Card layout A card ' s layout is standardized , and has undergone several changes since Konami ' s " OCG " / " TCG " card game and the anime was first introduced . Description . Typefaces . Many different have been used on Yu - Gi - Oh ! cards depending on the primary of the in question and the type of text . History . Series 1 layout . This was the first version of layout for cards , lasting from the initial release of the " Official Card Game " with " Vol . 1 " to the end of Series 1 with the release of " Dark Ceremony Edition " . This layout was used in early episode of the second series of Yu - Gi - Oh ! Cards with this version of the layout are characterized by a larger card image and , for Monster Card s , two half - width boxes below the picture , side - by - side , with the left one for the monster ' s card effect or lore , and the right one for its ATK and DEF , which use the terms ( " kōgekiryoku " " Attack Strength " ) and ( " shubiryoku " " Defense Strength " ) ( On the English versions of " Dark Magician " and " Blue - Eyes White Dragon " , " 攻撃力 " and " 守備力 " were replaced by " Attack " and " Defense " , respectively ; on their Chinese versions , " 守備力 " was replaced by " 防守力 " ) . The card name box , image , and effect / ATK / DEF area are all equal width . Level 11 and 12 monsters have their Level Stars aligned to the center instead of the right like lower Level monsters , and the stars are put closer to one another . Non - Normal Spell and Trap Card s do not have property symbols ; only Field Spell Card s have their property indicated , with the word フィールド ( " Fīrudo " " Field " ) . The Japanese font used for most texts on the cards was the original DFLeisho font , though it ' s the DFKakuTaihi font to be used for the ATK and DEF digits . Series 1 cards lack Card Number s and the Eye of Anubis Hologram . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Series 2 layout . The next version of card layout was used for the duration of Series 2 , being introduced with the release of " Magic Ruler " and lasting until " Pharaonic Guardian " and " " ( which were released on the same day ) . The difference between this version and the first one is the widening of the effect / lore box on Monster Cards to about two - thirds of the card ' s width , featuring a new look of the box border , and a corresponding narrowing of the ATK / DEF box , achieved mainly by shortening the terms for " ATK " and " DEF " to just ( " Kō " " Attack " ) and ( " Shu " " Defense " ) or 防 for the Chinese " Blue - Eyes White Dragon " , and to " ATK " and " DEF " for the English " Blue - Eyes White Dragon " , and a slight widening of the card name box and effect / ATK / DEF area . Only Level 12 monsters have their Level Stars aligned to the center . All non - Normal Spell and Trap Cards , instead of just Field Spell Cards , indicate their property with symbols , though some Equip Spell Card s use the word モンスター ( " monsutā " " Monster " ) for their property . Additionally , from this series onwards , the frame of the lore box is narrowed , making more room for the lore . This version introduces Card Numbers and the Eye of Anubis Hologram . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Series 3 layout . The third , and by far longest - lived , version of card layout was introduced with Series 3 , beginning with " Limited Edition 4 " , and is the card layout that the " TCG " was introduced with . It has been called the World Unified Format ( 世界統一フォーマット " Sekai Tōitsu Fōmatto " ) . This version is marked by a shorter , square card image and a unified , taller box for the card effect / lore and ATK / DEF . " OCG " cards feature the English text " ATK " and " DEF " , and three - character set prefixes ( with the uses of one of the Matrix fonts ) and three - digit set position numbers are introduced ( with the uses of one of the ITC Stone fonts ) . Level 12 monsters have their Level Stars aligned to the right and put closer together unlike lower Level monsters . In early sets of this series , Spell Card s ( カード " Mahō Kādo " ) were called Magic Cards ( カード " Majikku Kādo " ) , and gained a " MAGIC " symbol ( ) instead of " SPELL " ( ) . As later sets were released , the DFLeisho font used for Japanese cards ' texts has its Latin letters and digits featured in the card name originated in the DFKakuTaihi font . Additionally , one - letter region identifiers were used only for the Card Number s on non - North American English and non - Japanese cards . Interestingly , this layout was released internationally before the end of series 2 in Japan : while the final series 2 sets were released on March 21 , 2002 , the first series 3 set was released on March 8 , and the private release Summoned Skull Sample promotional card was distributed in December 2001 . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Series 4 layout . This layout , introduced with Series 4 , was a small update to the Series 3 layout which added two - letter region identifiers for all Card Number s ; previously , they had frequently been omitted for North American English and Japanese cards . < tabber > < / tabber > Series 5 layout . Introduced with Series 5 with the release of " Power of the Duelist " , this layout introduced four - character set prefixes for Card Number s to allow for " " , which had the set prefix " SD10 " . Like the Series 4 layout , this layout was otherwise identical to the Series 3 layout ; Level 12 monsters have their Level Stars aligned to the center . