CardSpicy builds card protection products and runs this collector’s index. We cover Pokémon, One Piece, Gundam, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon and Riftbound, plus our newer sections on Magic: The Gathering, Disney Lorcana, Star Wars: Unlimited, Flesh and Blood and UNION ARENA — every card game we index in full, with the sleeves and rigid holders that fit them. We sell PSA 10 only, because that is the grade the market actually trades.
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Quick answer
CardSpicy’s Yu-Gi-Oh! hub covers the summoning methods, what is printed on a card and the rarity ladder across 13 sections, and points to 30 further Yu-Gi-Oh! pages.
8 Yu-Gi-Oh! summoning methods
Yu-Gi-Oh! is the fourth card game we index. Its structure is unlike the others: the game is defined not by characters but by summoning mechanics, and every few years it adds another one. Below are the eight card classes the game is built from, with what each one does and when it arrived.
The game is published by Konami and has run since 1999. Rather than being organised around a rotating cast, it is organised around a set of summoning rules that accumulate — a deck built today can still use a mechanic introduced twenty years ago, and the rulebook carries all of them at once.
That is why this page is not built like the Pokémon or Dragon Ball sections. There is no roster of characters to count. There are card classes, and the classes are what a buyer actually needs to know — because the difference between a Fusion and a Link card is the difference between two decks that cannot run each other’s cards.
What the grid shows
Every tile carries the name of a card class, what it does, and one line on where it came from. The classes are cumulative: none of them has been retired.
- One tile per entry each tile carries what the category is and where it sits in the game
Card shown: Blue-Eyes White Dragon · Normal MonsterNormalNo effect. The vanilla bodies the earliest sets were built on.2Effect
Card shown: Dark Magician Girl · Effect MonsterEffectAn effect printed on the card. The bulk of the card pool.3Ritual
Card shown: Black Luster Soldier · Ritual MonsterRitualSummoned by a Ritual Spell after the material is paid.4Fusion
Card shown: Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon · Fusion MonsterFusionTwo or more named materials merged. The original extra-deck summon.5Synchro
Card shown: Stardust Dragon · Synchro MonsterSynchroA Tuner plus non-Tuners whose Levels add up to the target.6Xyz
Card shown: Number 39: Utopia · Xyz MonsterXyzTwo or more monsters of the same Level stacked under the Xyz.7Pendulum
Card shown: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon · Pendulum Effect MonsterPendulumPlaced in the Pendulum Zones, then Pendulum Summoned in bulk.8Link
Card shown: Decode Talker · Link MonsterLinkNo Level and no DEF. Placed in the Extra Monster Zone.The summoning methods, in order
Yu-Gi-Oh! has added a new summoning mechanic roughly every few years, and each one changed what a deck is allowed to do. They are cumulative: a Fusion deck still exists alongside a Link deck, and the rulebook carries every method at once.
| Method | Material | Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Fusion | Named materials, merged by a Fusion Spell | Launch |
| Ritual | A Ritual Spell after the material is paid | Launch |
| Synchro | Tuner plus non-Tuners, Levels adding up | 5D’s |
| Xyz | Two or more monsters of the same Level | ZEXAL |
| Pendulum | Cards placed in the Pendulum Zones | ARC-V |
| Link | Materials sent to the Graveyard, no Level | VRAINS |
What is printed on a card
| Part | What it is | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The card’s name | Restricted by the Forbidden & Limited List, not the card text |
| Attribute | LIGHT, DARK, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, WIND, DIVINE | One per monster |
| Type | Warrior, Dragon, Spellcaster and so on | A card can carry more than one |
| Level / Rank | The stars, 1–12 | Xyz cards print a Rank instead of a Level |
| ATK / DEF | Battle stats | Link cards print neither — they use Link Ratings |
| Set code | The code below the artwork | Identifies which print run the copy came from |
The rarity ladder
Rarity is a print decision, not a rule: the same card text can exist at several rarities across different sets. What changes is the foil treatment and how many copies of that treatment were printed.
| Rarity | What distinguishes it |
|---|---|
| Common | No foil |
| Rare | Foil name, plain frame |
| Super Rare | Foil artwork |
| Ultra Rare | Foil artwork and foil name |
| Secret Rare | A different foil pattern across the whole card |
| Ultimate Rare | Embossed relief on the artwork |
| Ghost Rare | A near-monochrome, holographic artwork |
| Quarter Century Secret Rare | A named anniversary treatment |
The Simplified Chinese edition
Konami prints a Simplified Chinese edition of the OCG. It is an official tournament format in mainland China, not a translation overlay — the cards carry Simplified Chinese text and effects on the card face. Konami’s own card database is published in Simplified Chinese, which is what makes this line checkable rather than hearsay.
This matters for how we index it. A Simplified Chinese printing is the same card as its Japanese or English counterpart and is catalogued on the same databases, so a card can be looked up by its release rather than by language. What differs is the supply: the Chinese print runs are their own distribution, so the surviving copies of a given printing are a closed set — nothing new is added to an old set.
Two questions this page answers directly
Two things come up often enough to state here rather than only in the articles below. The first is size. A Main Deck holds 40 to 60 cards, an Extra Deck holds up to 15 and a Side Deck holds up to 15, and a single card may appear no more than three times across all three piles counted together — not three times in each. The publisher’s own rulebook adds a recommendation inside that range: stay as close to the 40-card minimum as you can, because every card added dilutes the chance of drawing the one you need. Speed Duel runs on different numbers entirely, and its deck sizes, field and Life Points are set out in the section index below.
