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Chaos Dwarfs

2018-07-19T22:04:53Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

[[Image:Dorf hats.jpg|thumb|right|NO [[Hat|HAT]] SHALL BE GREATER THAN MINE!]]
In the deep past of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], the [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy Battle)|Dwarfs]] spread far and wide across the Old World. Along the way, they reached a place they called the "Great Skull Land", after all the ancient bones (and especially skulls) scattered there. Though it was rich in minerals, most of them decided that this place was best left alone, but a few were so stubborn, even compared to their fellow Dwarfs, that they decided to live there, to prove that they could.

Unfortunately, this place was infested by [[Chaos]]. Though the Dwarfs that chose to live in the blasted wastes were hardy, even they were not immune to corruption, and they slowly changed over time. The transformation was not simple; for many long years, they only barely survived, as they abandoned or were abandoned by their own gods, but eventually they found favor with [[Hashut]], the bull-like Father of Darkness, learning the secrets of daemon-smithing in exchange for sacrifices. While nobody would describe the Dwarfs as a friendly people, the present-day Chaos Dwarfs are tyrannical and merciless, driven by a need to subjugate all before them, while retaining their mastery of craftsmanship and industry, and backed by stubbornness. Their land is now dominated by Zharr-Naggrund, the obsidian City of Fire and Desolation, and it is from there that they send armies to conquer the land.

Like the regular Dwarfs, their armies are composed of small, elite units, backed by powerful war machines, but Chaos Dwarfs employ Hashut's sorcery where their cousins instinctively distrust magic. Chaos Dwarf machines often have [[daemon]]s bound inside, and their ammunition may be charged with dark alchemy. To round out the army, Chaos Dwarfs employ legions of slaves, especially [[Orc]]s and [[Goblin]]s, both as meat-shields in battle and as an expendable workforce in the mines and forges. And yet, a group of six Norscans led by a Chaos Champion can easily slaughter their way through one of their cities (Yet only because the writer of that story gave the Norscans EXBAWKSHUEG Plot Armor).

Unlike regular Dwarfs, they make use of terrible magical powers, gifts from their bull-god Hashut. However, because Dwarfs were never meant to use magic, its power slowly but inevitably turns their sorcerers to stone. At first, they regard these changes with pride, glorying in them as badges of honor celebrating their victory over the very forces of nature. As time goes by, though, they start to worry more and more about it. In-game, the rules mirror this: miscasting with a Chaos Dwarf requires a toughness check. At first, failure means ''gaining'' a permanent point of Toughness, but as time goes by the side effects stop being cool.

The Chaos Dwarfs, while evil and all, are not really expansionist and have more than enough slaves as. They make their way economically by selling weapons and armour to the Norse and warriors of chaos in exchange for more slaves to top up their supply. They also got a Mesopotamian thing going for them.

Despite how awesome these guys are, they were ditched by GW because they weren't selling as much as vanilla Chaos, Orcs & Goblins or Elves were to newbie players. For ages they existed only as a dim fond memory to the veterans of the hobby; they did one new model set (the Hell Cannon and its attending Chaos Dwarf crew) but little else. Lo and behold though, Forge World has flown to the rescue. You can now buy some brilliant new Chaos Dwarf models and get the rules to use to play with them. Hopefully a full army of these will be over the horizon soon enough. Anvil Industry also makes a line of legally-not-chaos-dwarfs called Fallen Dwarves.

Chaos Dwarfs are still around in Age of Sigmar. They live in the realm of Aqshy in the Ashcloud Mountains, and use Realmstone in their armor. That's about all we know.

==Units==
[[File:400px-ChaosDwarf.jpg|300px|thumb|left|100% Chaos, 100% Dwarf.]]
[[File:Chaos_Dwarf.jpg|200px|right]]
The most up-to-date ruleset for Chaos Dwarfs, sadly, is that found in a Forge World publication; the Chaos campaign ''[[Tamurkhan: Throne of Chaos]]'', but it's fairly extensive and has some fairly nifty units, so it can stand up on its own. Though the book itself suggests they work best when incorporated into a [[Warriors of Chaos]] army, used as part of the [[Chaos Great Host]] ruleset provided in the book, or used as allies.

Common Chaos Dwarfs, surprisingly, are not the mainstay of the army, being relegated to roles as warmachine crew, even though they have stats for a champion version (the Overseer) included. They're pretty much the same as Dwarfs, even sharing the Resolute and Relentless rules, but they have unique gear in the form of the Hailshot Blunderbuss and a unique rule, Contempt, which means they only take Panic tests as a result of the Breaking or destruction of Chaos Dwarf or Bull Centaur units. This may seem unusual, but since the Chaos Dwarfs are explicitly only interested in slave-taking, it makes sense that the common Chaos Dwarf fights only at the side of a huge death-spitting doomsday machine.

Infernal Guard are the Chaos Dwarf equivalent of Slayers, being Chaos Dwarfs who have suffered dishonor and seek to atone for it. To do this, they forsake their names and identities, strap mask-helmets of bronze and iron heated red-hot over their faces, and fight for the glory of Hashut. Unlike Slayers, the Infernal Guard is not a death sentence - in theory, anyway. They aren't Frenzied fighters like Slayers, and an Infernal Guard who wins great renown has his mask formally removed and is discharged, his old shame forgotten. They go into battle sporting Blackshard Armor, a unique Chaos Dwarf-devised armor that is proof against flame, and wielding Fireglaives, which are basically repeater-rifles with axe-blades on them so the Infernal Guard can split skulls in melee as well. There are two kinds of Infernal Guard; basic ones, who make up your Chaos Dwarf Core units, and Infernal Guard Ironsworn, who use up Special slots but trade their fireglaives for magic handweapons.

Leadership, naturally, belongs to the magi of Hashut; the Daemonsmiths (Heros who use the Lores of Fire, Death or Metal) and the Sorcer-Prophets (Lords who use the Lores of Fire, Death, Metal or Hashut). Miscasts are deadly (suffer a Miscast, then make a Toughness check; failure costs you a Wound, though the first failed Miscast does give +1 Toughness for the rest of the game). These are nasty characters with a lot of special tricks and gear, including randomized unique magical weapons, naptha bombs, and granting re-rolls to your war machines.

Bull Centaurs are the fastest-moving, hardest-hitting infantry the Chaos Dwarfs having, coming in the form of a Special unit choice or the Taur'ruk, a Hero character.

Naturally, the Chaos Dwarfs have a variety of dread, daemon-infested warmachines that fill up the Special and Rare slots; the Magma Cannon, Deathshrieker Rocket Launcher, and Iron Daemon War Engine in Special, and the Dreadquake Mortar and Hellcannon in Rare.

Several twisted beasts are further added to the Chaos Dwarf armies; daemonic bull-things of living magma called the K'daai, burning winged daemon-bulls known as Taurus, magic-eating monsters called Lammasu, and armor-plated Giants modified for use as living seige weapons.

Finally, if all else fails, the Chaos Dwarfs can pad out their ranks with expendable cannon-fodder in the form of [[Hobgoblin]]; fleet-footed wolfriders, great mobs, even conniving Khans as Hero-grade characters.

[[Image:Tauren.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Marauding.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Cameraclops.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Gustaph.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Valkyrian.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Crusade.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Rocket.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Commando.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Battleguard.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Gilford.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Utopia.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Heroic.jpg |415px]]
[[Image:Arthur.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Samurai.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Gandiva.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Kusanagi.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Reinforcement.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Raigeki.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Riryoku.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Return.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Armor.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Unity.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Solidarity.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Vortex.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Mirror.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Cylinder.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Devour.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Sakuretsu.jpg|415px]]

[[File:Dwarf_abomination.jpg|thumb|centre|With all the typical Chaos generosity, you'd not be surprised if you saw this while walking down to the grocery store one day.]]

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Chaos]][[Category:Dwarfs]]

Duergar

2018-07-19T19:33:04Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

[[Image:Kogolor duergar.jpg|frame|Typical Duergar]]

What [[Drow]] are to [[Elves]], '''Duergar''' are to [[Dwarves]]. This race of magic-touched, grim, cheerless dwarf-kin inhabits the dark depths of the [[Underdark]], a malign twist on their more familiar and goodly cousins.

==Publication History==
Duergar first appeared in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, appearing as a monster in the [[Monster Manual]] II and then as a player character race in [[Unearthed Arcana]]. They were subsequently updated to 2nd edition in the Monstrous Compendium Volume 2 (which was reprinted in the Monstrous Manual) as monsters, and as PCs in the Complete Book of Dwarves and in Player's Option: Skills & Powers. Rules for psionic duergar were presented in the Complete [[Psionics]] Handbook.

In third edition, duergar appeared in both the 3.0 and 3.5 [[Monster Manual]]s, with a PC writeup alongside each. They once again reappeared in a psionics splatbook (Expanded Psionics Handbook), with a new "psionic duergar" PC writeup, and had an "Ecology of the Duergar" writeup in [[Dragon Magazine]] #325.

In 4th edition, duergar appeared as monsters and PCs both in the [[Monster Manual]] 2.

In 5th edition, duergar appear as enemies in the [[Monster Manual]] and as a playable [[dwarf]] subrace in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. They were given expanded backlore and reprinted PC stats in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

==Physiology==
Physically, duergar look a lot like their [[dwarf]] kin, differing predominantly in coloration; their complexion and hair ranges from medium to dark gray, though some art depicts them with white hair. Their eyes are often shown in art (if not mentioned in text) as solid white - strangely, their "Ecology" article claims they have solid pitch-black eyes (something the XPH agrees with) and that grey or white eyes are rare and considered a terrible omen. Like the [[drow]], duergar have adapted to the eternal darkness of their subterranean environment, and whilst their vision in the dark is keener than a dwarf's, sunlight pains and disorientates them. A strange trait that duergar gained around 3rd edition is that they are almost universally bald, males and females alike, although females are more likely to have hair than males and even males usually just have a receded hairline (no hair on their skull above their ears) rather than being completely hairless. Male duergar still grow beards and mustaches.

Duergar have a few traits unique to them; unlike their traditionally magic-inept kin, duergar have innate magical powers, allowing them to become invisible and grow to [[ogre]]-like figures for limited periods when need be. Whist they share a similar toughness to dwarves, they are even more resistant to poison, and have a unique resilience against illusion spells and paralysis. The Psionics Handbooks both state that duergar have a natural affinity for [[psionics]], especially compared to their dwarven kin. In 5e's "Tome of Foes" splatbook, it's even stated that their innate powers of invisibility and growth are actually inherently psionic in origin.

Another strange addition to their lore in the "Tome of Foes" is that duergar rarely imbibe alcohol, and always do so in moderation. This is because, whilst a normal [[dwarf]] can experience happy ancestral memories by getting drunk, duergar who overimbibe are assaulted with racial memories of the terrible torments that their ancestors underwent whilst enslaved by the [[illithid]]s. Needless to say, this is unpleasant and duergar don't like remembering that shit.

Because of their gray coloration, it's common for duergar to be nicknamed "gray dwarves".

Duergar of the [[Nentir Vale]] are different creatures entirely. In effect, the duergar of that setting are more like a dwarven [[tiefling]], having more in common with the [[Durzagon]] than with the duergar of other worlds. One of their more unique traits is that they grow viciously sharp, barbed spines from their scalp (females) and chin (males), which soak up toxin from venom glands; these duergar can rip these spikes harmlessly from their skin and hurl them as poisoned darts.

==Psychology==
Everybody's heard the stereotype of dwarves as cheerless, joyless workaholics who do nothing except toil without stop from rest period to rest period... well, duergar are basically those stereotypes come to life. Left blank beyond their society being "harsher" in comparison to other dwarves, it wasn't until 3e's Expanded Psionics Handbook that duergar personalities were expanded upon. Here, it was stated that duergar are basically all of the dwarven flaws (or at least negative stereotypes) with few of their redeeming traits.

Duergar are avaricious, short-tempered, sullen, violent and ungrateful. Vengeful buggers, duergar nurse grudges for a lifetime, never ceasing in counting the slightes they've received (real or imagined). Their standard belief is that might makes right, which comes easily to a race so churlish, hateful, envious and merciless.

That isn't to say they're entirely irredeemable... just that they are, without a doubt, the nastiest and most spiteful branch of the dwarven family tree. Duergar are courageous, determined, and believe in minding their own business (unless you have something they want) and working hard. No obstacle daunts a gray dwarf who's settled on a goal - they're not very loyal to anyone other than themselves, but they will '''never''' leave a job half-done.

"Ecology of the Duergar" states that most of the duergar's negative traits are culturally enforced by their worship of [[Laduguer]], whose theocracy dominates their culture. This article, at the least, also states they have a strong, religion-mandated utilitarian mindset; beauty and ornamentation are described as "wasteful" to a duergar.

5e mostly supports this interpretation, noting that they are dour, pessimistic, untrusting creatures, always toiling and complaining, who have lost the memory of what it means to be happy or proud.

==Culture==
Duergar society is a dark mirror of [[dwarf]]dom, a grim and cheerless place of ceaseless toil backed by slavery, whom the duergar will work to death without hesitation. Similarly to their [[drow]] rivals, duergar are heavily shaped by the religion of the dark god [[Laduguer]], and outright described as theocrats in their "Ecology" article. Like dwarves, they live in clan groups, but unlike dwarves, these clans compete bitterly, and will happily destroy or enslave each other for their own advancement.

Duergar are a bitter and xenophobic people, hating pretty much everyone. The one race they offer any respect towards is the [[svirfneblin]], whom they begrudgingly admit has some decent skill in craftsmanship. Their deepest enmity is towards both other dwarves and to [[illithid]]s; lore built up around 3rd edition is that duergar are former dwarves who were enslaved by the mind flayers and escaped under their own power, but who have been psychologically and culturally damaged by both their enslavement and by their belief that their former kin abandoned them to slavery.

In their "Ecology" article, it's implied that duergar hold a particular disdain, if not enmity, for the [[Derro]], as Laduguer's creation myth claims the first derro was made from a rogue duergar that tried to challenge Laduguer's skill at creation and his flawed work produced the various other races that "stain" the world today. Mind you, it's implied everybody who lives in the [[Underdark]] regards the derro with disdain, and given they're the only race who challenge the [[Kuo-toa]] for the position of "nuttiest nutbar in the Underdark", that's kind of justified.

In the [[Nentir Vale]] setting, duergar instead worship [[Asmodeus]], mostly because Laduguer felt somewhat superfluous in the face of him and [[Torog]], and because, really, it doesn't make a lot of sense that a race that fought its way ''out'' of slavery would worship a god whose faith explicitly turns them into his slaves.

5e reconciled this by stating that whilst duergar mostly worship Laduguer, Asmodeus has been known to impersonate him in order to usurp control over duergar clans and guide them towards their darker aspects, such as encouraging them to enslave other races. The subsequent "Tome of Foes" expansion would add to this by stating that Laduguer was originally a mortal duergar who bargained with Asmodeus for the power to save his people; as such the duergar are bound by their pact with Asmodeus to battle [[Lolth]] and her [[drow]] minions, and many duergar clans go so far as to worship Asmodeus for his part in freeing them.

This same sourcebook also explains further just why duergar are so bitter and spiteful; according to their histories, they were betrayed by their [[dwarf]] kin. When illithids lured the whole duergar clan into the [[Underdark]], dwarves investigated their old clanhold, but never bothered to try and find out where they went, as the priests of [[Moradin]] had denounced the duergar as heretics. Even when [[Laduguer]] led his people back to the surface and explained to the priests what had happened, they refused to apologize for their failure to try and find the duergar. Incensed by this, Laduguer and his people spat on Moradin and vowed to cast him down from his celestial throne as an unfit patron before marching back into the [[Underdark]], beginning the long war against their people.

In this 5e source, duergar society is said to revolve around the three precepts of Laduguer, who is not so much worshipped in the traditional sense as the living image of who they try to be. Those three dictats, the Three Rules of Conduct, are:

'''Our Pockets Are Never Full:''' A duergar's ambition and avarice can never be sated. Success is not celebrated, as a duergar should already begin planning for what it will achieve next, be it wealth, vengeance, or power.

'''Our Fight Is Never Done:''' Life is a battle for survival that only the fittest can win, in duergar philosophy, and it is their solemn duty as a race to prove themselves the fittest.

'''Our Resolve Is Never Shaken:''' Showing weakness of any sort is a mortal sin in duergar society, be it in the workings of the clan or in personal conduct. Duergar are prohibited from demonstrating happiness, contentedness or trust, and the abandonment of emotion and individuality is idealized in their ranks. Thus, duergar soldiers on the march wear grotesque facial masks to obscure their identity and their feelings, and are compelled to march on relentlessly.

==Duergar vs. Drow==
Unlike [[drow]], duergar have never really caught on with the D&D crowd. Perhaps the biggest issue is that whereas drow feel different to [[elves]], being spider-worshipping BDSM crazies, duergar are basically dwarves acting like jerks and being called out for it. It certainly doesn't help that in both AD&D and 3e, duergar actually co-existed alongside the "Deep Dwarves", whose archetype was being "[[Underdark]] dwarves who are ''not'' evil", something that undercut duergar rather badly.

==Duergar PCs==
Being that they are not as psycho-backstabbing crazy as drow, duergar PCs are still stained by the stigma of being an evil race, but they are more likely to fit into a PC party than a drow, in many peoples' eyes. Duergar PCs typically either don't buy into the "toil your way from cradle to grave" cheerless claptrap that Laduguer's priests peddle, or else are survivors of the deadly intra-clan wars that plague the duergar.

===AD&D===
In Unearthed Arcana, Duergar have the following stats:
::Class & Level Limits: [[Cleric]] (8-16), [[Fighter]] (7-16), [[Thief]] (Unlimited), Acrobat, [[Assassin]] (9-12)
::Multiclass Options: Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Thief, Cleric/Thief, Cleric/Assassin
::Same bonuses to saves vs. rod/staff/wand/spell/natural poison and ability to detect grade/slope/new construction/sliding walls/traps/depth underground as ordinary dwarves.
::Do gain the dwarven combat abilities vs. ogres/trolls/oni/giants/titans, but not against orcs/half-orcs/goblins/hobgoblins
::Immune to illusion spells, paralyzation and non-natural poisons
::Infravision 12'
::When operating alone or with other duergar, a duergar can surprise others on a 3 in 6 chance is surprised on a 1 in 10 chance
::Double the chance of being psionic
::Bright light negates duergar stealth, imposes a -2 penalty to dexterity, inflicts a -2 penalty to "to hit" rolls and grants a +2 to the saving throws of those attacked by a duergar
::Attacking foes in bright light from the presence of darkness negates the surprise and dex penalty and lowers the to hit and save traits to -1 and +1 respectively

In the Complete Book of Dwarves, duergar have the following stats:
::Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 8/18, Dexterity 3/17, Constitution 11/18, Intelligence 3/16, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/15
::Ability Score Adjustments: +1 Constitution, -2 Charisma
::Can become 12th level Warriors and Priests, and 14th level Thieves
::Infravision 120 feet
::When at least 90 feet ahead of non-duergar, a duergar inflicts a -2 penalty on their opponent's surprise roll (this is negated if the duergar must open a dor to reach them).
::+2 bonus on surprise rolls
::Standard dwarf saving throw bonuses and stonework skills apply.
::Duergar are immune to paralysis, illusion and phantasm spells, as well as to magical and alchemical poisons.
::Once per day, a duergar can Enlarge Self and/or become Invisible as per the spells being cast by a wizard twice the duergar's level.
::In bright light, a duergarloses its surprise bonus, suffers -2 Dexterity, and suffers -2 to its To Hit rolls.
::When attacking a foe in bright light from shadows, a duergar suffers a -1 penalty to its To Hit rolls.
::Other dwarves have a -3 Reaction penalty to duergar, which stacks with any imposed by [[kits]].
::Ogres, trolls, oni, giants and titans suffer a -4 penalty to hit duergar. Unlike normal dwarves, duergar have no advantage when fighting orcs, half-orcs, goblins or hobgoblins.
::Increase all XP costs to advance in levels by +20%.

===3rd Edition===
For a standard 3e dwarf, take the Hill Dwarf stats and make the following changes:
::Charisma penalty increases to -4
::Darkvision increases to 120 feet
::+2 racial bonus on saves vs. spells and spell-like abilities
::Spell-Like Abilities: Enlarge Person and Invisibility, self only, both 1/day and as a Wizard of twice the duergar's class level.
::Light Sensitivty
:+4 racial bonus on Move Silently
::+1 racial bonus on Listen and Spot
::Dwarf Weapon Proficiency does not apply to dwarven waraxe or dwarven urgrosh
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

A psionic duergar has the following statblock:
::+2 Constitution, -4 Charisma
::Medium
::Base speed 20 feet, but unaffected by medium/heavy armor or medium/heavy loads
::Darkvision 120 feet
::Immune to Paralysis, Phantasms and Poison
::+2 racial bonus on saves vs. spells and spell-like effects
::Stability: As per [[dwarf]]
::Stonecunning: As per [[dwarf]]
::Psi-Like Abilities: Expansion and Invisibility, both self only, both 1/day with Manifester level equal to Hit Dice.
::Naturally Psionc: +3 psionic power points at 1st level.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against [[orc]]s and [[goblinoid]]s.
::+4 dodge bonus to AC against [[Giant]] type creatrues.
::Light Sensitivity
::+4 rcial bonus on Move Silently checks.
::+1 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
::+2 racial bonus on Appraise & Craft checks related to stone and metal.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===4th Edition===
Appearing only as an MM2 back-page entry, duergar are distinctly underpowered by 4e standards.
::+2 Constituion, +2 Wisdom
::Medium
::Speed 6 squares
::Darkvision
::+2 Dungeoneering
::Racial Power - Infernal Quills: Once per encounter, as a minor action, target a single creature within 3 squares and make a Constitution check vs. their AC with a +2/4/6 bonus depending on tier. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 damage per tier, plus Constitution modifier extra damage, as well as suffering both a -2 penalty to attack rolls and ongoing 2/5/8 (depending on tier) Poison damage (save ends both effects).

===5th Edition===
For the "core" dwarf racial traits you add the below traits to, see the [[Dwarf]] page.
::+1 Strength
::Superior Darkvision: You have Darkvision 120 feet
::Sunlight Sensitivity: You suffer Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks based on sight if you or the thing you are looking at is in direct sunlight, and you cannot use your DUergar Magic powers if you are in direct sunlight.
::Extra Language: Undercommon
::Duergar Resilience: You have Advantage on saving throws against Illusions, Charm and Paralysis.
::Duergar Magic: At 3rd level, you can cast Enlarge on yourself once per long rest, and at 5th level you can cast Invisibility on yourself once per long rest.

{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}

==Monstergirls?==
{{Monstergirls}}

Unlike [[drow]], duergar haven't managed to make an impact in the [[monstergirls]] field; whereas drow have an overwhelming association with kinky nubile black-skinned [[elf]] maidens, duergar are A: heavily associated with the masculine, just like dwarves, and B: regarded as a bunch of joyless pricks even by dwarven standards. Theoretically, you could make something appealing out of duergar ([[Nazi]]/Russian Baroness style dwarf women, perhaps?) but you'd have virtually nothing to draw from the base material.

[[Image:Tauren.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Marauding.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Cameraclops.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Gustaph.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Valkyrian.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Crusade.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Rocket.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Commando.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Battleguard.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Gilford.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Utopia.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Heroic.jpg |415px]]
[[Image:Arthur.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Samurai.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Gandiva.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Kusanagi.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Reinforcement.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Raigeki.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Riryoku.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Return.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Armor.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Unity.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Solidarity.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Vortex.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Mirror.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Cylinder.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Devour.jpg|415px]]
[[Image:Sakuretsu.jpg|415px]]

Duergar

2018-07-19T19:31:14Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

[[Image:Kogolor duergar.jpg|frame|Typical Duergar]]

What [[Drow]] are to [[Elves]], '''Duergar''' are to [[Dwarves]]. This race of magic-touched, grim, cheerless dwarf-kin inhabits the dark depths of the [[Underdark]], a malign twist on their more familiar and goodly cousins.

==Publication History==
Duergar first appeared in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, appearing as a monster in the [[Monster Manual]] II and then as a player character race in [[Unearthed Arcana]]. They were subsequently updated to 2nd edition in the Monstrous Compendium Volume 2 (which was reprinted in the Monstrous Manual) as monsters, and as PCs in the Complete Book of Dwarves and in Player's Option: Skills & Powers. Rules for psionic duergar were presented in the Complete [[Psionics]] Handbook.

In third edition, duergar appeared in both the 3.0 and 3.5 [[Monster Manual]]s, with a PC writeup alongside each. They once again reappeared in a psionics splatbook (Expanded Psionics Handbook), with a new "psionic duergar" PC writeup, and had an "Ecology of the Duergar" writeup in [[Dragon Magazine]] #325.

In 4th edition, duergar appeared as monsters and PCs both in the [[Monster Manual]] 2.

In 5th edition, duergar appear as enemies in the [[Monster Manual]] and as a playable [[dwarf]] subrace in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. They were given expanded backlore and reprinted PC stats in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

==Physiology==
Physically, duergar look a lot like their [[dwarf]] kin, differing predominantly in coloration; their complexion and hair ranges from medium to dark gray, though some art depicts them with white hair. Their eyes are often shown in art (if not mentioned in text) as solid white - strangely, their "Ecology" article claims they have solid pitch-black eyes (something the XPH agrees with) and that grey or white eyes are rare and considered a terrible omen. Like the [[drow]], duergar have adapted to the eternal darkness of their subterranean environment, and whilst their vision in the dark is keener than a dwarf's, sunlight pains and disorientates them. A strange trait that duergar gained around 3rd edition is that they are almost universally bald, males and females alike, although females are more likely to have hair than males and even males usually just have a receded hairline (no hair on their skull above their ears) rather than being completely hairless. Male duergar still grow beards and mustaches.

Duergar have a few traits unique to them; unlike their traditionally magic-inept kin, duergar have innate magical powers, allowing them to become invisible and grow to [[ogre]]-like figures for limited periods when need be. Whist they share a similar toughness to dwarves, they are even more resistant to poison, and have a unique resilience against illusion spells and paralysis. The Psionics Handbooks both state that duergar have a natural affinity for [[psionics]], especially compared to their dwarven kin. In 5e's "Tome of Foes" splatbook, it's even stated that their innate powers of invisibility and growth are actually inherently psionic in origin.

Another strange addition to their lore in the "Tome of Foes" is that duergar rarely imbibe alcohol, and always do so in moderation. This is because, whilst a normal [[dwarf]] can experience happy ancestral memories by getting drunk, duergar who overimbibe are assaulted with racial memories of the terrible torments that their ancestors underwent whilst enslaved by the [[illithid]]s. Needless to say, this is unpleasant and duergar don't like remembering that shit.

Because of their gray coloration, it's common for duergar to be nicknamed "gray dwarves".

Duergar of the [[Nentir Vale]] are different creatures entirely. In effect, the duergar of that setting are more like a dwarven [[tiefling]], having more in common with the [[Durzagon]] than with the duergar of other worlds. One of their more unique traits is that they grow viciously sharp, barbed spines from their scalp (females) and chin (males), which soak up toxin from venom glands; these duergar can rip these spikes harmlessly from their skin and hurl them as poisoned darts.

==Psychology==
Everybody's heard the stereotype of dwarves as cheerless, joyless workaholics who do nothing except toil without stop from rest period to rest period... well, duergar are basically those stereotypes come to life. Left blank beyond their society being "harsher" in comparison to other dwarves, it wasn't until 3e's Expanded Psionics Handbook that duergar personalities were expanded upon. Here, it was stated that duergar are basically all of the dwarven flaws (or at least negative stereotypes) with few of their redeeming traits.

Duergar are avaricious, short-tempered, sullen, violent and ungrateful. Vengeful buggers, duergar nurse grudges for a lifetime, never ceasing in counting the slightes they've received (real or imagined). Their standard belief is that might makes right, which comes easily to a race so churlish, hateful, envious and merciless.

That isn't to say they're entirely irredeemable... just that they are, without a doubt, the nastiest and most spiteful branch of the dwarven family tree. Duergar are courageous, determined, and believe in minding their own business (unless you have something they want) and working hard. No obstacle daunts a gray dwarf who's settled on a goal - they're not very loyal to anyone other than themselves, but they will '''never''' leave a job half-done.

"Ecology of the Duergar" states that most of the duergar's negative traits are culturally enforced by their worship of [[Laduguer]], whose theocracy dominates their culture. This article, at the least, also states they have a strong, religion-mandated utilitarian mindset; beauty and ornamentation are described as "wasteful" to a duergar.

5e mostly supports this interpretation, noting that they are dour, pessimistic, untrusting creatures, always toiling and complaining, who have lost the memory of what it means to be happy or proud.

==Culture==
Duergar society is a dark mirror of [[dwarf]]dom, a grim and cheerless place of ceaseless toil backed by slavery, whom the duergar will work to death without hesitation. Similarly to their [[drow]] rivals, duergar are heavily shaped by the religion of the dark god [[Laduguer]], and outright described as theocrats in their "Ecology" article. Like dwarves, they live in clan groups, but unlike dwarves, these clans compete bitterly, and will happily destroy or enslave each other for their own advancement.

Duergar are a bitter and xenophobic people, hating pretty much everyone. The one race they offer any respect towards is the [[svirfneblin]], whom they begrudgingly admit has some decent skill in craftsmanship. Their deepest enmity is towards both other dwarves and to [[illithid]]s; lore built up around 3rd edition is that duergar are former dwarves who were enslaved by the mind flayers and escaped under their own power, but who have been psychologically and culturally damaged by both their enslavement and by their belief that their former kin abandoned them to slavery.

In their "Ecology" article, it's implied that duergar hold a particular disdain, if not enmity, for the [[Derro]], as Laduguer's creation myth claims the first derro was made from a rogue duergar that tried to challenge Laduguer's skill at creation and his flawed work produced the various other races that "stain" the world today. Mind you, it's implied everybody who lives in the [[Underdark]] regards the derro with disdain, and given they're the only race who challenge the [[Kuo-toa]] for the position of "nuttiest nutbar in the Underdark", that's kind of justified.

In the [[Nentir Vale]] setting, duergar instead worship [[Asmodeus]], mostly because Laduguer felt somewhat superfluous in the face of him and [[Torog]], and because, really, it doesn't make a lot of sense that a race that fought its way ''out'' of slavery would worship a god whose faith explicitly turns them into his slaves.

5e reconciled this by stating that whilst duergar mostly worship Laduguer, Asmodeus has been known to impersonate him in order to usurp control over duergar clans and guide them towards their darker aspects, such as encouraging them to enslave other races. The subsequent "Tome of Foes" expansion would add to this by stating that Laduguer was originally a mortal duergar who bargained with Asmodeus for the power to save his people; as such the duergar are bound by their pact with Asmodeus to battle [[Lolth]] and her [[drow]] minions, and many duergar clans go so far as to worship Asmodeus for his part in freeing them.

This same sourcebook also explains further just why duergar are so bitter and spiteful; according to their histories, they were betrayed by their [[dwarf]] kin. When illithids lured the whole duergar clan into the [[Underdark]], dwarves investigated their old clanhold, but never bothered to try and find out where they went, as the priests of [[Moradin]] had denounced the duergar as heretics. Even when [[Laduguer]] led his people back to the surface and explained to the priests what had happened, they refused to apologize for their failure to try and find the duergar. Incensed by this, Laduguer and his people spat on Moradin and vowed to cast him down from his celestial throne as an unfit patron before marching back into the [[Underdark]], beginning the long war against their people.

In this 5e source, duergar society is said to revolve around the three precepts of Laduguer, who is not so much worshipped in the traditional sense as the living image of who they try to be. Those three dictats, the Three Rules of Conduct, are:

'''Our Pockets Are Never Full:''' A duergar's ambition and avarice can never be sated. Success is not celebrated, as a duergar should already begin planning for what it will achieve next, be it wealth, vengeance, or power.

'''Our Fight Is Never Done:''' Life is a battle for survival that only the fittest can win, in duergar philosophy, and it is their solemn duty as a race to prove themselves the fittest.

'''Our Resolve Is Never Shaken:''' Showing weakness of any sort is a mortal sin in duergar society, be it in the workings of the clan or in personal conduct. Duergar are prohibited from demonstrating happiness, contentedness or trust, and the abandonment of emotion and individuality is idealized in their ranks. Thus, duergar soldiers on the march wear grotesque facial masks to obscure their identity and their feelings, and are compelled to march on relentlessly.

==Duergar vs. Drow==
Unlike [[drow]], duergar have never really caught on with the D&D crowd. Perhaps the biggest issue is that whereas drow feel different to [[elves]], being spider-worshipping BDSM crazies, duergar are basically dwarves acting like jerks and being called out for it. It certainly doesn't help that in both AD&D and 3e, duergar actually co-existed alongside the "Deep Dwarves", whose archetype was being "[[Underdark]] dwarves who are ''not'' evil", something that undercut duergar rather badly.

==Duergar PCs==
Being that they are not as psycho-backstabbing crazy as drow, duergar PCs are still stained by the stigma of being an evil race, but they are more likely to fit into a PC party than a drow, in many peoples' eyes. Duergar PCs typically either don't buy into the "toil your way from cradle to grave" cheerless claptrap that Laduguer's priests peddle, or else are survivors of the deadly intra-clan wars that plague the duergar.

===AD&D===
In Unearthed Arcana, Duergar have the following stats:
::Class & Level Limits: [[Cleric]] (8-16), [[Fighter]] (7-16), [[Thief]] (Unlimited), Acrobat, [[Assassin]] (9-12)
::Multiclass Options: Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Thief, Cleric/Thief, Cleric/Assassin
::Same bonuses to saves vs. rod/staff/wand/spell/natural poison and ability to detect grade/slope/new construction/sliding walls/traps/depth underground as ordinary dwarves.
::Do gain the dwarven combat abilities vs. ogres/trolls/oni/giants/titans, but not against orcs/half-orcs/goblins/hobgoblins
::Immune to illusion spells, paralyzation and non-natural poisons
::Infravision 12'
::When operating alone or with other duergar, a duergar can surprise others on a 3 in 6 chance is surprised on a 1 in 10 chance
::Double the chance of being psionic
::Bright light negates duergar stealth, imposes a -2 penalty to dexterity, inflicts a -2 penalty to "to hit" rolls and grants a +2 to the saving throws of those attacked by a duergar
::Attacking foes in bright light from the presence of darkness negates the surprise and dex penalty and lowers the to hit and save traits to -1 and +1 respectively

In the Complete Book of Dwarves, duergar have the following stats:
::Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 8/18, Dexterity 3/17, Constitution 11/18, Intelligence 3/16, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/15
::Ability Score Adjustments: +1 Constitution, -2 Charisma
::Can become 12th level Warriors and Priests, and 14th level Thieves
::Infravision 120 feet
::When at least 90 feet ahead of non-duergar, a duergar inflicts a -2 penalty on their opponent's surprise roll (this is negated if the duergar must open a dor to reach them).
::+2 bonus on surprise rolls
::Standard dwarf saving throw bonuses and stonework skills apply.
::Duergar are immune to paralysis, illusion and phantasm spells, as well as to magical and alchemical poisons.
::Once per day, a duergar can Enlarge Self and/or become Invisible as per the spells being cast by a wizard twice the duergar's level.
::In bright light, a duergarloses its surprise bonus, suffers -2 Dexterity, and suffers -2 to its To Hit rolls.
::When attacking a foe in bright light from shadows, a duergar suffers a -1 penalty to its To Hit rolls.
::Other dwarves have a -3 Reaction penalty to duergar, which stacks with any imposed by [[kits]].
::Ogres, trolls, oni, giants and titans suffer a -4 penalty to hit duergar. Unlike normal dwarves, duergar have no advantage when fighting orcs, half-orcs, goblins or hobgoblins.
::Increase all XP costs to advance in levels by +20%.

===3rd Edition===
For a standard 3e dwarf, take the Hill Dwarf stats and make the following changes:
::Charisma penalty increases to -4
::Darkvision increases to 120 feet
::+2 racial bonus on saves vs. spells and spell-like abilities
::Spell-Like Abilities: Enlarge Person and Invisibility, self only, both 1/day and as a Wizard of twice the duergar's class level.
::Light Sensitivty
:+4 racial bonus on Move Silently
::+1 racial bonus on Listen and Spot
::Dwarf Weapon Proficiency does not apply to dwarven waraxe or dwarven urgrosh
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

A psionic duergar has the following statblock:
::+2 Constitution, -4 Charisma
::Medium
::Base speed 20 feet, but unaffected by medium/heavy armor or medium/heavy loads
::Darkvision 120 feet
::Immune to Paralysis, Phantasms and Poison
::+2 racial bonus on saves vs. spells and spell-like effects
::Stability: As per [[dwarf]]
::Stonecunning: As per [[dwarf]]
::Psi-Like Abilities: Expansion and Invisibility, both self only, both 1/day with Manifester level equal to Hit Dice.
::Naturally Psionc: +3 psionic power points at 1st level.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against [[orc]]s and [[goblinoid]]s.
::+4 dodge bonus to AC against [[Giant]] type creatrues.
::Light Sensitivity
::+4 rcial bonus on Move Silently checks.
::+1 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
::+2 racial bonus on Appraise & Craft checks related to stone and metal.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===4th Edition===
Appearing only as an MM2 back-page entry, duergar are distinctly underpowered by 4e standards.
::+2 Constituion, +2 Wisdom
::Medium
::Speed 6 squares
::Darkvision
::+2 Dungeoneering
::Racial Power - Infernal Quills: Once per encounter, as a minor action, target a single creature within 3 squares and make a Constitution check vs. their AC with a +2/4/6 bonus depending on tier. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 damage per tier, plus Constitution modifier extra damage, as well as suffering both a -2 penalty to attack rolls and ongoing 2/5/8 (depending on tier) Poison damage (save ends both effects).

===5th Edition===
For the "core" dwarf racial traits you add the below traits to, see the [[Dwarf]] page.
::+1 Strength
::Superior Darkvision: You have Darkvision 120 feet
::Sunlight Sensitivity: You suffer Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks based on sight if you or the thing you are looking at is in direct sunlight, and you cannot use your DUergar Magic powers if you are in direct sunlight.
::Extra Language: Undercommon
::Duergar Resilience: You have Advantage on saving throws against Illusions, Charm and Paralysis.
::Duergar Magic: At 3rd level, you can cast Enlarge on yourself once per long rest, and at 5th level you can cast Invisibility on yourself once per long rest.

{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}

==Monstergirls?==
{{Monstergirls}}

Unlike [[drow]], duergar haven't managed to make an impact in the [[monstergirls]] field; whereas drow have an overwhelming association with kinky nubile black-skinned [[elf]] maidens, duergar are A: heavily associated with the masculine, just like dwarves, and B: regarded as a bunch of joyless pricks even by dwarven standards. Theoretically, you could make something appealing out of duergar ([[Nazi]]/Russian Baroness style dwarf women, perhaps?) but you'd have virtually nothing to draw from the base material.

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Duergar

2018-07-19T19:30:08Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

[[Image:Kogolor duergar.jpg|frame|Typical Duergar]]

What [[Drow]] are to [[Elves]], '''Duergar''' are to [[Dwarves]]. This race of magic-touched, grim, cheerless dwarf-kin inhabits the dark depths of the [[Underdark]], a malign twist on their more familiar and goodly cousins.

==Publication History==
Duergar first appeared in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, appearing as a monster in the [[Monster Manual]] II and then as a player character race in [[Unearthed Arcana]]. They were subsequently updated to 2nd edition in the Monstrous Compendium Volume 2 (which was reprinted in the Monstrous Manual) as monsters, and as PCs in the Complete Book of Dwarves and in Player's Option: Skills & Powers. Rules for psionic duergar were presented in the Complete [[Psionics]] Handbook.

In third edition, duergar appeared in both the 3.0 and 3.5 [[Monster Manual]]s, with a PC writeup alongside each. They once again reappeared in a psionics splatbook (Expanded Psionics Handbook), with a new "psionic duergar" PC writeup, and had an "Ecology of the Duergar" writeup in [[Dragon Magazine]] #325.

In 4th edition, duergar appeared as monsters and PCs both in the [[Monster Manual]] 2.

In 5th edition, duergar appear as enemies in the [[Monster Manual]] and as a playable [[dwarf]] subrace in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. They were given expanded backlore and reprinted PC stats in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

==Physiology==
Physically, duergar look a lot like their [[dwarf]] kin, differing predominantly in coloration; their complexion and hair ranges from medium to dark gray, though some art depicts them with white hair. Their eyes are often shown in art (if not mentioned in text) as solid white - strangely, their "Ecology" article claims they have solid pitch-black eyes (something the XPH agrees with) and that grey or white eyes are rare and considered a terrible omen. Like the [[drow]], duergar have adapted to the eternal darkness of their subterranean environment, and whilst their vision in the dark is keener than a dwarf's, sunlight pains and disorientates them. A strange trait that duergar gained around 3rd edition is that they are almost universally bald, males and females alike, although females are more likely to have hair than males and even males usually just have a receded hairline (no hair on their skull above their ears) rather than being completely hairless. Male duergar still grow beards and mustaches.

Duergar have a few traits unique to them; unlike their traditionally magic-inept kin, duergar have innate magical powers, allowing them to become invisible and grow to [[ogre]]-like figures for limited periods when need be. Whist they share a similar toughness to dwarves, they are even more resistant to poison, and have a unique resilience against illusion spells and paralysis. The Psionics Handbooks both state that duergar have a natural affinity for [[psionics]], especially compared to their dwarven kin. In 5e's "Tome of Foes" splatbook, it's even stated that their innate powers of invisibility and growth are actually inherently psionic in origin.

