Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel has been a global success, with over four million downloads already across nearly every gaming platform and country across the world, after the game launched in the middle of January. The question on everyone’s minds, though, is what is next for the game after its explosive start. Kenichi Kataoka, a senior producer of Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel was recently interviewed by Japanese news site, 4gamer.net on what is coming to Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel in the future. Here is a breakdown of all the important information discussed in the interview according to a translation by Upcomer.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel will be an esport
Back when Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel was first announced, the initial trailer for the game made it clear that it would feature competitive events that players of the TCG and OCG would be able to enjoy. The trailer also mentioned that the game would have a World Championship of sorts. Kataoka said that is still the plan.
“We have already mentioned this in our published video, but we have plans for [Master Duel] to become an event in the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship. Unfortunately, we can not give detailed information on how these competitions will be held at this time. Please wait until tournament details are announced,” Kataoka said.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship is held yearly and features the best players from across the world, both from the OCG and TCG regions. It even features a World Championship for the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links mobile game. It seems like Master Duel will be the next Yu-Gi-Oh! title to break into the esports market.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel will continue to have its own unique format
As players could already tell by playing Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, the banlist and cardpool in the game are similar but not exactly the same as the physical version. Kataoka said that this is because the physical game is split into two worlds: The Original Card Game and the Trading Card Game. The OCG is played in Asia while the TCG is played in the west. The reason there is a split is due to the OCG getting cards in advance as core sets are released in the OCG months before coming to the TCG. On the other hand, the TCG has exclusive cards only available to them. This creates a different playing experience and also, different formats that require their own banlists. In Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, the banlist and format are different than both the OCG and TCG for a reason.
“As this will be a game where duelists from around the world will compete with each other, it will be done with a separate ruleset unique to this game that does not follow the Yu-Gi-Oh OCG/TCG formats. For more details, please play the game and check for yourself,” Kataoka said.
With a global game with OCG and TCG players playing against each other, this was the best solution.
Best of One matches will be the standard, for now
Something that is missing from Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel that is present in the physical game is the lack of best-of-three matches. In the TCG best-of-three matches are a vital part of official tournaments and events as they allow for a better competitive experience through the use of the side deck which allows players to have sufficient counter play against their opponents strategies. But in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, the only ruleset is best-of-ones. Kataoka said this is intentional.
“These battle rules take inspiration from the latest Yu-Gi-Oh OCG/TCG master rules, and are more focused on single battles. We do not currently have information regarding other rulesets at this time. For now, we hope you enjoy competing against each other in single battles,” Kataoka said.
That’s not to say that best of threes are not on their radar but for now, there is no news on additional rulesets.
Published: Feb 5, 2022 09:48 pm