Junior Rules and Tag Team Rules

Although I don't expect anyone to really care any more and since neither do the company that hold the license to the game really cares, I find that these "Formerly" official rule sets to be much more funner overall and overall less broken, if not more balanced compared to the "present official rules".

But it depends on your experience and perception. Read on and feel free to try and debate on it.

The Junior Rules was used by Konami in the early beginning of the game (Japan OCG version) before the cards were mass produced and the game has gone commercial world wide.

These rules kept the gameplay much more simpler because there are very few chain links possibilites involved thus it does not give any real possibilities for any cheap or overpowered comboes.

It's also slower paced and was meant for younger players who were just starting to get into the game and very useful for those on a budget with a limited or very limited card pool. It even gives cards a that are very weak with the current official rules a chance to be played.

The set of rules was this but I could not find an Official Source other than what was mentioned from here:

http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!-related_books

"Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game Duel Monsters Official Rule Guide — The Thousand Rule Bible - ISBN 4-08-782134-X, This is a rule book and strategy guide for the Junior and Shin Expert rules."

• Any Level 5 or Higher Monsters do not require tributes to Summon.
  
  So the tribute summon rule is not applied at all here, however if there any Special Summon requirements for the Monster card then they must still be fulfilled first, unless otherwise with any other cards' effects that may allow the player to by pass the requirements.
  
• All spells and traps "must be Set first" before they can be activated
  
• Both players can "only have 1 Spell or Trap card" in the spell or trap zone on the field at a time, and "only 1 Field Spell Card" in the Field Spell Zone but the rule above applies for it also; must be set first and then can be activated the following turn.
  
  Thus meaning Spells can not be activated immediately on your turn. As you can see here these 2 rulings here are what makes things less broken because players cannot immediately play spells so spamming them for use in cheap comboes or otherwise is virtually impossible! It is enough to greatly reduces any, if not entirely remove all possibilites for OTK/FTK related and Lockdown related comboes and opportunities.
  
• Optional: Can begin the duel with 4000 LP instead of 8000 LP (I forgot if this ruling was true or not, but if any duelist is from Japan or owns any of the Japanese version of the rulebook, namely this one: "Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game Duel Monsters Official Rule Guide — The Thousand Rule Bible - ISBN 4-08-782134-X", then please verify, thanks!!)
  

Also I'm not sure if priority ruling was ever mentioned or applied but I don't think it's a big problem anyway.

Now on to Tag Team (2 vs 2) Dueling rules....

Team Dueling (2 players VS 2 players)

Taken from here as the original link to the officially released outline in .pdf format by UpperDeck no longer works: http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Team_Dueling_Rules

These were never really made official until at one point Upper Deck did acknowledge and created and official outline for it, but because of the lawsuit they had with Konami for Counterfeiting yugioh cards the lost the license to the game and Konami no longer sanction nor have they made any plans to endorse Team Dueling (other than the Anual YATA Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Team Tournament which are held in Oceania and various Parts of Europe)

The match is between two teams of two players each (designated player A and player B). Teammates are seated next to each other with the other team on the opposite side of the table.

For a tournament, each player's designation (A or B) is chosen at the start of the tournament, and never changes.

Basic Rules

• Each player has 5 Monster Card Zones.
  
  
• Each player has 5 Spell & Trap Card Zones.
  
  
• The zones from both players on a team create 1 large side of the field. So there are 2 sides of the field, Team One’s side of the field and Team Two’s side of the field.
  
  
• Each player uses their own Deck (2 Decks per team).
  
  
• Each player has their own Graveyard (you cannot use your teammate's Graveyard as if it was your own).
  
  
• Each team has 1 Life Point total of 8000 (if it reaches 0, the team loses).
  
  
• There can only be 1 Field Spell Card in play at a time, just like a 1-on-1 Duel.
  
  
• Each player has their own Extra Deck (you cannot use your teammate's Extra Deck for your Fusion Summon or Synchro Summons or card effects).
  
  
• Each player has their own Side Deck to use only with their Deck.
  
  
• Limited Cards are counted per player, not per team. So, for any given Limited Card, each player on a team could include 1 copy in their Deck, making a total of 2 copies that team can use. However, one player cannot include 2 copies of a Limited Card, even if the other player doesn't include any.
  
  
• During a turn, a player can only control their cards, not their teammate's, unless it is on the field.
  
  
• Teammates may talk, compare hands, and share information freely with each other. They should make their decisions in a timely manner, so as to not delay the game.
  
  
• A team loses if either player on that team cannot draw a card from their Deck when required to.
  
  
• A player can equip a spell or trap to a parters monster/ or opposing monster on the field.

Turn Procedure

Players on the same team sit next to each other, player A sits to the right of player B. Team 1 is players 1A & 1B and Team 2 is players 2A & 2B. The turn order starts with player A of the team that is chosen to go first and then alternates between teams. The first player who can make an attack is the player who goes fourth.

