I spent last weekend doing some event coverage at the Los Angeles Shonen Jump Championship. I watched as the judges walked up and down the rows and rows of tables housing more than 450 entrants, and I thought, “Ha! I get to sit down! Suckers!” Well, I’m usually one of those poor suckers, so this week I’m going to address a topic that’s near and dear to the hearts of judges everywhere—preserving the state of the game.

What exactly is the state of the game? It’s an impressive-sounding term that refers to the condition of the field, graveyard, deck, and hand. All of the cards in play and their relationships with each other constitute the state of the game. Since every card has an impact on the game state, it’s important to have everything in its proper place. The judges, your opponent, and you yourself need to be able to tell at a glance exactly what is going on at every moment during a game. Reading the state of the game gives you vital information that you’ll need to make the right choices, so you want everything to be laid out as clearly as possible.

What can you do to preserve the state of the game? Well, there’s a reason why starter decks come with playmats—they lay out the approved formation for the cards. In case you think that the formation is just a suggestion, you should know that it’s against the rules to deviate from that layout. If you do, you could be given a penalty. The first thing that you should do is follow the playmat format. Your monster cards should be kept in a row with five across in front, while your spell and trap cards should be arranged five across in a row on the bottom. When you activate a spell card, it doesn’t go straight into the graveyard! Place the card in the spell and trap zone until the effect has completely resolved. Field spell cards should go in their own spot up on the left-hand side of the play area.

The deck should be on your right-hand side. For comfort reasons, some players might need to switch the deck to the left, but check with the head judge to get clearance to do so. The graveyard is supposed to be right above the deck, and destroyed cards are placed in the graveyard face up in the order in which they were sent there. Don’t shuffle your graveyard—you’ll get a penalty if you do! If you’re removing cards from play, those cards should be set aside face up and far enough away so they won’t get mixed back into the game. That being said, cards removed from play should still be visible and clearly still part of the game state.

Your Fusion monsters go into your fusion deck, and if you are using a fusion deck, your opponent needs to know. Your fusion deck goes in the fusion zone on your left-hand side, below the field card zone. If the deck is in your way, you can ask the head judge if you can store it in a different area, but make sure your opponent knows that you have a fusion deck. When a Fusion monster leaves the field, make sure that it goes where it is supposed to go—in the graveyard if the card is destroyed, or back to the fusion deck if a card effect tells you to return the monster there.

That’s where your cards go. What about tokens? Tokens used to be somewhat rare in Yu-Gi-Oh!, but all that has changed. Now, it’s rare to see a deck that doesn’t need them, so let’s spend some time straightening out the token issue. What is a token? A token can be anything that is easily recognized as a token. Some players use glass beads, dice, or homemade cards that aren’t mistakable for actual game cards. Some people like to use plastic figures, and I use large cubic zirconias. What isn’t a token? Tokens should not be random pieces of scrap paper or garbage, nor should they be anything that you might forgetfully pick up and eat. Don’t laugh—I’ve seen it happen. A piece of candy is not a good choice for a token. Cards from your graveyard, side deck, or fusion deck are never appropriate for use as tokens, because they are easily mistaken for cards in play. Also, you’re not allowed to disrupt the order of your graveyard to grab cards for use as tokens.

If you’re playing any card that specifies the placement or summoning of a counter or token, you have to place or summon a counter or token. Using imaginary tokens that you and your opponent must keep track of in your heads is a violation of play rules. If you’re up a creek without a token, you can ask a judge if he or she can provide you with something (other than a scolding). Or you can see if the TO is selling anything appropriate for use as a token. Use one token for each thing that needs a token rather than using a die to denote a multiple number. It’s a lot easier to see exactly what is going on when you have one item for each token.

One commonly overlooked bonus to using tokens is that they’re great conversation pieces. That can really come in handy when a good-looking duelist sits down across the table from you. Impress your friends and intimidate your enemies—get some nifty tokens today!

Judging at a large event is hard work. As judges walk up and down the rows, looking at the tables and keeping an eye on the event, they need to be able to see immediately and clearly what is going on in each game. Your opponent also needs to see what is going on so he or she can make the correct play decisions, and you need to be able to keep things straight so you don’t make stupid mistakes. I’ve had to give out game losses to duelists who accidentally combined their graveyards with their hands or mixed their removed-from-play cards with their decks. I don’t enjoy doing it, because it can cost a player the match, but that’s the penalty. If you’re sloppy in your play, you risk being penalized for misrepresentation. Even worse, you could accidentally disrupt the game enough to earn a loss. If you haven’t made the necessary effort in the past to keep things in the right places, now is the time to start securing the state of the game. You’ll look polished and skilled, your judges will appreciate it, and you never know who you’ll impress with some fancy tokens.