Another strange addition to their lore in the "Tome of Foes" is that duergar rarely imbibe alcohol, and always do so in moderation. This is because, whilst a normal [[dwarf]] can experience happy ancestral memories by getting drunk, duergar who overimbibe are assaulted with racial memories of the terrible torments that their ancestors underwent whilst enslaved by the [[illithid]]s. Needless to say, this is unpleasant and duergar don't like remembering that shit.

Because of their gray coloration, it's common for duergar to be nicknamed "gray dwarves".

Duergar of the [[Nentir Vale]] are different creatures entirely. In effect, the duergar of that setting are more like a dwarven [[tiefling]], having more in common with the [[Durzagon]] than with the duergar of other worlds. One of their more unique traits is that they grow viciously sharp, barbed spines from their scalp (females) and chin (males), which soak up toxin from venom glands; these duergar can rip these spikes harmlessly from their skin and hurl them as poisoned darts.

==Psychology==
Everybody's heard the stereotype of dwarves as cheerless, joyless workaholics who do nothing except toil without stop from rest period to rest period... well, duergar are basically those stereotypes come to life. Left blank beyond their society being "harsher" in comparison to other dwarves, it wasn't until 3e's Expanded Psionics Handbook that duergar personalities were expanded upon. Here, it was stated that duergar are basically all of the dwarven flaws (or at least negative stereotypes) with few of their redeeming traits.

Duergar are avaricious, short-tempered, sullen, violent and ungrateful. Vengeful buggers, duergar nurse grudges for a lifetime, never ceasing in counting the slightes they've received (real or imagined). Their standard belief is that might makes right, which comes easily to a race so churlish, hateful, envious and merciless.

That isn't to say they're entirely irredeemable... just that they are, without a doubt, the nastiest and most spiteful branch of the dwarven family tree. Duergar are courageous, determined, and believe in minding their own business (unless you have something they want) and working hard. No obstacle daunts a gray dwarf who's settled on a goal - they're not very loyal to anyone other than themselves, but they will '''never''' leave a job half-done.

"Ecology of the Duergar" states that most of the duergar's negative traits are culturally enforced by their worship of [[Laduguer]], whose theocracy dominates their culture. This article, at the least, also states they have a strong, religion-mandated utilitarian mindset; beauty and ornamentation are described as "wasteful" to a duergar.

5e mostly supports this interpretation, noting that they are dour, pessimistic, untrusting creatures, always toiling and complaining, who have lost the memory of what it means to be happy or proud.

==Culture==
Duergar society is a dark mirror of [[dwarf]]dom, a grim and cheerless place of ceaseless toil backed by slavery, whom the duergar will work to death without hesitation. Similarly to their [[drow]] rivals, duergar are heavily shaped by the religion of the dark god [[Laduguer]], and outright described as theocrats in their "Ecology" article. Like dwarves, they live in clan groups, but unlike dwarves, these clans compete bitterly, and will happily destroy or enslave each other for their own advancement.

Duergar are a bitter and xenophobic people, hating pretty much everyone. The one race they offer any respect towards is the [[svirfneblin]], whom they begrudgingly admit has some decent skill in craftsmanship. Their deepest enmity is towards both other dwarves and to [[illithid]]s; lore built up around 3rd edition is that duergar are former dwarves who were enslaved by the mind flayers and escaped under their own power, but who have been psychologically and culturally damaged by both their enslavement and by their belief that their former kin abandoned them to slavery.

In their "Ecology" article, it's implied that duergar hold a particular disdain, if not enmity, for the [[Derro]], as Laduguer's creation myth claims the first derro was made from a rogue duergar that tried to challenge Laduguer's skill at creation and his flawed work produced the various other races that "stain" the world today. Mind you, it's implied everybody who lives in the [[Underdark]] regards the derro with disdain, and given they're the only race who challenge the [[Kuo-toa]] for the position of "nuttiest nutbar in the Underdark", that's kind of justified.

In the [[Nentir Vale]] setting, duergar instead worship [[Asmodeus]], mostly because Laduguer felt somewhat superfluous in the face of him and [[Torog]], and because, really, it doesn't make a lot of sense that a race that fought its way ''out'' of slavery would worship a god whose faith explicitly turns them into his slaves.

5e reconciled this by stating that whilst duergar mostly worship Laduguer, Asmodeus has been known to impersonate him in order to usurp control over duergar clans and guide them towards their darker aspects, such as encouraging them to enslave other races. The subsequent "Tome of Foes" expansion would add to this by stating that Laduguer was originally a mortal duergar who bargained with Asmodeus for the power to save his people; as such the duergar are bound by their pact with Asmodeus to battle [[Lolth]] and her [[drow]] minions, and many duergar clans go so far as to worship Asmodeus for his part in freeing them.

This same sourcebook also explains further just why duergar are so bitter and spiteful; according to their histories, they were betrayed by their [[dwarf]] kin. When illithids lured the whole duergar clan into the [[Underdark]], dwarves investigated their old clanhold, but never bothered to try and find out where they went, as the priests of [[Moradin]] had denounced the duergar as heretics. Even when [[Laduguer]] led his people back to the surface and explained to the priests what had happened, they refused to apologize for their failure to try and find the duergar. Incensed by this, Laduguer and his people spat on Moradin and vowed to cast him down from his celestial throne as an unfit patron before marching back into the [[Underdark]], beginning the long war against their people.

In this 5e source, duergar society is said to revolve around the three precepts of Laduguer, who is not so much worshipped in the traditional sense as the living image of who they try to be. Those three dictats, the Three Rules of Conduct, are:

'''Our Pockets Are Never Full:''' A duergar's ambition and avarice can never be sated. Success is not celebrated, as a duergar should already begin planning for what it will achieve next, be it wealth, vengeance, or power.

'''Our Fight Is Never Done:''' Life is a battle for survival that only the fittest can win, in duergar philosophy, and it is their solemn duty as a race to prove themselves the fittest.

'''Our Resolve Is Never Shaken:''' Showing weakness of any sort is a mortal sin in duergar society, be it in the workings of the clan or in personal conduct. Duergar are prohibited from demonstrating happiness, contentedness or trust, and the abandonment of emotion and individuality is idealized in their ranks. Thus, duergar soldiers on the march wear grotesque facial masks to obscure their identity and their feelings, and are compelled to march on relentlessly.

==Duergar vs. Drow==
Unlike [[drow]], duergar have never really caught on with the D&D crowd. Perhaps the biggest issue is that whereas drow feel different to [[elves]], being spider-worshipping BDSM crazies, duergar are basically dwarves acting like jerks and being called out for it. It certainly doesn't help that in both AD&D and 3e, duergar actually co-existed alongside the "Deep Dwarves", whose archetype was being "[[Underdark]] dwarves who are ''not'' evil", something that undercut duergar rather badly.

==Duergar PCs==
Being that they are not as psycho-backstabbing crazy as drow, duergar PCs are still stained by the stigma of being an evil race, but they are more likely to fit into a PC party than a drow, in many peoples' eyes. Duergar PCs typically either don't buy into the "toil your way from cradle to grave" cheerless claptrap that Laduguer's priests peddle, or else are survivors of the deadly intra-clan wars that plague the duergar.

===AD&D===
In Unearthed Arcana, Duergar have the following stats:
::Class & Level Limits: [[Cleric]] (8-16), [[Fighter]] (7-16), [[Thief]] (Unlimited), Acrobat, [[Assassin]] (9-12)
::Multiclass Options: Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Thief, Cleric/Thief, Cleric/Assassin
::Same bonuses to saves vs. rod/staff/wand/spell/natural poison and ability to detect grade/slope/new construction/sliding walls/traps/depth underground as ordinary dwarves.
::Do gain the dwarven combat abilities vs. ogres/trolls/oni/giants/titans, but not against orcs/half-orcs/goblins/hobgoblins
::Immune to illusion spells, paralyzation and non-natural poisons
::Infravision 12'
::When operating alone or with other duergar, a duergar can surprise others on a 3 in 6 chance is surprised on a 1 in 10 chance
::Double the chance of being psionic
::Bright light negates duergar stealth, imposes a -2 penalty to dexterity, inflicts a -2 penalty to "to hit" rolls and grants a +2 to the saving throws of those attacked by a duergar
::Attacking foes in bright light from the presence of darkness negates the surprise and dex penalty and lowers the to hit and save traits to -1 and +1 respectively

In the Complete Book of Dwarves, duergar have the following stats:
::Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 8/18, Dexterity 3/17, Constitution 11/18, Intelligence 3/16, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/15
::Ability Score Adjustments: +1 Constitution, -2 Charisma
::Can become 12th level Warriors and Priests, and 14th level Thieves
::Infravision 120 feet
::When at least 90 feet ahead of non-duergar, a duergar inflicts a -2 penalty on their opponent's surprise roll (this is negated if the duergar must open a dor to reach them).
::+2 bonus on surprise rolls
::Standard dwarf saving throw bonuses and stonework skills apply.
::Duergar are immune to paralysis, illusion and phantasm spells, as well as to magical and alchemical poisons.
::Once per day, a duergar can Enlarge Self and/or become Invisible as per the spells being cast by a wizard twice the duergar's level.
::In bright light, a duergarloses its surprise bonus, suffers -2 Dexterity, and suffers -2 to its To Hit rolls.
::When attacking a foe in bright light from shadows, a duergar suffers a -1 penalty to its To Hit rolls.
::Other dwarves have a -3 Reaction penalty to duergar, which stacks with any imposed by [[kits]].
::Ogres, trolls, oni, giants and titans suffer a -4 penalty to hit duergar. Unlike normal dwarves, duergar have no advantage when fighting orcs, half-orcs, goblins or hobgoblins.
::Increase all XP costs to advance in levels by +20%.

===3rd Edition===
For a standard 3e dwarf, take the Hill Dwarf stats and make the following changes:
::Charisma penalty increases to -4
::Darkvision increases to 120 feet
::+2 racial bonus on saves vs. spells and spell-like abilities
::Spell-Like Abilities: Enlarge Person and Invisibility, self only, both 1/day and as a Wizard of twice the duergar's class level.
::Light Sensitivty
:+4 racial bonus on Move Silently
::+1 racial bonus on Listen and Spot
::Dwarf Weapon Proficiency does not apply to dwarven waraxe or dwarven urgrosh
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

A psionic duergar has the following statblock:
::+2 Constitution, -4 Charisma
::Medium
::Base speed 20 feet, but unaffected by medium/heavy armor or medium/heavy loads
::Darkvision 120 feet
::Immune to Paralysis, Phantasms and Poison
::+2 racial bonus on saves vs. spells and spell-like effects
::Stability: As per [[dwarf]]
::Stonecunning: As per [[dwarf]]
::Psi-Like Abilities: Expansion and Invisibility, both self only, both 1/day with Manifester level equal to Hit Dice.
::Naturally Psionc: +3 psionic power points at 1st level.
::+1 racial bonus on attack rolls against [[orc]]s and [[goblinoid]]s.
::+4 dodge bonus to AC against [[Giant]] type creatrues.
::Light Sensitivity
::+4 rcial bonus on Move Silently checks.
::+1 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
::+2 racial bonus on Appraise & Craft checks related to stone and metal.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +1

===4th Edition===
Appearing only as an MM2 back-page entry, duergar are distinctly underpowered by 4e standards.
::+2 Constituion, +2 Wisdom
::Medium
::Speed 6 squares
::Darkvision
::+2 Dungeoneering
::Racial Power - Infernal Quills: Once per encounter, as a minor action, target a single creature within 3 squares and make a Constitution check vs. their AC with a +2/4/6 bonus depending on tier. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 damage per tier, plus Constitution modifier extra damage, as well as suffering both a -2 penalty to attack rolls and ongoing 2/5/8 (depending on tier) Poison damage (save ends both effects).

===5th Edition===
For the "core" dwarf racial traits you add the below traits to, see the [[Dwarf]] page.
::+1 Strength
::Superior Darkvision: You have Darkvision 120 feet
::Sunlight Sensitivity: You suffer Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks based on sight if you or the thing you are looking at is in direct sunlight, and you cannot use your DUergar Magic powers if you are in direct sunlight.
::Extra Language: Undercommon
::Duergar Resilience: You have Advantage on saving throws against Illusions, Charm and Paralysis.
::Duergar Magic: At 3rd level, you can cast Enlarge on yourself once per long rest, and at 5th level you can cast Invisibility on yourself once per long rest.

{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}

==Monstergirls?==
{{Monstergirls}}

Unlike [[drow]], duergar haven't managed to make an impact in the [[monstergirls]] field; whereas drow have an overwhelming association with kinky nubile black-skinned [[elf]] maidens, duergar are A: heavily associated with the masculine, just like dwarves, and B: regarded as a bunch of joyless pricks even by dwarven standards. Theoretically, you could make something appealing out of duergar ([[Nazi]]/Russian Baroness style dwarf women, perhaps?) but you'd have virtually nothing to draw from the base material.

[[Image:Tauren.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Marauding.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Cameraclops.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Gustaph.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Valkyrian.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Crusade.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Rocket.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Commando.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Battleguard.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Gilford.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Utopia.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Heroic.jpg |400px]]
[[Image:Arthur.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Samurai.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Gandiva.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Kusanagi.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Reinforcement.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Raigeki.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Riryoku.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Return.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Armor.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Unity.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Solidarity.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Vortex.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Mirror.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Cylinder.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Devour.jpg|400px]]
[[Image:Sakuretsu.jpg|400px]]

Drow

2018-07-19T18:52:54Z

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[[File:45308.jpg|400px|thumb|right|I think Drow is a pretty cool guy, eh evil and doesn't afraid of anything]]

'''Drow''' are black-skinned and white-haired subterranean [[elves]] who are allergic to sunlight. The strange thing is they live underground, but have black skin due to their curse by [[Corellon]] when [[Lolth]] turned them away from the other elven gods. They produce adamantine equipment (which falls apart in sunlight, yet is bad-ass underground), take slaves, are ruled by a matriarchy that likes S&M, have magic resistance and hate normal elves. In short, they'd be fucking cool, were it not for the fact that 90% of all player character Drow will be Chaotic Good and be Rebelling Against The Evils Of Their Race, thanks to the raging hard-on underages have on [[Drizzt]]. As a result, even though dark elf pr0n is 1; common, 2; totally acceptable given their interests, and 3; totally relevant when somebody asks for dark elf pictures (see 2) people still get whiny on /tg/ at anything moderately crude. Sure, we're trying to hold back the tide of cancer, but where dark elves are concerned, it's totally good.

[[Eberron]]'s Drow are somewhat different, in that they have gender equality (more or less), hang out in jungles with the Yuan-Ti, and worship Vulkoor, a dickish scorpion god who looks like a cool guy to hang out with compared to [[Lolth]]. Their mamas also actually love them rather than whip them everyday then sacrifice them later. They're still a bunch of racist dicks, though. Still, Eberron Drows are the more tolerable Drows, have a nice childhood, and at least they can be reasoned with easier. This means you can play as a Drow there without issues you'll have in any another setting.

[[Drider]]s are what happens when drow take their obsession with spiders a bit too far. The specifics vary.

==Character templates==
===AD&D and 2nd Edition===
During this era, Drow were recommended as being restricted to the role of monsters, due to their in-game lore; both [[Drizzt Do'Urden]] and [[Viconia de'Vir]] stand out as "playable" drow, with backstories to explain why they're on the surface instead of down in the Underdark. That said, The Complete Book of Elves splatbook did give rules for playable Drow and holy ''fuck'' were they powerful... IF you were playing in the Underdark.

+2 Dex, +1 Int, -1 Constitution, -2 Charisma for initial ability score modifiers, and with racial maximums of 18, 20, 17, 19, 18 and 16 for Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma respectively. They have a bunch of spell-like abilities, all usable once per day; Dancing Lights, Faerie Fire, and Darkness by default, with Levitate, Know Alignment and Detect Magic gained at level 4. Drow [[Cleric]]s get even more, in the form of Clairvoyance, Detect Lie, Suggestion and Dispel Magic. Also, they ''start'' with Magic Resistance 50% and increase it by +2% per level, to a max of 80%, and get a +2 bonus on all saves involving magic.

So, what's the drawback? Aside from the sensitivity to light (-2 penalty to Dexterity and Attack Rolls, enemies are +2 bonus to saves vs. drow spells), they also lose their powers if they spend more than two weeks outside of the Underdark, losing 10% Magic Resistance and one spell-like ability each day. If they go back to the Underdark, they get their powers back if they spend 1 day for each week they spent on the surface. Also, they get a -4 penalty to Reaction rolls against other elves, and increase their experience costs by +20%.

===3rd edition===
3E had rules in the core set for monsters as races. For Elf (Drow) the effective Character level (ECL) was 3, so a 1st level Drow elf is equivalent to a 3rd level regular elf character. The usual elf bonuses and flaws, plus: +2 Int, +2 Cha, Darkvision 120' instead of elf-normal lowlight vision, Spell resistance of 11+level, +2 to will saves for spells, can cast these spell-like abilities 1/day: dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire, weapon proficiencies are hand-crossbow rapier and shortsword instead of elf-normal, sudden bright sunlight will blind a drow for 1 round, and the drow will be dazzled until they leave the bright light. Boy drow have [[wizard]] as their favored class, girl drow have [[cleric]] (of [[Lolth]]) as favored class.

They had an article on their culture in [[Dragon Magazine]] #298 that really emphasized the darker side of drow culture. Want a sample? According to this lore, drow don't die out because, despite their tendency to murder and torture each other, they're as fertile as [[orc]]s, with females normally conceiving twins and triplets. They normally only birth a single baby, though, because the strongest usually kills and absorbs the others in the womb; these prenatal struggles actually produce orgasms more intense than anything a drow female might feel elsewhere. This sensation, ''chad-zak'', is explicitly called out as the main reason why drow women are willing to get pregnant at all, considering the selfish power-hungry bitches they generally are.

[[Eberron]] has a drow sub-race called the Umbragen, who possess strange, mystical powers connecting to the darkness. Mechanically, this is represented by replacing their spell saving throw bonus with a + 2 racial bonus to Hide & Move Silently checks, swapping their weapon proficiencies for longbow, shortbow, longsword & rapier, and making their [[Favored Class]] into [[warlock]], plus a racial-restricted set of variant abilities for [[soulknife]] and a bevy of racial feats. All of this appears in [[Dragon Magazine]] #330.

===4th edition===
The 4E Monster Manual had some explicit monsters-as-races in the back, and the Drow were one of them, although they got an identical repost in the 4e [[Forgotten Realms]] Player's Guide alongside the [[Genasi]] -- fittingly, since FR basically created the idea of Drow PCs.

For Drow, +2 Dex and +2 Cha or +2 Wis, Darkvision, +2 Intimidate, +2 Stealth, Fey Origin, Trance, and one racial encounter power (Llothtouched) that could be used as a minor action for one of two effects that last until the drow's next turn: a close-burst-1 darkness spell the drow can see through, or a faerie-fire spell that gives combat advantage against the target.

===5th edition===
Drow are '''finally''' mentioned in the Player's Handbook as an equal option for elf subtypes. The usual elf advantages, along with +1 Cha, 120' darkvision, automatic knowing some spells: the 'dancing lights' cantrip at 1st, the 'faerie fire' 1/day at 3rd level, and 'darkness' 1/day at 5th level. Automatic weapon proficiencies are hand-crossbows, rapiers and shortswords. They are also the ''only'' race to receive an explicit ''penalty'' in the core book: if the drow or the drow's target are in direct sunlight, the drow has disadvantage on attack rolls and perception rolls. Better hope you fight indoors a lot.

That said, they haven't remained the only penalized race in 5e. Both the [[duergar]] and the [[kobold]] also have the same Sunlight Sensitivity weakness, whilst kobolds and [[orc]]s are the only races in the game to have ability score penalties - something that caused an immediate outburst of [[skub]], since that mechanic had seemingly been dumped since 4th edition.

Xanathar's Guide gave them a boost with a new racial feat; Drow High Magic. Reflecting the "noble drow" spell-like abilities of AD&D, this feat grants a drow the ability to cast Detect Magic at will and both Levitate and Dispel Magic once per long rest without a spell slot.

==Pathfinder==
Pathfinder ditches the [[Lolth]] aspect and instead makes Drow aligned to assorted [[Demon Prince]]s instead. They got playable templates for the first time in their Bestiary entry, and updated versions thereof in the Advanced Races Guide. Pathfinder goes back to really, really freaking old Drow lore by stating that there's two kinds of Drow; normal Drow, and Noble Drow, who're even tougher and nastier, with a lot more magical powers. These were handled as separate races in the Bestiary, but ARG instead changed it to a Drow race with a bunch of racial feats to simulate Noble Drow abilities, which is arguably more balanced.

Fluff-wise, they're tied into the weird sf-bent of the [[Golarion]] setting, being the descendants of elves who refused to flee the planet in the face of a catastrophe, and turned to demon worship to survive. First-generation drow are actually the result of elves who've broken really bad physically and psychologically transforming into dark elves. Natural-born drow aren't actually innately evil, but their culture, which engages in the traditional practices of slavery, human sacrifice, etc., with the lovely addition of "[[Tzimisce| fleshcrafting]]," is so hideously corrupt that almost all of them end up bad anyway. They aren't matriarchal like classic drow either. Just assholes. Their [[drider]]s are... well, see that page.

[[Image:Adolf.jpg|550px]]
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[[Image:Armor.jpg|550px]]
[[Image:Unity.jpg|550px]]
[[Image:Solidarity.jpg|550px]]
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[[Image:Devour.jpg|550px]]
[[Image:Sakuretsu.jpg|550px]]

===Drow===
* Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Con
* Size: Medium
* Speed: 30 feet
* Darkvision 120 feet
* Drow Immunities: Drow are immune to Magic Sleep Effects and get a +2 racial bonus to saves vs. Enchantments.
* Keen Senses: +2 Racial Bonus on Perception checks.
* Spell Resistance: 6 + class level
* Spell-Like Abilities: Dancing Lights, Darkness and Faerie Fire, each 1/day.
* Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds a drow for 1 minute and leaves them dazzled on all subsequent rounds until they get out of the light.
* Poison Use: Drow don't risk poisoning themselves when they apply poison to weapons, etc.
* Weapon Familiarity: Free proficiency in Hand Crossbow, Rapier and Shortsword.

===Noble Drow===
* Ability Score Modifiers: +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Wis, +2 Cha, -2 Con
* Size: Medium
* Speed: 30 feet
* Darkvision 120 feet
* Drow Immunities: Drow are immune to Magic Sleep Effects and get a +2 racial bonus to saves vs. Enchantments.
* Keen Senses: +2 Racial Bonus on Perception checks.
* Spell Resistance: 11 + character level
* Spell-Like Abilities:
** Constant: Detect Magic
** At-Will: Dancing Lights, Deeper Darkness, Faerie Fire, Feather Fall, Levitate
** 1/Day: Divine Favor, Dispel Magic, Suggestion
* Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds a drow for 1 minute and leaves them dazzled on all subsequent rounds until they get out of the light.
* Poison Use: Drow don't risk poisoning themselves when they apply poison to weapons, etc.
* Weapon Familiarity: Free proficiency in Hand Crossbow, Rapier and Shortsword.

{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}

==See also==
* [[Unified Setting/Drow]] - Arctic merchant vikings who ride giant lobsters. But still with black skin and white hair.

* [[Drizzt| Drizzt Do'Urden]] - A... [[skub|polarizing character]], but still the most famous and iconic drow hero in ''D&D''.

* [[Viconia de'Vir]] - A [[cleric]] of Shar in the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' games, and a good example of a "PC-friendly" drow who ''isn't'' a chaotic good Drizzt clone. Also [[Bioware]]'s first "sexy, mildly-evil-but-mostly-misunderstood lady love interest" character, setting the template for all those that followed. Had an incredibly complex, tragic and deep story in the sequel involving brotherly love and sacrifice. May have inadvertantly spawned [[Drowtales|a horribly Mary Sue webcomic funded by clinical psychopaths with too much money to spare and an axe against humanity to grind.]]

*[[Sandwich Stoutaxe]]: 1d4chan's take on the heroic Drow, she was abandoned by her family and raised by a Dwarf. So named because said dwarf found her in a basket that he thought was full of sandwichs.

* [[Drowtales]]: When an admittedly skilled bunch of [[drawfag|artists]] with the mental maturity of a blighted potato makes a webcomic series financed by sponsor avatar insertion, porn requests, and the worst, ''plot dictation'' and slather copious amounts of [[Skub]] onto it.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:drow_blackface.jpg|not racist; or at least not THAT kind of racist
File:Drows_in_SPEEES.jpg|in the skin darkness of the future, there is only Mary Sues. A.k.A [[Drowtales]]: How to be a mangaka-faggot with cognitive dissonance.
File:Drizzt by Todd Lockwood.jpg|did I mention the [[Drizzt|Mary Sues]] yet?
File:Yafgc drow matriarchy advantages.png|drow men have [[Rule 34|a place]] in their matriarchy
File:Drow scouts by jonhodgson.jpg|[[Meme|Welcome to the jungle]], where you can play a Drow however you want
File:Xendrik Drow.jpg|Xen'drik's drows like to tattoo themselves with scorpion venom.
</gallery>

==Monstergirls==
{{Monstergirls}}
[[Image:MGE Dark Elf.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Dark Elf maiden is an alluring creature, if in a different way to her light-skinned cousin.]]

Given that female elves are practically canon [[monstergirls]] in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] to begin with (where do you think [[Half-Elves]] come from?), and that the drow are both female led ''and'' have a long tradition of cheesecake/pin-up tier femdom-heavy artwork for their females - there's a reason drow are often mocked on nu-/tg/ as a culture made up of cheesy BDSM pin-up art - it should be no surprise that drow feature in works of erotica just as frequently as their surface cousins. Indeed, the talk of D&D sessions everywhere must have had since the late 90's, inevitably, sexualized Drow raids owing to Greenwood's [[Magical Realm]]. Often called "Dark Elves", their skin tone ranges from the actual drow onyx/blue/purple to more dusky brown colors, which leads to the nickname "chocolate elves" being used for erotic female drow characters.

Given the heavy BDSM themes in actual drow society, it should be no surprise that drow monstergirls are usually portrayed as dominatrixes in the same way. Asian hentai artists, however, like to subvert the idea by portraying them as submissives instead of dominatrixes; chocolate elf slaves and maids are as old as [[Elf slave, wat do?]] threads. Might have something to do with dark skin being inferior in Asian cultures.

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Dark Elves have willingly embraced [[succubus]]ization, unlike their Light Elf kindred. This has turned them into a perverse culture of dominatrixes, who take human men as their sexual slaves. They were some of the setting's earliest [[skub]] when it was confirmed that they actually do practice incest, with young dark elves being taught the arts of sexual dominance, bondage and sado-masochism by using their fathers as their subs - that was quickly blown out of the water by other controversial aspects of the setting, like the revelation that ''most'' monstergirl daughters will generally lose their virginities to their fathers and then decide whether they do or don't want to go and find their own boyfriend later.

Magic: The Gathering

2018-07-19T18:34:49Z

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{{editwar}}

[[Image:INT_MTG_Logo_LR.png|center]]
[[Image:Richard Garfield.jpg|thumb|Richard Garfield, the Patron Saint of Magic: The Gathering. He's 2/2, so he's as strong as pack of [[Bear_cavalry|Grizzly Bears]] and could [[Awesome|fistfight them to death.]]]]
{{topquote|[[/tg/]] is [[fail|bad at]] Magic.|/tg/}}

'''Magic: The Gathering''' (or just "'''Magic'''") is a collectible card game created by [[Richard Garfield]], and introduced to [[neckbeards]] everywhere in 1993. Despite the amount of [[Rage|RAGE]] the game has created over the years, it's still going strong. The game is currently in its 25th year of production with a large competitive following, consisting mostly of 40-year-old basement dwellers. Magic is notable for being the first [[Card Games|CCG]] of all time, granddady of all [[Card Games]], and its influence can be seen in almost every CCG since. It also has fucktons of fluff that is surprisingly fucking intricate and deep. [[Furry|Ink-Eyes]] comes from here, and is only depicted in one card.

==Pre-Mending Story==

−
[[First Magic Sets|Originally,]] the game really had no story, except that the two players represented wizards who were beating the shit out of each other for control of a ''plane'', which is fantasy-speak for an entire universe within a multiverse called Dominia, where you would sometimes find a world full of angels or [[Arabian Nights|a copypasta of what white people think the Middle East was like once upon a time.]] Within a few months of the game's release, the "Antiquites" expansion set was released, depicting the story of a war between two brothers, Urza and Mishra, and introducing Phyrexia as <s>bootleg Apokolips</s> a cosmic antagonist manipulating things from the shadows. This kicked off an extremely long and convoluted plotline that was supposed to officially end with the "Apocalypse" expansion pack, but which WotC keeps dredging up and continuing because they haven't had a good, original idea since the Rath cycle. There have been a few side-plots along the way, but nobody really ever gave a shit about them because they sucked. The game was also broken as fuck as even back then R&D had no idea what the fuck they were doing; most decks consisted of a combination of [[Power Nine|Black Lotus]], Channel and Fireball for plenty of turn 1 kills, cards were wordy as fuck and the art was between trippy and butt ugly.

===The Urza/Weatherlight/Rath/Phyrexia Saga===

The beginning of this story is depicted in the prequel novel "The Thran". In this novel, a bunch of people (the eponymous Thran) are becoming sick and they have no idea why. Yawgmoth, a healer, eventually figures out that it's because they're wearing radioactive jewelry. He develops a crush on a girl, but she friendzones him, so he decides to surgically implant tons of radioactive jewelry into her boyfriend. The story ends with the Thran getting sick of his shit and banishing him to an empty plane, Phyrexia, where he sets up shop and starts using his knowledge of radioactive jewelry to start building an army of greasy steampunk zombies.

Fast-forward a few thousand years, to the events of the novel "The Brothers' War". Two young brothers, Urza and Mishra, go exploring in the Caves of Koilos and find a couple of magic rocks, the Mightstone and the Meekstone. Urza keeps the Mightstone and Mishra gets the Meekstone. Because the mightstone is bigger and better, Mishra spends most of his life suffering from Magic Stone Envy. Fast-forward maybe another 20 years. In a clever ripoff of "The Princess and the Pea", a king decides that he will only allow his daughter to marry a man who can lift a huge-ass piece of rock that no one can actually lift. Urza shows up and builds a humongous mecha that easily moves the rock. The king decides that this is good enough and lets them marry. However, the marriage is a disaster because it turns out that building humongous mecha and maintaining romantic relationships are two extremely different skill sets. Blah blah blah, war breaks out between the two brothers, entire continents are pillaged and despoiled as a result of the war, and Urza eventually wins by nuking half of the goddamn planet with a plot device called a Golgothian Sylex. The Sylex Blast turned Urza into a Planeswalker, guaranteeing that he'd continue to fuck up the entire multiverse with his drama for eons to come.

The ensuing nuclear winter was depicted in the expansion packs "The Dark", "Fallen Empires", "Ice Age", and "Alliances". Nobody really knows or cares about this part of the story, because they aren't about the Almighty Urza Christ, Peace Be Unto Him. Urza's adventures during this time are depicted in the novel "Planeswalker", where he decides to wage a one-man war against the Phyrexians, who he blames for turning Mishra into a robot. He starts by launching a LITERAL one-man attack against Phyrexia, where he gets ROFLPWN3D but manages to pick up a sexy female Phyrexian sidekick named Xantcha. Realizing that the successful destruction of Phyrexia would require him to be less of a dick and learn how to make allies, the two of them go to places like Shiv, Tolaria, and Serra's realm, which never ends well for the inhabitants of those places because the Phyrexians are constantly following him and fucking up everything everywhere he goes. He eventually decides that the key to victory will be to make a bunch of extremely powerful plot devices, which he calls the "Legacy", whose actual functions and purposes would be decided by whichever unfortunate authors got stuck with writing the end of this story. Some components of the Legacy included the flying ship ''Weatherlight'' and the silver golem ''Karn''. He also bred an army of super-soldiers that he called the Metathran. These events are depicted in the novels "Time Streams" and "Bloodlines"

Eventually, the Weatherlight came to be crewed by a bunch of people who basically had no clue who Urza or the Phyrexians were, or what the Legacy was, or really anything that was mentioned in the above paragraph, because all of that shit was made up retroactively. In the anthology book "Rath and Storm", Sisay, the hot black chick who somehow became the Weatherlight's captain despite knowing nothing about it, has been kidnapped, and the rest of the crew, led by Gerrard Capashen, must hop from continent to continent, looking for clues to her whereabouts and picking up random hitch-hikers as they go, often for little or no reason. They track her down to the plane of ''Rath'', where everything from the merfolk to the weather is [[Darker and Edgier]]. Some shit happens, they succeed in rescuing Sisay, and they also "rescue" someone who they THINK is Takara, daughter of Starke, a double-dealing backstabber that they allowed to come aboard because good is dumb. During their escape, however, they end up leaving two crew members behind: Crovax and Ertai.

The next three books and expansion packs, collectively called the "Masquerade Cycle", all take place during the same time frame but in different locations. "Mercadian Masques" follows the crew of the Weatherlight, who find themselves in an unknown plane called Mercadia, and who must figure out how to get back to their home plane, Dominaria (not to be confused with Dominia). This is also where "Takara" is, in fact, revealed to be Volrath, the Evincar of Rath, who manages to do absolutely nothing of importance in Mercadia and must find a way back to Rath. "Nemesis" follows the adventures of Crovax and Ertai after they are left behind. To make a long story short, they both turn to the dark side, and Crovax is appointed the new Evincar of Rath by Ertai's hot new Phyrexian girlfriend, Belbe, who dies immediately afterward. Volrath is also executed upon his return. "Prophecy", the third book and expansion pack in the cycle, was about overpriced cards that totally fucking sucked and a story that no one gave a shit about because it had nothing to do with anything else that was happening at the time, and can be safely ignored.

The Invasion cycle - Invasion, Planeshift, and Apocalypse - depicted the long-awaited Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria. Urza, the Weatherlight crew, the Elder Dragon Legends, [[over 9000]] different kinds of Kavu, and everyone else came together to fight back against the endless army of greasy steampunk zombies. This resulted in the deaths of most major characters, the destruction of Phyrexia, and the transformation of Karn into a Planeswalker.

===Post-Weatherlight Blocks===

After that came the Odyssey and Onslaught cycles, which took place on Dominaria 200 years after the Phyrexian invasion. These stories sucked ass and depicted no events of major importance, except for the Mirari, which was Karn's <s>bootleg One Ring</s> space probe that became retroactively important in a weak attempt at continuity, and the resurrection of the Slivers, a creature type from the Rath cycle that had proven insanely popular.

Then came a strange phase in MtG history, where WotC would alternate between unsuccessful attempts to dredge up the past and unsuccessful attempts to create new planes and stories that were worth giving a fuck about. [[Kamigawa]] block deserves a special shout-out here, as it didn't sell worth shit because it was a low-power block sandwiched between two blocks of solid [[cheese]], but R&D conned their bosses into thinking it didn't sell because it was too story-heavy. This was so they could spend more time getting high in a Pike Place shitter instead of doing their jobs.

Dominaria was revisited in "Time Spiral" when WotC, realizing that something was amiss, but too high on acid and heroin to figure out what it was, decided that the only way they could get people to care about the story again was to bring back the old Weatherlight crew, which in turn required time travel, which in turn fucked everything up beyond human comprehension. The "Time Spiral" cycle also gave WotC an excuse to bring back Slivers AGAIN. Then came "Scars of Mirrodin", which took a formerly original plane and storyline and shoehorned the Dominaria/Phyrexia storyline into it. This was about the point where the "Mending" happened, in which Wizards acknowledged that Time Spiral didn't actually make people start caring about the story again, but as they were still too high on acid and heroin to figure out why they decided that what Magic really needed was to replace all the two-dimensional planeswalker characters with one-dimensional capeshit characters with no fandom investment so Wizards' buddies in the singles market could sell them in card form for obscene amounts of money. Speaking of...

==Post-Mending Story==

You are a [[Planeswalker]], a [[wizard]] with near-limitless potential. One out of one million intelligent lifeforms carry the potential of becoming a Planeswalker, called the Spark. The vast majority of those live out their lives without even knowing of their potential. But a very small number of those, again one out of a million becomes far more. After a traumatizing experience or a moment of supreme clarity the Spark ignites, giving the being power beyond nearly anything in the Multiverse.

A Planeswalker has several abilities. First it can travel between the Planes of the Multiverse through the [[Blind Eternities]], the space between Planes in which they drift. Second they have great skill with channeling and using mana to cast spells and summon creatures. The Planeswalkers of old could do even more: they were gestalt forms of will, and could shapechange into anything they want. This also rendered them near indestructible, with their forms being easily replaceable. They were also nigh-immortal, the only thing posing a serious threat to a Planeswalker was another Planeswalker.

The old Planeswalkers were akin to gods, and continued to be so until roughly 4,000 years after the ascension of [[Urza]]. [[Dominaria]], the Nexus of the Multiverse had become something of a shithole because of various aforementioned plotlines having royally screwed up the plane and rifts in time began to appear. After the sacrifices of many Planeswalkers these rifts were sealed in [[The Mending|the Mending]], an event that changed Planeswalkers for good. No longer gods amongst mortals, they were reduced to the power of mortal casters. They also lost their shapechanging and immortality, something that vexed many surviving Planeswalkers. Some like [[Nicol Bolas]] fought with tooth and nail to reobtain their powers, some like [[Liliana Vess]] made pacts with powerful creatures to be more powerful, and some like [[Sorin Markov]] accepted their loss. Then again Sorin's a vampire and so is naturally damn near immortal anyway, so his loss was rather less significant than others.

This era has six blocks so far:

[[Lorwyn|Lorwyn/Shadowmoor]], a plane that turns from bright upbeat British fairy-tale with facist [[Elf|Elves]] to a grim and gloomy spirit world filled with all sorts of nasties.

The [[Alara]] block details the attempt of [[Nicol Bolas]] to slam five parts of a fractured plane together and feast on the released energy to make himself a god again: the slamming is a success but he fails when he is beaten by [[Ajani Goldmane]].

[[Zendikar]] is Australia on steroids and [[Call of Cthulhu]]; everything can and will try to kill you. On this world rested the [[Eldrazi]], a race of non-beings that can unmake anything with a touch. Freed by the machinations of, once again, Nicol Bolas. They are fighting [[Gideon Jura]] who beat one to death with his bare hands.

Scars of Mirrodin returns to, wait for it, Mirrodin, which is conquered and compleated by Phyrexia. Whoops. They currently have a spy amongst their ranks; [[Tezzeret]], who was sent there by, you guessed it, Nicol Bolas.

[[Innistrad]] is a world of East-European gothic horror where [[vampire]]s and [[werewolf|werewolves]] run business. It is one of the best sets ever with stuff like double-faced cards, monsters that get stronger when they die and awesome flavor. At the end of the block the Helvault, a prison for lots of demons, was destroyed. Releasing its contents. This was done by... no not Nicol Bolas. Not this time. It was [[Liliana Vess]], who wanted to kill a demon, Griselbrand, that was trapped inside to get out of a faustian bargain she made with him. Incidentally (as far as Liliana Vess is concerned), this world was going to shit because the angel Avacyn was trapped inside the Helvault too and she was released along side the demons.

Then there is a Return to Ravnica, where the Guilds have picked up business once again for the time being, eventually they run a world-wide maze to see who gets to take control of the city. Jace Beleran wins by becoming the guildpact (I'm as confused as you).

Finally there is Theros with the awesome flavor of Innistrad but with Greek mythology and awesome mechanics to represent it. Oh and Elspeth is there.

This era also set off a new wave of core sets: after every Block was new core set with a year in it, staring in Magic 2010 to Magic Origins (released July 2015) and adding a few new cards every series. This era also introduced Planeswalkers as cards: a new permanent type that functions as a crossover between a player, a legendary creature and an enchantment. The game currently takes place in that era, where Planeswalkers have begun to rise in large numbers with the Multiverse's infinite secrets and powers at their feet. Here you decide what you will be.

===The Two-Block Paradigm===

This system officially started in Battle for Zendikar. How to deal with the 3rd set in a block had long been a thorn in the side of Magic R&D. To fix this they decided to simply stop making 3 set blocks. Core sets would no longer be released and a Block would consist of 2 sets. Usually the first set would be large and the second set small. There would be 2 blocks per year (Although considering Battle for Zendikar was released in October, not a 'January to December' year). Of course, draft structure will be different as well.

Also there is a big shift in story telling. The creative team actually knows what is going to happen quite a bit in advance (compared to before this shift) which, should provide us benefits like better foreshadowing and less [[Retcon|retcons.]] Each set contains five official (although in practice, probably more unofficial) cards that show events in the story deemed important. The official ones are called "spotlight cards" and can be identified by the planeswalker symbol watermark. The story will be across multiple platforms such as cards in the set, Uncharted Realms, Duels of the Planeswalkers, ect... Each block is still on a different plane than the blocks surrounding it, which of course means the creative team is building an average of 2 worlds per year (arguably less so in the cases when returning to a mtg world we've been to before). (Consider that the people who made [[Avatar]] spent five years building that one setting. This can't [[Not as planned|possibly end badly]].)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTpv4ZGZ8K8][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEWQ019LvYw][http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mm/metamorphosis].

There have been some growing pains and because WotC works so far in advance, it takes a while before we get the benefits of the lessons learned applying to Magic players (unless the lesson is to ban cards, in which case, if WotC is correct, Magic players as a whole are getting the better of 2 bad options). So don't be surprised if Standard for the next few sets will suck [http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/latest-developments/standard-2017-01-13] (as defined by it being bad, or it being okay, but only because WotC banned some cards, hurting players that bought a playset of those cards).

