New Rules for Yugioh Duel Monsters (2017)

So, guys. It seems with the new anime, there are also gonna be major changes when it comes to duel rules.


Source : here.

Quote :

The Newly Created Extra Monster Zone
>You can only use one of them!<

When the Duel begins, neither Extra Monster Zone is considered to belong to a specific player. When a player Special Summons a monster to one of them, that Zone then becomes treated as part of that player’s field, and the other then becomes treated as the other player’s field. The tactics of a Duel will change drastically depending on who can grab an Extra Monster Zone first! An Extra Deck Monster can only be Summoned to the Extra Monster Zone! But if you Summon a Link Monster to one of the Extra Monster Zone first, you can utilize it to its max potential!

*Extra Deck Monsters, like Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Link, cannot be Summnoned to the Main Monster Zone, beware!

– What has been the [Monster Zone] up till now is now the [Main Monster Zone]
– The [Pendulum Zone] is on the left and right of the [Spell & Trap Zone]. You can use it as a normal [Spell & Trap Zone], but when you place Pendulum cards there, it is treated as the [Pendulum Zone]





The Zones Pointed at by Link Markers Can be Used to Bring Out Extra Deck Monsters


Although Extra Deck Monsters can only be Summoned to the Extra Monster Zone Normally, if you have a Link Monster in the Extra Monster Zone, the Zones pointed at by their Link Markers can be used to Summon Extra Deck Monsters! So if you get out a Link Summon quickly, you can bring out Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Monsters in succession. Of course, you can Summon another Link Monster in one of these Zones, so if you play your cards right, you can fill your entire Main Monster Zone with Extra Deck Monsters! The new metagame will require careful consideration of where to place monsters!


Super Quick Q&A for the New Rules!


Q: If Special Summoned an Extra Deck Monster normally, and it goes to the Graveyard, and I want to Special Summon it with “Monster Reborn”, which Zone does it go to?
A: It goes into the Main Monster Zone, not the Extra Monster Zone.Q: Can you use “Book of Moon” on Link Monsters?
Q: Link Monsters cannot be face-down, so you cannot target them with “Book of Moon”.Q: If your opponent’s only monster is in their Extra Monster Zone, can you attack them directly?
A: If there’s a monster in the Extra Monster Zone, unless some kind of effect is in play, you would have to attack that monster first.Q: Can you destroy 2 Set Spell & Trap Cards in your Left Most and Right Most Spell & Trap Zones with “Wavering Eyes”?
A: The Left Most and Right Most Spell & Trap Zones are regular Spell & Trap Zones, and do not become Pendulum Zones unless you activate a Pendulum Card in them, or if a Pendulum Card is placed in them by a card effect. A Set Spell & Trap Card in either of those Zones cannot be destroyed by “Wavering Eyes”.

So yeah. It introduced new type of monster called Link Monster. Also with the new rule for Extra Deck Monsters, pretty much killed a lot of decks. No more Extra Deck Monster spam like people used to have, and players are pretty much, forced to use Link Monsters if they still want to use Extra Deck Monsters. Oh yeah. Now Pendulum Zones are in Spell Trap Zones, by the way. And, those Link Monsters has no defense. Which means... they can't become defense position, or turned face down by card effect. I guess it's time to have 3 Book of Moon.

You know, the more I think about these rule changes...

It's not gonna affect the metagame at all.

I mean, RIP Shooting Star and Shooting Quasar, and RIP Bahamut Shark, but other than that, which other decks have multiple Extra monsters out at once? On a regular basis I mean.
Blue-Eyes? Nah, you have to tribute Spirit Dragon to get its effect.
Norden? When you Xyz with it, it leaves the field, so by these rulings your Extra Zone should be free.
Mega Monarchs? Can't use Extra anyway.
Dragunitys? Okay, but since when were they last meta?

I guess Ritual monsters can still be spammed in the Main Monster Zone, though, since they're not from the Extra deck... good thing Nekroz got banned XD

As for the Pendulum Zones thing, has there ever been a time where Pendulums use more than 3 cards at once in their backrow? Come to think of it, aside from Stun (which doesn't use Pendulums obvs), does ANY deck use more than 3 cards at once in their backrow?

Link monsters sound gimmicky. The first ones will probably be crap, but I'm sure, knowing the card makers, some new Link monster FTKs will be released in the second booster pack after this rule change goes into effect
If you think about it though, the Extra Deck limit is still 15. So adding Link monsters, together with Fusions, Synchros, and Xyz, could be difficult to fit everything in there. In general I'm thinking these Link monsters would take at least a quarter of your Extra by themselves if you choose to go a spam route, so in a way this doesn't seem like infinite possibilities or anything.

