What is Dueltainer Format?

A Format for Entertainment!

The Dueltainer Format is all about having fun for casual players and those old-school "Yugiboomers" who love Yu-Gi-Oh! It’s perfect for fans who enjoy that classic anime-style dueling without the stress of the competitive TCG scene.

Started in 2021 by TikTok user "Maximum.LvL," this format has also caught on with other Yu-Gi-Oh! TikTok creators like "GhostGalaxyCosplay" and "LBBYugioh." It began as the "Anime Format," but over time, people started calling it the "Boomer" or "Yugiboomer" Format.

While most of the rules are inspired by using a Duel Disk, you don't actually need one to join in on the fun. Just check out the rules below and enjoy dueling!

The CORE Rules!

Hello Duelists and aspiring Dueltainers!

Welcome to Dueltainer Format, these are the core rules used in every single game we play!

1) EXCEPT for the rest of the listed rules ALL OTHER TCG RULES APPLY: https://www.yugioh-card.com/en/rulebook/

2)This format is modified TCG. While you can use a lot of more recent cards you cannot use ANY XYZ, Pendulum, or Link monsters.
-There are no Pendulum Zones or Extra Monster Zones either.

3) There is no side deck

4)You can only have 1 copy of each card in your deck unless the cards are on the "Exceptions List"
-Cards that say "(This card is always treated as "Card") such as Legendary Ocean and Harpie Lady 1, 2,3, are treated as their own individual card meaning if you're playing Umi you can play The Legendary Ocean

5) All decks for format need to follow the Archetype Banlist, Banlist, A Tier List, and B Tier List.

The A and B Tier lists work like Duel Links' Limit list.
You can only play 3 cards on the A Tier List and 5 cards on the B Tier List in your deck.

Example: If you are playing Pot of Greed (A), Graceful Charity(A), Soul Charge (A) and you want to also play Card of Demise (A) you would have to swap out one of the previous 3 mentioned A Tier cards for Card of Demise (A)

6) As long as the card is TCG legal proxy it, but the proxy must be a clear and clean printing.

7)You can Normal Summon in Defense mode.

8) It is already implied by rule 1 but you must play by all current errata and rulings for cards.

Past cards like Chaos Emperor Dragon and Future Fusion don't work the same today as they did when they were first printed.
All players must use the most recent printed rulings even if they don't have the most recent printed card.

Info about errata here: https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Errata

Yugioh card database here:https://www.db.yugioh-card.com/yugiohdb/cardsearch.action?request_locale=en