Die-hard Yu-Gi-Oh fans, before you banish me to the Shadow realm, hear me first! I’ve been a fan of this franchise since the original, all the way to GX and 5D! However, I’ll admit, I’ve been very hesitant to get back into playing the game, as the new rules and cards have made it all but daunting to even try! Even when I do decide to play the games, I tend to still play by the old rules, using cards I’m familiar with. Yet, when I heard about yet another form of the popular card game, for some odd reason I decided to learn what this one was all about for jokes but came out actually excited to try it out.
So for those of you that aren’t aware, Rush Duel shares some similarities to those of Speed Duels but has certain additions of its own that actually make it fun to play. I’m not saying that Master Duel ain’t fun to play, but man, watching your opponent laid a fortress and then attack your life points before you even have a chance to counter ain’t all that fun.
These rules are the primary differences are:
- Players can Normal Summon/Set as many monsters as they want in a single turn. Level 5 and higher monsters must still be Tribute Summoned normally.
- Players start the Duel with four cards in their hand. During their Draw Phase, the turn player draws cards until they have five cards in their hand. If the player has five or more cards in their hand, they draw one card.
- There is no limit to the number of cards in a player’s hand.
- The player who goes first is still allowed to draw a card on the first turn.
- If a player would draw but does not have enough cards left in their Deck (e.g. the player has four or less cards in their Deck and no cards in their hand during the Draw Phase), that player loses the Duel.
- Rush Duels also have a currently exclusive monster type: Maximum Monsters, which are composed of three specific monsters that can be Maximum Summoned as a single monster.
This rules set was actually created by the protagonist of the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS anime series, who commented on how the game had gotten convoluted, and I couldn’t agree more. For hardcore fans of the game, with years of experience keeping up with the games, this may sound absurd, but for someone like me who hasn’t played in a long time, and then comes back to all these rules, it’s extremely daunting. So with the introduction of Rush Duels, and a game coming to the Switch under the same name, this may be the time that the series might see a resurgence of interest from the casual fan, like myself. And what’s great is that it doesn’t affect the Master duel playstyles.
On top of the new duel rules, Rush duel cards have more eye-catching designs that make them more appealing to look at, which I actually prefer. They feel more updated and alive, but most importantly, easy to read and understand. I don’t know about you but I enjoyed Duel Links a lot for its speed and somewhat simplistic format if they can bring that to Rush Duel I’d actually start investing more into the game on a console level like I did with the mobile. Speaking of the game, there’s actually a Switch game with this new format in the works called Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel: Saikyou Battle Royale which looks to be kinda good.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel: Saikyou Battle Royale!! is a card battle game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens TV anime. It plays using “Rush Duel,” the game rule invented by anime protagonist Yuga Ohdo, allowing players to enjoy duels just like the anime on Switch.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel: Saikyou Battle Royale!! features newly recorded voice-overs from the cast of the anime. Run around the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens and duel against the characters that appear in the anime. Win duels, collect cards, and become the strongest duelist! There is also a tutorial that teaches you the rules as you progress through the story.
Anyways, let me know what you guys think, would this new format bring you back to the heart of the cards?