As if to make it hurt more, lately there has been tons of mistakes being made including but not limited to:

* Not testing whether a set with Dual Lands and lands that can search for them will lead to four color decks (breaking the point of having you chose between so many colors)

* Shorting (then increasing) the time a set rotates out, which has Battle for Zendikar be still in rotation for much more then it should have been in, while having the set after be taken out for a much shorter time.

* Having to ban four card in short succession, not because of how generally overpowered they were like the bans of old, but instead because they never printed any good answers to them.

* Missing an infinite combo, which dominated standard until it was banned.

Most of the story thus-far involves [[The Gatewatch]], a group a Planeswalkers who have taken [http://magiccards.info/query?q=oath+of+t%3A%22legendary+enchantment%22&v=scan&s=cname oaths] to keep the multiverse safe from existential threats. Nobody likes them and they got pimp slapped by Nicol Bolas.

===The Three and One Model===

Whoops, turns out removing the primary source of deck staples and support cards was a bad idea after all. The block concept is out the door under this model, with a core set in the summer and three large sets in the fall, winter, and spring that will each be drafted separately. The first large set under the new model dropped in the spring of 2018 and [[Awesome|returned to Dominaria,]] while the first new core set was released in the summer of 2018. The "new plane every block" policy is also gone, as is the idea of having a "Masterpiece Series" (aka literal cardboard lottery) with every block; Wizards is going to be making the game's stay on each plane exactly as long as they feel like, and only releasing lottery rares when they "have something amazing." So probably still every other set to prop up box sales.

Read the announcement here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/metamorphosis-2-0-2017-06-12

==Rules==

Each player starts with a life total of 20, it is the goal of the game to reduce your opponent's life to 0 or less. Occasionally a player's goal will involve winning through some other win condition (i.e. making the opponent draw when no cards remain in their library, give the opponent 10 or more poison counters, [http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Alternate-win_card card specific win conditions], or dealing commander damage). Each player takes a turn until only one player is left in the game.

===Game expressions===

*'''[[Mana]]''' - Mana is the magical resource of the game, it is what you commonly use to play cards. Mana you have drawn from a source is kept in your '''mana pool''', waiting for you to spend it. However, at the end of each phase and each step in a turn, your mana pool is emptied, so there's no saving up by constantly draining your lands. There used to be a rule called Mana Burn, in which if you didn't use all the mana you had in your mana pool you would take damage, loosing 1 life for each unspent mana. It did a few good things, like give [[Legends#Mana_Drain|Mana Drain]] a draw back, but ultimately R&D decided Magic was better off without it.

*'''Spell''' - Spells are any card that is currently on the stack.

*'''The Stack''' - This, children, is where [https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/feature/362#splitsecond almost] all the real bullshit occurs. The stack is where almost any effect other than those that produce mana go to wait to '''resolve'''. whenever an effect (such as playing a card, activating an ability of an artifact or creature, etc.) goes on the stack, all the players in the game receive '''priority''' in turn order to respond. When a player has priority, no other player can act. When something is on the stack, only effects that are played at instant speed may be added to the stack, such as other abilities or instants themselves. You never have to put anything on the stack when you have priority, it just gives you the ability to respond to another players move if you choose. Effects on the stack resolve from the one to be put on last resolving first, this means that whenever you respond to your opponents move with, your response will always take effect before his move. <br> For example if your opponent casts a spell to destroy one of your creatures in play, and you have the appropriate amount of mana to play a counter spell, you can tap your lands and add your counter spell to the stack, targeting your opponents destruction spell. When the stack resolves, your counter spell will be the last effect on the stack, and as such will resolve first, countering your opponents spell and saving your creature. Note that your opponent also receives priority again when you play the counter spell, meaning that it'll be possible for him to add a new spell to kill your creature after you have played the counter spell, meaning he'll kill your creature anyway. But then again, you'll receive priority again as well, and so on and so on.

*'''Tap''' - Tapping is the act of turning a card 90 degrees, this is done to indicate that the card has been exhausted. You tap a land when you draw mana from it, you tap a creature to attack with it, and many abilities of creatures or artifacts require that you tap the card as well. Wizards of the Coast owns a patent on this mechanic, and they used it to run most other CCGs out of business. That is why ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' used to cause players to lose honor every time they accidentally said "tap" instead of "bow."

*'''Ability''' - Abilities are found in a permanent's text field. Abilities can be either activated or triggered abilities. An activated ability is noted for having a cost followed by a colon followed by the effect of the ability. For example, "''Tap<nowiki> : </nowiki>Draw a card, then discard a card .''" Triggered abilities however, will be added to the stack whenever a certain condition is met, for example "''Whenever you gain 1 life, draw a card''". A triggered ability can be triggered as many times as the condition for it is met, and an activated ability can be activated as many times as you can possibly pay the cost.

*'''Hand''' - No, not that hand, stupid. Your hand of cards. You can normally only have 7 cards in your hand when your turn ends (any more than that are usually discarded), and your hand of cards is kept so your opponent can't see it. You start the game with a hand of 7 cards, and you draw 1 card each turn, there are cards that let you draw more cards however.

*'''Library''' - You library is your deck of cards, it must contain no less than 60 cards, and it is often ideal to not include more than 60 cards either. It also may not contain more than four copies of the same card. If you are asked to draw a card and you cannot because there are no more cards left in your library, you lose the game (or win, if you have Laboratory Maniac out), just as if you had hit 0 life.

*'''Graveyard''' - This is where used sorceries, instants and destroyed cards go. Some cards are able to return cards from here, but normally they just stay dead. This is a place of magic and wonder for any deck that runs revive. Until someone plays Samurai of the Pale Curtain...

===Structure of a turn===

The first step in a turn is the '''untap step''', here all the cards in play that are tapped are untapped. The next step is your '''upkeep''', nothing happens here by default, it is only in place for some cards to trigger different effects at the start of your turn.

After your upkeep is your '''draw step''', here you simply draw a card from the top of your library.

Next is your first main phase, here you can play any spells that are played at sorcery speed, this is things such as artifacts, creatures, enchantments, planeswalkers, land (lands are weird, playing them doesn't use the stack and as such can't be responded to, so one could make the case that in some ways they are faster than instants, also lands can NEVER be "PLAYED" when it is not your turn where as other things considered sorcery speed can be instant speed through things like Flash). and sorceries themselves.

After your first main phase is your combat phase, this is broken up into several subphases itself. The first thing to happen is that you declare any creatures you want to '''attack''' to attack by tapping them, you opponent is then given the choice of '''blocking''' your creatures. Only an untapped creature can block, and a creature can only participate in one block each combat. However, several creatures can be picked to block the same creature at once, meaning that it is possible to 'gang up' on attackers in order to kill them. When creatures are in combat with each other they will deal each other damage at the same time, meaning that two 1/1's will kill each other at the same time. In the case of multiple creatures blocking one creature, the attacker assigns the damage that his creature would deal out to the blocking creatures as he wishes, for example a 2/2 blocked by two 1/1's could deal 1 damage to both creatures and kill them both.

Any unblocked creatures will deal their damage to the opponent.

Once all damage has been assigned, the '''clean up''' step follows, where all creatures that have taken lethal damage will be sent to their owner's graveyards.

After combat you have your second main phase, where you can do exactly the same as in the first.

After the second main phase, you have the end of turn step, pretty much the same deal as with the upkeep, nothing really happens here unless a card says so. Lastly, after your end of turn step, you discard down to the maximum hand size if you have exceeded it, so if you for example have 9 cards in hand, you will have to discard 2 of them to meet the required of 7.

===Types of cards===

The game of Magic contains several different '''supertypes''' of cards:

*'''Lands''' - Lands are the player's most basic resource, and they are tapped to allow the player to play their other cards that have a '''mana cost'''. You can normally play only one land from your hand per turn.

[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=109713 Example of a Land card.]

*'''Creatures''' - Creatures are the players soldiers and guardians, they primarily participate in combat, although as with all things in Magic, there are many exceptions this. Creatures have many '''subtypes''', these are commonly referred to as '''creature types''', most creatures have a race and a profession creature type, for example "''Creature - Human Warrior''". Creatures have a toughness and a power score, portrayed as P/T on the bottom right corner of the card. Power determines the amount of damage the creature can cause in combat, whereas toughness is how much damage it can take before it is destroyed. Damage assigned to a creature is cleared at the end of each turn, meaning that if a creature isn't killed by the amount of damage it has sustained, it'll return to its full toughness at the end of the turn. This means that the same creature will often participate in several combat steps before it is finally killed. Damage assigned to players however, is never healed by any other means than other cards that give the player an amount of life upon being played.

[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=129586 Example of a Creature card.]

*'''Enchantments''' - These are raw magic that you create, they can do all different kinds of things, and generally have a constant effect on the game, until they are destroyed by your opponent. There are global and local variants of enchantments, the local being a subtype called '''auras''', these are attached to other cards in play to enhance them or weaken them. A lot of competitive players dislike auras since they are destroyed if their 'host' is destroyed, meaning that it is easier for your opponent to make a lot of you cards obsolete by destroying one card.

[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=129572 Example of an Enchantment card.]

*'''Sorceries''' - Sorceries are spells that you can only cast on your own turn, and when nothing is on the stack, they'll have some kind of immediate effect on the game, but they are not persistent like enchantments. This means that it is common for sorceries to simply just destroy something else in play or to give a temporary boost to a creature or something like that. The more massive destructive effects in the game are commonly found in sorceries, such as globally destroying all lands or creatures in play.

[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=129808 Example of a Sorcery card.]

*'''Instants''' - Just like sorceries, however an instant can also be played in an opponent's turn, they'll often do the same as sorceries, but stuff like counter magic, that is a spell that prevents your opponent's spell from resolving, are only instants.

[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=19570 Example of an Instant card.]

*'''Artifacts''' - All kinds of magic items, like a staff or some other kind of stuff. Normally this is equipment for the player himself, but some artifacts can be equipped by the player's creatures, making them work like auras, only they do not need a 'host' to be in play, and as such are a lot more persistent than auras. Some artifacts are also creatures, this is stuff like golems or other kinds of magical constructs. Artifact are generally colorless, with some exceptions, so almost all of them are suitable for any deck.

−
[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=129704 Example of an Artifact card.]

*'''Basic''' - A supertype currently found only on land cards. A deck can contain any number of the same basic card.

[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=129560 Example of a Basic card.]

*'''Legendary''' - Much like Basic, Legendary only appears together with another supertype. If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners' graveyards. Legendary cards are often stuff like characters from the plot line of Magic, or somehow else very special things like specific places in the case of legendary lands.

[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=26793 Example of a Legendary card.]

*'''Tribal''' - A newcomer among the supertypes, a Tribal card lets a noncreature card have creature types. For example, a card that would allow you to destroy a goblin card would work on any goblin creature, as well as a Tribal Enchantment - Goblin. Sadly the "Tribal" card type is unlikely to be printed on new cards.

[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=146167 Example of a Tribal card.]

*'''[[Planeswalker]]''' - Another newcomer, a Planeswalker is similar to an enchantment. Planeswalkers come into play with a certain amount of loyalty counters on them. Once per turn a planeswalker can use one of its activated abilities during his main phase whenever he may play a sorcery, either adding or subtracting the indicated amount of counters. A planeswalker can be targeted for either spells or abilities that deal damage, and can be targeted in an attack phase like a player. For each damage a planeswalker takes, instead remove that many loyalty counters. If a planeswalker has no loyalty counters left on it, it is destroyed. Similarly to the Legendary supertype, "if a player controls two or more planeswalkers that share a planeswalker type, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners' graveyards". Planeswalkers can do some really awesome shit, such as create 5 4/4 dragons or force your opponent to mill 20 cards from their library. Keeping one alive can be a royal pain in the ass.
[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=140222 Example of a Planeswalker card.]

==Rules==

There have been four versions of the rules (limited/Unlimited, Revised, 4th Edition, and 5th edition). After that, there was an endless series of unholy abominations that many people pretend are the rules, but which no ''real'' fans actually play by. For more information, go on /tg/ and ask about banding, bury, text on basic lands, interrupts, or mana burn. Do not ask about the tapped-artifact rule. That one was actually dumb and getting rid of it was one of the few things that 6th Edition got right.

===Colors of Magic===
[[Image:Magic Card Back.jpg|thumb|The back of a Magic card. It features the trademarked pentagram of the colors. The pentagram is set up in such a way that colors that have parts of their philosophies in common are adjacent to each other, whereas colors that oppose each other are positioned opposite of each other.]]

As well as having different types of cards, the game of Magic has five different colors to choose from when building a deck. It is important to have the appropriate type of land for the color of magic that you are playing with, since no basic land except a mountain can produce red mana, which is needed to play red spells. Certain effects are associated with certain colors, and only rarely if ever appear in the others - this is to ensure that the colors feel different to play, and that there is a point of having different colors in the first place. For a more thorough examination of the colors of ''Magic'' and their relationships with each other see [[Color Pie]].

*'''White''' - This is the mostly [[Paladin|goody-two-shoes]] or zealously genocidal, censoring and totalitarian (be it communist, or possibly other types of extreme) of the color pie, white often prevents damage to creatures and restore life to players. As excels with instant, sorceries, and enchantments that get rid off opposing creatures, with one of their main schticks being that the remove creatures from the game rather than sending them to the graveyard. They also have a tendency to have powerful creature enchantments to buff their creatures or prevent their opponents creatures from attacking or blocking. It is most notable for having the most non-damage boardwipes in the game. Among it's older cards are cards that create life gain win conditions. It has a general philosophy of having a large amount of small creatures instead a few big ones. White embodies law, order, community, healing, and light. White is the color most like and yet completely different from Black, both being absolute for entirely different reasons.The symbol for white is a sun. The white lands are plains. White's characters are either heroic and otherwise benevolent individuals such as [[Ajani Goldmane]], [[Elspeth Tirel]] and Commodore Guff, or fanatical assholes like Konda and [[Elesh Norn]].

*'''Blue''' - Blue is the color of logic, thought, observation, prescience, and arcane magic. It is the best color at things like countermagic, drawing cards, and [[Just As Planned|using minor trickery to be a general pain in the butt]]. These things make blue the most effective color when used on its own, and the most hated by other players because blue played right will keep them from doing anything with their counter cards and will never run out of them, and blue players have a tendency to complain when WotC tries to do something to balance the counter spells. Thankfully, blue's creatures tend to the least effective at killing the opponent, in terms of strength and abilities, and blue also lacks the ability to deal with things if it can't counter them. Of course, Blue makes up for that by having the most cards that allow you take control of an opponent's creature (All the colors have some, having the most in the following order: Blue, Red, Black, Green, and White with exactly 1). Blue is generally the opposite of Red, similar to reason and emotion, and likewise have elements of each other. Thus, the two will generally make the most scientific and steampunk decks when put together. Blue concerns itself with such things as logic, water, science, knowledge, divination, time, and air. The blue symbol is a drop of water. The blue land is an island. Blue's most foremost Planeswalkers include [[Jace Beleren]], [[Tezzeret]] and [[Bo Levar]].

*'''Black''' - Black is the more diabolical of the colors, in brooding desire for any of the following, not necessarily exclusive of each other: independence in an oppressive world, inordinate wealth, immortality, godhood, control of others, vengeance, veneration of evil, world conquest, by any means. It is the color of self-interest, individuality, moral relativism, and devil's bargains. It often has the ability to emulate other colors to a lesser degree... for a cost. The more powerful black creatures sometimes turn on their player. It also contains lots of abilities that require sacrificing creatures, forcing the opponent to sacrifice creatures, killing opposing creatures, and the best discard abilities. As an intentional weakness, black lacks any significant artifact or enchantment kill. Black contains such things as sickness, destruction, necromancy, death, murder, blood rituals, assassination, crime, torture, darkness, and [[FATAL|corruption]]. A skull is the symbol for black. The black land is a swamp. Black is the color most like and yet completely different from White, both being absolute for entirely different reasons. Black has spawned many infamous Planeswalkers such as Leshrac, the Walker of the Night; Tevesh Szat, the Doom of Fools; [[Liliana Vess]] and [[Nicol Bolas]] (well he's actually multi-colored, but the center of his shard is black), the Eternal Serpent and Lord of the Blind Eternities. In addition, it has a few heroic characters such as [[Sorin Markov]] and Toshiro Umezawa, proving that it is not inherently evil.

*'''Red''' - Red is the color of passion, freedom, and [[rage]]. Red contains some of the more self-destructive cards of the colors, but the power of the effects usually make up for it. Many of red's spells focus on directly damaging the opponent, players call them "burn spells", and in fact it's completely viable to run a red deck with no creatures and just burn spells. Red is generally the opposite of Blue, similar to emotion and reason, and likewise have elements of each other. Thus, the two are generally make the most scientific decks and steampunk decks when put together. The domain of red is such things as speed, destruction, fire, angry mobs (green and white have a fair and smaller share of these), lightning, dragons, and recklessness. Red's symbol is a ball of fire. The red land is a mountain. Some of Red's most famous Planeswalkers are [[Jaya Ballard]], Lord Windgrace of Urborg and [[Chandra Nalaar]].

*'''Green''' - Green associates itself with [[Druid|nature and the cycle of life]], growth, exploration of the wilds, and brute strength. It usually has the most powerful and straight-forward creatures, which also have the best ratio of power and toughness for the mana cost. Green contains cards that can increase the strength of your creatures, cards that give you more mana more quickly and give you access to the other colors of mana, and cards that let you create and profit from large numbers of small creatures or small numbers of very large creatures. Green is the least common color run on its own because it needs to use small easy to kill creatures to [[get shit done]], but is commonly put in other decks as a side color. The green symbol is a tree. The green land is a forest. Green's famous Planeswalkers include [[Garruk Wildspeaker]], [[Nissa Revane]], Kristina of the Woods and [[Freyalise]].

*'''Colorless''' - Colourless (Grey) mana is composed of two things: non magic-artificial creations including some robots and laser cannons, and [[Eldrazi|Cthuhloids]]. Mana of any color can be used for colorless mana costs. This is useful to ease the stress of colored mana requirements in multicoloured decks, and making cards that can fit in decks of any color - Artifacts are usually colorless. Artificial creatures cannot become Planeswalkers (but this does not stop them from trying to become them, as Memnarch has demonstrated), but they can inherit or obtain the power somehow: [[Karn]] the silver [[golem]] is as far as known the only one to have done so. The only other colorless planeswalker is [[Ugin]], who's basically Magic Buddha because he's so enlightened that he's transcended the five colors.
**As of Battle for Zendikar, colorless has its own land type, which is Waste, and its own symbol, which is a grey four-pointed star. This specifically-colorless mana is used primarily for the [[Eldrazi]], which are the freaky babies of Cthulu and Galactus. The Eldrazi are so ancient that they precede the planes and color itself. Yeah, that's right, they're older than even the game and fluff itself can even comprehend.

It is possible to build decks that are a mix of more than one color - in fact there are many spells that require anything from two to five different colors of mana to play. It is however not advisable to have more than 3 colours in a single deck unless you know what you are doing, since it'll begin to become a problem to get access to all the different colours of mana you need during play. This means you'll be left with a hand full of cards you can't play, and a table full of lands you have no use for - not a good position to be in. The full extreme of this is to have all five colors in your deck, which is something referred to as [[WUBRG]] (after the letters for each color). Unless (and even when) you know exactly what you're doing and built a deck around the concept, WUBRG is very difficult to play.

==Players==
[[Image:AZNs Magic.jpg|thumb|AZNs playing Magic]]
The developers of Magic have put out their 3 archetypes of players:

*'''Timmy''' - The player who just wants to experience something cool, something you can tell stories about. Often it's through casting gigantic creatures and game-changing spells, not caring that they're frequently too expensive to be much good at winning the game. Social gamers or even griefers can also be considered a type of Timmy; after all, the story you're telling doesn't always have to be about the game itself.

*'''Johnny''' - A combo player, these are the guys who'll spend days looking through cards to find a [http://magiccards.info/6e/en/89.html bizarre] [http://magiccards.info/mr/en/318.html combo] of cards that makes them [http://magiccards.info/4e/en/16.html win the game] if they can pull it off. They often end up building decks that don't participate in the game itself, and are more oriented on getting their combo into play, turning the game into a sort of solitaire.

*'''Spike''' - The competitive player of the bunch. They'll build decks to win and only play to win, their fun is in winning, and sometimes turn the game into [[Powergamer|an obnoxious competition]], even outside of tournaments. Needless to say, they're highly disliked at social games when they even bother showing up outside of a competitive setting, even when they mean no harm. On the other hand, it also means that their decks are made to work effectively and will win more often than not. That isn't to say Spike will put up with ''everything'' just to win. For example, some Spikes might hate it when only a few strategies are viable, or conversely when too many are viable and it's impossible to prepare against them all.

The three archetypes mix and match, meaning that it is possible to be a Johnny-Timmy player, aiming to make some kind of combo that'll give you a million life and an army of 100/100 creatures or some other kind of stupid nonsense.

Recently, it has come to light that there are 2 more pseudo-archetypes, though these aren't really archetypes proper. The types here are on a separate axis than the aforementioned three. They are as follows:

*'''Vorthos''' - Vorthoses care about [[Fluff|flavour and the story part of the game]]. They'll build a deck that re-enacts the forces Urza rallied to fight the [[Elesh Norn|Phyrexians]]. Fluff is of key importance in the mind of a Vorthos. Stories, [[rule 34|art]], flavour text, and block novels are all things that a Vorthos focuses on. As a result, it can be considered to be a close relative of the Timmy, with the emphasis on "cool things" being replaced by a stronger focus on fluff-accuracy. As a result, their decks tend to vary wildly in their efficacy.

*'''Melvin''' - On the opposite side of this spectrum lies Melvin. Melvins love to deconstruct the rules, [[Crunch|find out why things tick.]] A Melvin will [[Munchkin|base a deck on shit like banding that average players don't pay attention to, or some sub-clause of an obscure part of the comprehensive rules]]. They differ from the typical munchkin in that they love reading the logs and development process of various cards and learning what led to a given rule being changed or the rationale behind said rule change, rather than simply exploiting said rules for its own sake. They're similar to Johnnys in their eccentric hacker spirit.

It should be noted that a Vorthos-Melvin is probably a philosopher. Spike-Johnnys are sometimes great gaming partners for Johnny-Timmys, since one is a competitive combo user, and the other is a combo user who is in it for fun, and one or both of will either have a lot of respect for the opponents' combo, or be quite irritated that it interrupted theirs. Johnny-Vorthos-Melvins will have the most difficult time putting together a deck they can play at all, let alone one that can be viable in a tournament setting, but those that do so find it highly rewarding when they make it work for them.

==Building a Deck==

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Alright so you've read this article, looked at a few cards, maybe even gotten yourself a few booster packs or a hand-me-down collection. What now?

The process of deckbuilding can, at first, seem like an extremely difficult one, and in many ways it is. You have possibly hundreds of variables to consider depending on what you're building for and thousands of cards to sort through to find the best ones for the job.

But before you overwhelm yourself, look at what you have in your stuff and find a card you like. It doesn't even have to be a powerful one, just something that catches your eye and gets the gears turning. For this example, we'll use something flashy yet robust, the card Fireball. A classic design and very easy to find, Fireball is a card that can generate truly explosive results and kill your opponent in one shot. Awesome! What now?

Well, let's think of what we want to do here. Let's say in this case we want to use Fireball as our win-condition. For this, we'll need obviously Red Mana to cast it, but also additional Mana to make it lethal. So now we're going to look for things that feed into that concept; making more Mana for a bigger Fireball. This is the process referred to as focusing the deck, and is essential to building a successful one. The more streamlined and tight your focus is, the more of a chance the deck will do what you want it to do. Trying to do too many things at once will leave you lacking in all of them, so it's usually better to have a strong theme to accomplish your Plan A.

So focusing, we need a way to make Mana for our Fireball. Land is of course the most basic way of generating Mana, so we should play more lands to make more Mana! Right? Well perhaps, but by filling up the deck with too much land, we're not going to be drawing any spells. Too little though, and we won't be able to cast the spells that we draw. Finding that balance is another key part of deckbuilding and takes a lot of time to get the right feel for it. In general though, your deck should contain 24 lands, adding in 1 or 2 for a slower deck with big mana threats, and removing 1 to 3 for a faster more aggressive deck.

In this case let's start with 24 lands, and 4 Fireballs. We have 28 cards, so we need 32 more to make a legal deck. Since we want the greatest chance of drawing the cards we need as possible, we won't exceed 60 cards here. In most cases in fact, you should never play more than 60 cards. Every card you add is keeping you one card away from drawing the one you really need. A common mistake for many new players is to just keep piling on cards until they make some 78 card monstrosity, don't do this. Treat 60 as the minimum and maximum for every deck you make, it will make your deck faster and more consistent. So what will we add into those 32 slots?

We have Mana to cast a Fireball that can deal up to 23 damage at once, which is lethal, but would require every land in our deck to do so. Sounds kinda slow, right? So what can we do to speed it up? Since we're playing a Red deck, we should start by looking at the options Red has to generate more Mana. Red has access to a few Ritual cards, which can make mana fairly quickly but only in single shots. This means that to make this path work we'd need a lot of these Rituals, and to get lucky by drawing enough of them to make a lethal Fireball. Not the most efficient option, but it can work! Our other obvious option in Red is Artifacts that generate mana. We can play something as small as a Fire Diamond, or something big like a Gilded Lotus. These also feed into each other, but come with the downside of clogging up our deck when we have enough mana to make a lethal Fireball. So a step in the right direction, since this mana is renewable, but still not quite as fast as what we need. But we're out of options in Red, what now?

Now we look at our other colors, of course! The best place to start is to look at the color wheel on the back of a Magic card. Notice the arrangement of the colors on the wheel. Any color that is adjacent to another on the wheel is "allied" with that color, which is to say that they work well together. Red is allied with Green and Black. Many Black cards let you draw cards or even search your deck for specific ones, which could be helpful for the deck to find the cards it needs when it needs them, but since Green has some of that too now and since Black is more about making little aggressive dudes, killing things, bringing things back from the dead and giant demons, let's skip it and look at Green.

Green is the color of nature, and as such has cards that revolve around the generation of mana. Perfect for our goal, and once you start looking you'll notice that green has a ton of cards that are dedicated to making more mana. They come in two flavors; abilities that put mana in the pool, and cards that pull lands from the deck itself. But which flavor do we need? In this case, the ones that pull lands from the deck itself are the ones that we want. This is because they thin our deck out, eliminating lands and reducing our chances at not being able to draw spells. Afterall, what good is having tons of mana if you have nothing to cast with it? Some common options in this slot are Rampant Growth and Cultivate, so we'll add 4 of each to the deck.

Now we have 4 Fireballs, 4 Rampant Growths, 4 Cultivates, and 24 lands. We have 36 cards and need 24 more. Since we still have space, we can add some of those cards that add mana to our pool. Elves tend to be very, very good at this, so we can rock a tribal theme with these guys to generate a lot of mana very quickly. Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystics, and Elvish Archdruid are easy to find solid slots in this section. With 4 of each in play at once we can generate a potential 4+4+(16x4) mana per turn. Quite lethal for casting a Fireball. So let's add 4 of each!

Now we have 4 Fireballs, 4 Rampant Growths, 4 Cultivates, 4 Llanowar Elves, 4 Elvish Mystics, 4 Elvish Archdruids, and 24 lands. We have 52 cards and need 8 more. Wow, that was fast, suddenly we have only 8 spaces left! This is where we add the extra utility stuff to get our deck fully streamlined, and since we absolutely need to draw our Fireballs to win, we should add spells that draw cards. Sadly this is neither Green nor Red's strong suit, but we do have a few choices.

Since we're already ramping lands out of the deck, we might not need a powerful draw engine anyway. A solid option in Green for straight card draw is Harmonize, but it clocks in at 4 mana. If we get a good start, this is nothing though, so we can rock 4 of these guys with not too much worry. Now we have 4 slots left, so how do we top it off? Well, we do have a lot of Elves, why not add in Elvish Visionary? 4 of her gets us to 60!

Now you have a deck that is streamlined to win off Fireball, but can also win by playing a ton of Elves and beating face! A Plan A that just so happens to have a solid Plan B! By playing with the deck you'll probably start to find it could use some fine tuning to beat what you play against, but what matters here is that we have a solid foundation to build from. When making tweaks, be sure to keep the central idea of the deck in mind. And of course, keep practicing making decks and test them to see what works for you.

==See also==
*[[Magic Formats]]
*[[Deck archetype]]
*[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]] - Another card game by Richard Garfield.
*[[Magic: the Gathering RPG]] - a [[/tg/]]-made RPG with mechanics based on the game.
*[[M/tg/]]
*[[MaRo]]
*[[Magic: The Gathering Gameplay Principles]]
*[[Space: The Convergence]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.wizards.com/magic/ Official site]<br>
*[http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/rules Rulebooks: basic and comprehensive]
*[http://magiccards.info/ magiccards.info] - A card database.
*[http://mtgsalvation.com/ MTG Salvation] - A Magic fansite.
*[https://www.slightlymagic.net/ Slightly Magic] - Another Magic fansite, this one focuses on [[Video games|vidya adaptations]] of Magic both official and fan-made.
===Retailers===
*[[Local Game Store|Your Friendly Local Game Store]]
*[https://www.abugames.com// ABU Games]
*[http://www.tcgplayer.com/ TCG Player]
*[http://www.cardkingdom.com/ Card Kingdom]
*[http://www.magiccardmarket.eu/ Magic Card Market Europe] - Part of the Europian card market specifically dedicated to MTG, amazingly cheap, just remember to order in the right language

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:SageOwlGorgonFlail.jpg| Yes, in MtG, birds can be equipped with the heads of dead monster girls, it's good stuff.
Image:WeeabooAkroma.jpg| Any character can be cutesified. Angels are extra weak against that kinda thing
Image:AkromaVsAkroma.png| The Legend Rule is kinda silly.
Image:JustWhoTheHellDoYouThinkWeAre.jpg| So MANY RATS!
Image:SleddingOnTheGoon.jpg| No goblin resists the sled!
Image:TrogdorScaresAkromaKinda.jpg| Dragon Shadow works against paragons of Justice.
Image:MtGPenisskeleton.jpg| Black has a bunch of undead teachers who can help you on your quest for ultimate power.
Image:MTGpeniswalker.jpg| Indeed...ultimate power...
Image:OdiousDesuTrow.jpg| How could you hate this guy? He loves his rat.
Image:HedronCrabAndCube.jpg| Blue has crabs.... These crabs are smarter than you might think
Image:Sadcrab.jpg| A hedron crab's life does have sadness every so often.
Image:Artificer Planeswalker by craniifer.jpg| A proper vintage artifact player can pull stuff even against a broken deck.
Image:Headless-y-u-no.jpg
Image:Magic-NOU.jpg
Image:Ancient_Aliens_dies_to_removal.jpg| This summarizes 90% of the posts on Magic forums.
</gallery>

{{Card Games}}
{{MTG-Settings}}
{{Planeswalkers}}

Yu-Gi-Oh

2018-07-19T13:19:19Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

[[File:Poogioh.jpeg|500px|thumb|right|With a pokemon backdrop, too.]]
{{Topquote|The only thing intricate about this game is its ban list.|[[Magnus the Red]], ''[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]]}}

A [[Collectible Card Game|CCG]] produced by Konami which is based off a [[Anime|shonen battle manga]] of the same name. It can be surprisingly fun, and while confusing at first, it becomes second nature to most after just a few games.

While it does have some major rules problems thanks to idiotic rulings by Konami (i.e. missing the timing, semi hidden information going into hidden information zones, and an errata policy based mostly on what cards get reprinted), Yu-gi-oh is not as bad as some people have been led to believe; it has a quite interesting amount of game styles to choose from in the way you use the cards in your "deck" which is quite customisable.

...At least, unless you are playing in a tournament, in which case the majority of players will be playing 3 different deck styles max, because power creep 'n' seep is a bitch like that. The [[#Formats and Ban Lists|banlist]] has usually been the primary means of balance, meant to keep the best current playstyle(s) from overruning the meta for TOO long. In addition to outright banning cards that completely fuck the balance (ideally, anyway), other cards are limited so that the play styles that aren't completely gimped can still perform their strats reliably, without surgically excising chance from the game altogether like several older infamous combos, a few of which necessitated the creation of its Forbidden section.

It's worth noting that there was a major format overhaul recently for very similar reasons; prior to this, a majority of strats relied on running the other player down as soon as possible, in as few turns as possible (e.g. swarming the field with multiple Special Summons, ideally clearing the opposing field in the process), which led to plenty of [[Exterminatus|OTK shit]], and the occasional first turn wipeout. You can imagine the kind of [[RAGE|fun stuff]] that leads to in a tournament. The introduction of Link Monsters and related restrictions on Special Summons (e.g. Extra Deck cards can only be summoned to the dedicated Extra Monster Zone OR Main Monster Zones that a Link Monster points to) halted reliance on this to a significant degree. Even so, reliance on the banlist (along with the cycle of dated sht falling out of use) and little else means one or two archetypes inevitably find themselves head and shoulders above the rest. Such is the life cycle of competitive balancing.

At first it was just played by a few groups of people over the world but then it got a major increase in its player base after its anime dropped in the west. It is a relatively simple to play game that can keep you entertained for hours thanks to deck building and combo opportunities. It's an alright game for playing with friends, but the competitive scene for it is awful, partly due to the community being [[That Guy|kinda shitty]]; while something of an understatement, it's to be expected from a long-running grog magnet, to say nothing of its various anime and [[Weeaboo|some of the fans]] THOSE have attracted.

Mostly, though, it's due to Konami's usual practice of releasing new stuff, often in the form of 'structure' (i.e. preassembled) decks that generally fall into one of two categories: they're A) broken as shit, which sells more packs while potentially buttfucking the meta until the next banlist; or B) gimmicky as shit and thus utterly useless outside of select reprinted cards, even on a casual level (which was the case for many of the first ones released). In that regard, they're akin to good ol' Games Workshop - which, if you consider their reputation outside of this TCG, is being EXTREMELY generous. This has also given birth to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta Cycle'':

#Did the company release a structure deck or set containing cards that are either new or powering up an old archetype?
#If yes, do said cards make a new deck which dominates the meta completely and warps the game?
#If yes, sit back and await a sudden update to the Limited/Forbidden list, and take a shot for each of those new cards that make it.
#Enjoy the new format until new overpowered cards are released, which brings you back to step 1. Rinse and repeat.

==How to Play==
Yu-Gi-Oh is rather similar to [[Magic the Gathering]] in terms of play; in fact, it was introduced in the manga as a sort of Magic clone that was one of many featured games, from which point its popularity took off and changed the manga's entire focus as the game was fleshed out and became something more relatively unique. You can guess how much a [[Skub|point of contention]] this is for the respective fanbases.

Each player starts with a 40+ card deck and tries to take his opponent's 8000 life points down to 0. Players take turns to play creatures and spells, attack the opponent's creatures and deal with some of the most badass cards brought to play.

The number of cards you can have in play is currently limited as follows: you can have five monsters (and one which you summon from the extra deck!), five spells/traps and one field spell in play at the same time. If you have five monsters you cannot summon additional ones without sacrificing others; you also can't play spell/trap cards if you already have five of them active, but you can play a field card if you already have one (in which case, the former field gets destroyed).

Note that 8000 is a really fucking huge number of life points to keep track of: you might want to bring a notebook, calculator or app along to keep track of your life points. There's a reason the manga and anime cut this down to 2000 (later 4000 due to power creep).

===The makeup of a card===
The three basic types of cards in Yu-Gi-Oh are Monster, Spell and Trap.

====Monster Cards====
These cards are your warriors who will do the fighting for you. Monsters have levels, which affects how you summon them. Monsters from level 1 to 4 can be summoned normally. Monsters of level 5 and 6 require you to sacrifice one of your monsters, 7 or higher require two sacrifices. Monsters also have Attributes (think the colors from Magic the Gathering, except there are seven, and they are much less important), Monster Types (like creature type, there are 23, including fish, aqua and sea serpent), Attack and Defense (Strength and Toughness). There are eight types of them. The first four are from the early days of the game, with the latter four being added in 2008 and onwards:
*Normal - Coloured yellow. A straightforward card with no abilities.
*Effect - Coloured orange. A monster that has a special ability.
*Ritual - Coloured blue. A ritual monster is summoned using a ritual spell card and tributing monsters. They are placed in the main deck and cannot be summoned without a ritual spell. Usually has an effect, but not always.
*Fusion - Coloured violet. A fusion monster is one where you have to combine two or more cards in order to summon it. This combining is done by the special abilities of other cards, usually the spell card, Polymerization, though not always. Fusion monsters usually have effects, but not necessarily. In the early days of the game they used to be the final argument of sheer attack power, but over the years they've been overtaken.
**Contact Fusion - A variation of Fusion that involves either sending the cards that make up the fusion material into the graveyard or the banishment zone, or shuffling them into the deck. Polymerization is not needed; this effect is inherent to the Contact Fusion monsters in question. This effect is commonly found on A-to-Z monsters, the Neos, Gladiator Beast and Ritual Beast archetypes, and a few other cards. This means that while the lack of dependency on Polymerization cards makes them easier to play, these cards require their tributes to be on the field instead of either on the field or in the player's hand.
**Transformation Summon - Limited to the Masked HERO archetype, Transformation Summons requires a tribute of one card in favor of another, more powerful one. This requires the play of a Change-type spell, of which there are three. Because all Change cards are Quick-Play, you can play them during the Battle Phase in order to avoid negative effects or targeted destruction by your opponent, as well as attack several times in a single turn.
*Synchros - Coloured white. They go in the fusion deck, now known as an extra deck, and are summoned by sending monsters with a total level equal to theirs to the graveyard, including one tuner monster.
**Dark Synchros - Used to summon Dark Synchro monsters,. Instead of adding the values of the Tuner and the non-Tuner monsters together the level of the Tuner monster is ''subtracted'' from the level of the non-Tuner monster. This matters a lot more in the anime, where they are treated as their own card type rather then just being synchros with special conditions like they are in the CCG.
**Double Tuning - The rare Synchro monsters that require two Tuner monsters to summon. There are only five of them in the game.
**Accel Synchro - Just like regular Synchro summoning, except all material cards have to be Synchro cards themselves.
*XYZ - Coloured black. Pronounced "Exceeds", and summoned by placing two or more cards of the same level on top of each other. Instead of a level they have a rank which reflects the level of the monsters that must be "overlayed" to summon them from the extra deck.
**XYZ Evolution - XYZ Evolution monsters can be XYZ summoned as normal, but they can also use a single specific card as XYZ Material. This can be either from the effect of the XYZ monster itself or a Spell card. Many XYZ Evolution monsters are either CXYZ or Number-C monsters.
*Pendulum - Coloured the same colour as the other monster type they are in their top half and green in their bottom half, with a transition between the two, to show how they're like a mix of monster and spell. Thus you can have effect pendulum monsters, xyz pendulum, fusion pendulum, etc. There are currently no ritual pendulum monsters or link pendulum monsters in existence, though this may change in future. These are monsters that can also be played as spells in the pendulum zones, and go to the extra deck when they're destroyed while on field. They have a number called a scale, which is used when they are played as a spell card. They also allow you to summon a bunch of monsters in one turn, as long as the levels are between the scales of the two pendulum monsters you have in your pendulum zones. Newfags.
*Link - Coloured blue like Ritual monsters, but in another shade and with a hexagonal background. They have a link number instead of defence points, and can never be in defence position. They go in the extra deck, and are summoned by sending a number of monsters you control to the graveyard equal to their link number. Instead of levels they have arrows called link markers that point to other monster zones. You can summon other monsters from the extra deck to the zones pointed at by the link markers. Their effects often relate to the zones pointed to by the arrows.

On top of that there are several secondary monster types that said monsters have on top of their normal type:
*Flip - When a Flip monster is attacked when it is face down or turned up by its controller or an effect, it triggers its own effect. Having the monster destroyed or exiled outside of being attacked, the effect does not trigger.
*Gemini - A Gemini monster is played as a regular Normal monster. It can later (either a later turn or outright, depending on what other cards its controller plays) be summoned again as if it entered the field from a player's hand. When it is, it triggers its effect. And no, Gemini Elf is not a Gemini monster.
*Spirit - When a Spirit monster is summoned, it returns to its owner's hand from the field during the End Phase. This means that Spirit monsters have little staying power, and they cannot be Special Summoned.
*Toon - Toon monsters resemble existing monsters in the game in a cartoony style. They rely on the Toon World card, and they are frequently destroyed if Toon World is.
*Tuner - These monsters are mandatory if you want to run a Synchros deck. While it is tempting to make a deck of nothing but Tuner monsters to make sure you always have one, many Synchros monsters require at least one non-Tuner monster or a monster of a particular type instead.
*Union - Often weak on their own, Union monsters can equip themselves to another monster to grant said monter a special effect. If that monster were to be destroyed, its equipped Union monster is destroyed instead.

====Spell Cards====
These cards are for support, augmenting monsters, giving you more cards or life points, stunning the opponent...etc, anything to give you an upper hand in the battle. They are coloured green. They have have six subtypes:
*Normal - A one-time use card that is discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - The effect persists, so long as the card is still in play
*Equip - Equipped on a monster card to augment their stats or give them special abilities
*Quick-Play - Like a normal spell, but can be played at any time, including your opponent's turn if you set them first.
*Ritual - A card which lets you sacrifice monsters whose total levels are a certain amount in order to bring forth the patron of the ritual, a ritual monster (see above).
*Field - Changes the attribute of the playing field, which can give certain monsters buffs or penalties (I.E: Water monsters benefit from Umi and Dark monsters benefit from Yami). It used to be that only 1 field spell may be active at a time, but later rules made it that each player may have their own field spell at the same time.