The only thing I don't get, however is the fact that the Extra Monster Zones belong to whoever gets it first... is there a difference between the two Extra Monster Zones that would entice a player to choose one over the other?

In short, this set of rule changes doesn't sound as bad as I initially thought.

Kirikaze Fuuma wrote:

I guess it's time to have 3 Book of Moon.

In the OCG, most definitely. In the TCG, I'm not so sure that this will happen, since Book of Moon is still a very useful card for stopping monsters on the field. It doesn't destroy, so it goes past a lot of monster effects. And it's a Quick-Play, so you can activate it whenever and however you want.

Qliphort is a pendulum deck that sets 5 backrow and pass. All of the Qliphort monsters are pendulum monsters. All synchro decks are unplayable with those new rules since you need to run Link monsters to do anything with those synchro decks. And even with that you can only summon like 2 synchro monsters by those Link monsters. Witch means RIP Gustos

Hippo wrote:

If you think about it though, the Extra Deck limit is still 15

It is already stated that Extra Deck will be have more cards in it
So RIP wallet for buying new Link Monster

Also, for me, I got 2 reaction:
1. Pure disappointment, I just bought a Zefra deck, so with how Pendulum got RIP real hard, the whole money I spend on it(beside the Nekroz cards) become pure worthless, alongside how Monarch will basically become "fill all META Link Monster and use 3 Cherry Blossom to block a whole play"
2. Excitement, Link mechanic will make the game slower and prevent quick end(at least, for around 1/2 month) and let deck like Skull Servant to win. Not counting how this will be called a new "Format", kinda like how MTG have more than 1 play rule

hiita lover wrote:

Qliphort is a pendulum deck that sets 5 backrow and pass. All of the Qliphort monsters are pendulum monsters. All synchro decks are unplayable with those new rules since you need to run Link monsters to do anything with those synchro decks. And even with that you can only summon like 2 synchro monsters by those Link monsters. Witch means RIP Gustos

First of all, Qlis have been hit too hard by the banlist to be really relevant anymore, even without this rule change. I admit, I've never played a Qli player irl, but every time I've played against the AI Qliphort deck on YGOpro, it never plays more than 3 backrow at one time. The Pendulum monsters can just be Pendulum Summoned to the Main monster zone, so they're not really hindered by that. I think the rule change is very fair in regards to Pendulums.

About the Synchro decks being unplayable thing, I will have to say that they already were unplayable long before this. Synchros were made in a time where the game was much slower than it is today, and most Synchro-centric decks only really have materials to summon one Synchro monster per turn (again, Synchron decks and decks that revolve around Shooting Star/Shooting Quasar are an exception). But nowadays the game state is so fast that during the opponent's turn (or even during your own turn) the monster they summon usually gets removed from the field. I don't know what Gusto deck you use to summon more than one Synchro per turn, but coming from someone who's played Gustos since 2012, it's a LUXURY if you can hold out long enough to summon two Synchros, or 1 Synchro and 1 Xyz. Either that, or your opponent is just letting you win. Cards like Gulldos and Sphreez have no card effect immunity like most meta archetypes nowadays, and Gulldos in particular can be easily run over since it's only 2200 ATK. And if you recall, Gusto effects miss timing, so you can't swarm anymore once you Sync for something. One Extra monster on the field is really all they can afford at the moment, so this rule change does nothing to them.

As for other decks:
-Blackwings can't swarm like they used to. Shura is too slow now and Vayu requires more set-up. Blizzard would be useful but its ATK is too low to trigger anything good off of Black Whirlwind. 1 Synchro per turn is all they can afford as well.
-X-Sabers usually summon only 1 Hyunlei or Souza in a turn, and not both at once because they don't have that many Tuners. Plus they still have access to Faultroll, a Main deck monster.
-Six Samurai really only need 1 Shi En and 1 Great Shogun to set up a lock. Of those two, Shi En is the only Synchro.
-Lavals are dead now because Rekindling is at 1.
-Frognarchs can Sync with Veiler, but typically their main deck monsters are stronger than their Extra deck monsters.
-Agents Synchro sometimes, but their main boss is Hyperion, who again is a main deck monster. Also BLS, who is also a main deck monster.
-Fableds are just another Quasar engine. Bye Felicia
-Fire Fists are very versatile in their playstyle, and I can see them changing their builds a bit to get over this. They will be hurt but definitely not "unplayable".

