Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG
Most Yu-Gi-Oh! events run Advanced Format, which uses the current TCG Forbidden & Limited List. The other formats change the card pool, the list or the game itself. Here is each one, who runs it, and what it changes.
A Yu-Gi-Oh! format is set by three things: which cards are allowed, which restriction list applies, and whether the game's rules change. Konami runs the official formats. Goat and Edison are run by players, who recreate how the game was played in 2005 and 2010.
Advanced Format is the default. Konami's TCG Tournament Policy defines it as the format that uses the Forbidden & Limited List, and it is what a store's weekly tournament, a Regional and the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series run. Deck building is the standard set: a 40 to 60 card Main Deck, up to 15 cards in the Extra Deck and up to 15 in the Side Deck, and no more than 3 copies of a card across all three.
The list lowers that copy limit for the cards it names: Forbidden cards can't be played, Limited cards are capped at 1 and Semi-Limited cards at 2. Konami's current TCG list took effect on October 19, 2026, and the policy says there is no set schedule for updates, so check the list before an event. The Forbidden & Limited List →
New cards become legal on their set's official release date in your region, not on the day a store starts selling them, and a Sealed or Draft event is built from the packs you open there instead, with a Main Deck of at least 20 cards. How to build a deck →
Traditional Format uses the same list with no Forbidden column. Konami publishes both formats on one page: on the list effective October 19, 2026, each of the 156 cards Forbidden in Advanced is Limited in Traditional, and the Limited and Semi-Limited cards are the same in both. Every other rule matches Advanced.
That makes Traditional the format for playing a card you can't play anywhere else, one copy at a time. Few events run it, so treat it as a casual or store-night option and check the flyer before you build for it.
The OCG (Official Card Game) is the version of Yu-Gi-Oh! sold in Japan and other parts of Asia, and the TCG is the version sold in North America, Latin America, Europe and Oceania. They play by the same game rules, but they are separate products with separate restriction lists and release schedules.
The two games release sets on different schedules, so a card can be legal in one before it reaches the other, and a card's status on one list says nothing about the other. Konami's TCG Tournament Policy is direct about the cards themselves: OCG cards are legal only in Japan and parts of Asia, even when an OCG card is printed in English, and the way to tell is the TCG logo at the bottom right of the card back. The World Championship is the one event where both are allowed, and it uses a list of its own.
Master Duel, Konami's digital game, keeps a third list separate from both. Master Duel vs. the paper TCG →
Genesys is Konami's points format. It bans Link and Pendulum Monsters, doesn't use the Forbidden & Limited List, and gives the strongest cards a point cost instead: your Main, Extra and Side Deck together can't go over the event's cap, which is 100 by default. That brings back cards like Pot of Greed, at a price in points. Genesys rules and the full points list →
Goat Format is the game as it was played in the summer of 2005, and it is one of the most played player-run retro formats. Konami doesn't support it. GoatFormat.com says the format "is maintained by a dedicated and passionate group of players," and its card pool matches what was legal for premier events on August 17, 2005, with The Lost Millennium as the newest core set and Cybernetic Revolution left out.
It uses the April 2005 TCG Forbidden & Limited List and a few older rules. The player going first draws on their first turn, the Fusion Deck has no size limit, and only one Field Spell can be face-up at a time. The name comes from Scapegoat, the card at the center of the Goat Control deck. The full guide to Goat Format →
Edison Format recreates the spring of 2010, during the Synchro era. It is named after the Shonen Jump Championship held in Edison, New Jersey on April 24 and 25, 2010, and EdisonFormat.com dates the original format from the March 1, 2010 TCG list to May 10, 2010, the day before The Shining Darkness released in North America. Like Goat, it is run by players, not Konami.
EdisonFormat.com's legal sets run from Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon to Absolute Powerforce for core sets, and through Duelist Pack: Kaiba (April 20, 2010) for side sets. It uses the March 2010 TCG Forbidden & Limited List and the 2008 rules the event was played under, so, as in Goat, the player going first draws a card and only one Field Spell can be active. Union Monsters and Trap Monsters also follow their older rules. Format Library describes the current metagame as led by Blackwing, HERO and Frog decks, with many others competitive.
Speed Duel is Konami's smaller, faster version of the TCG, built around the original anime's duelists. Each player starts with 4000 Life Points and a 4-card hand, plays on 3 Main Monster Zones and 3 Spell & Trap Zones, and has no Main Phase 2, so you Set any Spell or Trap you want to use before you attack.
The Skill Card sets Speed Duel apart. You pick one before the Duel and place it face-down, and its effect doesn't start a chain when you activate it. Speed Duel cards other than Skill Cards are legal in a regular TCG deck too. The product line has been quiet since Speed Duel: Battle City Finals in December 2024, after YGOrganization reported in July 2024 that the line would pause, so most Speed Duel play now uses the cards already printed.
Rush Duel is a separate Yu-Gi-Oh! game with its own cards, not a format of the TCG. You can Normal Summon as many monsters as you like in a turn, and you draw back up to five cards at the start of each turn. Konami sells the paper game in Japan, where it has its own Limit Regulation (the current one took effect October 1, 2026). In English, Rush Duel is played in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, where it arrived on September 27, 2023. Standard TCG cards aren't used in it.
TurnZero HQ's Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Lab checks a deck in Advanced, Traditional or Unlimited, using the TCG Forbidden & Limited List: deck sizes, the 3-copy limit by card name, and each listed card's status for the format you pick. It has no setting for Genesys points, Goat or Edison card pools, or Speed Duel, so check those against the format's own list. What the Deck Lab checks →
Advanced Format. It is the TCG's standard constructed format, used at local tournaments and at Konami's Regional, National and championship events, and it applies the Forbidden & Limited List as written. If an event doesn't name a format, assume Advanced.
They share one list but read it differently. In Advanced Format, Forbidden cards can't be played at all. In Traditional Format nothing is Forbidden: on Konami's list effective October 19, 2026, all 156 cards Forbidden in Advanced are Limited to one copy in Traditional instead. Everything else is the same.
Not at a normal sanctioned event. Konami's TCG Tournament Policy says OCG cards are legal only in Japan and parts of Asia, even when they are printed in English, and points you to the TCG logo on the card back. The World Championship is the exception: its policy lets TCG players use OCG cards and OCG players use TCG cards.
No. Goat Format was the official TCG format in the summer of 2005, but today it is maintained by players, not Konami. GoatFormat.com publishes its card pool, the April 2005 Forbidden & Limited List and its rules, and most games are played online.
Yes, except Skill Cards. Konami's Speed Duel Guide says you can put Speed Duel cards in a regular TCG deck, but Skill Cards can only be used in Speed Duels. The reverse doesn't hold: a Speed Duel deck should only use cards with the Speed Duel logo.
Digitally, yes. Rush Duel came to Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links on September 27, 2023. The paper Rush Duel card game is sold by Konami in Japan, with its own cards and its own Limit Regulation, and TCG cards aren't used in it.
TurnZero HQ checks your Yu-Gi-Oh! deck in Advanced or Traditional against the Forbidden & Limited List and tracks the cards you own by printing and edition. Free to start.
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