====[[Trap]] Cards====
Trap cards can't be played directly and have to be deployed in the face-down position. As their name implies; they're traps for your opponent, which can be triggered either by your decision or once your opponent meets certain conditions. Thanks to the animu's flair for the dramatic, you're required to say "YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!" in a loud and smug fashion, while dramatically flipping your trap card, when you decide to activate your's. Verbally explaining the trap's effects in a dramatic fashion is optional. They are coloured pink. Trap Cards exist in three kinds:
*Normal - This sort of card can be used once and discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - This kind of trap persists so long as the card is still on the field.
*Counter Trap - A trap used to counter other cards; the only thing that can stop a counter trap is another counter trap.

===The Turn===
*The turn starts with a '''Begin of Turn''' phase where some things can happen depending on the cards in play, but most of the time this turn is just filler.
*The '''Draw Phase''' allows you to draw 1 card from your deck. Again, some abilities might be triggered in this phase, but it's not all that flashy.
*The '''Standby Phase''' the phase that happens between the Draw and Main Phase. Nothing really happens here, but some abilities use this as part of their trigger requirements.
*The '''First Main Phase''' is where it all happens: you can play 1 monster and as many magic/trap cards as you like. Monsters can either be '''Summoned''' or '''Set'''. Summoning means they are placed in a face-up upright position; this makes their Attack stat the number used in the combat phase. If a monster is set it is placed in a face-down position turned 90 degrees to the right; this makes their Defense stat the number used in combat. You can only summon one monster normally, although card effects may allow you to conduct a "special summon" which is basically the same except that they are almost always summoned face-up and they don't take up your normal summon
*The '''Battle Phase''' has four sub phases. Again it has a Start and End step in which some effects trigger, but most of the time they're just there to look pretty. The big part of this is the Battle and Damage steps: you choose one of your monsters and attack one of your opponent's monsters. You then compare your monster's Attack to the other monster's opposing stat. If it is in Attack Position you compare the two Attack scores: the monster with the lowest Attack is destroyed and its controller loses life equal to the difference in Attack. If the scores are equal both monsters are destroyed. If the monster is in Defense Position you compare your Attack to the other's Defense: if yours is lower or equal then you lose life (but not your monster) equal to the difference (obviously you can't lose zero life), if yours is higher the other monster is destroyed but the opponent does not lose life. If the scores are equal nothing happens. If you attack a face-down monster this way then it flips up: either to reveal a weak monster that your opponent put down to stall for time, an effect monster that does something beneficial when flipped or destroyed, or a large blocker that might deal you damage. All monsters you control may attack only once (Unless an effect says otherwise), one by one; you are allowed to attack the same monster several times.
*After this is the '''Second Main Phase''', which is identical to the First Main Phase. You don't get another summon, so you can't usually summon unless you never in your first main phase, so it's mostly just used to set traps and quick play spells to use in your opponent's turn.
*Finally there is the '''End Phase''' where effects might be triggered and where you have to discard cards from your hand if your hand is over the current hand size cap of six to meet it.

==The Metaplot==
There is none.

No seriously, there is none. M:TG has an overarching plot described online, on the cards themselves (so figuring out the plot is a Dark Souls-like affair) and formerly in novels. [[Pokémon]] might not use the card game in its metaplot, but that has the excuse of having the plot in the anime, manga and video games, where the monsters on the cards are characters. Yu-Gi-Oh does something similar but to a lesser extent: in it the cards are almost all just means to an end for the characters. Certain monsters on the cards are more important to the plot than others, but they are a small minority compared to those who are not. The few times the game has dabbled, in fluff it's in stuff like Duel Terminal, a series of arcade machines that have an overarching plot to them that sees no use outside of said machines. Sometimes there are stories told on the cards themselves in a series of artworks to mimic M:TG's occasional Dark Souls-like storytelling.

==Archetype==
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Unless you possess some sort of post-human intellect that allows you to see synergy between otherwise unrelated cards and have supernatural luck to make these combinations work, you'll want to stick to an archetype for your deck. Archetypes are series of cards of a similar theme or kind, often with a series of related monsters. Through their interwoven and complementary mechanics a deck can become greater than the sum of its parts. There are dozens upon dozens of archetypes in the game, with many of them having their own sub-archetypes. Also, there is fluff of sorts for many of them, but this tends to have no real bearing on the game. Some of the archetypes are:
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* '''Blue-Eyes''' - Based on the famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon used by Seto Kaiba in the first series, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon itself has the distinction of being the most powerful Normal Monster in the game at 3000/2500. With its plentiful support a well-built Blue-Eyes deck can, with a bit of luck, [[meme|summon a bunch of monsters in one turn]] and lay a massive smackdown through regular monsters and powerful Rank-8 Xyz monsters. This archetype is very old, so it includes a lot of awesome but impractical cards such as "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". With its light scales and disintegrating breath the Blue-Eyes is based on [[Bahamut]] from [[D&D]].
* '''Burning Abyss''' - Taking its inspiration from the Inferno part of Dante's Divine Comedy, the Burning Abyss archetype is based around swarming the field, then summoning its Xyz, Synchro, Fusion and Ritual boss monsters. On their own the Burning Abyss monsters (called Malebranches) are not very strong: except for the boss monsters they are all Level 3 and top at 1700 ATK and 2000 DEF. On top of that, if you control a non-Burning Abyss monster all of them go to the graveyard, and if you don't have a spell or trap card on the field you can special summon them. The Malebranches have a variety of effects to help them not immediately crumble come your opponent's battle phase.
* '''Dark Magician''' - The signature monster of Yugi Muto from the original series. On its own the Dark Magician is... not very good. 2500/2100 for a two-Tribute monster is middling, even back in the day. Summoned Skull provided the same ATK for only one Tribute, and for two Tributes you could instead get a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. To mitigate this the archetype includes a fair number of spell cards to support and protect the Dark Magician.
:* '''Dark Magician Girl''' - A sub-archetype based around gaining power and summoning more Spellcaster-type monsters. The Dark Magician girl is notable for being one of the most popular [[waifu]]s of the game.
* '''Egyptian Gods''' - Giant God-Soldier of Obelisk, Sky Dragon of Osiris and Winged God-Dragon of Ra, aka Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon and Winged Dragon of Ra. The only three monsters in the game with the Divine-Beast type, they are legendary monsters based around the Egyptian gods Ra, Osiris and... [[Wat|Obelisk]]. They all require THREE Tributes to summon normally but they are beefy: their summoning cannot be negated and no cards can be activated as a reaction to their summoning. Obelisk has a hefty 4000/4000, cannot be targeted by spells, traps or card effects (but can still be destroyed by non-targeted effects). By tributing 2 monsters Obelisk can destroy all monsters your opponent controls, but Obelisk cannot attack that turn. Slifer's has all monsters your opponent summons lose 2000 ATK (if they hit 0 they are destroyed), and Slifer's ATK and DEF are equal to the number of cards in your hand x1000. Ra starts out with 0 ATK/DEF, and by paying all but 100 of your LP Ra's ATK and DEF becomes equal to the paid. By paying 1000 LP you can destroy one monster on the field. It's obvious that these two abilities are difficult to use at the same time. While powerful they're difficult and risky to use.
* '''Elemental HERO''' - Used by Jaden Yuki from GX, the HERO monsters (based on superheroes) require extensive use of Fusion Summoning to get your good monsters on the field and attack with them. A serious source of [[skub]] because of the heavy reliance on summoning, the fact that they were used by the GX protagonist, that they were in every set of the GX era meaning that they clogged up booster space, and there were a LOT of them. Seriously: about two dozen in the main deck, over three dozen in the Extra Deck, and that's not even counting all their support cards and sub archetypes. On top of all that the HERO monsters are not even that good, with only a few being worth running.
:* '''Destiny HERO''' - Like the Elemental HERO monsters, except 50% more [[British Empire|British]] and 50% more [[edgy]]. Used by Aster Phoenix from GX.
:* '''Evil HERO''' - As above, but less Britishness and with extra edge. Used by Jaden Yuki once he goes evil in the third season of GX.
:* '''Masked HERO''' - Based on [[Mantis Warriors|Kamen Rider]], the Masked HERO cards use Transformation Fusion to turn Elemental HERO monsters into Masked HERO monsters, who have powerful effects. The three transformation cards are all Quick Play cards, allowing you to change your monsters mid-turn to attack over and over again.
* '''Exodia''' - The most famous win condition, Exodia comes in five pieces. If you have all pieces in your hand you win the duel. While on their own it's very unlikely to obtain all parts, when combined with a wide variety of draw and search engines you become able to draw just about your entire deck in one turn and obtain all the parts. This means that playing an Exodia deck automatically makes you [[That Guy]], even in the eyes of other That Guys with their own That Guy decks. There are a number of monsters based on Exodia and are supported by him, bust they're mostly even more difficult to use than regular Exodia.
* '''Gem-Knights''' - A gemstone-themed archetype of warriors who can combine to create more powerful beings in order to face more powerful opponents. And before you ask: the Gem-Knights came around just over three years before Steven Universe became a thing. The Gem-Knights are [[Paladin|a bunch of honorable warriors who fight to protect the weak]]. They are very reliant on Fusion Monsters: of the 24 monsters in the archetype there are 12 Normal, Effect and Gemini monsters, 11 Fusion monsters and one Xyz monster. To aid in this they have access to six cards that allows Fusion for Gem-Knights in a variety of ways.
* '''Gishki''' - A revival of the long neglected Ritual summoning method, they are built around finding both Ritual Monsters and the Gishki Aquamirror Ritual card, which allows them to summon all of their monsters. They are one of the archetypes featured in the Duel Terminal arcade machines, where they made their debut.
* '''Gravekeeper''' - One of the oldest archetypes and one of the few that play up the Egyptian aspect of the game, Gravekeeper Monsters resemble Egyptians protecting tombs and those who rest in them. Some of the artwork resembles characters from ancient Egypt as depicted in the anime/manga. They heavily depend on the Necrovalley Field Spell, which shuts down just about anything having to do with the graveyard. Despite being able to mess over many other archetypes this way a well-placed negation or card destruction will leave them quite vulnerable.
* '''Harpie''' - The signature archetype of Mai Valentine from the original show, the Harpie monsters resemble, well, [[Harpy|harpies]]. Attractive winged women who don't wear a lot of clothing, their archetype is built on swarming the field with monsters and beat the opponent down that way. Originally the archetype was kinda sucky, but with later support cards it became a decent deck. Not great, just decent.
* '''Jar''' - Just about the biggest middle finger you can play to your opponent, Jar monsters are weak (except for Pot of The Forbidden) monsters resembling jars with a grinning creature inside. They all have very powerful but annoying flip effects, from discarding your hand and drawing a new card to wiping the board followed by forced revealing of cards, playing some of them and putting the rest in the graveyard. These are all supremely annoying effects, and the most annoying ones are outright forbidden. Playing them automatically makes you [[That Guy]] on the same level of an Exodia player, except even Exodia players think you're being That Guy because Jars get rid of Exodia pieces so easily.
* '''Jinzo''' - A small archetype dating back to the early days, Jinzo (short for the [[Japan]]ese ''jinzoningen'', which means cyborg) itself is a Lvl 6 2400/1500 Monster that stops the activtion of and negates all Trap cards on the field. Given that Trap cards are a notable part of the game, Jinzo was quite feared back in the day for outright shutting down an entire type of card. At one point it even was Limited to stave off its reign of terror, but in the modern day it is Unlimited because it is easier to get rid of. Jinzo spawned a few spinoffs that either shut down Trap cards as well or aid in summoning other Jinzo monsters. But with the fact that there are only five Jinzo monsters and one Equip card they are better suited as support for a deck rather than a standalone archetype. Jinzo became one of Joey Wheeler's signature monsters halfway into the Battle City arc of the original show.
* '''Kaiju''' - GOJIRA! Yes, of course Godzilla and Friends were adapted into the game. Their gimmick is twofold: you can summon one to your opponent's side of the field to make it easier to summon one of your own (because Kaiju do love to battle one another), and their non-Monster cards generate Kaiju Counters which can be spent for a variety of potent effects. Their roster includes expies of Godizlla, Mothra, Gamera, Gigan, Kumonga, Ghidorah and Mecha Godzilla, and strangely enough Dark Lugiel from Ultraman as well.
* '''Kozmo''' - You know what's neat? The Wizard of Oz. You know what's also neat? [[Star Wars]]. So what happens when you slap those two together? You get the Kozmo archetype. Oh yes. Luke Skywalker is now [[promotions|a smokin' hot redhead]], R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca are the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion, Ben Kenobi has been replaced by a rather attractive Good Witch of the North and even the Darth Vader and Darth Maul of the set (The Wicked Witches of the West and East respectively) are pretty. You'd think "Oh [[Japan]]" at this, but the archetype is actually exclusive to the TCG. The archetype consists of two kinds of cards: the "pilots" are used to summon the second type, the spaceships. Summoning the spaceships is as easy as banishing the pilot in order to get a spaceship on the field. In turn, a spaceship that's in the graveyard can be banished to summon a pilot from the deck. This means that it's ridiculously easy to get extremely powerful cards on the field, and aimed destruction is easily avoided. There was even a very easy one-turn kill available that lead to several Kozmo cards being Limited.
* '''Kuriboh''' - One of the contenders for the title of series mascot, Kuriboh are a series of Lvl 1 300/200 or lower monsters with a series of effects that involve negating your opponent's attacks. Yugi, Jaden and Yuma from the first, second and fourth series all have their own Kuribohs which saw frequent use. Because of their low stats Kurioh have great difficulty standing on their own, and require support from powerful monsters in order to win a duel instead of avoiding losing it.
* '''Monarch''' - A series of tall humanoids dressed in armor, the Monarch archetype consists of a series of six 2400/1000 Monsters supported by two 2800/1000 Monsters and upgraded versions of the core six, a series of Spell/Trap cards, weaker 800/1000 Monsters and a few other cards built around Tribute Summoning. When you successfully do so the Monarchs destroy or otherwise remove cards from your opponent's field, giving you the advantage. They can Tribute Summon at a relatively high speed and can even shut down your opponent's Extra Deck, but this is at the cost of many Monarch cards revolve about you either not using or having an empty Extra Deck on your own. They can be frighteningly effective and fast, filling their field while emptying their opponent's. Monarchs are a rather large archetype, with around 40 cards (but don't build a deck of 1 of each of these cards: it won't work very well). Exactly what they are monarchs of is unknown.
* '''Neo''' - An archetype built around Elemental HERO Neos, Jaden Yuki's signature monster. The archetype revolves around using Contact Fusion involving Neos and a Neo-Spacian Monster to summon a better monster. These monsters are not specatcular on their own, and they're made even worse by the fact that they return to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn. This made an already iffy archetype drop even more in use, even when you look at its best monsters.
* '''Number''' - Central to the plot of ZEXAL, the Numbers are Monsters whose names start with a number. While they are all Xyz monsters this is the only thing they have in common: their archetypes, attributes, types and effects are all widely different. Some of them are generic, while others work exclusively in certain archetypes.
* '''Odd-Eyes''' - The archetype used by Yuya Sakaki, the protagonist of ARC-V. The Odd-Eyes monsters are a group of dragons with heterochromia, giving them mismatched eye colors. The archetypes consists of a large number of high level, high power (7+, 2500+ ATK) dragons and their support cards, which includes the Magican archetype. A large number of them are Pendulum cards designed to summon a large number of them onto the field quickly. There are also several cards that are both Pendulum and another type: Fusion Pendulum, Synchro Pendulum and Xyz Pendulum.
: '''Supreme King''' - Near the end of ARC-V a new sub-archetype was introduced to reflect the series' villain: the Supreme King archetype. The main card of this archetype is Supreme King Z-ARC, a Fusion Pendulum monster that requires you to tribute 1 Fusion, 1 Synchro, 1 Xyz and 1 Pendulum dragon-typed monster. In return you get a 4000/4000 beast that cannot be destroyed or targeted by your opponent and can Special Summon a Supreme King Dragon card from your (extra) deck if it destroyes a monster. With the changes made to the game regarding Link Summoning this archetype has become next to unusable.
* '''Ojama''' - Named after the Japanese phrase Ojamashimasu ("pardon me for interrupting"), the Ojamas resemble small ugly imps in tiny speedos. ''Oh you, Japan.'' They are the main archetype used by Chazz Princeton, one of the main characters of GX, and the spirit of Ojama Yellow acts as Chazz' sidekick in the show. Standing at a weak 0/1000 each, the core Ojama monsters are not very tough. Instead they rely on a mix of spell and trap cards to clog up the opponent's side of the board with tokens that they cannot tribute and stall the battle, allowing for the summoning of the Ojama King and using their field spell to switch around the ATK and DEF of all Ojama monsters, followed by either a wipe of the opponent's side of the board or destroying all other Ojamas on the field to make the Ojama King unreasonably buff. A gimmicky and not very powerful archetype that's fun to play but annoying to play against.
* '''Performapal/Performage''' - One of the most broken archetypes of its time and a contender for the most powerful deck of the game pre-nerf, Performapal and Performage are based on circus animals and circus perfomers respectively. The former is the other archetype of ARC-V's Yuya Sakaki, who uses the circus animals for his signature Entertainment Dueling style. Both archetypes are based on Pendulum Summoning and shenanigans in the battle phase that break the game so utterly, Konami was forced to employ the second emergency ban list in the game's history. ''Even then'' it remained powerful enough to remain a meta staple until the [[power creep]] set in. It's safe to say that a lot of people did not like them a lot, with the cartoony art being the least of their complaints.
* '''Red-Eyes''' - The Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Red-Eyes B. Dragon because they wanted to avoid the association with black magic) is one of the game's most famous cards and the signature card of Duelist Kingdom's Joey Wheeler. On its own the Red-Eyes is not very impressive: 2400/2000 at level 7 is just not worth it, even with its good attribute and type: outclassed by the Dark Magician and the Summoned Skull alike it's just not up to par. What it makes up with however is its mind-boggling versatility: Gemini, Burn, Pendulum, Toolbox and more are all options for the archetype. This means that the archetype is capable of a great many things, but herein lies the trap: an improperly built deck will only get in its own way. A good Red-Eyes deck is the result of a great degree of finetuning to make a specialized deck. The archetype is also lacking in defensive measures and doesn't have a large number of good trap cards to support it, so a powerful opponent will simply steamroll a Red-Eyes deck.
* '''SPYRAL''' - A TCG-only set that's two parts [[James Bond]], one part [[Metal Gear]] and a nod at the Spyral agency from DC Comics. The archetype revolves around getting its core monster, SPYRAL Super Agent, onto the table followed by using a set of support cards to keep it on the field. It also involves looking frequently at your opponent's hand (which fits with the spy theme) to trigger effects. This means that the SPYRAL archetype suffers from a few weaknesses that, if exploited, can utterly shut it down.
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==Formats and Ban Lists==
Yu-Gi-Oh has a strange relationship with what cards are legal or not. Unlike the two other big card games, [[Pokémon]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] Yu-Gi-Oh does not have a "standard" format that says "all cards in sets X, Y and Z can be played and the rest cannot". This means that every single card, printed from ''Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon'' to the latest set can be used in a deck, as long as they're not on the ban lists. This means that in effect there are several thousand cards legal to use in your deck, with only a fraction being limited and only a handful being outright banned. Cards have four levels of legality, determining how many you can have of any one card in your Main, Extra and Side Decks:

* Unlimited: 3
* Semi-Limited: 2
* Limited: 1
* Forbidden: 0

There are also Illegal cards: cards that were never intended to see use in official duels or tournaments. These are often promotional materials, with all but six of them having conditions that allows their player to win the match. Not the duel: ''the best-out-of-three match''. The six remaining ones are two cards based on the anime, one being a promotional card handed out during the World Championship of 2007 that is quite useful in the right kind of deck, and the last three remaining cards being the unofficial versions of the three Egyptian Gods.

Exactly which cards are of what legality is determined by the region you're in. Yu-Gi-Oh has two regions where the game has different names: the Official Card Game and the Trading Card Game, shortened to OCG and TCG respectively. The OCG is played in Asia while the TCG is played in the rest of the world. Both regions have their own ban lists, meaning that a deck that is played in one region might not work as well or is perhaps not even legal in the other. This is even further complicated that while the OCG has only one format, the TCG has two: Advanced and Traditional. The difference between the two is akin to the difference between Legacy and Vintage: Advanced restricts more cards to create a more balanced experience and has quite a few cards that are illegal in the format. Traditional is a friendlier kind of game: all Forbidden cards are Limited. If you want to use Illegal cards then you need your opponent's permission first due to the amount of [[cheese]] found in the banlist. Advanced is the format used in official tournaments and events, making it akin to Standard. In other words, Traditional and no banlist at all are for fun games with friends, and Advanced is for more serious games.

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==The Anime==
[[Image:Banditkeith.jpg|450px|thumb|right|This is what the rest of the world thinks all people look like... IN AMERICA.]]
* Yu-Gi-Oh was clumsily "advertised" by a cartoon for children about adults playing a children's card game, which shared the same name.
* Season 0 Yami Yuugi is a well known follower of [[Tzeentch]] (as if the Egyptian gig wasn't enough of a give away). Mostly it was about Yami Yuugi punishing local bullies and scumbags by challenging them to a "Yami No Game", a dark and demented game of Yuugi's making with a stringent set of rules (dependent on the current challenge) that are meant to test the person's true character. If the person looses a Yami Game, or breaks the rules in any way, Yuugi will either kill them or [[Grimdark|give them such realistically horrifying hallucinations that they turn into a gibbering, hapless wreck]]. As an example, he once played table hockey with a puck full of nitroglycerin and blew the other guy to bits. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWXTZ8zuuDQ In another game in the anime, he tricked an armed criminal holding his girlfriend hostage into pouring 180 proof vodka all over himself and putting a lighter on his hand. Ensuring that if he did anything wrong, he'd burn a horrible death]. Subsequent Yugis... were most likely closer to [[Slaanesh]].
* Dan Green voices both Yugis in the English version.
* The aforementioned program was so popular, they released a spin-off show called Yu-Gi-Oh GX, about children attending a university that teaches students how to play a children's card game (really). Even the US dubbers noticed how stupid this was, and would write dialog that mocked the franchise, making [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bml9_is-littlekuriboh-writing-for-yu-gi_fun#.Ub5g-_k3uSo some parts] of the show look like an Abridged parody.
* This spawned another spin-off, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, where angsty emo teenagers play a children's card game on motorcycles, in a setting that's some sort of attempt at dystopian [[cyberpunk]]. Seriously, that's actually the premise. Not terrible. Surprisingly interesting and edgy at times. The dub is mediocre compared to the subbed, as 4kids of course excised the more "mature" parts from their localization. This is the show that introduced synchro monsters to the game.
* This was followed by Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal, which is basically [[anime|Naruto]] with card games instead of ninjas set in an alternate universe from 5Ds where Synchros don't exist. Xyz monsters were invented here.
* Next up was Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, which seemed to have remembered the other series and summoning methods existed, but the promise the show had got butchered once they travelled to the synchro dimension, a world similar to that of 5D's.
* The most recent (started in May 2017) one is Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS (which stands for Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System), which introduces Link monsters. Its villains, the Knights of Hanoi, are basically [[Anonymous]] with a technomagical supercharge.

==[[TL;DR]]==
A decent card game that could have been better, even great, if not for the two-headed giant that is Konami's incompetence and the crappy player base. Hey, at least it gave birth to a memetastic set of anime.

{{Card Games}}

[[Category:Weeaboo]]

Yu-Gi-Oh

2018-07-19T13:16:07Z

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[[File:Poogioh.jpeg|500px|thumb|right|With a pokemon backdrop, too.]]
{{Topquote|The only thing intricate about this game is its ban list.|[[Magnus the Red]], ''[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]]}}

A [[Collectible Card Game|CCG]] produced by Konami which is based off a [[Anime|shonen battle manga]] of the same name. It can be surprisingly fun, and while confusing at first, it becomes second nature to most after just a few games.

While it does have some major rules problems thanks to idiotic rulings by Konami (i.e. missing the timing, semi hidden information going into hidden information zones, and an errata policy based mostly on what cards get reprinted), Yu-gi-oh is not as bad as some people have been led to believe; it has a quite interesting amount of game styles to choose from in the way you use the cards in your "deck" which is quite customisable.

...At least, unless you are playing in a tournament, in which case the majority of players will be playing 3 different deck styles max, because power creep 'n' seep is a bitch like that. The [[#Formats and Ban Lists|banlist]] has usually been the primary means of balance, meant to keep the best current playstyle(s) from overruning the meta for TOO long. In addition to outright banning cards that completely fuck the balance (ideally, anyway), other cards are limited so that the play styles that aren't completely gimped can still perform their strats reliably, without surgically excising chance from the game altogether like several older infamous combos, a few of which necessitated the creation of its Forbidden section.

It's worth noting that there was a major format overhaul recently for very similar reasons; prior to this, a majority of strats relied on running the other player down as soon as possible, in as few turns as possible (e.g. swarming the field with multiple Special Summons, ideally clearing the opposing field in the process), which led to plenty of [[Exterminatus|OTK shit]], and the occasional first turn wipeout. You can imagine the kind of [[RAGE|fun stuff]] that leads to in a tournament. The introduction of Link Monsters and related restrictions on Special Summons (e.g. Extra Deck cards can only be summoned to the dedicated Extra Monster Zone OR Main Monster Zones that a Link Monster points to) halted reliance on this to a significant degree. Even so, reliance on the banlist (along with the cycle of dated sht falling out of use) and little else means one or two archetypes inevitably find themselves head and shoulders above the rest. Such is the life cycle of competitive balancing.

At first it was just played by a few groups of people over the world but then it got a major increase in its player base after its anime dropped in the west. It is a relatively simple to play game that can keep you entertained for hours thanks to deck building and combo opportunities. It's an alright game for playing with friends, but the competitive scene for it is awful, partly due to the community being [[That Guy|kinda shitty]]; while something of an understatement, it's to be expected from a long-running grog magnet, to say nothing of its various anime and [[Weeaboo|some of the fans]] THOSE have attracted.

Mostly, though, it's due to Konami's usual practice of releasing new stuff, often in the form of 'structure' (i.e. preassembled) decks that generally fall into one of two categories: they're A) broken as shit, which sells more packs while potentially buttfucking the meta until the next banlist; or B) gimmicky as shit and thus utterly useless outside of select reprinted cards, even on a casual level (which was the case for many of the first ones released). In that regard, they're akin to good ol' Games Workshop - which, if you consider their reputation outside of this TCG, is being EXTREMELY generous. This has also given birth to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta Cycle'':

#Did the company release a structure deck or set containing cards that are either new or powering up an old archetype?
#If yes, do said cards make a new deck which dominates the meta completely and warps the game?
#If yes, sit back and await a sudden update to the Limited/Forbidden list, and take a shot for each of those new cards that make it.
#Enjoy the new format until new overpowered cards are released, which brings you back to step 1. Rinse and repeat.

==How to Play==
Yu-Gi-Oh is rather similar to [[Magic the Gathering]] in terms of play; in fact, it was introduced in the manga as a sort of Magic clone that was one of many featured games, from which point its popularity took off and changed the manga's entire focus as the game was fleshed out and became something more relatively unique. You can guess how much a [[Skub|point of contention]] this is for the respective fanbases.

Each player starts with a 40+ card deck and tries to take his opponent's 8000 life points down to 0. Players take turns to play creatures and spells, attack the opponent's creatures and deal with some of the most badass cards brought to play.

The number of cards you can have in play is currently limited as follows: you can have five monsters (and one which you summon from the extra deck!), five spells/traps and one field spell in play at the same time. If you have five monsters you cannot summon additional ones without sacrificing others; you also can't play spell/trap cards if you already have five of them active, but you can play a field card if you already have one (in which case, the former field gets destroyed).

Note that 8000 is a really fucking huge number of life points to keep track of: you might want to bring a notebook, calculator or app along to keep track of your life points. There's a reason the manga and anime cut this down to 2000 (later 4000 due to power creep).

===The makeup of a card===
The three basic types of cards in Yu-Gi-Oh are Monster, Spell and Trap.

====Monster Cards====
These cards are your warriors who will do the fighting for you. Monsters have levels, which affects how you summon them. Monsters from level 1 to 4 can be summoned normally. Monsters of level 5 and 6 require you to sacrifice one of your monsters, 7 or higher require two sacrifices. Monsters also have Attributes (think the colors from Magic the Gathering, except there are seven, and they are much less important), Monster Types (like creature type, there are 23, including fish, aqua and sea serpent), Attack and Defense (Strength and Toughness). There are eight types of them. The first four are from the early days of the game, with the latter four being added in 2008 and onwards:
*Normal - Coloured yellow. A straightforward card with no abilities.
*Effect - Coloured orange. A monster that has a special ability.
*Ritual - Coloured blue. A ritual monster is summoned using a ritual spell card and tributing monsters. They are placed in the main deck and cannot be summoned without a ritual spell. Usually has an effect, but not always.
*Fusion - Coloured violet. A fusion monster is one where you have to combine two or more cards in order to summon it. This combining is done by the special abilities of other cards, usually the spell card, Polymerization, though not always. Fusion monsters usually have effects, but not necessarily. In the early days of the game they used to be the final argument of sheer attack power, but over the years they've been overtaken.
**Contact Fusion - A variation of Fusion that involves either sending the cards that make up the fusion material into the graveyard or the banishment zone, or shuffling them into the deck. Polymerization is not needed; this effect is inherent to the Contact Fusion monsters in question. This effect is commonly found on A-to-Z monsters, the Neos, Gladiator Beast and Ritual Beast archetypes, and a few other cards. This means that while the lack of dependency on Polymerization cards makes them easier to play, these cards require their tributes to be on the field instead of either on the field or in the player's hand.
**Transformation Summon - Limited to the Masked HERO archetype, Transformation Summons requires a tribute of one card in favor of another, more powerful one. This requires the play of a Change-type spell, of which there are three. Because all Change cards are Quick-Play, you can play them during the Battle Phase in order to avoid negative effects or targeted destruction by your opponent, as well as attack several times in a single turn.
*Synchros - Coloured white. They go in the fusion deck, now known as an extra deck, and are summoned by sending monsters with a total level equal to theirs to the graveyard, including one tuner monster.
**Dark Synchros - Used to summon Dark Synchro monsters,. Instead of adding the values of the Tuner and the non-Tuner monsters together the level of the Tuner monster is ''subtracted'' from the level of the non-Tuner monster. This matters a lot more in the anime, where they are treated as their own card type rather then just being synchros with special conditions like they are in the CCG.
**Double Tuning - The rare Synchro monsters that require two Tuner monsters to summon. There are only five of them in the game.
**Accel Synchro - Just like regular Synchro summoning, except all material cards have to be Synchro cards themselves.
*XYZ - Coloured black. Pronounced "Exceeds", and summoned by placing two or more cards of the same level on top of each other. Instead of a level they have a rank which reflects the level of the monsters that must be "overlayed" to summon them from the extra deck.
**XYZ Evolution - XYZ Evolution monsters can be XYZ summoned as normal, but they can also use a single specific card as XYZ Material. This can be either from the effect of the XYZ monster itself or a Spell card. Many XYZ Evolution monsters are either CXYZ or Number-C monsters.
*Pendulum - Coloured the same colour as the other monster type they are in their top half and green in their bottom half, with a transition between the two, to show how they're like a mix of monster and spell. Thus you can have effect pendulum monsters, xyz pendulum, fusion pendulum, etc. There are currently no ritual pendulum monsters or link pendulum monsters in existence, though this may change in future. These are monsters that can also be played as spells in the pendulum zones, and go to the extra deck when they're destroyed while on field. They have a number called a scale, which is used when they are played as a spell card. They also allow you to summon a bunch of monsters in one turn, as long as the levels are between the scales of the two pendulum monsters you have in your pendulum zones. Newfags.
*Link - Coloured blue like Ritual monsters, but in another shade and with a hexagonal background. They have a link number instead of defence points, and can never be in defence position. They go in the extra deck, and are summoned by sending a number of monsters you control to the graveyard equal to their link number. Instead of levels they have arrows called link markers that point to other monster zones. You can summon other monsters from the extra deck to the zones pointed at by the link markers. Their effects often relate to the zones pointed to by the arrows.

On top of that there are several secondary monster types that said monsters have on top of their normal type:
*Flip - When a Flip monster is attacked when it is face down or turned up by its controller or an effect, it triggers its own effect. Having the monster destroyed or exiled outside of being attacked, the effect does not trigger.
*Gemini - A Gemini monster is played as a regular Normal monster. It can later (either a later turn or outright, depending on what other cards its controller plays) be summoned again as if it entered the field from a player's hand. When it is, it triggers its effect. And no, Gemini Elf is not a Gemini monster.
*Spirit - When a Spirit monster is summoned, it returns to its owner's hand from the field during the End Phase. This means that Spirit monsters have little staying power, and they cannot be Special Summoned.
*Toon - Toon monsters resemble existing monsters in the game in a cartoony style. They rely on the Toon World card, and they are frequently destroyed if Toon World is.
*Tuner - These monsters are mandatory if you want to run a Synchros deck. While it is tempting to make a deck of nothing but Tuner monsters to make sure you always have one, many Synchros monsters require at least one non-Tuner monster or a monster of a particular type instead.
*Union - Often weak on their own, Union monsters can equip themselves to another monster to grant said monter a special effect. If that monster were to be destroyed, its equipped Union monster is destroyed instead.

====Spell Cards====
These cards are for support, augmenting monsters, giving you more cards or life points, stunning the opponent...etc, anything to give you an upper hand in the battle. They are coloured green. They have have six subtypes:
*Normal - A one-time use card that is discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - The effect persists, so long as the card is still in play
*Equip - Equipped on a monster card to augment their stats or give them special abilities
*Quick-Play - Like a normal spell, but can be played at any time, including your opponent's turn if you set them first.
*Ritual - A card which lets you sacrifice monsters whose total levels are a certain amount in order to bring forth the patron of the ritual, a ritual monster (see above).
*Field - Changes the attribute of the playing field, which can give certain monsters buffs or penalties (I.E: Water monsters benefit from Umi and Dark monsters benefit from Yami). It used to be that only 1 field spell may be active at a time, but later rules made it that each player may have their own field spell at the same time.

====[[Trap]] Cards====
Trap cards can't be played directly and have to be deployed in the face-down position. As their name implies; they're traps for your opponent, which can be triggered either by your decision or once your opponent meets certain conditions. Thanks to the animu's flair for the dramatic, you're required to say "YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!" in a loud and smug fashion, while dramatically flipping your trap card, when you decide to activate your's. Verbally explaining the trap's effects in a dramatic fashion is optional. They are coloured pink. Trap Cards exist in three kinds:
*Normal - This sort of card can be used once and discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - This kind of trap persists so long as the card is still on the field.
*Counter Trap - A trap used to counter other cards; the only thing that can stop a counter trap is another counter trap.

===The Turn===
*The turn starts with a '''Begin of Turn''' phase where some things can happen depending on the cards in play, but most of the time this turn is just filler.
*The '''Draw Phase''' allows you to draw 1 card from your deck. Again, some abilities might be triggered in this phase, but it's not all that flashy.
*The '''Standby Phase''' the phase that happens between the Draw and Main Phase. Nothing really happens here, but some abilities use this as part of their trigger requirements.
*The '''First Main Phase''' is where it all happens: you can play 1 monster and as many magic/trap cards as you like. Monsters can either be '''Summoned''' or '''Set'''. Summoning means they are placed in a face-up upright position; this makes their Attack stat the number used in the combat phase. If a monster is set it is placed in a face-down position turned 90 degrees to the right; this makes their Defense stat the number used in combat. You can only summon one monster normally, although card effects may allow you to conduct a "special summon" which is basically the same except that they are almost always summoned face-up and they don't take up your normal summon
*The '''Battle Phase''' has four sub phases. Again it has a Start and End step in which some effects trigger, but most of the time they're just there to look pretty. The big part of this is the Battle and Damage steps: you choose one of your monsters and attack one of your opponent's monsters. You then compare your monster's Attack to the other monster's opposing stat. If it is in Attack Position you compare the two Attack scores: the monster with the lowest Attack is destroyed and its controller loses life equal to the difference in Attack. If the scores are equal both monsters are destroyed. If the monster is in Defense Position you compare your Attack to the other's Defense: if yours is lower or equal then you lose life (but not your monster) equal to the difference (obviously you can't lose zero life), if yours is higher the other monster is destroyed but the opponent does not lose life. If the scores are equal nothing happens. If you attack a face-down monster this way then it flips up: either to reveal a weak monster that your opponent put down to stall for time, an effect monster that does something beneficial when flipped or destroyed, or a large blocker that might deal you damage. All monsters you control may attack only once (Unless an effect says otherwise), one by one; you are allowed to attack the same monster several times.
*After this is the '''Second Main Phase''', which is identical to the First Main Phase. You don't get another summon, so you can't usually summon unless you never in your first main phase, so it's mostly just used to set traps and quick play spells to use in your opponent's turn.
*Finally there is the '''End Phase''' where effects might be triggered and where you have to discard cards from your hand if your hand is over the current hand size cap of six to meet it.

==The Metaplot==
There is none.

No seriously, there is none. M:TG has an overarching plot described online, on the cards themselves (so figuring out the plot is a Dark Souls-like affair) and formerly in novels. [[Pokémon]] might not use the card game in its metaplot, but that has the excuse of having the plot in the anime, manga and video games, where the monsters on the cards are characters. Yu-Gi-Oh does something similar but to a lesser extent: in it the cards are almost all just means to an end for the characters. Certain monsters on the cards are more important to the plot than others, but they are a small minority compared to those who are not. The few times the game has dabbled, in fluff it's in stuff like Duel Terminal, a series of arcade machines that have an overarching plot to them that sees no use outside of said machines. Sometimes there are stories told on the cards themselves in a series of artworks to mimic M:TG's occasional Dark Souls-like storytelling.

