sure it contains fifteen cards, but he or she may not look at the actual cards. You may not look through your side deck either, unless a card effect tells you to do so.

Now, let’s look at the policy for actually using the side deck. Lots of players don’t understand the correct policy here, and can misinterpret their opponent’s actions. They might think their opponent is trying to gain an edge by not immediately announcing the intention to side deck, but waiting to see what the player will decide to do. “Judge, my opponent’s cheating! I figured he didn’t want to side deck, but as soon as I shuffled my deck and put it down, he decided to side deck. He’s going to have an advantage over me! The only reason he’s side decking is because I’m not!” I’ve seen this happen at events, and it arises because players aren’t aware of the exact policy for side decking.

Players don’t have to announce whether or not they’re going to side deck, and they don’t need to make up their minds immediately. Also, the decision regarding whether or not to use the side deck doesn’t have to be simultaneous. Until a player shuffles his or her deck and presents it to the opponent to cut, that player can exchange any number of cards between the two decks. Players don’t have to tell their opponent how many cards they’re exchanging, although their opponent may (and probably should) count the side deck, without looking at the cards in it, to confirm that there are still fifteen total cards.

If a player does decide to side deck, he or she should do it quickly. Three minutes are allowed between games for both players to make their decisions, exchange their cards, and shuffle their decks. Stalling here isn’t acceptable. You’re probably best off assuming that your opponent will want to side deck, or at least look through his or her side deck to see if there’s anything that might help him or her out in the next game.

Hopefully, this article has cleared up some points that might have caused confusion among players in the past. When your responsibilities and rights are clearly defined, it becomes much easier to do what is required of you when you are participating in an event. You’re able to be more confident in your decisions. Judges can spend less time sorting out protocol and policy issues, and can instead focus on rulings and event management, making the tournament run quickly and smoothly. In the end, it makes for a much more enjoyable experience for everyone.

If you haven’t ever printed out and read the Upper Deck tournament policy document, then you should. You can find the files for general tournament policy, Yu-Gi-Oh! specific policy, and penalty guidelines, here. I’ve explained some things fairly thoroughly in these articles, but you should definitely download these documents and read through them before attending your next event. Know exactly what Upper Deck has to say on these topics, and you’ll always know where you stand.