Turn Procedure example:

Turn	The Turn Player
1	Team 1, Player 1A
2	Team 2, Player 2A
3	Team 1, Player 1B
4	Team 2, Player 2B
5	Team 1, Player 1A

Continue until one team wins.



Card Effects

• If any part of a card affects your opponent's hand, Deck, Extra Deck, Graveyard, or Removed from Play Zone, then the player activating the card effect must choose 1 of their opponents to apply the entire effect of the card to.

EXAMPLES: "Confiscation", "Memory Crusher", "Soul Release", "Secret Barrel", "Crush Card Virus".

• If a card affects only your opponent's side of the field, it affects the entire side, or both your opponents.

EXAMPLE: Player 2A activates "Lightning Vortex", "Swords of Revealing Light" It destroys and/or stops an attack.

• If a card affects "both players", all 4 players are affected.

EXAMPLE: "Dark World Dealings" is activated. All 4 players will each draw a card, then each discard a card.

• Cards Set by a player can be viewed by the teammate, but they must be activated by the player who Set them.

• A player can allow their teammate to use cards they control as Tributes, Fusion Materials/Synchro Materials, or to pay the cost of a card or as part of an effect.

EXAMPLE: It is player 1A's turn, and player 1B controls a "Gravekeeper's Spy". With permission, player 1A Tributes that "Gravekeeper's Spy" to Tribute Summon his "Jinzo".

• "Owner" and "controller" mean the same thing as a standard Duel. The "owner" is the player who's Deck the card started in. "Controller" is the player who currently has the card in one of their zones.

EXAMPLE: Player 1A Summons "Dark Magician". Player 2B activates "Brain Control" and selects the "Dark Magician". He moves it to one of his Monster Card Zones. Player 1A is the owner of "Dark Magician" and Player 2B is the controller of "Dark Magician".

• You may use traps and spells to negate an attack or effect to you or your partner.

EXAMPLE: "Negate Attack"

Attacking

• You can only attack with monsters you control (in your 5 Zones) during your turn. You cannot attack with your teammate's Attack Position monsters.

• If there is a monster on the opponent's side of the field (controlled by either player) then you must attack it before attacking their Life Points directly.

EXAMPLE: Player 1A has "Elemental Hero Sparkman" in Attack Position. Player 2A has no monsters, but Player 2B has "Dark Magician" in Attack Position. Player 1A cannot attack directly, because the opponents have "Dark Magician" on the field.

Additional Rules

• During a player's turn, either opponent may activate Spell Speed 2 or higher effects (just as they could in a standard Duel). The teammate may also activate Spell Speed 2 or higher effects (as if it was an opponent's turn).

• When a player activates an effect, each other player must be given the opportunity to add an effect to the chain before it is resolved (starting with an opponent and then alternating between teams).

• If multiple Trigger Monster Effects activate at the same time, the turn player's effect(s) will be added to the chain first, followed by their teammate's effect(s), and finally the opponents' effect(s) (in an order of their choosing).

• Card effects that count turns count all appropriate turns.

EXAMPLE: "Swords of Revealing Light" is activated by Player 1A. Team 2 cannot attack on Player 2A's next turn (1 turn), Player 1B's next turn (2 turns), and Player 2A's turn after that (3 turns) player 2B can attack in his turn. "Swords of Revealing Light" will be destroyed at the end of that turn, because three opponents' turns have passed.

If that happened take my word for it YGO wouldn't have ended up where it is today

I think I posted this in the wrong section, wasn't too sure where to put these so called former official alternate ways to play the game.

Was it the articles section? Can somebody, like a mod please move this there? Thanks!

*bump*

For those that absolutely hate FTKs/OTKs or any other cheap and overpowered ridiculouse broken stuff in the game, they might consider playing it with the Junior Rules set.

And even then that could be broken, but I think it's less since you cannot clear the field quickly.

But one possible cheap scenario for this revision of rules I can think of is that:

Jinzo and Spell Canceller can be brought into play since there are no Tribute Summons (other than for Special Summon requirements). Thus locking Spells and traps, but even then I think it's easy to have a comeback once you have something strong enough to beat either of them or an Exiled Force or D.D. Warrior Lady, etc.,...

And certain decks cannot even be used such as Destiny Board or Crystal Beasts.

Goddess nX wrote:Would love to see tag team on DN, but I dont think it will ever happen

Well that's entirely up to the administrators and owners of the website. If they want to then it will.

My guess is that it could be overly complex to code and script properly to handle a connection of 4 users simultaneously, could probably take up a lot of server and system resources and bandwidth.

Imagine if it were to support multiple Tag Duels simultaneously, since I don't know if their server can keep up with the bandwidth and costs.

And even if they could do it it, but decided not to it's very likely because they may not be able have the budget for the huge bandwidth consumption required and the resources.

That's just my best guess, only time will tell.

For tag team duels, how would simultaneous effects from all players be ordered in a chain?

For example someone activates Dark World Dealings, all 4 players discard Grapha, Dragon of the Dark World from its effect.

