Master Duels

A **Master Duel** is the basic standard dueling format without any special rules. This is the most common duel format used by many players and is the go-to format for handling duels that have personal ties. The following rules are simplified for the game and will describe the main zones and gameplay.

## Master Rules

* **Each player begins with 10000 Life Points.**
* **Each player's starting hands consist of 5 cards.**
* **The First Player does not draw a card during their Draw Phase.**
* **The Hand Size Limit is 6 cards. If your Hand Size exceeds 6 cards during the end of your respective turn you must discard cards from your hand until you have 6 cards.**
* **Each player must have a minimum of 40 cards in their Main Deck but no more than 60 cards.**
* **Each player has 5 Main Monster Zones, 5 Spell & Trap Zones, and 1 Field Zone.**
* **The Pendulum Zones are located in the first and fifth columns of the Spell & Trap Zones.**
* **Each player may only have a total of 3 cards with the same name in both the Main Deck and the Extra Deck. Each player may also have 1 face-up Field Spell.**

## Turn Rules

Turn is the way of ordering a play sufficiently between players during a Duel, when a player can choose their actions based on their cards' effects and the order of the phases. Every turn is divided into the five following phases and the turn player must go through one or more of these phases until they've finished their End Phase. A turn could only begin when a player has conducted a phas- out of the five phases, usually off first with the Draw Phase. A turn could only end after an End Phase.

1. Draw Phase - During the Draw Phase, the turn player conducts their normal draw to draw 1 card from their Deck. As per the Master Rules, the player who goes first does not conduct their normal draw during their Draw Phase, similar to how they cannot conduct their Battle Phase either. Trap Cards, Quick-Play Spell Cards, and Quick Effects may be activated in this phase after the turn player has drawn a card.
2. Standby Phase - Happens immediately after the Draw Phase. Some cards state that certain actions are to take place in this Phase, such as the effects of Effect Monster Cards and Spell or Trap Cards, as well as the Maintenance Costs for certain cards are paid in this Phase. The Turn Player may decide in which order any of these actions are performed. There are also some cards that can only be activated in the Standby Phase. Trap Cards, Quick-Play Spell Cards a,nd monster Quick Effects may be activated in this Phase.
3. Main Phase - The Phase conducted after the Standby Phase. As per the Main Phase, most actions that could normally take place are performed in this phase. After Main Phase has ended, the turn player may choose to enter the Battle Phase. If they choose not to, the player automatically proceeds to the End Phase. Some cards and effects can only be activated during Main Phase. Many of these effects possess this restriction due to applying an effect during the Battle Phase.
4. Battle Phase
5. End Phase - Once Main Phase has been completed, the player proceeds to the End Phase. Any card effects that resolve in this Phase now take effect. The turn player gets to decide the order of their maintenance costs and/or effects of their cards that activate/apply at this time. If the turn player has more cards in his/her hand than their hand size limit at this time, he/she must discard cards to the Graveyard until they have as many cards in their hand as their hand size limit. This action is the very last thing to happen in any End Phase. If an action is to be taken "at the end of this turn", such as the expiration of the effect of "Effect Veiler", it is the very last thing to happen in this Phase after the discard(s) for the hand size limit occurs.