==Archetype==
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Unless you possess some sort of post-human intellect that allows you to see synergy between otherwise unrelated cards and have supernatural luck to make these combinations work, you'll want to stick to an archetype for your deck. Archetypes are series of cards of a similar theme or kind, often with a series of related monsters. Through their interwoven and complementary mechanics a deck can become greater than the sum of its parts. There are dozens upon dozens of archetypes in the game, with many of them having their own sub-archetypes. Also, there is fluff of sorts for many of them, but this tends to have no real bearing on the game. Some of the archetypes are:
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* '''Blue-Eyes''' - Based on the famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon used by Seto Kaiba in the first series, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon itself has the distinction of being the most powerful Normal Monster in the game at 3000/2500. With its plentiful support a well-built Blue-Eyes deck can, with a bit of luck, [[meme|summon a bunch of monsters in one turn]] and lay a massive smackdown through regular monsters and powerful Rank-8 Xyz monsters. This archetype is very old, so it includes a lot of awesome but impractical cards such as "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". With its light scales and disintegrating breath the Blue-Eyes is based on [[Bahamut]] from [[D&D]].
* '''Burning Abyss''' - Taking its inspiration from the Inferno part of Dante's Divine Comedy, the Burning Abyss archetype is based around swarming the field, then summoning its Xyz, Synchro, Fusion and Ritual boss monsters. On their own the Burning Abyss monsters (called Malebranches) are not very strong: except for the boss monsters they are all Level 3 and top at 1700 ATK and 2000 DEF. On top of that, if you control a non-Burning Abyss monster all of them go to the graveyard, and if you don't have a spell or trap card on the field you can special summon them. The Malebranches have a variety of effects to help them not immediately crumble come your opponent's battle phase.
* '''Dark Magician''' - The signature monster of Yugi Muto from the original series. On its own the Dark Magician is... not very good. 2500/2100 for a two-Tribute monster is middling, even back in the day. Summoned Skull provided the same ATK for only one Tribute, and for two Tributes you could instead get a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. To mitigate this the archetype includes a fair number of spell cards to support and protect the Dark Magician.
:* '''Dark Magician Girl''' - A sub-archetype based around gaining power and summoning more Spellcaster-type monsters. The Dark Magician girl is notable for being one of the most popular [[waifu]]s of the game.
* '''Egyptian Gods''' - Giant God-Soldier of Obelisk, Sky Dragon of Osiris and Winged God-Dragon of Ra, aka Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon and Winged Dragon of Ra. The only three monsters in the game with the Divine-Beast type, they are legendary monsters based around the Egyptian gods Ra, Osiris and... [[Wat|Obelisk]]. They all require THREE Tributes to summon normally but they are beefy: their summoning cannot be negated and no cards can be activated as a reaction to their summoning. Obelisk has a hefty 4000/4000, cannot be targeted by spells, traps or card effects (but can still be destroyed by non-targeted effects). By tributing 2 monsters Obelisk can destroy all monsters your opponent controls, but Obelisk cannot attack that turn. Slifer's has all monsters your opponent summons lose 2000 ATK (if they hit 0 they are destroyed), and Slifer's ATK and DEF are equal to the number of cards in your hand x1000. Ra starts out with 0 ATK/DEF, and by paying all but 100 of your LP Ra's ATK and DEF becomes equal to the paid. By paying 1000 LP you can destroy one monster on the field. It's obvious that these two abilities are difficult to use at the same time. While powerful they're difficult and risky to use.
* '''Elemental HERO''' - Used by Jaden Yuki from GX, the HERO monsters (based on superheroes) require extensive use of Fusion Summoning to get your good monsters on the field and attack with them. A serious source of [[skub]] because of the heavy reliance on summoning, the fact that they were used by the GX protagonist, that they were in every set of the GX era meaning that they clogged up booster space, and there were a LOT of them. Seriously: about two dozen in the main deck, over three dozen in the Extra Deck, and that's not even counting all their support cards and sub archetypes. On top of all that the HERO monsters are not even that good, with only a few being worth running.
:* '''Destiny HERO''' - Like the Elemental HERO monsters, except 50% more [[British Empire|British]] and 50% more [[edgy]]. Used by Aster Phoenix from GX.
:* '''Evil HERO''' - As above, but less Britishness and with extra edge. Used by Jaden Yuki once he goes evil in the third season of GX.
:* '''Masked HERO''' - Based on [[Mantis Warriors|Kamen Rider]], the Masked HERO cards use Transformation Fusion to turn Elemental HERO monsters into Masked HERO monsters, who have powerful effects. The three transformation cards are all Quick Play cards, allowing you to change your monsters mid-turn to attack over and over again.
* '''Exodia''' - The most famous win condition, Exodia comes in five pieces. If you have all pieces in your hand you win the duel. While on their own it's very unlikely to obtain all parts, when combined with a wide variety of draw and search engines you become able to draw just about your entire deck in one turn and obtain all the parts. This means that playing an Exodia deck automatically makes you [[That Guy]], even in the eyes of other That Guys with their own That Guy decks. There are a number of monsters based on Exodia and are supported by him, bust they're mostly even more difficult to use than regular Exodia.
* '''Gem-Knights''' - A gemstone-themed archetype of warriors who can combine to create more powerful beings in order to face more powerful opponents. And before you ask: the Gem-Knights came around just over three years before Steven Universe became a thing. The Gem-Knights are [[Paladin|a bunch of honorable warriors who fight to protect the weak]]. They are very reliant on Fusion Monsters: of the 24 monsters in the archetype there are 12 Normal, Effect and Gemini monsters, 11 Fusion monsters and one Xyz monster. To aid in this they have access to six cards that allows Fusion for Gem-Knights in a variety of ways.
* '''Gishki''' - A revival of the long neglected Ritual summoning method, they are built around finding both Ritual Monsters and the Gishki Aquamirror Ritual card, which allows them to summon all of their monsters. They are one of the archetypes featured in the Duel Terminal arcade machines, where they made their debut.
* '''Gravekeeper''' - One of the oldest archetypes and one of the few that play up the Egyptian aspect of the game, Gravekeeper Monsters resemble Egyptians protecting tombs and those who rest in them. Some of the artwork resembles characters from ancient Egypt as depicted in the anime/manga. They heavily depend on the Necrovalley Field Spell, which shuts down just about anything having to do with the graveyard. Despite being able to mess over many other archetypes this way a well-placed negation or card destruction will leave them quite vulnerable.
* '''Harpie''' - The signature archetype of Mai Valentine from the original show, the Harpie monsters resemble, well, [[Harpy|harpies]]. Attractive winged women who don't wear a lot of clothing, their archetype is built on swarming the field with monsters and beat the opponent down that way. Originally the archetype was kinda sucky, but with later support cards it became a decent deck. Not great, just decent.
* '''Jar''' - Just about the biggest middle finger you can play to your opponent, Jar monsters are weak (except for Pot of The Forbidden) monsters resembling jars with a grinning creature inside. They all have very powerful but annoying flip effects, from discarding your hand and drawing a new card to wiping the board followed by forced revealing of cards, playing some of them and putting the rest in the graveyard. These are all supremely annoying effects, and the most annoying ones are outright forbidden. Playing them automatically makes you [[That Guy]] on the same level of an Exodia player, except even Exodia players think you're being That Guy because Jars get rid of Exodia pieces so easily.
* '''Jinzo''' - A small archetype dating back to the early days, Jinzo (short for the [[Japan]]ese ''jinzoningen'', which means cyborg) itself is a Lvl 6 2400/1500 Monster that stops the activtion of and negates all Trap cards on the field. Given that Trap cards are a notable part of the game, Jinzo was quite feared back in the day for outright shutting down an entire type of card. At one point it even was Limited to stave off its reign of terror, but in the modern day it is Unlimited because it is easier to get rid of. Jinzo spawned a few spinoffs that either shut down Trap cards as well or aid in summoning other Jinzo monsters. But with the fact that there are only five Jinzo monsters and one Equip card they are better suited as support for a deck rather than a standalone archetype. Jinzo became one of Joey Wheeler's signature monsters halfway into the Battle City arc of the original show.
* '''Kaiju''' - GOJIRA! Yes, of course Godzilla and Friends were adapted into the game. Their gimmick is twofold: you can summon one to your opponent's side of the field to make it easier to summon one of your own (because Kaiju do love to battle one another), and their non-Monster cards generate Kaiju Counters which can be spent for a variety of potent effects. Their roster includes expies of Godizlla, Mothra, Gamera, Gigan, Kumonga, Ghidorah and Mecha Godzilla, and strangely enough Dark Lugiel from Ultraman as well.
* '''Kozmo''' - You know what's neat? The Wizard of Oz. You know what's also neat? [[Star Wars]]. So what happens when you slap those two together? You get the Kozmo archetype. Oh yes. Luke Skywalker is now [[promotions|a smokin' hot redhead]], R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca are the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion, Ben Kenobi has been replaced by a rather attractive Good Witch of the North and even the Darth Vader and Darth Maul of the set (The Wicked Witches of the West and East respectively) are pretty. You'd think "Oh [[Japan]]" at this, but the archetype is actually exclusive to the TCG. The archetype consists of two kinds of cards: the "pilots" are used to summon the second type, the spaceships. Summoning the spaceships is as easy as banishing the pilot in order to get a spaceship on the field. In turn, a spaceship that's in the graveyard can be banished to summon a pilot from the deck. This means that it's ridiculously easy to get extremely powerful cards on the field, and aimed destruction is easily avoided. There was even a very easy one-turn kill available that lead to several Kozmo cards being Limited.
* '''Kuriboh''' - One of the contenders for the title of series mascot, Kuriboh are a series of Lvl 1 300/200 or lower monsters with a series of effects that involve negating your opponent's attacks. Yugi, Jaden and Yuma from the first, second and fourth series all have their own Kuribohs which saw frequent use. Because of their low stats Kurioh have great difficulty standing on their own, and require support from powerful monsters in order to win a duel instead of avoiding losing it.
* '''Monarch''' - A series of tall humanoids dressed in armor, the Monarch archetype consists of a series of six 2400/1000 Monsters supported by two 2800/1000 Monsters and upgraded versions of the core six, a series of Spell/Trap cards, weaker 800/1000 Monsters and a few other cards built around Tribute Summoning. When you successfully do so the Monarchs destroy or otherwise remove cards from your opponent's field, giving you the advantage. They can Tribute Summon at a relatively high speed and can even shut down your opponent's Extra Deck, but this is at the cost of many Monarch cards revolve about you either not using or having an empty Extra Deck on your own. They can be frighteningly effective and fast, filling their field while emptying their opponent's. Monarchs are a rather large archetype, with around 40 cards (but don't build a deck of 1 of each of these cards: it won't work very well). Exactly what they are monarchs of is unknown.
* '''Neo''' - An archetype built around Elemental HERO Neos, Jaden Yuki's signature monster. The archetype revolves around using Contact Fusion involving Neos and a Neo-Spacian Monster to summon a better monster. These monsters are not specatcular on their own, and they're made even worse by the fact that they return to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn. This made an already iffy archetype drop even more in use, even when you look at its best monsters.
* '''Number''' - Central to the plot of ZEXAL, the Numbers are Monsters whose names start with a number. While they are all Xyz monsters this is the only thing they have in common: their archetypes, attributes, types and effects are all widely different. Some of them are generic, while others work exclusively in certain archetypes.
* '''Odd-Eyes''' - The archetype used by Yuya Sakaki, the protagonist of ARC-V. The Odd-Eyes monsters are a group of dragons with heterochromia, giving them mismatched eye colors. The archetypes consists of a large number of high level, high power (7+, 2500+ ATK) dragons and their support cards, which includes the Magican archetype. A large number of them are Pendulum cards designed to summon a large number of them onto the field quickly. There are also several cards that are both Pendulum and another type: Fusion Pendulum, Synchro Pendulum and Xyz Pendulum.
: '''Supreme King''' - Near the end of ARC-V a new sub-archetype was introduced to reflect the series' villain: the Supreme King archetype. The main card of this archetype is Supreme King Z-ARC, a Fusion Pendulum monster that requires you to tribute 1 Fusion, 1 Synchro, 1 Xyz and 1 Pendulum dragon-typed monster. In return you get a 4000/4000 beast that cannot be destroyed or targeted by your opponent and can Special Summon a Supreme King Dragon card from your (extra) deck if it destroyes a monster. With the changes made to the game regarding Link Summoning this archetype has become next to unusable.
* '''Ojama''' - Named after the Japanese phrase Ojamashimasu ("pardon me for interrupting"), the Ojamas resemble small ugly imps in tiny speedos. ''Oh you, Japan.'' They are the main archetype used by Chazz Princeton, one of the main characters of GX, and the spirit of Ojama Yellow acts as Chazz' sidekick in the show. Standing at a weak 0/1000 each, the core Ojama monsters are not very tough. Instead they rely on a mix of spell and trap cards to clog up the opponent's side of the board with tokens that they cannot tribute and stall the battle, allowing for the summoning of the Ojama King and using their field spell to switch around the ATK and DEF of all Ojama monsters, followed by either a wipe of the opponent's side of the board or destroying all other Ojamas on the field to make the Ojama King unreasonably buff. A gimmicky and not very powerful archetype that's fun to play but annoying to play against.
* '''Performapal/Performage''' - One of the most broken archetypes of its time and a contender for the most powerful deck of the game pre-nerf, Performapal and Performage are based on circus animals and circus perfomers respectively. The former is the other archetype of ARC-V's Yuya Sakaki, who uses the circus animals for his signature Entertainment Dueling style. Both archetypes are based on Pendulum Summoning and shenanigans in the battle phase that break the game so utterly, Konami was forced to employ the second emergency ban list in the game's history. ''Even then'' it remained powerful enough to remain a meta staple until the [[power creep]] set in. It's safe to say that a lot of people did not like them a lot, with the cartoony art being the least of their complaints.
* '''Red-Eyes''' - The Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Red-Eyes B. Dragon because they wanted to avoid the association with black magic) is one of the game's most famous cards and the signature card of Duelist Kingdom's Joey Wheeler. On its own the Red-Eyes is not very impressive: 2400/2000 at level 7 is just not worth it, even with its good attribute and type: outclassed by the Dark Magician and the Summoned Skull alike it's just not up to par. What it makes up with however is its mind-boggling versatility: Gemini, Burn, Pendulum, Toolbox and more are all options for the archetype. This means that the archetype is capable of a great many things, but herein lies the trap: an improperly built deck will only get in its own way. A good Red-Eyes deck is the result of a great degree of finetuning to make a specialized deck. The archetype is also lacking in defensive measures and doesn't have a large number of good trap cards to support it, so a powerful opponent will simply steamroll a Red-Eyes deck.
* '''SPYRAL''' - A TCG-only set that's two parts [[James Bond]], one part [[Metal Gear]] and a nod at the Spyral agency from DC Comics. The archetype revolves around getting its core monster, SPYRAL Super Agent, onto the table followed by using a set of support cards to keep it on the field. It also involves looking frequently at your opponent's hand (which fits with the spy theme) to trigger effects. This means that the SPYRAL archetype suffers from a few weaknesses that, if exploited, can utterly shut it down.
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==Formats and Ban Lists==
Yu-Gi-Oh has a strange relationship with what cards are legal or not. Unlike the two other big card games, [[Pokémon]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] Yu-Gi-Oh does not have a "standard" format that says "all cards in sets X, Y and Z can be played and the rest cannot". This means that every single card, printed from ''Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon'' to the latest set can be used in a deck, as long as they're not on the ban lists. This means that in effect there are several thousand cards legal to use in your deck, with only a fraction being limited and only a handful being outright banned. Cards have four levels of legality, determining how many you can have of any one card in your Main, Extra and Side Decks:

* Unlimited: 3
* Semi-Limited: 2
* Limited: 1
* Forbidden: 0

There are also Illegal cards: cards that were never intended to see use in official duels or tournaments. These are often promotional materials, with all but six of them having conditions that allows their player to win the match. Not the duel: ''the best-out-of-three match''. The six remaining ones are two cards based on the anime, one being a promotional card handed out during the World Championship of 2007 that is quite useful in the right kind of deck, and the last three remaining cards being the unofficial versions of the three Egyptian Gods.

Exactly which cards are of what legality is determined by the region you're in. Yu-Gi-Oh has two regions where the game has different names: the Official Card Game and the Trading Card Game, shortened to OCG and TCG respectively. The OCG is played in Asia while the TCG is played in the rest of the world. Both regions have their own ban lists, meaning that a deck that is played in one region might not work as well or is perhaps not even legal in the other. This is even further complicated that while the OCG has only one format, the TCG has two: Advanced and Traditional. The difference between the two is akin to the difference between Legacy and Vintage: Advanced restricts more cards to create a more balanced experience and has quite a few cards that are illegal in the format. Traditional is a friendlier kind of game: all Forbidden cards are Limited. If you want to use Illegal cards then you need your opponent's permission first due to the amount of [[cheese]] found in the banlist. Advanced is the format used in official tournaments and events, making it akin to Standard. In other words, Traditional and no banlist at all are for fun games with friends, and Advanced is for more serious games.

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==The Anime==
[[Image:Banditkeith.jpg|450px|thumb|right|This is what the rest of the world thinks all people look like... IN AMERICA.]]
* Yu-Gi-Oh was clumsily "advertised" by a cartoon for children about adults playing a children's card game, which shared the same name.
* Season 0 Yami Yuugi is a well known follower of [[Tzeentch]] (as if the Egyptian gig wasn't enough of a give away). Mostly it was about Yami Yuugi punishing local bullies and scumbags by challenging them to a "Yami No Game", a dark and demented game of Yuugi's making with a stringent set of rules (dependent on the current challenge) that are meant to test the person's true character. If the person looses a Yami Game, or breaks the rules in any way, Yuugi will either kill them or [[Grimdark|give them such realistically horrifying hallucinations that they turn into a gibbering, hapless wreck]]. As an example, he once played table hockey with a puck full of nitroglycerin and blew the other guy to bits. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWXTZ8zuuDQ In another game in the anime, he tricked an armed criminal holding his girlfriend hostage into pouring 180 proof vodka all over himself and putting a lighter on his hand. Ensuring that if he did anything wrong, he'd burn a horrible death]. Subsequent Yugis... were most likely closer to [[Slaanesh]].
* Dan Green voices both Yugis in the English version.
* The aforementioned program was so popular, they released a spin-off show called Yu-Gi-Oh GX, about children attending a university that teaches students how to play a children's card game (really). Even the US dubbers noticed how stupid this was, and would write dialog that mocked the franchise, making [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bml9_is-littlekuriboh-writing-for-yu-gi_fun#.Ub5g-_k3uSo some parts] of the show look like an Abridged parody.
* This spawned another spin-off, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, where angsty emo teenagers play a children's card game on motorcycles, in a setting that's some sort of attempt at dystopian [[cyberpunk]]. Seriously, that's actually the premise. Not terrible. Surprisingly interesting and edgy at times. The dub is mediocre compared to the subbed, as 4kids of course excised the more "mature" parts from their localization. This is the show that introduced synchro monsters to the game.
* This was followed by Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal, which is basically [[anime|Naruto]] with card games instead of ninjas set in an alternate universe from 5Ds where Synchros don't exist. Xyz monsters were invented here.
* Next up was Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, which seemed to have remembered the other series and summoning methods existed, but the promise the show had got butchered once they travelled to the synchro dimension, a world similar to that of 5D's.
* The most recent (started in May 2017) one is Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS (which stands for Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System), which introduces Link monsters. Its villains, the Knights of Hanoi, are basically [[Anonymous]] with a technomagical supercharge.

==[[TL;DR]]==
A decent card game that could have been better, even great, if not for the two-headed giant that is Konami's incompetence and the crappy player base. Hey, at least it gave birth to a memetastic set of anime.

{{Card Games}}

[[Category:Weeaboo]]

Yu-Gi-Oh

2018-07-19T13:14:52Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

[[File:Poogioh.jpeg|500px|thumb|right|With a pokemon backdrop, too.]]
{{Topquote|The only thing intricate about this game is its ban list.|[[Magnus the Red]], ''[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]]}}

A [[Collectible Card Game|CCG]] produced by Konami which is based off a [[Anime|shonen battle manga]] of the same name. It can be surprisingly fun, and while confusing at first, it becomes second nature to most after just a few games.

While it does have some major rules problems thanks to idiotic rulings by Konami (i.e. missing the timing, semi hidden information going into hidden information zones, and an errata policy based mostly on what cards get reprinted), Yu-gi-oh is not as bad as some people have been led to believe; it has a quite interesting amount of game styles to choose from in the way you use the cards in your "deck" which is quite customisable.

...At least, unless you are playing in a tournament, in which case the majority of players will be playing 3 different deck styles max, because power creep 'n' seep is a bitch like that. The [[#Formats and Ban Lists|banlist]] has usually been the primary means of balance, meant to keep the best current playstyle(s) from overruning the meta for TOO long. In addition to outright banning cards that completely fuck the balance (ideally, anyway), other cards are limited so that the play styles that aren't completely gimped can still perform their strats reliably, without surgically excising chance from the game altogether like several older infamous combos, a few of which necessitated the creation of its Forbidden section.

It's worth noting that there was a major format overhaul recently for very similar reasons; prior to this, a majority of strats relied on running the other player down as soon as possible, in as few turns as possible (e.g. swarming the field with multiple Special Summons, ideally clearing the opposing field in the process), which led to plenty of [[Exterminatus|OTK shit]], and the occasional first turn wipeout. You can imagine the kind of [[RAGE|fun stuff]] that leads to in a tournament. The introduction of Link Monsters and related restrictions on Special Summons (e.g. Extra Deck cards can only be summoned to the dedicated Extra Monster Zone OR Main Monster Zones that a Link Monster points to) halted reliance on this to a significant degree. Even so, reliance on the banlist (along with the cycle of dated sht falling out of use) and little else means one or two archetypes inevitably find themselves head and shoulders above the rest. Such is the life cycle of competitive balancing.

At first it was just played by a few groups of people over the world but then it got a major increase in its player base after its anime dropped in the west. It is a relatively simple to play game that can keep you entertained for hours thanks to deck building and combo opportunities. It's an alright game for playing with friends, but the competitive scene for it is awful, partly due to the community being [[That Guy|kinda shitty]]; while something of an understatement, it's to be expected from a long-running grog magnet, to say nothing of its various anime and [[Weeaboo|some of the fans]] THOSE have attracted.

Mostly, though, it's due to Konami's usual practice of releasing new stuff, often in the form of 'structure' (i.e. preassembled) decks that generally fall into one of two categories: they're A) broken as shit, which sells more packs while potentially buttfucking the meta until the next banlist; or B) gimmicky as shit and thus utterly useless outside of select reprinted cards, even on a casual level (which was the case for many of the first ones released). In that regard, they're akin to good ol' Games Workshop - which, if you consider their reputation outside of this TCG, is being EXTREMELY generous. This has also given birth to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta Cycle'':

#Did the company release a structure deck or set containing cards that are either new or powering up an old archetype?
#If yes, do said cards make a new deck which dominates the meta completely and warps the game?
#If yes, sit back and await a sudden update to the Limited/Forbidden list, and take a shot for each of those new cards that make it.
#Enjoy the new format until new overpowered cards are released, which brings you back to step 1. Rinse and repeat.

==How to Play==
Yu-Gi-Oh is rather similar to [[Magic the Gathering]] in terms of play; in fact, it was introduced in the manga as a sort of Magic clone that was one of many featured games, from which point its popularity took off and changed the manga's entire focus as the game was fleshed out and became something more relatively unique. You can guess how much a [[Skub|point of contention]] this is for the respective fanbases.

Each player starts with a 40+ card deck and tries to take his opponent's 8000 life points down to 0. Players take turns to play creatures and spells, attack the opponent's creatures and deal with some of the most badass cards brought to play.

The number of cards you can have in play is currently limited as follows: you can have five monsters (and one which you summon from the extra deck!), five spells/traps and one field spell in play at the same time. If you have five monsters you cannot summon additional ones without sacrificing others; you also can't play spell/trap cards if you already have five of them active, but you can play a field card if you already have one (in which case, the former field gets destroyed).

Note that 8000 is a really fucking huge number of life points to keep track of: you might want to bring a notebook, calculator or app along to keep track of your life points. There's a reason the manga and anime cut this down to 2000 (later 4000 due to power creep).

===The makeup of a card===
The three basic types of cards in Yu-Gi-Oh are Monster, Spell and Trap.

====Monster Cards====
These cards are your warriors who will do the fighting for you. Monsters have levels, which affects how you summon them. Monsters from level 1 to 4 can be summoned normally. Monsters of level 5 and 6 require you to sacrifice one of your monsters, 7 or higher require two sacrifices. Monsters also have Attributes (think the colors from Magic the Gathering, except there are seven, and they are much less important), Monster Types (like creature type, there are 23, including fish, aqua and sea serpent), Attack and Defense (Strength and Toughness). There are eight types of them. The first four are from the early days of the game, with the latter four being added in 2008 and onwards:
*Normal - Coloured yellow. A straightforward card with no abilities.
*Effect - Coloured orange. A monster that has a special ability.
*Ritual - Coloured blue. A ritual monster is summoned using a ritual spell card and tributing monsters. They are placed in the main deck and cannot be summoned without a ritual spell. Usually has an effect, but not always.
*Fusion - Coloured violet. A fusion monster is one where you have to combine two or more cards in order to summon it. This combining is done by the special abilities of other cards, usually the spell card, Polymerization, though not always. Fusion monsters usually have effects, but not necessarily. In the early days of the game they used to be the final argument of sheer attack power, but over the years they've been overtaken.
**Contact Fusion - A variation of Fusion that involves either sending the cards that make up the fusion material into the graveyard or the banishment zone, or shuffling them into the deck. Polymerization is not needed; this effect is inherent to the Contact Fusion monsters in question. This effect is commonly found on A-to-Z monsters, the Neos, Gladiator Beast and Ritual Beast archetypes, and a few other cards. This means that while the lack of dependency on Polymerization cards makes them easier to play, these cards require their tributes to be on the field instead of either on the field or in the player's hand.
**Transformation Summon - Limited to the Masked HERO archetype, Transformation Summons requires a tribute of one card in favor of another, more powerful one. This requires the play of a Change-type spell, of which there are three. Because all Change cards are Quick-Play, you can play them during the Battle Phase in order to avoid negative effects or targeted destruction by your opponent, as well as attack several times in a single turn.
*Synchros - Coloured white. They go in the fusion deck, now known as an extra deck, and are summoned by sending monsters with a total level equal to theirs to the graveyard, including one tuner monster.
**Dark Synchros - Used to summon Dark Synchro monsters,. Instead of adding the values of the Tuner and the non-Tuner monsters together the level of the Tuner monster is ''subtracted'' from the level of the non-Tuner monster. This matters a lot more in the anime, where they are treated as their own card type rather then just being synchros with special conditions like they are in the CCG.
**Double Tuning - The rare Synchro monsters that require two Tuner monsters to summon. There are only five of them in the game.
**Accel Synchro - Just like regular Synchro summoning, except all material cards have to be Synchro cards themselves.
*XYZ - Coloured black. Pronounced "Exceeds", and summoned by placing two or more cards of the same level on top of each other. Instead of a level they have a rank which reflects the level of the monsters that must be "overlayed" to summon them from the extra deck.
**XYZ Evolution - XYZ Evolution monsters can be XYZ summoned as normal, but they can also use a single specific card as XYZ Material. This can be either from the effect of the XYZ monster itself or a Spell card. Many XYZ Evolution monsters are either CXYZ or Number-C monsters.
*Pendulum - Coloured the same colour as the other monster type they are in their top half and green in their bottom half, with a transition between the two, to show how they're like a mix of monster and spell. Thus you can have effect pendulum monsters, xyz pendulum, fusion pendulum, etc. There are currently no ritual pendulum monsters or link pendulum monsters in existence, though this may change in future. These are monsters that can also be played as spells in the pendulum zones, and go to the extra deck when they're destroyed while on field. They have a number called a scale, which is used when they are played as a spell card. They also allow you to summon a bunch of monsters in one turn, as long as the levels are between the scales of the two pendulum monsters you have in your pendulum zones. Newfags.
*Link - Coloured blue like Ritual monsters, but in another shade and with a hexagonal background. They have a link number instead of defence points, and can never be in defence position. They go in the extra deck, and are summoned by sending a number of monsters you control to the graveyard equal to their link number. Instead of levels they have arrows called link markers that point to other monster zones. You can summon other monsters from the extra deck to the zones pointed at by the link markers. Their effects often relate to the zones pointed to by the arrows.

On top of that there are several secondary monster types that said monsters have on top of their normal type:
*Flip - When a Flip monster is attacked when it is face down or turned up by its controller or an effect, it triggers its own effect. Having the monster destroyed or exiled outside of being attacked, the effect does not trigger.
*Gemini - A Gemini monster is played as a regular Normal monster. It can later (either a later turn or outright, depending on what other cards its controller plays) be summoned again as if it entered the field from a player's hand. When it is, it triggers its effect. And no, Gemini Elf is not a Gemini monster.
*Spirit - When a Spirit monster is summoned, it returns to its owner's hand from the field during the End Phase. This means that Spirit monsters have little staying power, and they cannot be Special Summoned.
*Toon - Toon monsters resemble existing monsters in the game in a cartoony style. They rely on the Toon World card, and they are frequently destroyed if Toon World is.
*Tuner - These monsters are mandatory if you want to run a Synchros deck. While it is tempting to make a deck of nothing but Tuner monsters to make sure you always have one, many Synchros monsters require at least one non-Tuner monster or a monster of a particular type instead.
*Union - Often weak on their own, Union monsters can equip themselves to another monster to grant said monter a special effect. If that monster were to be destroyed, its equipped Union monster is destroyed instead.

====Spell Cards====
These cards are for support, augmenting monsters, giving you more cards or life points, stunning the opponent...etc, anything to give you an upper hand in the battle. They are coloured green. They have have six subtypes:
*Normal - A one-time use card that is discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - The effect persists, so long as the card is still in play
*Equip - Equipped on a monster card to augment their stats or give them special abilities
*Quick-Play - Like a normal spell, but can be played at any time, including your opponent's turn if you set them first.
*Ritual - A card which lets you sacrifice monsters whose total levels are a certain amount in order to bring forth the patron of the ritual, a ritual monster (see above).
*Field - Changes the attribute of the playing field, which can give certain monsters buffs or penalties (I.E: Water monsters benefit from Umi and Dark monsters benefit from Yami). It used to be that only 1 field spell may be active at a time, but later rules made it that each player may have their own field spell at the same time.

====[[Trap]] Cards====
Trap cards can't be played directly and have to be deployed in the face-down position. As their name implies; they're traps for your opponent, which can be triggered either by your decision or once your opponent meets certain conditions. Thanks to the animu's flair for the dramatic, you're required to say "YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!" in a loud and smug fashion, while dramatically flipping your trap card, when you decide to activate your's. Verbally explaining the trap's effects in a dramatic fashion is optional. They are coloured pink. Trap Cards exist in three kinds:
*Normal - This sort of card can be used once and discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - This kind of trap persists so long as the card is still on the field.
*Counter Trap - A trap used to counter other cards; the only thing that can stop a counter trap is another counter trap.

===The Turn===
*The turn starts with a '''Begin of Turn''' phase where some things can happen depending on the cards in play, but most of the time this turn is just filler.
*The '''Draw Phase''' allows you to draw 1 card from your deck. Again, some abilities might be triggered in this phase, but it's not all that flashy.
*The '''Standby Phase''' the phase that happens between the Draw and Main Phase. Nothing really happens here, but some abilities use this as part of their trigger requirements.
*The '''First Main Phase''' is where it all happens: you can play 1 monster and as many magic/trap cards as you like. Monsters can either be '''Summoned''' or '''Set'''. Summoning means they are placed in a face-up upright position; this makes their Attack stat the number used in the combat phase. If a monster is set it is placed in a face-down position turned 90 degrees to the right; this makes their Defense stat the number used in combat. You can only summon one monster normally, although card effects may allow you to conduct a "special summon" which is basically the same except that they are almost always summoned face-up and they don't take up your normal summon
*The '''Battle Phase''' has four sub phases. Again it has a Start and End step in which some effects trigger, but most of the time they're just there to look pretty. The big part of this is the Battle and Damage steps: you choose one of your monsters and attack one of your opponent's monsters. You then compare your monster's Attack to the other monster's opposing stat. If it is in Attack Position you compare the two Attack scores: the monster with the lowest Attack is destroyed and its controller loses life equal to the difference in Attack. If the scores are equal both monsters are destroyed. If the monster is in Defense Position you compare your Attack to the other's Defense: if yours is lower or equal then you lose life (but not your monster) equal to the difference (obviously you can't lose zero life), if yours is higher the other monster is destroyed but the opponent does not lose life. If the scores are equal nothing happens. If you attack a face-down monster this way then it flips up: either to reveal a weak monster that your opponent put down to stall for time, an effect monster that does something beneficial when flipped or destroyed, or a large blocker that might deal you damage. All monsters you control may attack only once (Unless an effect says otherwise), one by one; you are allowed to attack the same monster several times.
*After this is the '''Second Main Phase''', which is identical to the First Main Phase. You don't get another summon, so you can't usually summon unless you never in your first main phase, so it's mostly just used to set traps and quick play spells to use in your opponent's turn.
*Finally there is the '''End Phase''' where effects might be triggered and where you have to discard cards from your hand if your hand is over the current hand size cap of six to meet it.

==The Metaplot==
There is none.

No seriously, there is none. M:TG has an overarching plot described online, on the cards themselves (so figuring out the plot is a Dark Souls-like affair) and formerly in novels. [[Pokémon]] might not use the card game in its metaplot, but that has the excuse of having the plot in the anime, manga and video games, where the monsters on the cards are characters. Yu-Gi-Oh does something similar but to a lesser extent: in it the cards are almost all just means to an end for the characters. Certain monsters on the cards are more important to the plot than others, but they are a small minority compared to those who are not. The few times the game has dabbled, in fluff it's in stuff like Duel Terminal, a series of arcade machines that have an overarching plot to them that sees no use outside of said machines. Sometimes there are stories told on the cards themselves in a series of artworks to mimic M:TG's occasional Dark Souls-like storytelling.

==Archetype==
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Unless you possess some sort of post-human intellect that allows you to see synergy between otherwise unrelated cards and have supernatural luck to make these combinations work, you'll want to stick to an archetype for your deck. Archetypes are series of cards of a similar theme or kind, often with a series of related monsters. Through their interwoven and complementary mechanics a deck can become greater than the sum of its parts. There are dozens upon dozens of archetypes in the game, with many of them having their own sub-archetypes. Also, there is fluff of sorts for many of them, but this tends to have no real bearing on the game. Some of the archetypes are:
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

* '''Blue-Eyes''' - Based on the famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon used by Seto Kaiba in the first series, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon itself has the distinction of being the most powerful Normal Monster in the game at 3000/2500. With its plentiful support a well-built Blue-Eyes deck can, with a bit of luck, [[meme|summon a bunch of monsters in one turn]] and lay a massive smackdown through regular monsters and powerful Rank-8 Xyz monsters. This archetype is very old, so it includes a lot of awesome but impractical cards such as "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". With its light scales and disintegrating breath the Blue-Eyes is based on [[Bahamut]] from [[D&D]].
* '''Burning Abyss''' - Taking its inspiration from the Inferno part of Dante's Divine Comedy, the Burning Abyss archetype is based around swarming the field, then summoning its Xyz, Synchro, Fusion and Ritual boss monsters. On their own the Burning Abyss monsters (called Malebranches) are not very strong: except for the boss monsters they are all Level 3 and top at 1700 ATK and 2000 DEF. On top of that, if you control a non-Burning Abyss monster all of them go to the graveyard, and if you don't have a spell or trap card on the field you can special summon them. The Malebranches have a variety of effects to help them not immediately crumble come your opponent's battle phase.
* '''Dark Magician''' - The signature monster of Yugi Muto from the original series. On its own the Dark Magician is... not very good. 2500/2100 for a two-Tribute monster is middling, even back in the day. Summoned Skull provided the same ATK for only one Tribute, and for two Tributes you could instead get a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. To mitigate this the archetype includes a fair number of spell cards to support and protect the Dark Magician.
:* '''Dark Magician Girl''' - A sub-archetype based around gaining power and summoning more Spellcaster-type monsters. The Dark Magician girl is notable for being one of the most popular [[waifu]]s of the game.
* '''Egyptian Gods''' - Giant God-Soldier of Obelisk, Sky Dragon of Osiris and Winged God-Dragon of Ra, aka Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon and Winged Dragon of Ra. The only three monsters in the game with the Divine-Beast type, they are legendary monsters based around the Egyptian gods Ra, Osiris and... [[Wat|Obelisk]]. They all require THREE Tributes to summon normally but they are beefy: their summoning cannot be negated and no cards can be activated as a reaction to their summoning. Obelisk has a hefty 4000/4000, cannot be targeted by spells, traps or card effects (but can still be destroyed by non-targeted effects). By tributing 2 monsters Obelisk can destroy all monsters your opponent controls, but Obelisk cannot attack that turn. Slifer's has all monsters your opponent summons lose 2000 ATK (if they hit 0 they are destroyed), and Slifer's ATK and DEF are equal to the number of cards in your hand x1000. Ra starts out with 0 ATK/DEF, and by paying all but 100 of your LP Ra's ATK and DEF becomes equal to the paid. By paying 1000 LP you can destroy one monster on the field. It's obvious that these two abilities are difficult to use at the same time. While powerful they're difficult and risky to use.
* '''Elemental HERO''' - Used by Jaden Yuki from GX, the HERO monsters (based on superheroes) require extensive use of Fusion Summoning to get your good monsters on the field and attack with them. A serious source of [[skub]] because of the heavy reliance on summoning, the fact that they were used by the GX protagonist, that they were in every set of the GX era meaning that they clogged up booster space, and there were a LOT of them. Seriously: about two dozen in the main deck, over three dozen in the Extra Deck, and that's not even counting all their support cards and sub archetypes. On top of all that the HERO monsters are not even that good, with only a few being worth running.
:* '''Destiny HERO''' - Like the Elemental HERO monsters, except 50% more [[British Empire|British]] and 50% more [[edgy]]. Used by Aster Phoenix from GX.
:* '''Evil HERO''' - As above, but less Britishness and with extra edge. Used by Jaden Yuki once he goes evil in the third season of GX.
:* '''Masked HERO''' - Based on [[Mantis Warriors|Kamen Rider]], the Masked HERO cards use Transformation Fusion to turn Elemental HERO monsters into Masked HERO monsters, who have powerful effects. The three transformation cards are all Quick Play cards, allowing you to change your monsters mid-turn to attack over and over again.
* '''Exodia''' - The most famous win condition, Exodia comes in five pieces. If you have all pieces in your hand you win the duel. While on their own it's very unlikely to obtain all parts, when combined with a wide variety of draw and search engines you become able to draw just about your entire deck in one turn and obtain all the parts. This means that playing an Exodia deck automatically makes you [[That Guy]], even in the eyes of other That Guys with their own That Guy decks. There are a number of monsters based on Exodia and are supported by him, bust they're mostly even more difficult to use than regular Exodia.
* '''Gem-Knights''' - A gemstone-themed archetype of warriors who can combine to create more powerful beings in order to face more powerful opponents. And before you ask: the Gem-Knights came around just over three years before Steven Universe became a thing. The Gem-Knights are [[Paladin|a bunch of honorable warriors who fight to protect the weak]]. They are very reliant on Fusion Monsters: of the 24 monsters in the archetype there are 12 Normal, Effect and Gemini monsters, 11 Fusion monsters and one Xyz monster. To aid in this they have access to six cards that allows Fusion for Gem-Knights in a variety of ways.
* '''Gishki''' - A revival of the long neglected Ritual summoning method, they are built around finding both Ritual Monsters and the Gishki Aquamirror Ritual card, which allows them to summon all of their monsters. They are one of the archetypes featured in the Duel Terminal arcade machines, where they made their debut.
* '''Gravekeeper''' - One of the oldest archetypes and one of the few that play up the Egyptian aspect of the game, Gravekeeper Monsters resemble Egyptians protecting tombs and those who rest in them. Some of the artwork resembles characters from ancient Egypt as depicted in the anime/manga. They heavily depend on the Necrovalley Field Spell, which shuts down just about anything having to do with the graveyard. Despite being able to mess over many other archetypes this way a well-placed negation or card destruction will leave them quite vulnerable.
* '''Harpie''' - The signature archetype of Mai Valentine from the original show, the Harpie monsters resemble, well, [[Harpy|harpies]]. Attractive winged women who don't wear a lot of clothing, their archetype is built on swarming the field with monsters and beat the opponent down that way. Originally the archetype was kinda sucky, but with later support cards it became a decent deck. Not great, just decent.
* '''Jar''' - Just about the biggest middle finger you can play to your opponent, Jar monsters are weak (except for Pot of The Forbidden) monsters resembling jars with a grinning creature inside. They all have very powerful but annoying flip effects, from discarding your hand and drawing a new card to wiping the board followed by forced revealing of cards, playing some of them and putting the rest in the graveyard. These are all supremely annoying effects, and the most annoying ones are outright forbidden. Playing them automatically makes you [[That Guy]] on the same level of an Exodia player, except even Exodia players think you're being That Guy because Jars get rid of Exodia pieces so easily.
* '''Jinzo''' - A small archetype dating back to the early days, Jinzo (short for the [[Japan]]ese ''jinzoningen'', which means cyborg) itself is a Lvl 6 2400/1500 Monster that stops the activtion of and negates all Trap cards on the field. Given that Trap cards are a notable part of the game, Jinzo was quite feared back in the day for outright shutting down an entire type of card. At one point it even was Limited to stave off its reign of terror, but in the modern day it is Unlimited because it is easier to get rid of. Jinzo spawned a few spinoffs that either shut down Trap cards as well or aid in summoning other Jinzo monsters. But with the fact that there are only five Jinzo monsters and one Equip card they are better suited as support for a deck rather than a standalone archetype. Jinzo became one of Joey Wheeler's signature monsters halfway into the Battle City arc of the original show.
* '''Kaiju''' - GOJIRA! Yes, of course Godzilla and Friends were adapted into the game. Their gimmick is twofold: you can summon one to your opponent's side of the field to make it easier to summon one of your own (because Kaiju do love to battle one another), and their non-Monster cards generate Kaiju Counters which can be spent for a variety of potent effects. Their roster includes expies of Godizlla, Mothra, Gamera, Gigan, Kumonga, Ghidorah and Mecha Godzilla, and strangely enough Dark Lugiel from Ultraman as well.
* '''Kozmo''' - You know what's neat? The Wizard of Oz. You know what's also neat? [[Star Wars]]. So what happens when you slap those two together? You get the Kozmo archetype. Oh yes. Luke Skywalker is now [[promotions|a smokin' hot redhead]], R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca are the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion, Ben Kenobi has been replaced by a rather attractive Good Witch of the North and even the Darth Vader and Darth Maul of the set (The Wicked Witches of the West and East respectively) are pretty. You'd think "Oh [[Japan]]" at this, but the archetype is actually exclusive to the TCG. The archetype consists of two kinds of cards: the "pilots" are used to summon the second type, the spaceships. Summoning the spaceships is as easy as banishing the pilot in order to get a spaceship on the field. In turn, a spaceship that's in the graveyard can be banished to summon a pilot from the deck. This means that it's ridiculously easy to get extremely powerful cards on the field, and aimed destruction is easily avoided. There was even a very easy one-turn kill available that lead to several Kozmo cards being Limited.
* '''Kuriboh''' - One of the contenders for the title of series mascot, Kuriboh are a series of Lvl 1 300/200 or lower monsters with a series of effects that involve negating your opponent's attacks. Yugi, Jaden and Yuma from the first, second and fourth series all have their own Kuribohs which saw frequent use. Because of their low stats Kurioh have great difficulty standing on their own, and require support from powerful monsters in order to win a duel instead of avoiding losing it.
* '''Monarch''' - A series of tall humanoids dressed in armor, the Monarch archetype consists of a series of six 2400/1000 Monsters supported by two 2800/1000 Monsters and upgraded versions of the core six, a series of Spell/Trap cards, weaker 800/1000 Monsters and a few other cards built around Tribute Summoning. When you successfully do so the Monarchs destroy or otherwise remove cards from your opponent's field, giving you the advantage. They can Tribute Summon at a relatively high speed and can even shut down your opponent's Extra Deck, but this is at the cost of many Monarch cards revolve about you either not using or having an empty Extra Deck on your own. They can be frighteningly effective and fast, filling their field while emptying their opponent's. Monarchs are a rather large archetype, with around 40 cards (but don't build a deck of 1 of each of these cards: it won't work very well). Exactly what they are monarchs of is unknown.
* '''Neo''' - An archetype built around Elemental HERO Neos, Jaden Yuki's signature monster. The archetype revolves around using Contact Fusion involving Neos and a Neo-Spacian Monster to summon a better monster. These monsters are not specatcular on their own, and they're made even worse by the fact that they return to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn. This made an already iffy archetype drop even more in use, even when you look at its best monsters.
* '''Number''' - Central to the plot of ZEXAL, the Numbers are Monsters whose names start with a number. While they are all Xyz monsters this is the only thing they have in common: their archetypes, attributes, types and effects are all widely different. Some of them are generic, while others work exclusively in certain archetypes.
* '''Odd-Eyes''' - The archetype used by Yuya Sakaki, the protagonist of ARC-V. The Odd-Eyes monsters are a group of dragons with heterochromia, giving them mismatched eye colors. The archetypes consists of a large number of high level, high power (7+, 2500+ ATK) dragons and their support cards, which includes the Magican archetype. A large number of them are Pendulum cards designed to summon a large number of them onto the field quickly. There are also several cards that are both Pendulum and another type: Fusion Pendulum, Synchro Pendulum and Xyz Pendulum.
: '''Supreme King''' - Near the end of ARC-V a new sub-archetype was introduced to reflect the series' villain: the Supreme King archetype. The main card of this archetype is Supreme King Z-ARC, a Fusion Pendulum monster that requires you to tribute 1 Fusion, 1 Synchro, 1 Xyz and 1 Pendulum dragon-typed monster. In return you get a 4000/4000 beast that cannot be destroyed or targeted by your opponent and can Special Summon a Supreme King Dragon card from your (extra) deck if it destroyes a monster. With the changes made to the game regarding Link Summoning this archetype has become next to unusable.
* '''Ojama''' - Named after the Japanese phrase Ojamashimasu ("pardon me for interrupting"), the Ojamas resemble small ugly imps in tiny speedos. ''Oh you, Japan.'' They are the main archetype used by Chazz Princeton, one of the main characters of GX, and the spirit of Ojama Yellow acts as Chazz' sidekick in the show. Standing at a weak 0/1000 each, the core Ojama monsters are not very tough. Instead they rely on a mix of spell and trap cards to clog up the opponent's side of the board with tokens that they cannot tribute and stall the battle, allowing for the summoning of the Ojama King and using their field spell to switch around the ATK and DEF of all Ojama monsters, followed by either a wipe of the opponent's side of the board or destroying all other Ojamas on the field to make the Ojama King unreasonably buff. A gimmicky and not very powerful archetype that's fun to play but annoying to play against.
* '''Performapal/Performage''' - One of the most broken archetypes of its time and a contender for the most powerful deck of the game pre-nerf, Performapal and Performage are based on circus animals and circus perfomers respectively. The former is the other archetype of ARC-V's Yuya Sakaki, who uses the circus animals for his signature Entertainment Dueling style. Both archetypes are based on Pendulum Summoning and shenanigans in the battle phase that break the game so utterly, Konami was forced to employ the second emergency ban list in the game's history. ''Even then'' it remained powerful enough to remain a meta staple until the [[power creep]] set in. It's safe to say that a lot of people did not like them a lot, with the cartoony art being the least of their complaints.
* '''Red-Eyes''' - The Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Red-Eyes B. Dragon because they wanted to avoid the association with black magic) is one of the game's most famous cards and the signature card of Duelist Kingdom's Joey Wheeler. On its own the Red-Eyes is not very impressive: 2400/2000 at level 7 is just not worth it, even with its good attribute and type: outclassed by the Dark Magician and the Summoned Skull alike it's just not up to par. What it makes up with however is its mind-boggling versatility: Gemini, Burn, Pendulum, Toolbox and more are all options for the archetype. This means that the archetype is capable of a great many things, but herein lies the trap: an improperly built deck will only get in its own way. A good Red-Eyes deck is the result of a great degree of finetuning to make a specialized deck. The archetype is also lacking in defensive measures and doesn't have a large number of good trap cards to support it, so a powerful opponent will simply steamroll a Red-Eyes deck.
* '''SPYRAL''' - A TCG-only set that's two parts [[James Bond]], one part [[Metal Gear]] and a nod at the Spyral agency from DC Comics. The archetype revolves around getting its core monster, SPYRAL Super Agent, onto the table followed by using a set of support cards to keep it on the field. It also involves looking frequently at your opponent's hand (which fits with the spy theme) to trigger effects. This means that the SPYRAL archetype suffers from a few weaknesses that, if exploited, can utterly shut it down.
</div></div>

==Formats and Ban Lists==
Yu-Gi-Oh has a strange relationship with what cards are legal or not. Unlike the two other big card games, [[Pokémon]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] Yu-Gi-Oh does not have a "standard" format that says "all cards in sets X, Y and Z can be played and the rest cannot". This means that every single card, printed from ''Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon'' to the latest set can be used in a deck, as long as they're not on the ban lists. This means that in effect there are several thousand cards legal to use in your deck, with only a fraction being limited and only a handful being outright banned. Cards have four levels of legality, determining how many you can have of any one card in your Main, Extra and Side Decks:

* Unlimited: 3
* Semi-Limited: 2
* Limited: 1
* Forbidden: 0

There are also Illegal cards: cards that were never intended to see use in official duels or tournaments. These are often promotional materials, with all but six of them having conditions that allows their player to win the match. Not the duel: ''the best-out-of-three match''. The six remaining ones are two cards based on the anime, one being a promotional card handed out during the World Championship of 2007 that is quite useful in the right kind of deck, and the last three remaining cards being the unofficial versions of the three Egyptian Gods.