The only archetype I can think of that is definitely destroyed by this rule change is T.G.s. But again, when was the last time they were relevant?

ally of justice catastor wrote:

It is already stated that Extra Deck will be have more cards in it

ally of justice catastor wrote:

Not counting how this will be called a new "Format", kinda like how MTG have more than 1 play rule

Where are you getting your information from, mate? Fuuma's link doesn't say anything about either of these.

Not that I'm complaining though. Both sound like great additions to the game as a whole.

Hippocampus wrote:

You know, the more I think about these rule changes...

It's not gonna affect the metagame at all.

I mean, RIP Shooting Star and Shooting Quasar, and RIP Bahamut Shark, but other than that, which other decks have multiple Extra monsters out at once? On a regular basis I mean.
Blue-Eyes? Nah, you have to tribute Spirit Dragon to get its effect.
Norden? When you Xyz with it, it leaves the field, so by these rulings your Extra Zone should be free.
Mega Monarchs? Can't use Extra anyway.
Dragunitys? Okay, but since when were they last meta?

I guess Ritual monsters can still be spammed in the Main Monster Zone, though, since they're not from the Extra deck... good thing Nekroz got banned XD

As for the Pendulum Zones thing, has there ever been a time where Pendulums use more than 3 cards at once in their backrow? Come to think of it, aside from Stun (which doesn't use Pendulums obvs), does ANY deck use more than 3 cards at once in their backrow?

Link monsters sound gimmicky. The first ones will probably be crap, but I'm sure, knowing the card makers, some new Link monster FTKs will be released in the second booster pack after this rule change goes into effect
If you think about it though, the Extra Deck limit is still 15. So adding Link monsters, together with Fusions, Synchros, and Xyz, could be difficult to fit everything in there. In general I'm thinking these Link monsters would take at least a quarter of your Extra by themselves if you choose to go a spam route, so in a way this doesn't seem like infinite possibilities or anything.

The only thing I don't get, however is the fact that the Extra Monster Zones belong to whoever gets it first... is there a difference between the two Extra Monster Zones that would entice a player to choose one over the other?

In short, this set of rule changes doesn't sound as bad as I initially thought.


In the OCG, most definitely. In the TCG, I'm not so sure that this will happen, since Book of Moon is still a very useful card for stopping monsters on the field. It doesn't destroy, so it goes past a lot of monster effects. And it's a Quick-Play, so you can activate it whenever and however you want.

Even if it didn't affect the metagame, it changed the game a lot, rendering many decks ranging from GX to Arc-V nearly unusable. I heard from my friend that two-third of the comments he saw was on negative side, and he himself, feel it's outrageous (even though he also think this could be an opportunity to improve his deck). As for the difference between two extra monster zone, well... I honestly haven't learned more about it, but the easiest way to learn it IMO, is to watch the anime, and learn from the duel. I heard there's already a video that explains this new ruling but I haven't found it. For anyone who found it, feel free to post it here. As for me, My decks are not really affected by this (except the poor Gem-Knight, which I thought could be my next main deck after Gemini), so it's no biggie for me.

Kirikaze Fuuma wrote:

Even if it didn't affect the metagame, it changed the game a lot, rendering many decks ranging from GX to Arc-V nearly unusable. I heard from my friend that two-third of the comments he saw was on negative side, and he himself, feel it's outrageous (even though he also think this could be an opportunity to improve his deck). As for the difference between two extra monster zone, well... I honestly haven't learned more about it, but the easiest way to learn it IMO, is to watch the anime, and learn from the duel. I heard there's already a video that explains this new ruling but I haven't found it. For anyone who found it, feel free to post it here. As for me, My decks are not really affected by this (except the poor Gem-Knight, which I thought could be my next main deck after Gemini), so it's no biggie for me.

I don't know why you all think that all these decks are going to be unusable. If we're talking about casual play here, the only decks that aren't going to be "usable" are ones that specifically require having multiple Synchros/Xyz on the field. Which is very, very few of them! Has anyone actually tried playing their favorite deck under these rule conditions? Or are you just speculating that since you can't hypothetically spam to your maximum potential that your deck will be "destroyed"? Don't forget that this is not affecting any cards in your Main Deck, so all your plays will still be the same, whether you Synchro, Xyz, or Fusion Summon, and you'll still generate the same amount of card advantage like you did in the past. And don't forget that your opponent ALSO has this restriction, so if you're concerned about not getting your so-called great set-up, rejoice in the fact that you'll maybe just wait one more turn than before while your opponent ALSO complains unnecessarily just as much as you do about this.