KaousFaustXIII wrote:For tag team duels, how would simultaneous effects from all players be ordered in a chain?

For example someone activates Dark World Dealings, all 4 players discard Grapha, Dragon of the Dark World from its effect.

UDE never specified it nor made it all too clear but as all always the turn player is always Chain Link 1, and the opponent is Chain Link 2.

Not to sure about the teammates, but I'm guessing if it does apply then Chain Link 3 would be you Partner, and Chain Link 4 would be your opponent's partner.

Please refer to the Card Effects section in the UDE Tag Rules outline:

Card Effects


If any part of a card affects your opponent's hand, Deck, Extra Deck, Graveyard, or Removed from Play Zone, then the player activating the card effect must choose 1 of their opponents to apply the entire effect of the card to.


EXAMPLES: "Confiscation", "Memory Crusher", "Soul Release", "Secret Barrel", "Crush Card Virus".


If a card affects only your opponent's side of the field, it affects the entire side, or both your opponents.


EXAMPLE: Player 2A activates "Lightning Vortex", "Swords of Revealing Light" It destroys and/or stops an attack.


If a card affects "both players", all 4 players are affected.


EXAMPLE: "Dark World Dealings" is activated. All 4 players will each draw a card, then each discard a card.


Cards Set by a player can be viewed by the teammate, but they must be activated by the player who Set them.



A player can allow their teammate to use cards they control as Tributes, Fusion Materials/Synchro Materials, or to pay the cost of a card or as part of an effect.


EXAMPLE: It is player 1A's turn, and player 1B controls a "Gravekeeper's Spy". With permission, player 1A Tributes that "Gravekeeper's Spy" to Tribute Summon his "Jinzo".


"Owner" and "controller" mean the same thing as a standard Duel. The "owner" is the player who's Deck the card started in. "Controller" is the player who currently has the card in one of their zones.


EXAMPLE: Player 1A Summons "Dark Magician". Player 2B activates "Brain Control" and selects the "Dark Magician". He moves it to one of his Monster Card Zones. Player 1A is the owner of "Dark Magician" and Player 2B is the controller of "Dark Magician".


You may use traps and spells to negate an attack or effect to you or your partner.


EXAMPLE: "Negate Attack"

I always figured the tag duels worked like they do in the PSP games Tag Force, with both team members sharing one field and only one of them being 'active' at one time, certainly would make the above ruling easier to follow.

Derpy Hooves wrote:I always figured the tag duels worked like they do in the PSP games Tag Force, with both team members sharing one field and only one of them being 'active' at one time, certainly would make the above ruling easier to follow.

Logically I think so to, because when they designed the cards they never designed it for a total of 4 fields in play at the same time.

Therefore if Konami does announce that Tag Dueling will be officially used in Tournaments, then more than likely they will follow the same methods used in Tag Force where it's just 2 field like regular and each team share a field so things would be less confusing and doesn't have too many effect resolution problems.

But what about the Junior rules, have you got any opinions or thoughts on that?

This would be an AWESOME idea for DN. It would make DN stand above the rest dueling simulators 800%

whysoserious wrote:But what about the Junior rules, have you got any opinions or thoughts on that?

Meh, I don't really see the overall need for that, the bare basics are easy enough to learn (Aka, what you get in a starter set) So I don't personally think that a 'minigame' is over all useful.

Derpy Hooves wrote:

whysoserious wrote:But what about the Junior rules, have you got any opinions or thoughts on that?

Meh, I don't really see the overall need for that, the bare basics are easy enough to learn (Aka, what you get in a starter set) So I don't personally think that a 'minigame' is over all useful.

If that's the case maybe DN should try and implement a "sealed-deck" "pre-constructed deck" format. Which players must face each other using "only" starter or structure deck cards.

Slightly more balance or less broken in terms of gameplay.

I just think Junior rules is really the way to go if many players have a huge dislike for OTK and FTK or any type of lockdown or broken comboes.

Now whether or not such a mode can or will be implemented is ultimately decided by the community and the administrators.

Hi, I've bought the Thousand Rule Bible guidebook so I would like to add on a bit. I have look through every single detail at the Junior Rule section and they mentioned nothing about the player's life points. So, I assume that the Life Points still remain at 8000 points.
Besides, there are two other rules which aren't mentioned in this thread:

1. Quick-play Spell cards cannot be activated from your hands during your turn

Like any other spell cards under this rule, quick spell cards must be set for 1 turn first before it can be used. However, the spell's speed rule still applies.

2. A monster card's effect which can only be activated by removing it from the hand cannot be activated

The best example I can think of will be Kuriboh. Kuriboh's effect can only be activated when it is removed from your hand during damage calculation. So, under Junior Rulings, Kuriboh's effect cannot be used.

I hope this helps clarifying some doubts ^^

We use Tag rules similar to this sometimes. Kinda depends what we feel like at the moment. playing on 1 field or not. Although we don't usually allow the tribute of partners monsters. and for the direct Atk rule we just say your partner has the ability to set his monster but can also chose not to for strategy reasons.