Exactly which cards are of what legality is determined by the region you're in. Yu-Gi-Oh has two regions where the game has different names: the Official Card Game and the Trading Card Game, shortened to OCG and TCG respectively. The OCG is played in Asia while the TCG is played in the rest of the world. Both regions have their own ban lists, meaning that a deck that is played in one region might not work as well or is perhaps not even legal in the other. This is even further complicated that while the OCG has only one format, the TCG has two: Advanced and Traditional. The difference between the two is akin to the difference between Legacy and Vintage: Advanced restricts more cards to create a more balanced experience and has quite a few cards that are illegal in the format. Traditional is a friendlier kind of game: all Forbidden cards are Limited. If you want to use Illegal cards then you need your opponent's permission first due to the amount of [[cheese]] found in the banlist. Advanced is the format used in official tournaments and events, making it akin to Standard. In other words, Traditional and no banlist at all are for fun games with friends, and Advanced is for more serious games.

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==The Anime==
[[Image:Banditkeith.jpg|450px|thumb|right|This is what the rest of the world thinks all people look like... IN AMERICA.]]
* Yu-Gi-Oh was clumsily "advertised" by a cartoon for children about adults playing a children's card game, which shared the same name.
* Season 0 Yami Yuugi is a well known follower of [[Tzeentch]] (as if the Egyptian gig wasn't enough of a give away). Mostly it was about Yami Yuugi punishing local bullies and scumbags by challenging them to a "Yami No Game", a dark and demented game of Yuugi's making with a stringent set of rules (dependent on the current challenge) that are meant to test the person's true character. If the person looses a Yami Game, or breaks the rules in any way, Yuugi will either kill them or [[Grimdark|give them such realistically horrifying hallucinations that they turn into a gibbering, hapless wreck]]. As an example, he once played table hockey with a puck full of nitroglycerin and blew the other guy to bits. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWXTZ8zuuDQ In another game in the anime, he tricked an armed criminal holding his girlfriend hostage into pouring 180 proof vodka all over himself and putting a lighter on his hand. Ensuring that if he did anything wrong, he'd burn a horrible death]. Subsequent Yugis... were most likely closer to [[Slaanesh]].
* Dan Green voices both Yugis in the English version.
* The aforementioned program was so popular, they released a spin-off show called Yu-Gi-Oh GX, about children attending a university that teaches students how to play a children's card game (really). Even the US dubbers noticed how stupid this was, and would write dialog that mocked the franchise, making [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bml9_is-littlekuriboh-writing-for-yu-gi_fun#.Ub5g-_k3uSo some parts] of the show look like an Abridged parody.
* This spawned another spin-off, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, where angsty emo teenagers play a children's card game on motorcycles, in a setting that's some sort of attempt at dystopian [[cyberpunk]]. Seriously, that's actually the premise. Not terrible. Surprisingly interesting and edgy at times. The dub is mediocre compared to the subbed, as 4kids of course excised the more "mature" parts from their localization. This is the show that introduced synchro monsters to the game.
* This was followed by Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal, which is basically [[anime|Naruto]] with card games instead of ninjas set in an alternate universe from 5Ds where Synchros don't exist. Xyz monsters were invented here.
* Next up was Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, which seemed to have remembered the other series and summoning methods existed, but the promise the show had got butchered once they travelled to the synchro dimension, a world similar to that of 5D's.
* The most recent (started in May 2017) one is Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS (which stands for Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System), which introduces Link monsters. Its villains, the Knights of Hanoi, are basically [[Anonymous]] with a technomagical supercharge.

==[[TL;DR]]==
A decent card game that could have been better, even great, if not for the two-headed giant that is Konami's incompetence and the crappy player base. Hey, at least it gave birth to a memetastic set of anime.

{{Card Games}}

[[Category:Weeaboo]]

Yu-Gi-Oh

2018-07-19T13:13:47Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

[[File:Poogioh.jpeg|500px|thumb|right|With a pokemon backdrop, too.]]
{{Topquote|The only thing intricate about this game is its ban list.|[[Magnus the Red]], ''[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]]}}

A [[Collectible Card Game|CCG]] produced by Konami which is based off a [[Anime|shonen battle manga]] of the same name. It can be surprisingly fun, and while confusing at first, it becomes second nature to most after just a few games.

While it does have some major rules problems thanks to idiotic rulings by Konami (i.e. missing the timing, semi hidden information going into hidden information zones, and an errata policy based mostly on what cards get reprinted), Yu-gi-oh is not as bad as some people have been led to believe; it has a quite interesting amount of game styles to choose from in the way you use the cards in your "deck" which is quite customisable.

...At least, unless you are playing in a tournament, in which case the majority of players will be playing 3 different deck styles max, because power creep 'n' seep is a bitch like that. The [[#Formats and Ban Lists|banlist]] has usually been the primary means of balance, meant to keep the best current playstyle(s) from overruning the meta for TOO long. In addition to outright banning cards that completely fuck the balance (ideally, anyway), other cards are limited so that the play styles that aren't completely gimped can still perform their strats reliably, without surgically excising chance from the game altogether like several older infamous combos, a few of which necessitated the creation of its Forbidden section.

It's worth noting that there was a major format overhaul recently for very similar reasons; prior to this, a majority of strats relied on running the other player down as soon as possible, in as few turns as possible (e.g. swarming the field with multiple Special Summons, ideally clearing the opposing field in the process), which led to plenty of [[Exterminatus|OTK shit]], and the occasional first turn wipeout. You can imagine the kind of [[RAGE|fun stuff]] that leads to in a tournament. The introduction of Link Monsters and related restrictions on Special Summons (e.g. Extra Deck cards can only be summoned to the dedicated Extra Monster Zone OR Main Monster Zones that a Link Monster points to) halted reliance on this to a significant degree. Even so, reliance on the banlist (along with the cycle of dated sht falling out of use) and little else means one or two archetypes inevitably find themselves head and shoulders above the rest. Such is the life cycle of competitive balancing.

At first it was just played by a few groups of people over the world but then it got a major increase in its player base after its anime dropped in the west. It is a relatively simple to play game that can keep you entertained for hours thanks to deck building and combo opportunities. It's an alright game for playing with friends, but the competitive scene for it is awful, partly due to the community being [[That Guy|kinda shitty]]; while something of an understatement, it's to be expected from a long-running grog magnet, to say nothing of its various anime and [[Weeaboo|some of the fans]] THOSE have attracted.

Mostly, though, it's due to Konami's usual practice of releasing new stuff, often in the form of 'structure' (i.e. preassembled) decks that generally fall into one of two categories: they're A) broken as shit, which sells more packs while potentially buttfucking the meta until the next banlist; or B) gimmicky as shit and thus utterly useless outside of select reprinted cards, even on a casual level (which was the case for many of the first ones released). In that regard, they're akin to good ol' Games Workshop - which, if you consider their reputation outside of this TCG, is being EXTREMELY generous. This has also given birth to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta Cycle'':

#Did the company release a structure deck or set containing cards that are either new or powering up an old archetype?
#If yes, do said cards make a new deck which dominates the meta completely and warps the game?
#If yes, sit back and await a sudden update to the Limited/Forbidden list, and take a shot for each of those new cards that make it.
#Enjoy the new format until new overpowered cards are released, which brings you back to step 1. Rinse and repeat.

==How to Play==
Yu-Gi-Oh is rather similar to [[Magic the Gathering]] in terms of play; in fact, it was introduced in the manga as a sort of Magic clone that was one of many featured games, from which point its popularity took off and changed the manga's entire focus as the game was fleshed out and became something more relatively unique. You can guess how much a [[Skub|point of contention]] this is for the respective fanbases.

Each player starts with a 40+ card deck and tries to take his opponent's 8000 life points down to 0. Players take turns to play creatures and spells, attack the opponent's creatures and deal with some of the most badass cards brought to play.

The number of cards you can have in play is currently limited as follows: you can have five monsters (and one which you summon from the extra deck!), five spells/traps and one field spell in play at the same time. If you have five monsters you cannot summon additional ones without sacrificing others; you also can't play spell/trap cards if you already have five of them active, but you can play a field card if you already have one (in which case, the former field gets destroyed).

Note that 8000 is a really fucking huge number of life points to keep track of: you might want to bring a notebook, calculator or app along to keep track of your life points. There's a reason the manga and anime cut this down to 2000 (later 4000 due to power creep).

===The makeup of a card===
The three basic types of cards in Yu-Gi-Oh are Monster, Spell and Trap.

====Monster Cards====
These cards are your warriors who will do the fighting for you. Monsters have levels, which affects how you summon them. Monsters from level 1 to 4 can be summoned normally. Monsters of level 5 and 6 require you to sacrifice one of your monsters, 7 or higher require two sacrifices. Monsters also have Attributes (think the colors from Magic the Gathering, except there are seven, and they are much less important), Monster Types (like creature type, there are 23, including fish, aqua and sea serpent), Attack and Defense (Strength and Toughness). There are eight types of them. The first four are from the early days of the game, with the latter four being added in 2008 and onwards:
*Normal - Coloured yellow. A straightforward card with no abilities.
*Effect - Coloured orange. A monster that has a special ability.
*Ritual - Coloured blue. A ritual monster is summoned using a ritual spell card and tributing monsters. They are placed in the main deck and cannot be summoned without a ritual spell. Usually has an effect, but not always.
*Fusion - Coloured violet. A fusion monster is one where you have to combine two or more cards in order to summon it. This combining is done by the special abilities of other cards, usually the spell card, Polymerization, though not always. Fusion monsters usually have effects, but not necessarily. In the early days of the game they used to be the final argument of sheer attack power, but over the years they've been overtaken.
**Contact Fusion - A variation of Fusion that involves either sending the cards that make up the fusion material into the graveyard or the banishment zone, or shuffling them into the deck. Polymerization is not needed; this effect is inherent to the Contact Fusion monsters in question. This effect is commonly found on A-to-Z monsters, the Neos, Gladiator Beast and Ritual Beast archetypes, and a few other cards. This means that while the lack of dependency on Polymerization cards makes them easier to play, these cards require their tributes to be on the field instead of either on the field or in the player's hand.
**Transformation Summon - Limited to the Masked HERO archetype, Transformation Summons requires a tribute of one card in favor of another, more powerful one. This requires the play of a Change-type spell, of which there are three. Because all Change cards are Quick-Play, you can play them during the Battle Phase in order to avoid negative effects or targeted destruction by your opponent, as well as attack several times in a single turn.
*Synchros - Coloured white. They go in the fusion deck, now known as an extra deck, and are summoned by sending monsters with a total level equal to theirs to the graveyard, including one tuner monster.
**Dark Synchros - Used to summon Dark Synchro monsters,. Instead of adding the values of the Tuner and the non-Tuner monsters together the level of the Tuner monster is ''subtracted'' from the level of the non-Tuner monster. This matters a lot more in the anime, where they are treated as their own card type rather then just being synchros with special conditions like they are in the CCG.
**Double Tuning - The rare Synchro monsters that require two Tuner monsters to summon. There are only five of them in the game.
**Accel Synchro - Just like regular Synchro summoning, except all material cards have to be Synchro cards themselves.
*XYZ - Coloured black. Pronounced "Exceeds", and summoned by placing two or more cards of the same level on top of each other. Instead of a level they have a rank which reflects the level of the monsters that must be "overlayed" to summon them from the extra deck.
**XYZ Evolution - XYZ Evolution monsters can be XYZ summoned as normal, but they can also use a single specific card as XYZ Material. This can be either from the effect of the XYZ monster itself or a Spell card. Many XYZ Evolution monsters are either CXYZ or Number-C monsters.
*Pendulum - Coloured the same colour as the other monster type they are in their top half and green in their bottom half, with a transition between the two, to show how they're like a mix of monster and spell. Thus you can have effect pendulum monsters, xyz pendulum, fusion pendulum, etc. There are currently no ritual pendulum monsters or link pendulum monsters in existence, though this may change in future. These are monsters that can also be played as spells in the pendulum zones, and go to the extra deck when they're destroyed while on field. They have a number called a scale, which is used when they are played as a spell card. They also allow you to summon a bunch of monsters in one turn, as long as the levels are between the scales of the two pendulum monsters you have in your pendulum zones. Newfags.
*Link - Coloured blue like Ritual monsters, but in another shade and with a hexagonal background. They have a link number instead of defence points, and can never be in defence position. They go in the extra deck, and are summoned by sending a number of monsters you control to the graveyard equal to their link number. Instead of levels they have arrows called link markers that point to other monster zones. You can summon other monsters from the extra deck to the zones pointed at by the link markers. Their effects often relate to the zones pointed to by the arrows.

On top of that there are several secondary monster types that said monsters have on top of their normal type:
*Flip - When a Flip monster is attacked when it is face down or turned up by its controller or an effect, it triggers its own effect. Having the monster destroyed or exiled outside of being attacked, the effect does not trigger.
*Gemini - A Gemini monster is played as a regular Normal monster. It can later (either a later turn or outright, depending on what other cards its controller plays) be summoned again as if it entered the field from a player's hand. When it is, it triggers its effect. And no, Gemini Elf is not a Gemini monster.
*Spirit - When a Spirit monster is summoned, it returns to its owner's hand from the field during the End Phase. This means that Spirit monsters have little staying power, and they cannot be Special Summoned.
*Toon - Toon monsters resemble existing monsters in the game in a cartoony style. They rely on the Toon World card, and they are frequently destroyed if Toon World is.
*Tuner - These monsters are mandatory if you want to run a Synchros deck. While it is tempting to make a deck of nothing but Tuner monsters to make sure you always have one, many Synchros monsters require at least one non-Tuner monster or a monster of a particular type instead.
*Union - Often weak on their own, Union monsters can equip themselves to another monster to grant said monter a special effect. If that monster were to be destroyed, its equipped Union monster is destroyed instead.

====Spell Cards====
These cards are for support, augmenting monsters, giving you more cards or life points, stunning the opponent...etc, anything to give you an upper hand in the battle. They are coloured green. They have have six subtypes:
*Normal - A one-time use card that is discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - The effect persists, so long as the card is still in play
*Equip - Equipped on a monster card to augment their stats or give them special abilities
*Quick-Play - Like a normal spell, but can be played at any time, including your opponent's turn if you set them first.
*Ritual - A card which lets you sacrifice monsters whose total levels are a certain amount in order to bring forth the patron of the ritual, a ritual monster (see above).
*Field - Changes the attribute of the playing field, which can give certain monsters buffs or penalties (I.E: Water monsters benefit from Umi and Dark monsters benefit from Yami). It used to be that only 1 field spell may be active at a time, but later rules made it that each player may have their own field spell at the same time.

====[[Trap]] Cards====
Trap cards can't be played directly and have to be deployed in the face-down position. As their name implies; they're traps for your opponent, which can be triggered either by your decision or once your opponent meets certain conditions. Thanks to the animu's flair for the dramatic, you're required to say "YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!" in a loud and smug fashion, while dramatically flipping your trap card, when you decide to activate your's. Verbally explaining the trap's effects in a dramatic fashion is optional. They are coloured pink. Trap Cards exist in three kinds:
*Normal - This sort of card can be used once and discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - This kind of trap persists so long as the card is still on the field.
*Counter Trap - A trap used to counter other cards; the only thing that can stop a counter trap is another counter trap.

===The Turn===
*The turn starts with a '''Begin of Turn''' phase where some things can happen depending on the cards in play, but most of the time this turn is just filler.
*The '''Draw Phase''' allows you to draw 1 card from your deck. Again, some abilities might be triggered in this phase, but it's not all that flashy.
*The '''Standby Phase''' the phase that happens between the Draw and Main Phase. Nothing really happens here, but some abilities use this as part of their trigger requirements.
*The '''First Main Phase''' is where it all happens: you can play 1 monster and as many magic/trap cards as you like. Monsters can either be '''Summoned''' or '''Set'''. Summoning means they are placed in a face-up upright position; this makes their Attack stat the number used in the combat phase. If a monster is set it is placed in a face-down position turned 90 degrees to the right; this makes their Defense stat the number used in combat. You can only summon one monster normally, although card effects may allow you to conduct a "special summon" which is basically the same except that they are almost always summoned face-up and they don't take up your normal summon
*The '''Battle Phase''' has four sub phases. Again it has a Start and End step in which some effects trigger, but most of the time they're just there to look pretty. The big part of this is the Battle and Damage steps: you choose one of your monsters and attack one of your opponent's monsters. You then compare your monster's Attack to the other monster's opposing stat. If it is in Attack Position you compare the two Attack scores: the monster with the lowest Attack is destroyed and its controller loses life equal to the difference in Attack. If the scores are equal both monsters are destroyed. If the monster is in Defense Position you compare your Attack to the other's Defense: if yours is lower or equal then you lose life (but not your monster) equal to the difference (obviously you can't lose zero life), if yours is higher the other monster is destroyed but the opponent does not lose life. If the scores are equal nothing happens. If you attack a face-down monster this way then it flips up: either to reveal a weak monster that your opponent put down to stall for time, an effect monster that does something beneficial when flipped or destroyed, or a large blocker that might deal you damage. All monsters you control may attack only once (Unless an effect says otherwise), one by one; you are allowed to attack the same monster several times.
*After this is the '''Second Main Phase''', which is identical to the First Main Phase. You don't get another summon, so you can't usually summon unless you never in your first main phase, so it's mostly just used to set traps and quick play spells to use in your opponent's turn.
*Finally there is the '''End Phase''' where effects might be triggered and where you have to discard cards from your hand if your hand is over the current hand size cap of six to meet it.

==The Metaplot==
There is none.

No seriously, there is none. M:TG has an overarching plot described online, on the cards themselves (so figuring out the plot is a Dark Souls-like affair) and formerly in novels. [[Pokémon]] might not use the card game in its metaplot, but that has the excuse of having the plot in the anime, manga and video games, where the monsters on the cards are characters. Yu-Gi-Oh does something similar but to a lesser extent: in it the cards are almost all just means to an end for the characters. Certain monsters on the cards are more important to the plot than others, but they are a small minority compared to those who are not. The few times the game has dabbled, in fluff it's in stuff like Duel Terminal, a series of arcade machines that have an overarching plot to them that sees no use outside of said machines. Sometimes there are stories told on the cards themselves in a series of artworks to mimic M:TG's occasional Dark Souls-like storytelling.

==Archetype==
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Unless you possess some sort of post-human intellect that allows you to see synergy between otherwise unrelated cards and have supernatural luck to make these combinations work, you'll want to stick to an archetype for your deck. Archetypes are series of cards of a similar theme or kind, often with a series of related monsters. Through their interwoven and complementary mechanics a deck can become greater than the sum of its parts. There are dozens upon dozens of archetypes in the game, with many of them having their own sub-archetypes. Also, there is fluff of sorts for many of them, but this tends to have no real bearing on the game. Some of the archetypes are:
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* '''Blue-Eyes''' - Based on the famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon used by Seto Kaiba in the first series, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon itself has the distinction of being the most powerful Normal Monster in the game at 3000/2500. With its plentiful support a well-built Blue-Eyes deck can, with a bit of luck, [[meme|summon a bunch of monsters in one turn]] and lay a massive smackdown through regular monsters and powerful Rank-8 Xyz monsters. This archetype is very old, so it includes a lot of awesome but impractical cards such as "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". With its light scales and disintegrating breath the Blue-Eyes is based on [[Bahamut]] from [[D&D]].
* '''Burning Abyss''' - Taking its inspiration from the Inferno part of Dante's Divine Comedy, the Burning Abyss archetype is based around swarming the field, then summoning its Xyz, Synchro, Fusion and Ritual boss monsters. On their own the Burning Abyss monsters (called Malebranches) are not very strong: except for the boss monsters they are all Level 3 and top at 1700 ATK and 2000 DEF. On top of that, if you control a non-Burning Abyss monster all of them go to the graveyard, and if you don't have a spell or trap card on the field you can special summon them. The Malebranches have a variety of effects to help them not immediately crumble come your opponent's battle phase.
* '''Dark Magician''' - The signature monster of Yugi Muto from the original series. On its own the Dark Magician is... not very good. 2500/2100 for a two-Tribute monster is middling, even back in the day. Summoned Skull provided the same ATK for only one Tribute, and for two Tributes you could instead get a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. To mitigate this the archetype includes a fair number of spell cards to support and protect the Dark Magician.
:* '''Dark Magician Girl''' - A sub-archetype based around gaining power and summoning more Spellcaster-type monsters. The Dark Magician girl is notable for being one of the most popular [[waifu]]s of the game.
* '''Egyptian Gods''' - Giant God-Soldier of Obelisk, Sky Dragon of Osiris and Winged God-Dragon of Ra, aka Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon and Winged Dragon of Ra. The only three monsters in the game with the Divine-Beast type, they are legendary monsters based around the Egyptian gods Ra, Osiris and... [[Wat|Obelisk]]. They all require THREE Tributes to summon normally but they are beefy: their summoning cannot be negated and no cards can be activated as a reaction to their summoning. Obelisk has a hefty 4000/4000, cannot be targeted by spells, traps or card effects (but can still be destroyed by non-targeted effects). By tributing 2 monsters Obelisk can destroy all monsters your opponent controls, but Obelisk cannot attack that turn. Slifer's has all monsters your opponent summons lose 2000 ATK (if they hit 0 they are destroyed), and Slifer's ATK and DEF are equal to the number of cards in your hand x1000. Ra starts out with 0 ATK/DEF, and by paying all but 100 of your LP Ra's ATK and DEF becomes equal to the paid. By paying 1000 LP you can destroy one monster on the field. It's obvious that these two abilities are difficult to use at the same time. While powerful they're difficult and risky to use.
* '''Elemental HERO''' - Used by Jaden Yuki from GX, the HERO monsters (based on superheroes) require extensive use of Fusion Summoning to get your good monsters on the field and attack with them. A serious source of [[skub]] because of the heavy reliance on summoning, the fact that they were used by the GX protagonist, that they were in every set of the GX era meaning that they clogged up booster space, and there were a LOT of them. Seriously: about two dozen in the main deck, over three dozen in the Extra Deck, and that's not even counting all their support cards and sub archetypes. On top of all that the HERO monsters are not even that good, with only a few being worth running.
:* '''Destiny HERO''' - Like the Elemental HERO monsters, except 50% more [[British Empire|British]] and 50% more [[edgy]]. Used by Aster Phoenix from GX.
:* '''Evil HERO''' - As above, but less Britishness and with extra edge. Used by Jaden Yuki once he goes evil in the third season of GX.
:* '''Masked HERO''' - Based on [[Mantis Warriors|Kamen Rider]], the Masked HERO cards use Transformation Fusion to turn Elemental HERO monsters into Masked HERO monsters, who have powerful effects. The three transformation cards are all Quick Play cards, allowing you to change your monsters mid-turn to attack over and over again.
* '''Exodia''' - The most famous win condition, Exodia comes in five pieces. If you have all pieces in your hand you win the duel. While on their own it's very unlikely to obtain all parts, when combined with a wide variety of draw and search engines you become able to draw just about your entire deck in one turn and obtain all the parts. This means that playing an Exodia deck automatically makes you [[That Guy]], even in the eyes of other That Guys with their own That Guy decks. There are a number of monsters based on Exodia and are supported by him, bust they're mostly even more difficult to use than regular Exodia.
* '''Gem-Knights''' - A gemstone-themed archetype of warriors who can combine to create more powerful beings in order to face more powerful opponents. And before you ask: the Gem-Knights came around just over three years before Steven Universe became a thing. The Gem-Knights are [[Paladin|a bunch of honorable warriors who fight to protect the weak]]. They are very reliant on Fusion Monsters: of the 24 monsters in the archetype there are 12 Normal, Effect and Gemini monsters, 11 Fusion monsters and one Xyz monster. To aid in this they have access to six cards that allows Fusion for Gem-Knights in a variety of ways.
* '''Gishki''' - A revival of the long neglected Ritual summoning method, they are built around finding both Ritual Monsters and the Gishki Aquamirror Ritual card, which allows them to summon all of their monsters. They are one of the archetypes featured in the Duel Terminal arcade machines, where they made their debut.
* '''Gravekeeper''' - One of the oldest archetypes and one of the few that play up the Egyptian aspect of the game, Gravekeeper Monsters resemble Egyptians protecting tombs and those who rest in them. Some of the artwork resembles characters from ancient Egypt as depicted in the anime/manga. They heavily depend on the Necrovalley Field Spell, which shuts down just about anything having to do with the graveyard. Despite being able to mess over many other archetypes this way a well-placed negation or card destruction will leave them quite vulnerable.
* '''Harpie''' - The signature archetype of Mai Valentine from the original show, the Harpie monsters resemble, well, [[Harpy|harpies]]. Attractive winged women who don't wear a lot of clothing, their archetype is built on swarming the field with monsters and beat the opponent down that way. Originally the archetype was kinda sucky, but with later support cards it became a decent deck. Not great, just decent.
* '''Jar''' - Just about the biggest middle finger you can play to your opponent, Jar monsters are weak (except for Pot of The Forbidden) monsters resembling jars with a grinning creature inside. They all have very powerful but annoying flip effects, from discarding your hand and drawing a new card to wiping the board followed by forced revealing of cards, playing some of them and putting the rest in the graveyard. These are all supremely annoying effects, and the most annoying ones are outright forbidden. Playing them automatically makes you [[That Guy]] on the same level of an Exodia player, except even Exodia players think you're being That Guy because Jars get rid of Exodia pieces so easily.
* '''Jinzo''' - A small archetype dating back to the early days, Jinzo (short for the [[Japan]]ese ''jinzoningen'', which means cyborg) itself is a Lvl 6 2400/1500 Monster that stops the activtion of and negates all Trap cards on the field. Given that Trap cards are a notable part of the game, Jinzo was quite feared back in the day for outright shutting down an entire type of card. At one point it even was Limited to stave off its reign of terror, but in the modern day it is Unlimited because it is easier to get rid of. Jinzo spawned a few spinoffs that either shut down Trap cards as well or aid in summoning other Jinzo monsters. But with the fact that there are only five Jinzo monsters and one Equip card they are better suited as support for a deck rather than a standalone archetype. Jinzo became one of Joey Wheeler's signature monsters halfway into the Battle City arc of the original show.
* '''Kaiju''' - GOJIRA! Yes, of course Godzilla and Friends were adapted into the game. Their gimmick is twofold: you can summon one to your opponent's side of the field to make it easier to summon one of your own (because Kaiju do love to battle one another), and their non-Monster cards generate Kaiju Counters which can be spent for a variety of potent effects. Their roster includes expies of Godizlla, Mothra, Gamera, Gigan, Kumonga, Ghidorah and Mecha Godzilla, and strangely enough Dark Lugiel from Ultraman as well.
* '''Kozmo''' - You know what's neat? The Wizard of Oz. You know what's also neat? [[Star Wars]]. So what happens when you slap those two together? You get the Kozmo archetype. Oh yes. Luke Skywalker is now [[promotions|a smokin' hot redhead]], R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca are the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion, Ben Kenobi has been replaced by a rather attractive Good Witch of the North and even the Darth Vader and Darth Maul of the set (The Wicked Witches of the West and East respectively) are pretty. You'd think "Oh [[Japan]]" at this, but the archetype is actually exclusive to the TCG. The archetype consists of two kinds of cards: the "pilots" are used to summon the second type, the spaceships. Summoning the spaceships is as easy as banishing the pilot in order to get a spaceship on the field. In turn, a spaceship that's in the graveyard can be banished to summon a pilot from the deck. This means that it's ridiculously easy to get extremely powerful cards on the field, and aimed destruction is easily avoided. There was even a very easy one-turn kill available that lead to several Kozmo cards being Limited.
* '''Kuriboh''' - One of the contenders for the title of series mascot, Kuriboh are a series of Lvl 1 300/200 or lower monsters with a series of effects that involve negating your opponent's attacks. Yugi, Jaden and Yuma from the first, second and fourth series all have their own Kuribohs which saw frequent use. Because of their low stats Kurioh have great difficulty standing on their own, and require support from powerful monsters in order to win a duel instead of avoiding losing it.
* '''Monarch''' - A series of tall humanoids dressed in armor, the Monarch archetype consists of a series of six 2400/1000 Monsters supported by two 2800/1000 Monsters and upgraded versions of the core six, a series of Spell/Trap cards, weaker 800/1000 Monsters and a few other cards built around Tribute Summoning. When you successfully do so the Monarchs destroy or otherwise remove cards from your opponent's field, giving you the advantage. They can Tribute Summon at a relatively high speed and can even shut down your opponent's Extra Deck, but this is at the cost of many Monarch cards revolve about you either not using or having an empty Extra Deck on your own. They can be frighteningly effective and fast, filling their field while emptying their opponent's. Monarchs are a rather large archetype, with around 40 cards (but don't build a deck of 1 of each of these cards: it won't work very well). Exactly what they are monarchs of is unknown.
* '''Neo''' - An archetype built around Elemental HERO Neos, Jaden Yuki's signature monster. The archetype revolves around using Contact Fusion involving Neos and a Neo-Spacian Monster to summon a better monster. These monsters are not specatcular on their own, and they're made even worse by the fact that they return to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn. This made an already iffy archetype drop even more in use, even when you look at its best monsters.
* '''Number''' - Central to the plot of ZEXAL, the Numbers are Monsters whose names start with a number. While they are all Xyz monsters this is the only thing they have in common: their archetypes, attributes, types and effects are all widely different. Some of them are generic, while others work exclusively in certain archetypes.
* '''Odd-Eyes''' - The archetype used by Yuya Sakaki, the protagonist of ARC-V. The Odd-Eyes monsters are a group of dragons with heterochromia, giving them mismatched eye colors. The archetypes consists of a large number of high level, high power (7+, 2500+ ATK) dragons and their support cards, which includes the Magican archetype. A large number of them are Pendulum cards designed to summon a large number of them onto the field quickly. There are also several cards that are both Pendulum and another type: Fusion Pendulum, Synchro Pendulum and Xyz Pendulum.
: '''Supreme King''' - Near the end of ARC-V a new sub-archetype was introduced to reflect the series' villain: the Supreme King archetype. The main card of this archetype is Supreme King Z-ARC, a Fusion Pendulum monster that requires you to tribute 1 Fusion, 1 Synchro, 1 Xyz and 1 Pendulum dragon-typed monster. In return you get a 4000/4000 beast that cannot be destroyed or targeted by your opponent and can Special Summon a Supreme King Dragon card from your (extra) deck if it destroyes a monster. With the changes made to the game regarding Link Summoning this archetype has become next to unusable.
* '''Ojama''' - Named after the Japanese phrase Ojamashimasu ("pardon me for interrupting"), the Ojamas resemble small ugly imps in tiny speedos. ''Oh you, Japan.'' They are the main archetype used by Chazz Princeton, one of the main characters of GX, and the spirit of Ojama Yellow acts as Chazz' sidekick in the show. Standing at a weak 0/1000 each, the core Ojama monsters are not very tough. Instead they rely on a mix of spell and trap cards to clog up the opponent's side of the board with tokens that they cannot tribute and stall the battle, allowing for the summoning of the Ojama King and using their field spell to switch around the ATK and DEF of all Ojama monsters, followed by either a wipe of the opponent's side of the board or destroying all other Ojamas on the field to make the Ojama King unreasonably buff. A gimmicky and not very powerful archetype that's fun to play but annoying to play against.
* '''Performapal/Performage''' - One of the most broken archetypes of its time and a contender for the most powerful deck of the game pre-nerf, Performapal and Performage are based on circus animals and circus perfomers respectively. The former is the other archetype of ARC-V's Yuya Sakaki, who uses the circus animals for his signature Entertainment Dueling style. Both archetypes are based on Pendulum Summoning and shenanigans in the battle phase that break the game so utterly, Konami was forced to employ the second emergency ban list in the game's history. ''Even then'' it remained powerful enough to remain a meta staple until the [[power creep]] set in. It's safe to say that a lot of people did not like them a lot, with the cartoony art being the least of their complaints.
* '''Red-Eyes''' - The Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Red-Eyes B. Dragon because they wanted to avoid the association with black magic) is one of the game's most famous cards and the signature card of Duelist Kingdom's Joey Wheeler. On its own the Red-Eyes is not very impressive: 2400/2000 at level 7 is just not worth it, even with its good attribute and type: outclassed by the Dark Magician and the Summoned Skull alike it's just not up to par. What it makes up with however is its mind-boggling versatility: Gemini, Burn, Pendulum, Toolbox and more are all options for the archetype. This means that the archetype is capable of a great many things, but herein lies the trap: an improperly built deck will only get in its own way. A good Red-Eyes deck is the result of a great degree of finetuning to make a specialized deck. The archetype is also lacking in defensive measures and doesn't have a large number of good trap cards to support it, so a powerful opponent will simply steamroll a Red-Eyes deck.
* '''SPYRAL''' - A TCG-only set that's two parts [[James Bond]], one part [[Metal Gear]] and a nod at the Spyral agency from DC Comics. The archetype revolves around getting its core monster, SPYRAL Super Agent, onto the table followed by using a set of support cards to keep it on the field. It also involves looking frequently at your opponent's hand (which fits with the spy theme) to trigger effects. This means that the SPYRAL archetype suffers from a few weaknesses that, if exploited, can utterly shut it down.
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==Formats and Ban Lists==
Yu-Gi-Oh has a strange relationship with what cards are legal or not. Unlike the two other big card games, [[Pokémon]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] Yu-Gi-Oh does not have a "standard" format that says "all cards in sets X, Y and Z can be played and the rest cannot". This means that every single card, printed from ''Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon'' to the latest set can be used in a deck, as long as they're not on the ban lists. This means that in effect there are several thousand cards legal to use in your deck, with only a fraction being limited and only a handful being outright banned. Cards have four levels of legality, determining how many you can have of any one card in your Main, Extra and Side Decks:

* Unlimited: 3
* Semi-Limited: 2
* Limited: 1
* Forbidden: 0

There are also Illegal cards: cards that were never intended to see use in official duels or tournaments. These are often promotional materials, with all but six of them having conditions that allows their player to win the match. Not the duel: ''the best-out-of-three match''. The six remaining ones are two cards based on the anime, one being a promotional card handed out during the World Championship of 2007 that is quite useful in the right kind of deck, and the last three remaining cards being the unofficial versions of the three Egyptian Gods.

Exactly which cards are of what legality is determined by the region you're in. Yu-Gi-Oh has two regions where the game has different names: the Official Card Game and the Trading Card Game, shortened to OCG and TCG respectively. The OCG is played in Asia while the TCG is played in the rest of the world. Both regions have their own ban lists, meaning that a deck that is played in one region might not work as well or is perhaps not even legal in the other. This is even further complicated that while the OCG has only one format, the TCG has two: Advanced and Traditional. The difference between the two is akin to the difference between Legacy and Vintage: Advanced restricts more cards to create a more balanced experience and has quite a few cards that are illegal in the format. Traditional is a friendlier kind of game: all Forbidden cards are Limited. If you want to use Illegal cards then you need your opponent's permission first due to the amount of [[cheese]] found in the banlist. Advanced is the format used in official tournaments and events, making it akin to Standard. In other words, Traditional and no banlist at all are for fun games with friends, and Advanced is for more serious games.

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==The Anime==
[[Image:Banditkeith.jpg|450px|thumb|right|This is what the rest of the world thinks all people look like... IN AMERICA.]]
* Yu-Gi-Oh was clumsily "advertised" by a cartoon for children about adults playing a children's card game, which shared the same name.
* Season 0 Yami Yuugi is a well known follower of [[Tzeentch]] (as if the Egyptian gig wasn't enough of a give away). Mostly it was about Yami Yuugi punishing local bullies and scumbags by challenging them to a "Yami No Game", a dark and demented game of Yuugi's making with a stringent set of rules (dependent on the current challenge) that are meant to test the person's true character. If the person looses a Yami Game, or breaks the rules in any way, Yuugi will either kill them or [[Grimdark|give them such realistically horrifying hallucinations that they turn into a gibbering, hapless wreck]]. As an example, he once played table hockey with a puck full of nitroglycerin and blew the other guy to bits. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWXTZ8zuuDQ In another game in the anime, he tricked an armed criminal holding his girlfriend hostage into pouring 180 proof vodka all over himself and putting a lighter on his hand. Ensuring that if he did anything wrong, he'd burn a horrible death]. Subsequent Yugis... were most likely closer to [[Slaanesh]].
* Dan Green voices both Yugis in the English version.
* The aforementioned program was so popular, they released a spin-off show called Yu-Gi-Oh GX, about children attending a university that teaches students how to play a children's card game (really). Even the US dubbers noticed how stupid this was, and would write dialog that mocked the franchise, making [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bml9_is-littlekuriboh-writing-for-yu-gi_fun#.Ub5g-_k3uSo some parts] of the show look like an Abridged parody.
* This spawned another spin-off, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, where angsty emo teenagers play a children's card game on motorcycles, in a setting that's some sort of attempt at dystopian [[cyberpunk]]. Seriously, that's actually the premise. Not terrible. Surprisingly interesting and edgy at times. The dub is mediocre compared to the subbed, as 4kids of course excised the more "mature" parts from their localization. This is the show that introduced synchro monsters to the game.
* This was followed by Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal, which is basically [[anime|Naruto]] with card games instead of ninjas set in an alternate universe from 5Ds where Synchros don't exist. Xyz monsters were invented here.
* Next up was Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, which seemed to have remembered the other series and summoning methods existed, but the promise the show had got butchered once they travelled to the synchro dimension, a world similar to that of 5D's.
* The most recent (started in May 2017) one is Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS (which stands for Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System), which introduces Link monsters. Its villains, the Knights of Hanoi, are basically [[Anonymous]] with a technomagical supercharge.