No decks will be unusable after this rule change that aren't already unusable now. The only things that will be unusable are certain individual cards, but seriously if your deck revolves around just 1 card then you deserve to stop playing.

Kirikaze Fuuma wrote:

the easiest way to learn it IMO, is to watch the anime

I knew it, you ARE secretly working for Konami XD

Hippo wrote:

Where are you getting your information from, mate? Fuuma's link doesn't say anything about either of these.

The one about raising max number of Extra deck, it is said in the interview if I remember right, tho I don't have the link

And about the New format stuff, It's just my speculation
But still praying that it'll just be new Format

Anything that gives more option to Charmers are good.
Charmers before: R4NK using the Familiar-Possessed and familiars
Charmers now: Easy Link by summoning Charmers/Familiar-Possessed and familiars.

Note, at before using Lv 3 Charmers has drawbacks, such as they mostly dead in hand without Unpossessed, and they also have low stats, you can't get over anything relevant with just 500 ATK. They also incompatible with the familiars because familiars are Lv 4. Since Link don't have level restriction, now you can play Charmers in main without fearing their bricking potential. Familiar-Possessed deck at before don't need the Lv 3 Charmers because most of time they're dead and having them in deck just to do their niches isn't worth the risk. Now, they can put the Charmers while having extra option to stall opponent's attack with Unpossessed or taking control their monster.

Now we just need a good Spellcaster Link monster that can be summoned by using 2 monsters, so we can still spam our familiars afterwards, giving us option to do R4NK or another Link summon!

So I just read up some more on the rules about how to Link Summon.

I really like it! It makes monster placement important, which makes the game way more strategic. They tried to make cards involving monster placement back in CDIP (like Senet Switch, Blasting Fuse and Storm Shooter), but as we all know those cards failed because there was really no point. But now they may see play as tech cards in Link-centric decks.

Also, stuff like Ground Collapse and Ojama King are going to be so OP!! Monster Card Zones being unusable means you can't even move to them, so the Link monsters could really be cut off. Everybody, start siding Ground Collapse XD

Well, for those who wants to read about the new rules, click here. The new rules will apply starting from March 25, 2017.

For those who still think Synchros/Xyz/Pendulums are gonna be dead:

Kirikaze Fuuma wrote:

Well, for those who wants to read about the new rules, click here. The new rules will apply starting from March 25, 2017.

The real question is, when will the new rules apply to the TCG?

Hippocampus wrote:

For those who still think Synchros/Xyz/Pendulums are gonna be dead:

[video]

Alright. It seems I was mistaken about it. I just watched the video and gotta say, it's not as bad as I imagined before. But I'll keep looking at how things goes.

Hippocampus wrote:

The real question is, when will the new rules apply to the TCG?

Maybe not long after OCG(?) /shrug

I'm just starting to look into all of this and the further down this rabbit hole I go, the more conflicted I feel about the whole thing.

That is to say, part of me actually kind of thinks the new 'Extra Monster Zone' is a neat tactical addition, but if I'm understanding the application of the 'Link Monster Zone' correctly, this addition is going to make it pretty much impossible to play the game without utilizing an extra deck.

Binding Dharc wrote:

I'm just starting to look into all of this and the further down this rabbit hole I go, the more conflicted I feel about the whole thing.

That is to say, part of me actually kind of thinks the new 'Extra Monster Zone' is a neat tactical addition, but if I'm understanding the application of the 'Link Monster Zone' correctly, this addition is going to make it pretty much impossible to play the game without utilizing an extra deck.

To be fair, if you didn't think you needed one [an extra deck] before, what makes you think you're gonna need one now?

Link monsters' main goal is for players to access their extra. If they don't have an extra in the first place, they don't need Link monsters, hence this rule change doesn't affect them (well except for the pendulum thing I guess).

We just got some new mekanix revealed, gaiz:

http://aminoapps.com/page/ygo/173681/master-rule-update-with-link-monsters

Mutual Link, Extra Link, and you can use your opponent's side of the field as your own now! As if the game couldn't get even more complicated already.

Also the new Darkness Approaches ruling makes me wanna cry

Hippocampus wrote:

We just got some new mekanix revealed, gaiz:

http://aminoapps.com/page/ygo/173681/master-rule-update-with-link-monsters

Mutual Link, Extra Link, and you can use your opponent's side of the field as your own now! As if the game couldn't get even more complicated already.

Also the new Darkness Approaches ruling makes me wanna cry

I'll read whatever is in that link and post what I think some other time.