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Series 6 layout . This layout was introduced with Series 6 , and featured the furigana on the names of Monster Card s being unified to black to accommodate the accompanying introduction of Synchro Monster s ; prior to this , some monster furigana was printed in white . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Series 7 layout . Introduced with Series 7 with the release of " Starter Deck 2010 " , a few more small changes were made . These included lightening the background of the effect box to make the text easier to read , and making the effect box taller and wider to allow for cards with longer effects . The card image and name box were shifted slightly upward to allow for the larger effect box , and the name box was widened to maintain roughly equal margins on its sides and top . The font used for Korean cards ' names was changed since Starter Deck 2011 . This layout is used in Yu - Gi - Oh ! ZEXAL . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Series 8 layout . Introduced with Series 8 with the release of " Starter Deck 2012 " , other small changes were made . These include larger artwork and Level / Rank stars on Monster Card s , with very little extra space around the stars and attribute icon . On cards with a short effect or flavor text , the text is printed in a larger font size , making it easier to read . Some of the " TCG " versions of Monster Token s have the bar over the ATK and DEF signs added , while OCG tokens have been changed to look much more like regular Monster Card s , with the Token ' s name , Attribute icon , Level stars , ATK and DEF , and extra detail in the lore ; some Tokens of the characters from Yu - Gi - Oh ! media include some of their theme lines in the card text box , while others also have the " V Jump " logo as a watermark featured on the background of the box . The kanji in the attribute icons of Japanese Spell and Trap Cards are slightly repositioned to be more centered ; the icons on " TCG " cards are unchanged . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Series 9 layout . This layout was introduced with Series 9 with " Starter Deck 2014 " . It added Pendulum Monster s , which feature an artwork box that has been widened to line up with the card description box ; the background of the Pendulum Effect and Pendulum Scale boxes are slightly transparent and the main lore box is even more slightly transparent from top to bottom , allowing the overlapped portion of the artwork to be seen , which makes Pendulum Monsters ' artworks be almost fully shown unlike any other card type before . Some cards with long Pendulum Effect text have increased height for the text box . The artwork , Pendulum Scale , Pendulum Effect and main lore boxes are put in gray frames instead of the traditional orange frames . The Card Number is placed on the right - bottom of the main lore box . For all cards , the main lore box has been slightly widened , while the card name box has become shorter and wider ; this leads to the reduced size of the card ' s name and Attribute symbol , and allows more room for Level / Rank stars on Monster Card s as well as Spell / Trap property indicators . Additionally , the aforementioned stars and text / indicators have been made smaller ; these changes slightly increase the padding in that area of the card , compared to the Series 8 layout which drastically reduced it . Also , the edition text ( eg . " 1st Edition " ) is placed right next to the passcode . If the monster ' s main lore gets too long , the font size of the Type / Ability text is reduced to provide more space . Several changes are also made in the Japanese and Korean terminology and card grammar : for the first time , Flip ( リバース ) is treated as an Ability similar to Tuner , Union , Gemini , etc . and is listed next to the monster ' s Type in the card description ; the word 効果 ( Effect ) is now always written on the Type / Ability line for monsters with Abilities that have effects , being omitted in the past ; these changes are also applied to " TCG " cards , although the word " FLIP " is still kept in the card text ; as for " TCG " Flip Effect Monster s that have an effect other than its Flip Effect , that effect is written in another paragraph . The middle dot ( ・ ) is no longer used on the type line on Japanese prints . Some terms like " Life Points " , " Synchro " , " Xyz " and " Pendulum " are abbreviated in the card text as " ＬＰ " , " Ｓ " , " Ｘ " , and " Ｐ " respectively with appropriate furigana so as to take up less space ; so far , only the term " Life Points " is known to be abbreviated in " TCG " and Korean card text . Japanese and Korean card text now follows a new pattern similar to the TCG Problem - Solving Card Text : codice _ 1 Each effect is written in at least one sentence and marked with a circled number ( ① , ② , etc . ) ; thus any text written before the number 1 ( ① ) is not an effect and cannot be negated by the effects of cards such as " Skill Drain " . The effect ' s timing , targeting , and costs follow the effect number and colon in one sentence ; timing and targeting are separated from costs by a comma , which is dropped if an effect has no cost . The effect ' s action and resolution follow in a separate sentence ( s ) . Also , new text patterns used for mentioning the support for an archetype , such as 「 ～ 」 カード ( " " ~ " card " ) or 「 ～ 」 モンスター ( " " ~ " monster " ) , begin to be used instead of the old ones such as 「 ～ 」 と名のついたカード ( " card with " ~ " in its name " ) or 「 ～ 」 と名のついたモンスター ( " monster with " ~ " in its name " ) . Traditional Chinese cards from Series 9 used the Series 8 card frames . Starting with the release of " " , the Series 9 card frames are used instead . The Series 9 format is used in Yu - Gi - Oh ! ARC - V and Yu - Gi - Oh ! The Dark Side of Dimensions . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Series 10 layout . The Series 10 format is used in Yu - Gi - Oh ! VRAINS . It added Link Monster s , which feature a new blue layout with a hexagonal honeycomb - like pattern , the addition of Link Arrow s , and the Link Rating ( which uses a new font ) . Card Number s on Link Monsters are moved a little to the left , so as not to be covered by the bottom - right Link Arrow . Otherwise , the layout is largely unchanged , save for the embossed effect defining the box containing the card name and Attribute now being sharp and square like the card artwork border , rather than being soft and curved like previous layouts , in addition to an added embossing effect just before a card ' s grey border . Also , Normal Monster s now have " Normal " explicitly written in the type line , in order to differentiate them from Non - Effect Monster s . < tabber > Japanese = English = < / tabber > Anniversary layout . In celebration of " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " < nowiki > ' s fifteenth anniversary , several cards were released with a modified layout : the OCG < / nowiki > Anniversary Pack , the Weekly Shōnen Jump promo versions of " Dark Magician " and " Magi Magi ☆ Magician Gal " , the V Jump promo versions of " Obelisk the Tormentor " , " The Winged Dragon of Ra " , and " Slifer the Sky Dragon " , and the Duel Art Campaign Promo Card " Holactie the Creator of Light " . The Anniversary Pack was later released in the TCG ( with the exception of " Dark Magician Girl " ) and the other cards as Shonen Jump promotional cards ( with the exception of " Holactie the Creator of Light " and " Magi Magi ☆ Magician Gal " ) . The biggest differences between the main layouts and the anniversary layouts are the distinctive lack of a border around the card image , which instead only has a drop shadow to distinguish it from the card ' s background , and Kazuki Takahashi ' s signature , which is usually included in the lower right - hand corner of each card ' s artwork . The artwork is a special variant drawn by Takahashi himself in celebration of the anniversaries . " Magi Magi ☆ Magician Gal " and the legal Egyptian God cards have no passcode in the lower left - hand corner . Finally , the English prints of Normal Monster s using this layout ( except for " Dark Magician " ) uniquely have a different text style than other Normal Monsters , using the Matrix font in regular type in the case of the " Anniversary Pack " , and in italic type in the case of the " Shonen Jump " " Blue - Eyes White Dragon " . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Anime . In the dubbed versions of the anime , card layouts are changed due to ( FCC ) regulations . Monster Cards are edited to include only the artwork , Level / Rank and Attribute symbols and ATK / DEF values , removing any text that was visible in the original version . Similarly , Spell / Trap Cards are edited to remove virtually everything , leaving only the artwork and a Spell / Trap symbol in an empty text box . Some furigana letters still remain in Attribute symbols and the Spell symbol . Yu - Gi - Oh ! . Early episodes of the original Japanese anime used the real - life series 1 and 2 layout with no furigana in the lore box . In Season 4 , the real - life series 3 layout was used instead . Early episodes of the English - dubbed anime placed the Level of Monster at the center of the space betwen the left side of the card and the Attribute symbol . In later episodes , the Level is really centered , with exception to monsters that debuted in early episodes . Monsters with a Level higher than 10 do not have their Level centered , due to space constraints . Some monsters ATK / DEF values are right aligned . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > The Japanese movie follows the real - life series 3 layout ( but unlike the regular anime series , furigana is included on all texts ) , and so does the English - dubbed version . No card number or passcode is included . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX . Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX follows the same layout design as the later episodes of the second series anime . Some cards from the Japanese anime include furigana on their lores , while others don ' t . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s . Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s follows the same layout design as the previous series anime . Only a few cards from the Japanese anime include furigana in the card lore box . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Yu - Gi - Oh ! ZEXAL . The Japanese anime uses the real - life series 7 layout with no furigana in the card lore box . In the English - dubbed anime , the Rank of an Xyz Monster is not centered and is instead left aligned . All other cards have followed the layout of the previous series . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Yu - Gi - Oh ! ARC - V . The Japanese anime follows the real - life series 9 layout with no furigana in the card lore boxes , except on abbreviated Latin letters ( such as " P " for " Pendulum " ) . In the English - dubbed anime , the scales of all Pendulum Monsters are at the bottom corners of the image , the colors between the one associated with the type of Monster ( Normal is Yellow , Effect is Orange , Ritual is Blue , etc ) and the Spell color ( green in this case ) are at the middle of the stats of the card , and the card ' s image at the bottom ( where the Pendulum effect box covers it in the real cards ) is drawn . All other cards have followed the layout of the previous series . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > Manga . In the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s " and " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ZEXAL " mangas , the layout is fairly different from the anime and " TCG " / " OCG " ones . The texts aren ' t separated by lines and rectangles , and the Type s and Attribute s are not shown . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > In the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! D Team ZEXAL " manga , the card images are taken directly from the " OCG " . Other card games . " Bandai ' s Official Card Game " . Unlike the Konami ' s cards , the ones from the Yu - Gi - Oh ! Bandai ' s Official Card Game are not coded with colors : every type of card shares a fair orange - yellow background . On the top of a card is the card name box , artistic , fair orange with red typesetting on Character Card s and black with white typesetting on other card types . Under the card name box is the text for monster type ( if the card is a Monster Card ) and some flavor text . Then there lies the artwork box , which has the upper side be beneath the Level stars . Note that the Level stars and flavor text are the unique features to Character and Monster Cards . As for Character and Monster Cards , on the left bottom is the rule box , and on the right bottom is the ability box for Character Cards and the ATK / DEF boxes for Monster Cards . As for Spell and Trap Card s , only the card property and effect text are written on the bottom . There is also a digit code next to the right side ( or sometimes the left side ) of the artwork box . Additionally , instead of having a black card border like other card types , Character Cards have a yellow one . < tabber > Japanese = < / tabber > " Duel Monsters " . Like Bandai ' s cards , Konami ' s Yu - Gi - Oh ! Duel Monsters cards are not coded with color , either . Every card is printed on a dark - glowing background bounded by a black border . From top to bottom , lie the name text , the Level stars ( as for Monster Card s ) or the Spell / Trap property text ( as for Spell / Trap Cards ) , the artwrok box , the ATK / DEF ( as for Monster Cards ) or effect text ( as for Spell / Trap Cards ) on the right bottom , and the copyright text on the left . The Level Stars have various colors ; the higher the Level is , the more various the colors get ; the first star ( counting from left to right ) is always red , then the colors range from red to purple , depending on how high the Level is . The Kanji letter 罠 is pronounced " Wana " instead of " Torappu " as of the OCG . " Dungeon Dice Monsters " . Yu - Gi - Oh ! Dungeon Dice Monsters cards are designed totally differently in English versus in Japanese . English cards are not color - coded . Every card is printed on a soil - like yellow - brown background and border . Each one consists of three boxes . On the top of the card is the name box , where the card name is aligned to the center ; the typesetting size may be reduced if the name is too long . The second which is placed under the name box is the artwork box , where the image of the monster is placed on a dark background , which features a grid put in perspective . On the bottom lies the third box , contains other features of the card , including the Level and the Type ( except for the " Monster Lord " ) , the special abilities ( if any ) , the ( if any ) , the Hit Points ( if any ) , the ATK and DEF ( if any ) . Underneath the latter box are the Card Number and the copyright text . Japanese cards are color - coded depending on their Types . Each of them has a black border , and consists of three boxes as well as other feature texts . The top box is for the card name , the centered one is for the artwork which contains the monster ' s image on a gridded black background , and the bottom one is for the special abilities ( if any ) . Other texts include the Type and the Level above the name box , the movement and the HP / ATK / DEF between the name and the artwork boxes , the copyright text below the box of special abilities .