==[[TL;DR]]==
A decent card game that could have been better, even great, if not for the two-headed giant that is Konami's incompetence and the crappy player base. Hey, at least it gave birth to a memetastic set of anime.

{{Card Games}}

[[Category:Weeaboo]]

Yu-Gi-Oh

2018-07-19T13:11:58Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

[[File:Poogioh.jpeg|500px|thumb|right|With a pokemon backdrop, too.]]
{{Topquote|The only thing intricate about this game is its ban list.|[[Magnus the Red]], ''[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device]]}}

A [[Collectible Card Game|CCG]] produced by Konami which is based off a [[Anime|shonen battle manga]] of the same name. It can be surprisingly fun, and while confusing at first, it becomes second nature to most after just a few games.

While it does have some major rules problems thanks to idiotic rulings by Konami (i.e. missing the timing, semi hidden information going into hidden information zones, and an errata policy based mostly on what cards get reprinted), Yu-gi-oh is not as bad as some people have been led to believe; it has a quite interesting amount of game styles to choose from in the way you use the cards in your "deck" which is quite customisable.

...At least, unless you are playing in a tournament, in which case the majority of players will be playing 3 different deck styles max, because power creep 'n' seep is a bitch like that. The [[#Formats and Ban Lists|banlist]] has usually been the primary means of balance, meant to keep the best current playstyle(s) from overruning the meta for TOO long. In addition to outright banning cards that completely fuck the balance (ideally, anyway), other cards are limited so that the play styles that aren't completely gimped can still perform their strats reliably, without surgically excising chance from the game altogether like several older infamous combos, a few of which necessitated the creation of its Forbidden section.

It's worth noting that there was a major format overhaul recently for very similar reasons; prior to this, a majority of strats relied on running the other player down as soon as possible, in as few turns as possible (e.g. swarming the field with multiple Special Summons, ideally clearing the opposing field in the process), which led to plenty of [[Exterminatus|OTK shit]], and the occasional first turn wipeout. You can imagine the kind of [[RAGE|fun stuff]] that leads to in a tournament. The introduction of Link Monsters and related restrictions on Special Summons (e.g. Extra Deck cards can only be summoned to the dedicated Extra Monster Zone OR Main Monster Zones that a Link Monster points to) halted reliance on this to a significant degree. Even so, reliance on the banlist (along with the cycle of dated sht falling out of use) and little else means one or two archetypes inevitably find themselves head and shoulders above the rest. Such is the life cycle of competitive balancing.

At first it was just played by a few groups of people over the world but then it got a major increase in its player base after its anime dropped in the west. It is a relatively simple to play game that can keep you entertained for hours thanks to deck building and combo opportunities. It's an alright game for playing with friends, but the competitive scene for it is awful, partly due to the community being [[That Guy|kinda shitty]]; while something of an understatement, it's to be expected from a long-running grog magnet, to say nothing of its various anime and [[Weeaboo|some of the fans]] THOSE have attracted.

Mostly, though, it's due to Konami's usual practice of releasing new stuff, often in the form of 'structure' (i.e. preassembled) decks that generally fall into one of two categories: they're A) broken as shit, which sells more packs while potentially buttfucking the meta until the next banlist; or B) gimmicky as shit and thus utterly useless outside of select reprinted cards, even on a casual level (which was the case for many of the first ones released). In that regard, they're akin to good ol' Games Workshop - which, if you consider their reputation outside of this TCG, is being EXTREMELY generous. This has also given birth to the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta Cycle'':

#Did the company release a structure deck or set containing cards that are either new or powering up an old archetype?
#If yes, do said cards make a new deck which dominates the meta completely and warps the game?
#If yes, sit back and await a sudden update to the Limited/Forbidden list, and take a shot for each of those new cards that make it.
#Enjoy the new format until new overpowered cards are released, which brings you back to step 1. Rinse and repeat.

==How to Play==
Yu-Gi-Oh is rather similar to [[Magic the Gathering]] in terms of play; in fact, it was introduced in the manga as a sort of Magic clone that was one of many featured games, from which point its popularity took off and changed the manga's entire focus as the game was fleshed out and became something more relatively unique. You can guess how much a [[Skub|point of contention]] this is for the respective fanbases.

Each player starts with a 40+ card deck and tries to take his opponent's 8000 life points down to 0. Players take turns to play creatures and spells, attack the opponent's creatures and deal with some of the most badass cards brought to play.

The number of cards you can have in play is currently limited as follows: you can have five monsters (and one which you summon from the extra deck!), five spells/traps and one field spell in play at the same time. If you have five monsters you cannot summon additional ones without sacrificing others; you also can't play spell/trap cards if you already have five of them active, but you can play a field card if you already have one (in which case, the former field gets destroyed).

Note that 8000 is a really fucking huge number of life points to keep track of: you might want to bring a notebook, calculator or app along to keep track of your life points. There's a reason the manga and anime cut this down to 2000 (later 4000 due to power creep).

===The makeup of a card===
The three basic types of cards in Yu-Gi-Oh are Monster, Spell and Trap.

====Monster Cards====
These cards are your warriors who will do the fighting for you. Monsters have levels, which affects how you summon them. Monsters from level 1 to 4 can be summoned normally. Monsters of level 5 and 6 require you to sacrifice one of your monsters, 7 or higher require two sacrifices. Monsters also have Attributes (think the colors from Magic the Gathering, except there are seven, and they are much less important), Monster Types (like creature type, there are 23, including fish, aqua and sea serpent), Attack and Defense (Strength and Toughness). There are eight types of them. The first four are from the early days of the game, with the latter four being added in 2008 and onwards:
*Normal - Coloured yellow. A straightforward card with no abilities.
*Effect - Coloured orange. A monster that has a special ability.
*Ritual - Coloured blue. A ritual monster is summoned using a ritual spell card and tributing monsters. They are placed in the main deck and cannot be summoned without a ritual spell. Usually has an effect, but not always.
*Fusion - Coloured violet. A fusion monster is one where you have to combine two or more cards in order to summon it. This combining is done by the special abilities of other cards, usually the spell card, Polymerization, though not always. Fusion monsters usually have effects, but not necessarily. In the early days of the game they used to be the final argument of sheer attack power, but over the years they've been overtaken.
**Contact Fusion - A variation of Fusion that involves either sending the cards that make up the fusion material into the graveyard or the banishment zone, or shuffling them into the deck. Polymerization is not needed; this effect is inherent to the Contact Fusion monsters in question. This effect is commonly found on A-to-Z monsters, the Neos, Gladiator Beast and Ritual Beast archetypes, and a few other cards. This means that while the lack of dependency on Polymerization cards makes them easier to play, these cards require their tributes to be on the field instead of either on the field or in the player's hand.
**Transformation Summon - Limited to the Masked HERO archetype, Transformation Summons requires a tribute of one card in favor of another, more powerful one. This requires the play of a Change-type spell, of which there are three. Because all Change cards are Quick-Play, you can play them during the Battle Phase in order to avoid negative effects or targeted destruction by your opponent, as well as attack several times in a single turn.
*Synchros - Coloured white. They go in the fusion deck, now known as an extra deck, and are summoned by sending monsters with a total level equal to theirs to the graveyard, including one tuner monster.
**Dark Synchros - Used to summon Dark Synchro monsters,. Instead of adding the values of the Tuner and the non-Tuner monsters together the level of the Tuner monster is ''subtracted'' from the level of the non-Tuner monster. This matters a lot more in the anime, where they are treated as their own card type rather then just being synchros with special conditions like they are in the CCG.
**Double Tuning - The rare Synchro monsters that require two Tuner monsters to summon. There are only five of them in the game.
**Accel Synchro - Just like regular Synchro summoning, except all material cards have to be Synchro cards themselves.
*XYZ - Coloured black. Pronounced "Exceeds", and summoned by placing two or more cards of the same level on top of each other. Instead of a level they have a rank which reflects the level of the monsters that must be "overlayed" to summon them from the extra deck.
**XYZ Evolution - XYZ Evolution monsters can be XYZ summoned as normal, but they can also use a single specific card as XYZ Material. This can be either from the effect of the XYZ monster itself or a Spell card. Many XYZ Evolution monsters are either CXYZ or Number-C monsters.
*Pendulum - Coloured the same colour as the other monster type they are in their top half and green in their bottom half, with a transition between the two, to show how they're like a mix of monster and spell. Thus you can have effect pendulum monsters, xyz pendulum, fusion pendulum, etc. There are currently no ritual pendulum monsters or link pendulum monsters in existence, though this may change in future. These are monsters that can also be played as spells in the pendulum zones, and go to the extra deck when they're destroyed while on field. They have a number called a scale, which is used when they are played as a spell card. They also allow you to summon a bunch of monsters in one turn, as long as the levels are between the scales of the two pendulum monsters you have in your pendulum zones. Newfags.
*Link - Coloured blue like Ritual monsters, but in another shade and with a hexagonal background. They have a link number instead of defence points, and can never be in defence position. They go in the extra deck, and are summoned by sending a number of monsters you control to the graveyard equal to their link number. Instead of levels they have arrows called link markers that point to other monster zones. You can summon other monsters from the extra deck to the zones pointed at by the link markers. Their effects often relate to the zones pointed to by the arrows.

On top of that there are several secondary monster types that said monsters have on top of their normal type:
*Flip - When a Flip monster is attacked when it is face down or turned up by its controller or an effect, it triggers its own effect. Having the monster destroyed or exiled outside of being attacked, the effect does not trigger.
*Gemini - A Gemini monster is played as a regular Normal monster. It can later (either a later turn or outright, depending on what other cards its controller plays) be summoned again as if it entered the field from a player's hand. When it is, it triggers its effect. And no, Gemini Elf is not a Gemini monster.
*Spirit - When a Spirit monster is summoned, it returns to its owner's hand from the field during the End Phase. This means that Spirit monsters have little staying power, and they cannot be Special Summoned.
*Toon - Toon monsters resemble existing monsters in the game in a cartoony style. They rely on the Toon World card, and they are frequently destroyed if Toon World is.
*Tuner - These monsters are mandatory if you want to run a Synchros deck. While it is tempting to make a deck of nothing but Tuner monsters to make sure you always have one, many Synchros monsters require at least one non-Tuner monster or a monster of a particular type instead.
*Union - Often weak on their own, Union monsters can equip themselves to another monster to grant said monter a special effect. If that monster were to be destroyed, its equipped Union monster is destroyed instead.

====Spell Cards====
These cards are for support, augmenting monsters, giving you more cards or life points, stunning the opponent...etc, anything to give you an upper hand in the battle. They are coloured green. They have have six subtypes:
*Normal - A one-time use card that is discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - The effect persists, so long as the card is still in play
*Equip - Equipped on a monster card to augment their stats or give them special abilities
*Quick-Play - Like a normal spell, but can be played at any time, including your opponent's turn if you set them first.
*Ritual - A card which lets you sacrifice monsters whose total levels are a certain amount in order to bring forth the patron of the ritual, a ritual monster (see above).
*Field - Changes the attribute of the playing field, which can give certain monsters buffs or penalties (I.E: Water monsters benefit from Umi and Dark monsters benefit from Yami). It used to be that only 1 field spell may be active at a time, but later rules made it that each player may have their own field spell at the same time.

====[[Trap]] Cards====
Trap cards can't be played directly and have to be deployed in the face-down position. As their name implies; they're traps for your opponent, which can be triggered either by your decision or once your opponent meets certain conditions. Thanks to the animu's flair for the dramatic, you're required to say "YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!" in a loud and smug fashion, while dramatically flipping your trap card, when you decide to activate your's. Verbally explaining the trap's effects in a dramatic fashion is optional. They are coloured pink. Trap Cards exist in three kinds:
*Normal - This sort of card can be used once and discarded after its effect is completed
*Continuous - This kind of trap persists so long as the card is still on the field.
*Counter Trap - A trap used to counter other cards; the only thing that can stop a counter trap is another counter trap.

===The Turn===
*The turn starts with a '''Begin of Turn''' phase where some things can happen depending on the cards in play, but most of the time this turn is just filler.
*The '''Draw Phase''' allows you to draw 1 card from your deck. Again, some abilities might be triggered in this phase, but it's not all that flashy.
*The '''Standby Phase''' the phase that happens between the Draw and Main Phase. Nothing really happens here, but some abilities use this as part of their trigger requirements.
*The '''First Main Phase''' is where it all happens: you can play 1 monster and as many magic/trap cards as you like. Monsters can either be '''Summoned''' or '''Set'''. Summoning means they are placed in a face-up upright position; this makes their Attack stat the number used in the combat phase. If a monster is set it is placed in a face-down position turned 90 degrees to the right; this makes their Defense stat the number used in combat. You can only summon one monster normally, although card effects may allow you to conduct a "special summon" which is basically the same except that they are almost always summoned face-up and they don't take up your normal summon
*The '''Battle Phase''' has four sub phases. Again it has a Start and End step in which some effects trigger, but most of the time they're just there to look pretty. The big part of this is the Battle and Damage steps: you choose one of your monsters and attack one of your opponent's monsters. You then compare your monster's Attack to the other monster's opposing stat. If it is in Attack Position you compare the two Attack scores: the monster with the lowest Attack is destroyed and its controller loses life equal to the difference in Attack. If the scores are equal both monsters are destroyed. If the monster is in Defense Position you compare your Attack to the other's Defense: if yours is lower or equal then you lose life (but not your monster) equal to the difference (obviously you can't lose zero life), if yours is higher the other monster is destroyed but the opponent does not lose life. If the scores are equal nothing happens. If you attack a face-down monster this way then it flips up: either to reveal a weak monster that your opponent put down to stall for time, an effect monster that does something beneficial when flipped or destroyed, or a large blocker that might deal you damage. All monsters you control may attack only once (Unless an effect says otherwise), one by one; you are allowed to attack the same monster several times.
*After this is the '''Second Main Phase''', which is identical to the First Main Phase. You don't get another summon, so you can't usually summon unless you never in your first main phase, so it's mostly just used to set traps and quick play spells to use in your opponent's turn.
*Finally there is the '''End Phase''' where effects might be triggered and where you have to discard cards from your hand if your hand is over the current hand size cap of six to meet it.

==The Metaplot==
There is none.

No seriously, there is none. M:TG has an overarching plot described online, on the cards themselves (so figuring out the plot is a Dark Souls-like affair) and formerly in novels. [[Pokémon]] might not use the card game in its metaplot, but that has the excuse of having the plot in the anime, manga and video games, where the monsters on the cards are characters. Yu-Gi-Oh does something similar but to a lesser extent: in it the cards are almost all just means to an end for the characters. Certain monsters on the cards are more important to the plot than others, but they are a small minority compared to those who are not. The few times the game has dabbled, in fluff it's in stuff like Duel Terminal, a series of arcade machines that have an overarching plot to them that sees no use outside of said machines. Sometimes there are stories told on the cards themselves in a series of artworks to mimic M:TG's occasional Dark Souls-like storytelling.

==Archetype==
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Unless you possess some sort of post-human intellect that allows you to see synergy between otherwise unrelated cards and have supernatural luck to make these combinations work, you'll want to stick to an archetype for your deck. Archetypes are series of cards of a similar theme or kind, often with a series of related monsters. Through their interwoven and complementary mechanics a deck can become greater than the sum of its parts. There are dozens upon dozens of archetypes in the game, with many of them having their own sub-archetypes. Also, there is fluff of sorts for many of them, but this tends to have no real bearing on the game. Some of the archetypes are:
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* '''Blue-Eyes''' - Based on the famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon used by Seto Kaiba in the first series, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon itself has the distinction of being the most powerful Normal Monster in the game at 3000/2500. With its plentiful support a well-built Blue-Eyes deck can, with a bit of luck, [[meme|summon a bunch of monsters in one turn]] and lay a massive smackdown through regular monsters and powerful Rank-8 Xyz monsters. This archetype is very old, so it includes a lot of awesome but impractical cards such as "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". With its light scales and disintegrating breath the Blue-Eyes is based on [[Bahamut]] from [[D&D]].
* '''Burning Abyss''' - Taking its inspiration from the Inferno part of Dante's Divine Comedy, the Burning Abyss archetype is based around swarming the field, then summoning its Xyz, Synchro, Fusion and Ritual boss monsters. On their own the Burning Abyss monsters (called Malebranches) are not very strong: except for the boss monsters they are all Level 3 and top at 1700 ATK and 2000 DEF. On top of that, if you control a non-Burning Abyss monster all of them go to the graveyard, and if you don't have a spell or trap card on the field you can special summon them. The Malebranches have a variety of effects to help them not immediately crumble come your opponent's battle phase.
* '''Dark Magician''' - The signature monster of Yugi Muto from the original series. On its own the Dark Magician is... not very good. 2500/2100 for a two-Tribute monster is middling, even back in the day. Summoned Skull provided the same ATK for only one Tribute, and for two Tributes you could instead get a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. To mitigate this the archetype includes a fair number of spell cards to support and protect the Dark Magician.
:* '''Dark Magician Girl''' - A sub-archetype based around gaining power and summoning more Spellcaster-type monsters. The Dark Magician girl is notable for being one of the most popular [[waifu]]s of the game.
* '''Egyptian Gods''' - Giant God-Soldier of Obelisk, Sky Dragon of Osiris and Winged God-Dragon of Ra, aka Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon and Winged Dragon of Ra. The only three monsters in the game with the Divine-Beast type, they are legendary monsters based around the Egyptian gods Ra, Osiris and... [[Wat|Obelisk]]. They all require THREE Tributes to summon normally but they are beefy: their summoning cannot be negated and no cards can be activated as a reaction to their summoning. Obelisk has a hefty 4000/4000, cannot be targeted by spells, traps or card effects (but can still be destroyed by non-targeted effects). By tributing 2 monsters Obelisk can destroy all monsters your opponent controls, but Obelisk cannot attack that turn. Slifer's has all monsters your opponent summons lose 2000 ATK (if they hit 0 they are destroyed), and Slifer's ATK and DEF are equal to the number of cards in your hand x1000. Ra starts out with 0 ATK/DEF, and by paying all but 100 of your LP Ra's ATK and DEF becomes equal to the paid. By paying 1000 LP you can destroy one monster on the field. It's obvious that these two abilities are difficult to use at the same time. While powerful they're difficult and risky to use.
* '''Elemental HERO''' - Used by Jaden Yuki from GX, the HERO monsters (based on superheroes) require extensive use of Fusion Summoning to get your good monsters on the field and attack with them. A serious source of [[skub]] because of the heavy reliance on summoning, the fact that they were used by the GX protagonist, that they were in every set of the GX era meaning that they clogged up booster space, and there were a LOT of them. Seriously: about two dozen in the main deck, over three dozen in the Extra Deck, and that's not even counting all their support cards and sub archetypes. On top of all that the HERO monsters are not even that good, with only a few being worth running.
:* '''Destiny HERO''' - Like the Elemental HERO monsters, except 50% more [[British Empire|British]] and 50% more [[edgy]]. Used by Aster Phoenix from GX.
:* '''Evil HERO''' - As above, but less Britishness and with extra edge. Used by Jaden Yuki once he goes evil in the third season of GX.
:* '''Masked HERO''' - Based on [[Mantis Warriors|Kamen Rider]], the Masked HERO cards use Transformation Fusion to turn Elemental HERO monsters into Masked HERO monsters, who have powerful effects. The three transformation cards are all Quick Play cards, allowing you to change your monsters mid-turn to attack over and over again.
* '''Exodia''' - The most famous win condition, Exodia comes in five pieces. If you have all pieces in your hand you win the duel. While on their own it's very unlikely to obtain all parts, when combined with a wide variety of draw and search engines you become able to draw just about your entire deck in one turn and obtain all the parts. This means that playing an Exodia deck automatically makes you [[That Guy]], even in the eyes of other That Guys with their own That Guy decks. There are a number of monsters based on Exodia and are supported by him, bust they're mostly even more difficult to use than regular Exodia.
* '''Gem-Knights''' - A gemstone-themed archetype of warriors who can combine to create more powerful beings in order to face more powerful opponents. And before you ask: the Gem-Knights came around just over three years before Steven Universe became a thing. The Gem-Knights are [[Paladin|a bunch of honorable warriors who fight to protect the weak]]. They are very reliant on Fusion Monsters: of the 24 monsters in the archetype there are 12 Normal, Effect and Gemini monsters, 11 Fusion monsters and one Xyz monster. To aid in this they have access to six cards that allows Fusion for Gem-Knights in a variety of ways.
* '''Gishki''' - A revival of the long neglected Ritual summoning method, they are built around finding both Ritual Monsters and the Gishki Aquamirror Ritual card, which allows them to summon all of their monsters. They are one of the archetypes featured in the Duel Terminal arcade machines, where they made their debut.
* '''Gravekeeper''' - One of the oldest archetypes and one of the few that play up the Egyptian aspect of the game, Gravekeeper Monsters resemble Egyptians protecting tombs and those who rest in them. Some of the artwork resembles characters from ancient Egypt as depicted in the anime/manga. They heavily depend on the Necrovalley Field Spell, which shuts down just about anything having to do with the graveyard. Despite being able to mess over many other archetypes this way a well-placed negation or card destruction will leave them quite vulnerable.
* '''Harpie''' - The signature archetype of Mai Valentine from the original show, the Harpie monsters resemble, well, [[Harpy|harpies]]. Attractive winged women who don't wear a lot of clothing, their archetype is built on swarming the field with monsters and beat the opponent down that way. Originally the archetype was kinda sucky, but with later support cards it became a decent deck. Not great, just decent.
* '''Jar''' - Just about the biggest middle finger you can play to your opponent, Jar monsters are weak (except for Pot of The Forbidden) monsters resembling jars with a grinning creature inside. They all have very powerful but annoying flip effects, from discarding your hand and drawing a new card to wiping the board followed by forced revealing of cards, playing some of them and putting the rest in the graveyard. These are all supremely annoying effects, and the most annoying ones are outright forbidden. Playing them automatically makes you [[That Guy]] on the same level of an Exodia player, except even Exodia players think you're being That Guy because Jars get rid of Exodia pieces so easily.
* '''Jinzo''' - A small archetype dating back to the early days, Jinzo (short for the [[Japan]]ese ''jinzoningen'', which means cyborg) itself is a Lvl 6 2400/1500 Monster that stops the activtion of and negates all Trap cards on the field. Given that Trap cards are a notable part of the game, Jinzo was quite feared back in the day for outright shutting down an entire type of card. At one point it even was Limited to stave off its reign of terror, but in the modern day it is Unlimited because it is easier to get rid of. Jinzo spawned a few spinoffs that either shut down Trap cards as well or aid in summoning other Jinzo monsters. But with the fact that there are only five Jinzo monsters and one Equip card they are better suited as support for a deck rather than a standalone archetype. Jinzo became one of Joey Wheeler's signature monsters halfway into the Battle City arc of the original show.
* '''Kaiju''' - GOJIRA! Yes, of course Godzilla and Friends were adapted into the game. Their gimmick is twofold: you can summon one to your opponent's side of the field to make it easier to summon one of your own (because Kaiju do love to battle one another), and their non-Monster cards generate Kaiju Counters which can be spent for a variety of potent effects. Their roster includes expies of Godizlla, Mothra, Gamera, Gigan, Kumonga, Ghidorah and Mecha Godzilla, and strangely enough Dark Lugiel from Ultraman as well.
* '''Kozmo''' - You know what's neat? The Wizard of Oz. You know what's also neat? [[Star Wars]]. So what happens when you slap those two together? You get the Kozmo archetype. Oh yes. Luke Skywalker is now [[promotions|a smokin' hot redhead]], R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca are the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion, Ben Kenobi has been replaced by a rather attractive Good Witch of the North and even the Darth Vader and Darth Maul of the set (The Wicked Witches of the West and East respectively) are pretty. You'd think "Oh [[Japan]]" at this, but the archetype is actually exclusive to the TCG. The archetype consists of two kinds of cards: the "pilots" are used to summon the second type, the spaceships. Summoning the spaceships is as easy as banishing the pilot in order to get a spaceship on the field. In turn, a spaceship that's in the graveyard can be banished to summon a pilot from the deck. This means that it's ridiculously easy to get extremely powerful cards on the field, and aimed destruction is easily avoided. There was even a very easy one-turn kill available that lead to several Kozmo cards being Limited.
* '''Kuriboh''' - One of the contenders for the title of series mascot, Kuriboh are a series of Lvl 1 300/200 or lower monsters with a series of effects that involve negating your opponent's attacks. Yugi, Jaden and Yuma from the first, second and fourth series all have their own Kuribohs which saw frequent use. Because of their low stats Kurioh have great difficulty standing on their own, and require support from powerful monsters in order to win a duel instead of avoiding losing it.
* '''Monarch''' - A series of tall humanoids dressed in armor, the Monarch archetype consists of a series of six 2400/1000 Monsters supported by two 2800/1000 Monsters and upgraded versions of the core six, a series of Spell/Trap cards, weaker 800/1000 Monsters and a few other cards built around Tribute Summoning. When you successfully do so the Monarchs destroy or otherwise remove cards from your opponent's field, giving you the advantage. They can Tribute Summon at a relatively high speed and can even shut down your opponent's Extra Deck, but this is at the cost of many Monarch cards revolve about you either not using or having an empty Extra Deck on your own. They can be frighteningly effective and fast, filling their field while emptying their opponent's. Monarchs are a rather large archetype, with around 40 cards (but don't build a deck of 1 of each of these cards: it won't work very well). Exactly what they are monarchs of is unknown.
* '''Neo''' - An archetype built around Elemental HERO Neos, Jaden Yuki's signature monster. The archetype revolves around using Contact Fusion involving Neos and a Neo-Spacian Monster to summon a better monster. These monsters are not specatcular on their own, and they're made even worse by the fact that they return to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn. This made an already iffy archetype drop even more in use, even when you look at its best monsters.
* '''Number''' - Central to the plot of ZEXAL, the Numbers are Monsters whose names start with a number. While they are all Xyz monsters this is the only thing they have in common: their archetypes, attributes, types and effects are all widely different. Some of them are generic, while others work exclusively in certain archetypes.
* '''Odd-Eyes''' - The archetype used by Yuya Sakaki, the protagonist of ARC-V. The Odd-Eyes monsters are a group of dragons with heterochromia, giving them mismatched eye colors. The archetypes consists of a large number of high level, high power (7+, 2500+ ATK) dragons and their support cards, which includes the Magican archetype. A large number of them are Pendulum cards designed to summon a large number of them onto the field quickly. There are also several cards that are both Pendulum and another type: Fusion Pendulum, Synchro Pendulum and Xyz Pendulum.
: '''Supreme King''' - Near the end of ARC-V a new sub-archetype was introduced to reflect the series' villain: the Supreme King archetype. The main card of this archetype is Supreme King Z-ARC, a Fusion Pendulum monster that requires you to tribute 1 Fusion, 1 Synchro, 1 Xyz and 1 Pendulum dragon-typed monster. In return you get a 4000/4000 beast that cannot be destroyed or targeted by your opponent and can Special Summon a Supreme King Dragon card from your (extra) deck if it destroyes a monster. With the changes made to the game regarding Link Summoning this archetype has become next to unusable.
* '''Ojama''' - Named after the Japanese phrase Ojamashimasu ("pardon me for interrupting"), the Ojamas resemble small ugly imps in tiny speedos. ''Oh you, Japan.'' They are the main archetype used by Chazz Princeton, one of the main characters of GX, and the spirit of Ojama Yellow acts as Chazz' sidekick in the show. Standing at a weak 0/1000 each, the core Ojama monsters are not very tough. Instead they rely on a mix of spell and trap cards to clog up the opponent's side of the board with tokens that they cannot tribute and stall the battle, allowing for the summoning of the Ojama King and using their field spell to switch around the ATK and DEF of all Ojama monsters, followed by either a wipe of the opponent's side of the board or destroying all other Ojamas on the field to make the Ojama King unreasonably buff. A gimmicky and not very powerful archetype that's fun to play but annoying to play against.
* '''Performapal/Performage''' - One of the most broken archetypes of its time and a contender for the most powerful deck of the game pre-nerf, Performapal and Performage are based on circus animals and circus perfomers respectively. The former is the other archetype of ARC-V's Yuya Sakaki, who uses the circus animals for his signature Entertainment Dueling style. Both archetypes are based on Pendulum Summoning and shenanigans in the battle phase that break the game so utterly, Konami was forced to employ the second emergency ban list in the game's history. ''Even then'' it remained powerful enough to remain a meta staple until the [[power creep]] set in. It's safe to say that a lot of people did not like them a lot, with the cartoony art being the least of their complaints.
* '''Red-Eyes''' - The Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Red-Eyes B. Dragon because they wanted to avoid the association with black magic) is one of the game's most famous cards and the signature card of Duelist Kingdom's Joey Wheeler. On its own the Red-Eyes is not very impressive: 2400/2000 at level 7 is just not worth it, even with its good attribute and type: outclassed by the Dark Magician and the Summoned Skull alike it's just not up to par. What it makes up with however is its mind-boggling versatility: Gemini, Burn, Pendulum, Toolbox and more are all options for the archetype. This means that the archetype is capable of a great many things, but herein lies the trap: an improperly built deck will only get in its own way. A good Red-Eyes deck is the result of a great degree of finetuning to make a specialized deck. The archetype is also lacking in defensive measures and doesn't have a large number of good trap cards to support it, so a powerful opponent will simply steamroll a Red-Eyes deck.
* '''SPYRAL''' - A TCG-only set that's two parts [[James Bond]], one part [[Metal Gear]] and a nod at the Spyral agency from DC Comics. The archetype revolves around getting its core monster, SPYRAL Super Agent, onto the table followed by using a set of support cards to keep it on the field. It also involves looking frequently at your opponent's hand (which fits with the spy theme) to trigger effects. This means that the SPYRAL archetype suffers from a few weaknesses that, if exploited, can utterly shut it down.
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==Formats and Ban Lists==
Yu-Gi-Oh has a strange relationship with what cards are legal or not. Unlike the two other big card games, [[Pokémon]] and [[Magic: The Gathering]] Yu-Gi-Oh does not have a "standard" format that says "all cards in sets X, Y and Z can be played and the rest cannot". This means that every single card, printed from ''Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon'' to the latest set can be used in a deck, as long as they're not on the ban lists. This means that in effect there are several thousand cards legal to use in your deck, with only a fraction being limited and only a handful being outright banned. Cards have four levels of legality, determining how many you can have of any one card in your Main, Extra and Side Decks:

* Unlimited: 3
* Semi-Limited: 2
* Limited: 1
* Forbidden: 0

There are also Illegal cards: cards that were never intended to see use in official duels or tournaments. These are often promotional materials, with all but six of them having conditions that allows their player to win the match. Not the duel: ''the best-out-of-three match''. The six remaining ones are two cards based on the anime, one being a promotional card handed out during the World Championship of 2007 that is quite useful in the right kind of deck, and the last three remaining cards being the unofficial versions of the three Egyptian Gods.

Exactly which cards are of what legality is determined by the region you're in. Yu-Gi-Oh has two regions where the game has different names: the Official Card Game and the Trading Card Game, shortened to OCG and TCG respectively. The OCG is played in Asia while the TCG is played in the rest of the world. Both regions have their own ban lists, meaning that a deck that is played in one region might not work as well or is perhaps not even legal in the other. This is even further complicated that while the OCG has only one format, the TCG has two: Advanced and Traditional. The difference between the two is akin to the difference between Legacy and Vintage: Advanced restricts more cards to create a more balanced experience and has quite a few cards that are illegal in the format. Traditional is a friendlier kind of game: all Forbidden cards are Limited. If you want to use Illegal cards then you need your opponent's permission first due to the amount of [[cheese]] found in the banlist. Advanced is the format used in official tournaments and events, making it akin to Standard. In other words, Traditional and no banlist at all are for fun games with friends, and Advanced is for more serious games.

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==The Anime==
[[Image:Banditkeith.jpg|450px|thumb|right|This is what the rest of the world thinks all people look like... IN AMERICA.]]
* Yu-Gi-Oh was clumsily "advertised" by a cartoon for children about adults playing a children's card game, which shared the same name.
* Season 0 Yami Yuugi is a well known follower of [[Tzeentch]] (as if the Egyptian gig wasn't enough of a give away). Mostly it was about Yami Yuugi punishing local bullies and scumbags by challenging them to a "Yami No Game", a dark and demented game of Yuugi's making with a stringent set of rules (dependent on the current challenge) that are meant to test the person's true character. If the person looses a Yami Game, or breaks the rules in any way, Yuugi will either kill them or [[Grimdark|give them such realistically horrifying hallucinations that they turn into a gibbering, hapless wreck]]. As an example, he once played table hockey with a puck full of nitroglycerin and blew the other guy to bits. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWXTZ8zuuDQ In another game in the anime, he tricked an armed criminal holding his girlfriend hostage into pouring 180 proof vodka all over himself and putting a lighter on his hand. Ensuring that if he did anything wrong, he'd burn a horrible death]. Subsequent Yugis... were most likely closer to [[Slaanesh]].
* Dan Green voices both Yugis in the English version.
* The aforementioned program was so popular, they released a spin-off show called Yu-Gi-Oh GX, about children attending a university that teaches students how to play a children's card game (really). Even the US dubbers noticed how stupid this was, and would write dialog that mocked the franchise, making [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bml9_is-littlekuriboh-writing-for-yu-gi_fun#.Ub5g-_k3uSo some parts] of the show look like an Abridged parody.
* This spawned another spin-off, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, where angsty emo teenagers play a children's card game on motorcycles, in a setting that's some sort of attempt at dystopian [[cyberpunk]]. Seriously, that's actually the premise. Not terrible. Surprisingly interesting and edgy at times. The dub is mediocre compared to the subbed, as 4kids of course excised the more "mature" parts from their localization. This is the show that introduced synchro monsters to the game.
* This was followed by Yu-Gi-Oh! ZeXal, which is basically [[anime|Naruto]] with card games instead of ninjas set in an alternate universe from 5Ds where Synchros don't exist. Xyz monsters were invented here.
* Next up was Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, which seemed to have remembered the other series and summoning methods existed, but the promise the show had got butchered once they travelled to the synchro dimension, a world similar to that of 5D's.
* The most recent (started in May 2017) one is Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS (which stands for Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System), which introduces Link monsters. Its villains, the Knights of Hanoi, are basically [[Anonymous]] with a technomagical supercharge.

==[[TL;DR]]==
A decent card game that could have been better, even great, if not for the two-headed giant that is Konami's incompetence and the crappy player base. Hey, at least it gave birth to a memetastic set of anime.

{{Card Games}}

[[Category:Weeaboo]]

Chaos Gods

2018-07-19T05:22:58Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

{{heresy}}
The '''Chaos Gods''' are the gods which rule over the Realm of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]] and the [[Warp]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps with their mortal followers, and literally each other (especially Slaanesh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value.

Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living. For example: let's say you're literally obsessed with brutally murdering people and you get a real nice kick out of it. The act of spilling blood is gonna feed [[Khorne]], while the ecstasy and obsessive sensation you get out of it will feed [[Slaanesh]]. So yeah, there's some overlap, in that an individual doing a certain thing, under specific circumstances, can simultaneously feed multiple Chaos Gods, but the God who was invoked (whether intentionally or no) upon when commuting the action will get the most power out of it (I.E: You killed someone for Khorne. While your ecstasy from the murder will feed Slaanesh a bit, your simple act of killing someone will feed Nurgle, your continued ambition to please the Blood God to earn his favor will also feed Tzeentch a bit, but Khorne gets the most since you offered that kill to him foremost).

The Chaos Gods are responsible for the downfall of great historical leaders, specifically bringing the collapse of their legacy and influence projected by everything they forged, throughout humanity's evolution, specifically Alexander the Great and Suleiman the Magnificent by Khorne (unrestrained and uncontrollable bloodshed not allowing their radiant empires to expand despite their power), Septimius Severus and Napoleon Bonaparte by Tzeentch (political conspiracies exploiting their administrative reforms preventing them from being beneficial), Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian and Otto von Bismarch by Slaanesh (a ruling class harming the interests of all others by abusing the priviledges provided to it) and Richard the Lionheart and Winston Churchill by Nurgle (a retraction from the goals of their established status quo that brought decadence and regression), therefore we can conclude that there is a pattern that Khorne is followed by Tzeentch, Tzeentch is followed by Slaanesh and Slaanesh is followed by Nurgle, so if Nurgle brought the end of the Age of the Imperium, Slaanesh brought the end of the Great Crusade and Tzeentch brought the end of the Golden Age of Technology, there must have been a great war before the rebellion of sentinent machines, probably between Humans and Eldar, which happen to be eternal enemies and not just two crumbling civilizations that crossed paths and confront each other out of their insecurity and arrogance.

==Overview==
According to the wikifags over at the Official Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Chaos Gods were created and are sustained by the collective emotions of 'every sentient being of the material universe'; so not just the Milky Way, but every alien, both heretical and loyal, in the whole universe. This however probably isn't true, or rather it's just very bad wording, because if the Milky Way alone has all of these sentient races in it, then there's a safe bet that most other galaxies in the rest of the universe also have a multitude of sentient races too. And there are like, at least billions upon billions of galaxies in the observable universe, let alone the true universe which is likely many magnitudes larger. Based on what we've seen in the fluff, ''That'' many galaxies, filled with ''that'' many sentient lifeforms, ''all'' feeding only ''four'' Chaos Gods, would give said Chaos Gods so much power that they would probably have the capability to turn the entire galaxy (and many others) into massive Eyes of Terror at a simple scheming click of their heretical fingers. But of course, that hasn't happened (thank the fucking Emperor). Which probably means those wikifags are talking complete unadulterated bullshit, and in actuality, the full range of influence the Ruinous Powers have only extends to the area of the Milky Way and not much further. After all, a specific location in the Warp corresponds with a specific location in the Materium; your thoughts and emotions will have an effect (albeit very minor) on the Warp in your specific corresponding location, and the collective thoughts and emotions of a galaxy's population will only have an effect on that specific galactic area of the overall Warp. This essentially means the four Chaos Gods are completely confined to the Milky Way galaxy, because that's where the emotions that created and feed them are currently being felt.

So what does that really mean? Well, it means the Warp in the vast, cold, empty space between galaxies is calm as fuck, absolutely nothing like the infested shitty plughole it is right now in our home galaxy, because there's no sentient life and hence no chaotic emotions there to stir it up. However, this also means that if other galaxies out there have their own interstellar sentient species with a presence in the Warp, then those galaxies will have their own Chaos Gods (probably just analogous versions of the four we have, since they collectively embody all emotions a sentient being can feel, both good and bad) that reside there and are also confined to the area of their own galaxy. But who knows? Maybe in other galaxies, the aliens that live there have actually got their shit together and all get along like best buddies in a setting that just oozes [[Noblebright|noblebright]] from every pore, and the Chaos Gods there aren't even called that because they're all so friendly and cushy to everyone and like to play vidyagames with each other and cracking open cold ones on a warm Friday night while watching The Batchelor. How sweet... I wonder what would happen if two galaxies, both with their own analogous Chaos Gods, collided. Would they just absorb each other into a new pantheon of four even-more-powerful Gods? Would they fight each other until one reigned supreme? Or would they get along like good ol' chums since they understand each other perfectly? Anyway, tangents.

Now that I say all of this, why the actual '''FUCK''' has no one decided to just up and leave the galaxy already?! It's a complete shithole! It's filled to the absolute brim with nothing but copious amounts of [[Grimdark]] and a whole host of things that want to murder, rape and eat you, not necessarily in that order. And it's ''still'' being filled up with that shit, both [[Necron|crawling out from under the ground]] and [[Tyranid|flying in from outer space to OMNOMNOMNOM the faces of everyone you both despise and adore]]. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the immediate crossfire, you're still likely to be part of [[Imperium|a civilisation that completely smashes any feeling of worth or individuality out of you and treats you like just another cog in the machine of trillions of cogs]]. Just leave already, god dammit. What about Andromeda? I hear it's rather pleasant this time of year. At least compared to this literal hellhole. But it's probably not possible for the same reason why [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] and [[Lion El'Johnson|Lion-O]] couldn't simply fly over the Ruinstorm to get to Terra; if the space between galaxies is calm because there are no souls, that probably means there's no warp either, making intergalactic travel impossible. But this is just speculation. Plus, you need to be Necron-tier to get pass the nids off galaxy.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, Chaos Gods. Ahem.