The second is language. Konami maintains a site of its own for mainland China, and that is where the Simplified Chinese edition is announced, dated and corrected — including the corrections it has issued for Simplified Chinese printings that were printed in error. Mainland China also runs two tournament environments rather than one: the OCG environment and the Simplified Chinese environment, each with its own event schedule. That split, and how a Simplified Chinese product marks itself, are covered in the articles linked below.
What this page does not claim
It lists no prices and no card counts per character. We have not yet run a checked pull of graded sales for Yu-Gi-Oh!, and a number we cannot re-count is worse than no number. The counts that follow will be published the same way the Dragon Ball and Gundam sections were: read from the publisher’s own database, dated, and re-countable.
Long-form articles on Yu-Gi-Oh!
Twenty-seven longer articles in this section, covering the cards people look for first, the rules that decide which of them a deck may hold, the treatments and editions that decide what a card is, what fits it once you own it, how to start a collection, how the shorter Speed Duel format changes the numbers, and how to tell a genuine card from a counterfeit. Each one links back here.
The cards themselves have their own index: the Yu-Gi-Oh! card list sets out every card the publisher’s own card database holds, grouped by attribute, with the artwork it has published and the Type line, Level or Rank, ATK, DEF and printed text of each one.
The cards and their printings 2
Legality and environments 3
The game and its rules 6
Rarity, edition and starting out 4
Rankings and indexes 1
Chase treatments and grading 3
Protection and card care 1
Set releases and what decides value 4
Authenticity and sealed product 3
Top 10 Recommended reading
- First Edition and Unlimited: The Same Card, Two Print RunsOne card, one illustration, two runs. The version is what separates the top of this market from the rest of it.
- What Decides Which Version of a Card LeadsWhy one name can sit at two very different levels, and which printing decides where it lands.
- The Rarity Ladder, From Common to Ghost RareEvery tier in order, and what actually changes on the card as you climb it.
- Quarter Century Secret Rares, and the Window That Is ClosingThe treatment the publisher has marked as wrapping up, and what that means for the printings already out.
- How to Tell a Real Card From a CounterfeitThe checks that work on a card in hand, and the ones that only work on a screen.
- Grading: Why Thin Stock and Square Corners Change the GradeYu-Gi-Oh! cards are built differently from other games, and the graders score them differently for it.
- How to Start a CollectionWhere to begin if you are buying rather than playing, and what to leave alone at the start.
- The 2026 Release Calendar, in OrderEvery dated release for the year, with the OCG and TCG dates kept apart rather than merged.
- Starlight and Ghost Rare: The Modern Chase TreatmentsThe two treatments collectors chase today, and how each differs from the older tiers.
- OCG and TCG: The Two Card PoolsTwo pools, two schedules, and why a card is not automatically legal in both.
Card protection fits these cards too
Every trading card we deal in — Pokémon, One Piece, Gundam, Dragon Ball, Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon and Riftbound — is printed at the same standard size, 63 × 88 mm. The sleeves and rigid holders below are sized for exactly that, so one set covers every series on this site.
On thickness: a bare card sits in a 35 PT sleeve, and thicker holders take up to 360 PT. Which one you want depends on how the card is stored, not on which game it is from — the physical card is the same size either way.
How to choose sleeves, holders and boxes → · Shop card protectors →
Frequently asked questions
Is Yu-Gi-Oh! a trading card game or a collectible card game?
Both, and the difference matters when you buy. It is a competitive trading card game first — cards are legal or not by their name, and the Forbidden & Limited List decides how many of a name a deck may run. That means a large part of the market price sits in cards that are played, not in cards that are merely old.
Are Yu-Gi-Oh! cards the same size as Pokémon cards?
Yes. Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are printed at the same 63 × 88 mm standard as Pokémon, One Piece, Gundam and Dragon Ball cards, so the same sleeves and rigid holders fit. Where people get caught out is with older or odd-format printings, which is a question of the individual product, not of the game.
What does a set code tell me?
It identifies which print run the copy came from. The same card can be printed in several sets, and the code is how you tell a first printing from a reprint without opening a database. On graded cards the code is part of what the label records.
Is there a Simplified Chinese version of Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Yes. Konami publishes an official Simplified Chinese edition of the OCG, and Konami’s own card database is available in Simplified Chinese. It is the edition that makes this game relevant on a site built around Simplified Chinese printings.
Do you sell Yu-Gi-Oh! cards?
Not yet. Our product line is graded Pokémon cards at present, and this page is the index, not a shop. When we list a card it appears on its own product page with its own asking price — we do not run a separate price guide for a game we have not yet stocked.
Sources
Sources and further reading
- Konami — Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME official card database (Yu-Gi-Oh! Neuron): the card search, the set list, and the Forbidden & Limited List. The database is published in Simplified Chinese as well as Japanese and English.
- Konami — the official Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG rules and rulebook: summoning methods, deck construction and the current Forbidden & Limited List.
- Set codes and rarity names are taken from the publisher’s own database rather than from third-party price guides.
- This page was compiled 2026-10-06. Where the publisher’s database does not define something, this page says nothing about it.
Nothing on this page is a valuation or an investment recommendation. Where a number could not be checked against a primary source, it is left out rather than estimated.