==Khorne==
{{Main|Khorne}}
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lord of RAEG, War, Butthurt, Steroids and Testosterone.]]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honor, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honor are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight and be a challenge to kill. This is almost never shown in the fluff though, annoyingly), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onward in the face of any odds.
* Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT
* Main Enemy - Slaanesh, as he considers him/her/it/hermaphrodite to be too frilly and really doesn't care about sensations, especially when they prolong the spilling of blood, to the point fluff wise it is distinctly pointed out he hates the priss even more than tzeench, going so far as to have slaaneshi and khornates have the hatred special rule against eachother.
* Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship with Mork and Gork.
* Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above). [[Valkia the Bloody]] (Canonically - yes, your brain is now broken).
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[World Eaters]], other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the [[Blood Pact]].
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!), Valkia the Bloody, Scylla Afingrimm (former warlord turned [[Chaos Spawn]] and still kicks ass), Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded, Skarr Bloodwrath. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
* Sacred Number - 8 ("The eightfold path")
<gallery>
Image:500px-Video-Game-Warhammer-15925.jpg|A Khornate Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Nurgle==
{{Main|Nurgle}}
[[File:Nurgle Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Despite his and his minion's appearances, they're actually pretty nice.]]

Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude (which are obviously related). Formed from despair and fear of death, his portfolio also includes acceptance and stoicism. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, struggle, (familial) love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact in 40k, he loves the [[Eldar]] goddess [[Isha]] so much that he [[grimdark|chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases]], because that's the only way he knows how to express love... yeah, love sucks <s>sometimes</s> all the time). Also note that one aspect of him that is played up in the End Times is that he is in fact the god of life, only for him it means unrestrained, infinite life (Case in point, Tumor).
* Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat one.
* Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of hope and change, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
* Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
* Love Interest - His joy and wife, [[Isha]]. Now pins for Alarielle, since he [[Everqueen#Isha.2FAriel_Alarielle_Fusion_Dance.21|lost Isha to her]].
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[Death Guard]]. Has tons of other followers like the [[The Purge]] (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), [[Apostles of Contagion]] ([[Zombie Plague]] aficionados), the [[Lords of Decay]] (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on [[Vraks]].
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: [[Valnir|Valnir the Reaper]], old school champion of Nurgle; [[Festus the Leechlord]] (this guy used to be a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Björnlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the [[Glottkin]], [[Gutrot Spume]] (a Nurglite pirate barbarian), the [[Maggoth]] Riders of Icehorn Peak. It could also be possibly argued (especially considering [[Age of Sigmar|Age of Skubmar]]) that the Skaven Clan Pestilens is some sort of splinter cult built on worshipping Nurgle while thinking that they're worshiping an aspect of the Horned Rat.
* Sacred Number - 7 (though 3 is also a popular number)
<gallery>
Image:Nurgle Images.jpg|A Nurglite Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Slaanesh==
{{Main|Slaanesh}}
[[File:Slaanesh Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The embodiment of all things PR0N.]]

Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of [[1d4chan|emotions formed from emotions]], not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume s/he manifested normally like the other Gods), the [[Eldar]] created him/her/it/hermaphrodite by having so many damn orgies they tore space-time a new asshole (The Eye of Terror). Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Other facets include perfectionism, obsessiveness, attention-whoring, jealousy, sensuality, DRUGS, empathy, self-expression, individuality, art, music, joy, and admiration (so quite literally the god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!).
* Gender - Whatever you want it to be, sugar! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite or trap.
* Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
* Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. Her friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he stole [[Isha]] during Slaanesh's proverbial and... literal raping of the former Eldar Empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, their daemons temporarily joined forces once or twice). Generally the most open to working with the others.
* Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her back. Messes around with Khorne. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But she won't give up!
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Emperor's Children]]. Also has others to call on like The [[Flawless Host]] (their drugs make Emperor's Children's look like baking powder), Violaters (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a [[VtM|Tzimisce]] well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), [[Dechala|Dechala the Denied one]], former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Azazel, former bro of [[Sigmar]], Styrkaar of Sortsvinear. <s>The Varg tribes serve him.</s> NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him, purely judging from their nomenclature. Also, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]], pre-retcon.
*Sacred Number - 6
<gallery>
Image:3808336-1057810675-Video.jpg|A Slaaneshi Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Tzeentch==
{{Main|Tzeentch}}
[[File:Tzeentch Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Change we can all believe in...]]

Tzeentch is the god of [[Just as planned]] and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, and change.
* Gender - Always changing, but usually male.
* Main Enemy - Nurgle, because he symbolizes stagnation, a.k.a. refusal towards change.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, she's nice to little Tzeentch!
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Thousand Sons]]. Unlike the other gods, Tzeentch apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular (besides the [[Prospero Spireguard]]). Most likely the reason for this is because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of [[Khorne|power and unending glorious conquest]], [[Nurgle|freedom from all pain and suffering]], or [[Slaanesh|all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some]] are much more attractive options than becoming some nerd's pawn. Then again, as Tzeentch cares not for the quantity of his followers over quality, he'd just recruit their leader (or his right hand and help him overthrow said leader). He also offers limited knowledge of the future, represented in game with a boosted Ward save from the Mark of Tzeentch.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero": <s>Vilitch the Curseling</s> [[Egrimm van Horstmann|Egrimm van Horstmann]]. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent (well there was this Sarl tribe and it was ruled by a Tzeentch chieftian, but [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] killed him as well as his son) but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. Also, got [[Cathay]] in a bag.
* Sacred Number - 9
<gallery>
Image:240078tzeentch-1024.jpg|A Tzeentchian Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Malal==
{{Main|Malal}}
[[File:Malal.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Then we have this motherfucking out of place/odd one out weirdo here....]]

Though not as relevant as the other big four, Malal is still more notable than the other minor Gods mentioned below.

Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy before his creators divorced and took their character with them, resulting in GW shitcanning most of the original sculptors and artists. Then he was replaced with two entirely different characters with the same basic domain before being quietly swept under the rug and forgotten, barring the odd reference that slips out here and there. He is fittingly the god of fractiousness and dissent, which, given the company he keeps, makes him a tad redundant. Also sometimes a god of atheism, and contradictions, and paradoxes, when he exists at all. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty [[Awesome]]. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), [[Games Workshop]] idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he <i>might</i> be back in 40k, with a [[Chaos Space Marine]] warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and whose premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. There's also [[Beastmen]] of Malal in one of the card games. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. Like Khorne, Malal has an aspect of hate, however it's more along the lines of loathing (including towards self), [[derp|malice]] and cold contempt compared to Khorne's ragey hot-blooded variety. While a worshipper of either might shoot up a school, a malal worshipper would probably think of it like exterminating pests rather than a pleasant rampage. Beyond all that, his portfolio includes paradoxes, justice, revenge, nihilism, and the inevitability of Chaos turning upon itself. Every time the others fight or power shifts between them, he grows stronger. Just like Chaos will eventually win and consume all worlds, Malal will eventually win and consume all Chaos resulting in oblivion for all things...then if GW took the full bite off Moorcock's work and not just the parts they wanted, the whole thing starts all over again from the beginning.
* Gender - A god with a gender? ''Really?''
* Main Enemy - EVERYONE. Because Malal's an edgy loner who doesn't play by the rules (also because he represents one of the few things GW didn't steal from Moorcock, that Chaos eventually destroys itself).
* Bro God(ess) - Probably any character that has been retconned away, that [[Squats|is angry about not being a part of the canon anymore]].
* Love Interest(s) - What part of him being an edgelord did you not understand?
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - [[Sons of Malice]]. And that just about sums it up. No Imperial Guard equivalent, no daemon spawn, nothing (that we know of). So yeah, that pretty much makes him a god of hipsters too. /tg/ has made a fan-codex for [[Malal Daemonkin]], though, so go help yourself :)
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: A fellow named Kaleb Daark was Malal's first revealed servant, who swung around a pterodactyl head on a stick. The Ogre Skrag the Slaughterer fucked up dwarves in his name before pussying out to follow some shitty Ogre god thanks to retcons. There's a small tribe of Beastmen named the Claws of Malal as well.
* Sacred Number - 11
<gallery>
Image:Maxresdefault.jpg|220px|A Malalic Space Marine
</gallery>

==Great Horned Rat==
{{Main|Horned Rat}}
[[File:Betterskaven.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Thinks he's better than sliced Jesus.]]

This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the [[Skaven]], and god of... well, rats. Also disease, mutations, etc., but mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left them with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

In Age of Sigmar he was promoted to Chaos God following the demotion of Slaanesh out of the Great Game.
* Gender - Referred to as male.
* Main Enemy - Everyone, backstabbing is his primary creed and portfolio. Being cowardly, he will also work with any Chaos God, mostly Nurgle. Archaon shows him the least respect, however.
* Bro God(ess) - Nurgle, as far as his followers are concerned. They have very similar hobbies.
* Love Interest(s) - As Skaven themselves are incapable of feeling love, it is unlikely GHR can either.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - None. Great Horned Rat does not exist in 40k. Although there are [[Death Guard]] miniatures with [[Skaven]] heads.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero" - [[Clanrats]]. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently [[Thanquol]], who despite being an annoying failure that would make [[Transformers|Starscream]] laugh, he keeps somehow surviving and staying in charge of all the things.
* Sacred Number - 13

==The Other Ones==
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.

===Be'lakor===
In [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], Be'lakor was one of the earliest Chaos warlords, leading vast hordes of Daemons to ravage the world long before the Elves rose up against them. He impressed the Chaos Gods so much they turned him into a [[Daemon Prince]], the first time they ever did that to a mortal follower of Chaos Gods. He is still among the most powerful of all Daemon Princes and is able to grant his followers unique magic powers. But then he grew proud and considerd himself better than the Chaos Gods themselves, so Tzeentch cursed him for his arrogance. Tzeentch made him be the one to crown Everchosens of Chaos while never getting to become the Everchosen himself, which pisses him off to no end. With the latest Everchosen, [[Archaon]], Be'lakor was once again forced to crown the Everchosen of Chaos with the final artifact. Be'lakor played a big part in the [[Storm of Chaos]] campaign, but that has since been retconned. Although he still shows up from time to time, he no longer appears to be quite as powerful as he once was, although he is still a Daemon Prince of [[Chaos Undivided]], which is a massive accomplishment in and of itself.

During the End Times, Be'lakor was all set to return to his former glory and then some, plotting to become the fifth Chaos God by breaking into ''Kazad Drengazi'', the Fortress of the First Slayer ([[Grimnir]], natch), a temple containing the Chaos Gate that Grimnir used to get to the Realm of Chaos in the first place. Be'lakor used the power of the Chaos Gate to break Tzeentch's curse, regain his physical form, and summon four greater daemons, one of each of the Chaos Gods; two of them had had their shit ruined by [[Gotrek_%26_Felix|Gotrek]] and [[Gotrek_%26_Felix|Felix]] once before. Be'lakor and his posse planned to backstab Grimnir from behind, at which point Be'lakor would take all of Grimnir's power and ascend to become the fifth Chaos God, but Gotrek and Felix showed up and wrecked Be'lakor and the Bloodthirster, while Grimnir kicked the asses of the Keeper of Secrets, Lord of Change, and Great Unclean One. It looked like Be'lakor and Gotrek's duel could go either way at first, then Gotrek ''hit Be'lakor with the Bloodthirster'' and kicked all their asses back to the Realm of Chaos, ruining Be'lakor's plans and forcing him to go get trapped in a magic ruby by [[Alarielle]] for the rest of eternity. One true Everchosen my ass! Somehow he managed to escape into the new world, only to get his ass royally handed to him by the Lizardmen dive bombing him with Pterodactyl riders.

In [[Warhammer 40,000]], Be'lakor was the first Daemon Prince, as well as the first (and allegedly "last", but there have been two more since) Daemon Prince created through the action of all four Chaos Gods ([[Derp|apparently]] [[Lorgar]] and [[Perturabo]] were special exceptions or something (though knowing Pert, I wouldn't be surprised if he was 75% Khornate or something)), and quickly proved to be difficult to control even at the best of times. Apparently his creation gave him the Daemonic equivalent of daddy issues and now he spends most of his time trying to kill all other Champions of Chaos, including other Daemon Princes. The Chaos Gods tolerate him mostly because his wild-card status makes him an excellent pawn in their power struggles, something Be'lakor himself is completely unaware of (as he thinks he still has free will and just wants to cement his position as Chaos' sole champion). Recently, he's shown up to "help" with [[Abaddon]]'s [[Black Crusade]]s by giving him [[Troll|seemingly helpful advice that often leads to unexpectedly heavy losses]], all in an attempt to undermine his credibility (well, more so than he does on his own). In a stunning display of insight, Abaddon saw through his ruse, but allowed him to remain within the Black Legion in order to keep tabs on him and better prepare for his sudden but inevitable betrayal. The Imperium isn't even aware that he exists, as Be'lakor has been very careful about concealing his presence from history (with the unwitting help of a Magos who learned just enough about him to know that he exists, but not enough to realize that he's a Daemon Prince). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOiQOOrj-fY| Playing in a band really doesn't help his concealment much though].

He's also been shown to be in contact with [[Ahriman]]. No word on whether Ahriman has accepted his offer of being made his greatest champion in exchange for his service, however, but seeing as Ahzek rejects even Tzeentch's own offerings to be HIS chosen champion, still thinks he's independent of any god (despite having Tzeentch's mark on the tabletop), and actively tries to become the fifth Chaos god himself, it's a good bet he told Be'lakor to go fuck himself with someone else's force sword.

German Age of Sigmar players love to field him in chaos lists as there is a translation error in his German rules, allowing him to control an enemy miniature in the whole battle. Fun fact he's also a kick ass band.

===Hashut===
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.

===Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, and Ans'l===
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of [[Chaos]] as a fundamental force in the world was blatantly stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it), artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on [[Chaos]] things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition [[Codex]]: [[Chaos Space Marines]], which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "canonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.

===Necoho===
[[File:Necoho_Revealed.png|500px|thumb|right|[[/tg/]] has recently deduced Necoho's true identity.]]
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappear and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.

Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novel ''Road of Skulls'', which is more than can be said for Zuvassin. Has been mentioned by name in the Age of Sigmar novel ''Auction of Blood'', along with a mention to his cult.

===Urlfdaemonkin===
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 7th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross [[Awesome|between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion]].

===Zuvassin===
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of [[not as planned]]. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.

Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.

Actually, he is still canon, at least in Warhammer Fantasy. The 2nd Edition "Tome of Salvation" actually lists both him and Necoho as Chaos Gods.

===Nuffle===
{{Main|Nuffle}}
A joke Chaos God for [[Bloodbowl]], Nuffle is a mispronunciation of NFL (as in "National Football League", the American gridiron football pro league in real life), which would be pronounced "Noofle" as in "book" if you tried pronouncing it. Nuffle explains why the Blood Bowl universe is so wacky and gridiron football obsessed. Technically the superior to the rest of Chaos, although apparently only in the Blood Bowl universe.

{{Template:ChaosGods}}

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

Chaos Gods

2018-07-19T05:18:11Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

{{heresy}}
The '''Chaos Gods''' are the gods which rule over the Realm of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]] and the [[Warp]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps with their mortal followers, and literally each other (especially Slaanesh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value.

Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living. For example: let's say you're literally obsessed with brutally murdering people and you get a real nice kick out of it. The act of spilling blood is gonna feed [[Khorne]], while the ecstasy and obsessive sensation you get out of it will feed [[Slaanesh]]. So yeah, there's some overlap, in that an individual doing a certain thing, under specific circumstances, can simultaneously feed multiple Chaos Gods, but the God who was invoked (whether intentionally or no) upon when commuting the action will get the most power out of it (I.E: You killed someone for Khorne. While your ecstasy from the murder will feed Slaanesh a bit, your simple act of killing someone will feed Nurgle, your continued ambition to please the Blood God to earn his favor will also feed Tzeentch a bit, but Khorne gets the most since you offered that kill to him foremost).

The Chaos Gods are responsible for the downfall of great historical leaders, specifically bringing the collapse of their legacy and influence projected by everything they forged, throughout humanity's evolution, specifically Alexander the Great and Suleiman the Magnificent by Khorne (unrestrained and uncontrollable bloodshed not allowing their radiant empires to expand despite their power), Septimius Severus and Napoleon Bonaparte by Tzeentch (political conspiracies exploiting their administrative reforms preventing them from being beneficial), Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian and Otto von Bismarch by Slaanesh (a ruling class harming the interests of all others by abusing the priviledges provided to it) and Richard the Lionheart and Winston Churchill by Nurgle (a retraction from the goals of their established status quo that brought decadence and regression).

==Overview==
According to the wikifags over at the Official Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Chaos Gods were created and are sustained by the collective emotions of 'every sentient being of the material universe'; so not just the Milky Way, but every alien, both heretical and loyal, in the whole universe. This however probably isn't true, or rather it's just very bad wording, because if the Milky Way alone has all of these sentient races in it, then there's a safe bet that most other galaxies in the rest of the universe also have a multitude of sentient races too. And there are like, at least billions upon billions of galaxies in the observable universe, let alone the true universe which is likely many magnitudes larger. Based on what we've seen in the fluff, ''That'' many galaxies, filled with ''that'' many sentient lifeforms, ''all'' feeding only ''four'' Chaos Gods, would give said Chaos Gods so much power that they would probably have the capability to turn the entire galaxy (and many others) into massive Eyes of Terror at a simple scheming click of their heretical fingers. But of course, that hasn't happened (thank the fucking Emperor). Which probably means those wikifags are talking complete unadulterated bullshit, and in actuality, the full range of influence the Ruinous Powers have only extends to the area of the Milky Way and not much further. After all, a specific location in the Warp corresponds with a specific location in the Materium; your thoughts and emotions will have an effect (albeit very minor) on the Warp in your specific corresponding location, and the collective thoughts and emotions of a galaxy's population will only have an effect on that specific galactic area of the overall Warp. This essentially means the four Chaos Gods are completely confined to the Milky Way galaxy, because that's where the emotions that created and feed them are currently being felt.

So what does that really mean? Well, it means the Warp in the vast, cold, empty space between galaxies is calm as fuck, absolutely nothing like the infested shitty plughole it is right now in our home galaxy, because there's no sentient life and hence no chaotic emotions there to stir it up. However, this also means that if other galaxies out there have their own interstellar sentient species with a presence in the Warp, then those galaxies will have their own Chaos Gods (probably just analogous versions of the four we have, since they collectively embody all emotions a sentient being can feel, both good and bad) that reside there and are also confined to the area of their own galaxy. But who knows? Maybe in other galaxies, the aliens that live there have actually got their shit together and all get along like best buddies in a setting that just oozes [[Noblebright|noblebright]] from every pore, and the Chaos Gods there aren't even called that because they're all so friendly and cushy to everyone and like to play vidyagames with each other and cracking open cold ones on a warm Friday night while watching The Batchelor. How sweet... I wonder what would happen if two galaxies, both with their own analogous Chaos Gods, collided. Would they just absorb each other into a new pantheon of four even-more-powerful Gods? Would they fight each other until one reigned supreme? Or would they get along like good ol' chums since they understand each other perfectly? Anyway, tangents.

Now that I say all of this, why the actual '''FUCK''' has no one decided to just up and leave the galaxy already?! It's a complete shithole! It's filled to the absolute brim with nothing but copious amounts of [[Grimdark]] and a whole host of things that want to murder, rape and eat you, not necessarily in that order. And it's ''still'' being filled up with that shit, both [[Necron|crawling out from under the ground]] and [[Tyranid|flying in from outer space to OMNOMNOMNOM the faces of everyone you both despise and adore]]. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the immediate crossfire, you're still likely to be part of [[Imperium|a civilisation that completely smashes any feeling of worth or individuality out of you and treats you like just another cog in the machine of trillions of cogs]]. Just leave already, god dammit. What about Andromeda? I hear it's rather pleasant this time of year. At least compared to this literal hellhole. But it's probably not possible for the same reason why [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] and [[Lion El'Johnson|Lion-O]] couldn't simply fly over the Ruinstorm to get to Terra; if the space between galaxies is calm because there are no souls, that probably means there's no warp either, making intergalactic travel impossible. But this is just speculation. Plus, you need to be Necron-tier to get pass the nids off galaxy.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, Chaos Gods. Ahem.

==Khorne==
{{Main|Khorne}}
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lord of RAEG, War, Butthurt, Steroids and Testosterone.]]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honor, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honor are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight and be a challenge to kill. This is almost never shown in the fluff though, annoyingly), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onward in the face of any odds.
* Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT
* Main Enemy - Slaanesh, as he considers him/her/it/hermaphrodite to be too frilly and really doesn't care about sensations, especially when they prolong the spilling of blood, to the point fluff wise it is distinctly pointed out he hates the priss even more than tzeench, going so far as to have slaaneshi and khornates have the hatred special rule against eachother.
* Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship with Mork and Gork.
* Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above). [[Valkia the Bloody]] (Canonically - yes, your brain is now broken).
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[World Eaters]], other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the [[Blood Pact]].
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!), Valkia the Bloody, Scylla Afingrimm (former warlord turned [[Chaos Spawn]] and still kicks ass), Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded, Skarr Bloodwrath. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
* Sacred Number - 8 ("The eightfold path")
<gallery>
Image:500px-Video-Game-Warhammer-15925.jpg|A Khornate Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Nurgle==
{{Main|Nurgle}}
[[File:Nurgle Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Despite his and his minion's appearances, they're actually pretty nice.]]

Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude (which are obviously related). Formed from despair and fear of death, his portfolio also includes acceptance and stoicism. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, struggle, (familial) love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact in 40k, he loves the [[Eldar]] goddess [[Isha]] so much that he [[grimdark|chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases]], because that's the only way he knows how to express love... yeah, love sucks <s>sometimes</s> all the time). Also note that one aspect of him that is played up in the End Times is that he is in fact the god of life, only for him it means unrestrained, infinite life (Case in point, Tumor).
* Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat one.
* Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of hope and change, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
* Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
* Love Interest - His joy and wife, [[Isha]]. Now pins for Alarielle, since he [[Everqueen#Isha.2FAriel_Alarielle_Fusion_Dance.21|lost Isha to her]].
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[Death Guard]]. Has tons of other followers like the [[The Purge]] (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), [[Apostles of Contagion]] ([[Zombie Plague]] aficionados), the [[Lords of Decay]] (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on [[Vraks]].
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: [[Valnir|Valnir the Reaper]], old school champion of Nurgle; [[Festus the Leechlord]] (this guy used to be a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Björnlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the [[Glottkin]], [[Gutrot Spume]] (a Nurglite pirate barbarian), the [[Maggoth]] Riders of Icehorn Peak. It could also be possibly argued (especially considering [[Age of Sigmar|Age of Skubmar]]) that the Skaven Clan Pestilens is some sort of splinter cult built on worshipping Nurgle while thinking that they're worshiping an aspect of the Horned Rat.
* Sacred Number - 7 (though 3 is also a popular number)
<gallery>
Image:Nurgle Images.jpg|A Nurglite Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Slaanesh==
{{Main|Slaanesh}}
[[File:Slaanesh Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The embodiment of all things PR0N.]]

Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of [[1d4chan|emotions formed from emotions]], not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume s/he manifested normally like the other Gods), the [[Eldar]] created him/her/it/hermaphrodite by having so many damn orgies they tore space-time a new asshole (The Eye of Terror). Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Other facets include perfectionism, obsessiveness, attention-whoring, jealousy, sensuality, DRUGS, empathy, self-expression, individuality, art, music, joy, and admiration (so quite literally the god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!).
* Gender - Whatever you want it to be, sugar! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite or trap.
* Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
* Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. Her friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he stole [[Isha]] during Slaanesh's proverbial and... literal raping of the former Eldar Empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, their daemons temporarily joined forces once or twice). Generally the most open to working with the others.
* Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her back. Messes around with Khorne. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But she won't give up!
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Emperor's Children]]. Also has others to call on like The [[Flawless Host]] (their drugs make Emperor's Children's look like baking powder), Violaters (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a [[VtM|Tzimisce]] well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), [[Dechala|Dechala the Denied one]], former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Azazel, former bro of [[Sigmar]], Styrkaar of Sortsvinear. <s>The Varg tribes serve him.</s> NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him, purely judging from their nomenclature. Also, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]], pre-retcon.
*Sacred Number - 6
<gallery>
Image:3808336-1057810675-Video.jpg|A Slaaneshi Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Tzeentch==
{{Main|Tzeentch}}
[[File:Tzeentch Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Change we can all believe in...]]

Tzeentch is the god of [[Just as planned]] and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, and change.
* Gender - Always changing, but usually male.
* Main Enemy - Nurgle, because he symbolizes stagnation, a.k.a. refusal towards change.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, she's nice to little Tzeentch!
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Thousand Sons]]. Unlike the other gods, Tzeentch apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular (besides the [[Prospero Spireguard]]). Most likely the reason for this is because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of [[Khorne|power and unending glorious conquest]], [[Nurgle|freedom from all pain and suffering]], or [[Slaanesh|all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some]] are much more attractive options than becoming some nerd's pawn. Then again, as Tzeentch cares not for the quantity of his followers over quality, he'd just recruit their leader (or his right hand and help him overthrow said leader). He also offers limited knowledge of the future, represented in game with a boosted Ward save from the Mark of Tzeentch.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero": <s>Vilitch the Curseling</s> [[Egrimm van Horstmann|Egrimm van Horstmann]]. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent (well there was this Sarl tribe and it was ruled by a Tzeentch chieftian, but [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] killed him as well as his son) but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. Also, got [[Cathay]] in a bag.
* Sacred Number - 9
<gallery>
Image:240078tzeentch-1024.jpg|A Tzeentchian Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Malal==
{{Main|Malal}}
[[File:Malal.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Then we have this motherfucking out of place/odd one out weirdo here....]]

Though not as relevant as the other big four, Malal is still more notable than the other minor Gods mentioned below.

Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy before his creators divorced and took their character with them, resulting in GW shitcanning most of the original sculptors and artists. Then he was replaced with two entirely different characters with the same basic domain before being quietly swept under the rug and forgotten, barring the odd reference that slips out here and there. He is fittingly the god of fractiousness and dissent, which, given the company he keeps, makes him a tad redundant. Also sometimes a god of atheism, and contradictions, and paradoxes, when he exists at all. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty [[Awesome]]. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), [[Games Workshop]] idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he <i>might</i> be back in 40k, with a [[Chaos Space Marine]] warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and whose premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. There's also [[Beastmen]] of Malal in one of the card games. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. Like Khorne, Malal has an aspect of hate, however it's more along the lines of loathing (including towards self), [[derp|malice]] and cold contempt compared to Khorne's ragey hot-blooded variety. While a worshipper of either might shoot up a school, a malal worshipper would probably think of it like exterminating pests rather than a pleasant rampage. Beyond all that, his portfolio includes paradoxes, justice, revenge, nihilism, and the inevitability of Chaos turning upon itself. Every time the others fight or power shifts between them, he grows stronger. Just like Chaos will eventually win and consume all worlds, Malal will eventually win and consume all Chaos resulting in oblivion for all things...then if GW took the full bite off Moorcock's work and not just the parts they wanted, the whole thing starts all over again from the beginning.
* Gender - A god with a gender? ''Really?''
* Main Enemy - EVERYONE. Because Malal's an edgy loner who doesn't play by the rules (also because he represents one of the few things GW didn't steal from Moorcock, that Chaos eventually destroys itself).
* Bro God(ess) - Probably any character that has been retconned away, that [[Squats|is angry about not being a part of the canon anymore]].
* Love Interest(s) - What part of him being an edgelord did you not understand?
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - [[Sons of Malice]]. And that just about sums it up. No Imperial Guard equivalent, no daemon spawn, nothing (that we know of). So yeah, that pretty much makes him a god of hipsters too. /tg/ has made a fan-codex for [[Malal Daemonkin]], though, so go help yourself :)
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: A fellow named Kaleb Daark was Malal's first revealed servant, who swung around a pterodactyl head on a stick. The Ogre Skrag the Slaughterer fucked up dwarves in his name before pussying out to follow some shitty Ogre god thanks to retcons. There's a small tribe of Beastmen named the Claws of Malal as well.
* Sacred Number - 11
<gallery>
Image:Maxresdefault.jpg|220px|A Malalic Space Marine
</gallery>

==Great Horned Rat==
{{Main|Horned Rat}}
[[File:Betterskaven.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Thinks he's better than sliced Jesus.]]

This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the [[Skaven]], and god of... well, rats. Also disease, mutations, etc., but mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left them with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

In Age of Sigmar he was promoted to Chaos God following the demotion of Slaanesh out of the Great Game.
* Gender - Referred to as male.
* Main Enemy - Everyone, backstabbing is his primary creed and portfolio. Being cowardly, he will also work with any Chaos God, mostly Nurgle. Archaon shows him the least respect, however.
* Bro God(ess) - Nurgle, as far as his followers are concerned. They have very similar hobbies.
* Love Interest(s) - As Skaven themselves are incapable of feeling love, it is unlikely GHR can either.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - None. Great Horned Rat does not exist in 40k. Although there are [[Death Guard]] miniatures with [[Skaven]] heads.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero" - [[Clanrats]]. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently [[Thanquol]], who despite being an annoying failure that would make [[Transformers|Starscream]] laugh, he keeps somehow surviving and staying in charge of all the things.
* Sacred Number - 13

==The Other Ones==
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.

===Be'lakor===
In [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], Be'lakor was one of the earliest Chaos warlords, leading vast hordes of Daemons to ravage the world long before the Elves rose up against them. He impressed the Chaos Gods so much they turned him into a [[Daemon Prince]], the first time they ever did that to a mortal follower of Chaos Gods. He is still among the most powerful of all Daemon Princes and is able to grant his followers unique magic powers. But then he grew proud and considerd himself better than the Chaos Gods themselves, so Tzeentch cursed him for his arrogance. Tzeentch made him be the one to crown Everchosens of Chaos while never getting to become the Everchosen himself, which pisses him off to no end. With the latest Everchosen, [[Archaon]], Be'lakor was once again forced to crown the Everchosen of Chaos with the final artifact. Be'lakor played a big part in the [[Storm of Chaos]] campaign, but that has since been retconned. Although he still shows up from time to time, he no longer appears to be quite as powerful as he once was, although he is still a Daemon Prince of [[Chaos Undivided]], which is a massive accomplishment in and of itself.

During the End Times, Be'lakor was all set to return to his former glory and then some, plotting to become the fifth Chaos God by breaking into ''Kazad Drengazi'', the Fortress of the First Slayer ([[Grimnir]], natch), a temple containing the Chaos Gate that Grimnir used to get to the Realm of Chaos in the first place. Be'lakor used the power of the Chaos Gate to break Tzeentch's curse, regain his physical form, and summon four greater daemons, one of each of the Chaos Gods; two of them had had their shit ruined by [[Gotrek_%26_Felix|Gotrek]] and [[Gotrek_%26_Felix|Felix]] once before. Be'lakor and his posse planned to backstab Grimnir from behind, at which point Be'lakor would take all of Grimnir's power and ascend to become the fifth Chaos God, but Gotrek and Felix showed up and wrecked Be'lakor and the Bloodthirster, while Grimnir kicked the asses of the Keeper of Secrets, Lord of Change, and Great Unclean One. It looked like Be'lakor and Gotrek's duel could go either way at first, then Gotrek ''hit Be'lakor with the Bloodthirster'' and kicked all their asses back to the Realm of Chaos, ruining Be'lakor's plans and forcing him to go get trapped in a magic ruby by [[Alarielle]] for the rest of eternity. One true Everchosen my ass! Somehow he managed to escape into the new world, only to get his ass royally handed to him by the Lizardmen dive bombing him with Pterodactyl riders.

In [[Warhammer 40,000]], Be'lakor was the first Daemon Prince, as well as the first (and allegedly "last", but there have been two more since) Daemon Prince created through the action of all four Chaos Gods ([[Derp|apparently]] [[Lorgar]] and [[Perturabo]] were special exceptions or something (though knowing Pert, I wouldn't be surprised if he was 75% Khornate or something)), and quickly proved to be difficult to control even at the best of times. Apparently his creation gave him the Daemonic equivalent of daddy issues and now he spends most of his time trying to kill all other Champions of Chaos, including other Daemon Princes. The Chaos Gods tolerate him mostly because his wild-card status makes him an excellent pawn in their power struggles, something Be'lakor himself is completely unaware of (as he thinks he still has free will and just wants to cement his position as Chaos' sole champion). Recently, he's shown up to "help" with [[Abaddon]]'s [[Black Crusade]]s by giving him [[Troll|seemingly helpful advice that often leads to unexpectedly heavy losses]], all in an attempt to undermine his credibility (well, more so than he does on his own). In a stunning display of insight, Abaddon saw through his ruse, but allowed him to remain within the Black Legion in order to keep tabs on him and better prepare for his sudden but inevitable betrayal. The Imperium isn't even aware that he exists, as Be'lakor has been very careful about concealing his presence from history (with the unwitting help of a Magos who learned just enough about him to know that he exists, but not enough to realize that he's a Daemon Prince). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOiQOOrj-fY| Playing in a band really doesn't help his concealment much though].

He's also been shown to be in contact with [[Ahriman]]. No word on whether Ahriman has accepted his offer of being made his greatest champion in exchange for his service, however, but seeing as Ahzek rejects even Tzeentch's own offerings to be HIS chosen champion, still thinks he's independent of any god (despite having Tzeentch's mark on the tabletop), and actively tries to become the fifth Chaos god himself, it's a good bet he told Be'lakor to go fuck himself with someone else's force sword.

German Age of Sigmar players love to field him in chaos lists as there is a translation error in his German rules, allowing him to control an enemy miniature in the whole battle. Fun fact he's also a kick ass band.

===Hashut===
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.

===Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, and Ans'l===
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of [[Chaos]] as a fundamental force in the world was blatantly stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it), artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on [[Chaos]] things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition [[Codex]]: [[Chaos Space Marines]], which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "canonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.

===Necoho===
[[File:Necoho_Revealed.png|500px|thumb|right|[[/tg/]] has recently deduced Necoho's true identity.]]
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappear and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.

Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novel ''Road of Skulls'', which is more than can be said for Zuvassin. Has been mentioned by name in the Age of Sigmar novel ''Auction of Blood'', along with a mention to his cult.

===Urlfdaemonkin===
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 7th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross [[Awesome|between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion]].

===Zuvassin===
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of [[not as planned]]. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.

Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.

Actually, he is still canon, at least in Warhammer Fantasy. The 2nd Edition "Tome of Salvation" actually lists both him and Necoho as Chaos Gods.

===Nuffle===
{{Main|Nuffle}}
A joke Chaos God for [[Bloodbowl]], Nuffle is a mispronunciation of NFL (as in "National Football League", the American gridiron football pro league in real life), which would be pronounced "Noofle" as in "book" if you tried pronouncing it. Nuffle explains why the Blood Bowl universe is so wacky and gridiron football obsessed. Technically the superior to the rest of Chaos, although apparently only in the Blood Bowl universe.

{{Template:ChaosGods}}

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]

Chaos Gods

2018-07-19T05:17:15Z

2A02:587:3A10:BF00:2D1B:BBBB:8CD0:A372:

{{heresy}}
The '''Chaos Gods''' are the gods which rule over the Realm of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]] and the [[Warp]] in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. They love nothing so much as dicking with each other, except perhaps with their mortal followers, and literally each other (especially Slaanesh). Before they were gods, they were generally benevolent beings, when the Warp was a calm sea. Each one is formed by the emotions of living souls clumped together in the Warp/Realm of Chaos. Contrary to standard thought, they personify good attributes as well, and are powered as much by good as by bad. Even if said god started out entirely bad, in their eventual evolution as part of their natures, they will kill gods who represented entirely good things, and will gain not only their values, but their power by said value.

Be aware many of the gods' values will and do intersect. This is as much due to the chaotic nature of the gods as it is to the multitude of emotions that make up the living. For example: let's say you're literally obsessed with brutally murdering people and you get a real nice kick out of it. The act of spilling blood is gonna feed [[Khorne]], while the ecstasy and obsessive sensation you get out of it will feed [[Slaanesh]]. So yeah, there's some overlap, in that an individual doing a certain thing, under specific circumstances, can simultaneously feed multiple Chaos Gods, but the God who was invoked (whether intentionally or no) upon when commuting the action will get the most power out of it (I.E: You killed someone for Khorne. While your ecstasy from the murder will feed Slaanesh a bit, your simple act of killing someone will feed Nurgle, your continued ambition to please the Blood God to earn his favor will also feed Tzeentch a bit, but Khorne gets the most since you offered that kill to him foremost).

The Chaos Gods are responsible for the downfall of great historical leaders, specifically bringing the collapse of their legacy and influence projected by everything they forged, throughout humanity's evolution, specifically Alexander the Great and Suleiman the Magnificent by Khorne (unrestrained and uncontrollable bloodshed not allowing their radiant empires to expand despite their power), Septimius Severus and Napoleon Bonaparte by Tzeentch (political conspiracies exploiting their administrative reforms preventing them from being beneficial), Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian and Otto von Bismarch by Slaanesh (a ruling class harming the interests of all others by abusing the priviledges provided to it) and Richard the Lionheart and Winston Churchill by Nurgle (a retraction from the goals of their established status quo that broight decadence and regression).

==Overview==
According to the wikifags over at the Official Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Chaos Gods were created and are sustained by the collective emotions of 'every sentient being of the material universe'; so not just the Milky Way, but every alien, both heretical and loyal, in the whole universe. This however probably isn't true, or rather it's just very bad wording, because if the Milky Way alone has all of these sentient races in it, then there's a safe bet that most other galaxies in the rest of the universe also have a multitude of sentient races too. And there are like, at least billions upon billions of galaxies in the observable universe, let alone the true universe which is likely many magnitudes larger. Based on what we've seen in the fluff, ''That'' many galaxies, filled with ''that'' many sentient lifeforms, ''all'' feeding only ''four'' Chaos Gods, would give said Chaos Gods so much power that they would probably have the capability to turn the entire galaxy (and many others) into massive Eyes of Terror at a simple scheming click of their heretical fingers. But of course, that hasn't happened (thank the fucking Emperor). Which probably means those wikifags are talking complete unadulterated bullshit, and in actuality, the full range of influence the Ruinous Powers have only extends to the area of the Milky Way and not much further. After all, a specific location in the Warp corresponds with a specific location in the Materium; your thoughts and emotions will have an effect (albeit very minor) on the Warp in your specific corresponding location, and the collective thoughts and emotions of a galaxy's population will only have an effect on that specific galactic area of the overall Warp. This essentially means the four Chaos Gods are completely confined to the Milky Way galaxy, because that's where the emotions that created and feed them are currently being felt.

So what does that really mean? Well, it means the Warp in the vast, cold, empty space between galaxies is calm as fuck, absolutely nothing like the infested shitty plughole it is right now in our home galaxy, because there's no sentient life and hence no chaotic emotions there to stir it up. However, this also means that if other galaxies out there have their own interstellar sentient species with a presence in the Warp, then those galaxies will have their own Chaos Gods (probably just analogous versions of the four we have, since they collectively embody all emotions a sentient being can feel, both good and bad) that reside there and are also confined to the area of their own galaxy. But who knows? Maybe in other galaxies, the aliens that live there have actually got their shit together and all get along like best buddies in a setting that just oozes [[Noblebright|noblebright]] from every pore, and the Chaos Gods there aren't even called that because they're all so friendly and cushy to everyone and like to play vidyagames with each other and cracking open cold ones on a warm Friday night while watching The Batchelor. How sweet... I wonder what would happen if two galaxies, both with their own analogous Chaos Gods, collided. Would they just absorb each other into a new pantheon of four even-more-powerful Gods? Would they fight each other until one reigned supreme? Or would they get along like good ol' chums since they understand each other perfectly? Anyway, tangents.

Now that I say all of this, why the actual '''FUCK''' has no one decided to just up and leave the galaxy already?! It's a complete shithole! It's filled to the absolute brim with nothing but copious amounts of [[Grimdark]] and a whole host of things that want to murder, rape and eat you, not necessarily in that order. And it's ''still'' being filled up with that shit, both [[Necron|crawling out from under the ground]] and [[Tyranid|flying in from outer space to OMNOMNOMNOM the faces of everyone you both despise and adore]]. Even if you're lucky enough to escape the immediate crossfire, you're still likely to be part of [[Imperium|a civilisation that completely smashes any feeling of worth or individuality out of you and treats you like just another cog in the machine of trillions of cogs]]. Just leave already, god dammit. What about Andromeda? I hear it's rather pleasant this time of year. At least compared to this literal hellhole. But it's probably not possible for the same reason why [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] and [[Lion El'Johnson|Lion-O]] couldn't simply fly over the Ruinstorm to get to Terra; if the space between galaxies is calm because there are no souls, that probably means there's no warp either, making intergalactic travel impossible. But this is just speculation. Plus, you need to be Necron-tier to get pass the nids off galaxy.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, Chaos Gods. Ahem.

==Khorne==
{{Main|Khorne}}
[[File:Khorne First.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Lord of RAEG, War, Butthurt, Steroids and Testosterone.]]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES! BUTTER FOR THE POP KHORNE! Oh, sorry. In case it wasn't obvious, Khorne is the god of battle, martial honor, and oh yeah, BLOOD! Although primarily formed from hate and rage, bravery and honor are also thrown in the mix. Also in the mix are mercy (in particular, mercy for those too weak to put up a fight and be a challenge to kill. This is almost never shown in the fluff though, annoyingly), courage, regret, fear, athleticism, determination, daring, impulsiveness, and struggling onward in the face of any odds.
* Gender - DEFINITELY A MAN, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT
* Main Enemy - Slaanesh, as he considers him/her/it/hermaphrodite to be too frilly and really doesn't care about sensations, especially when they prolong the spilling of blood, to the point fluff wise it is distinctly pointed out he hates the priss even more than tzeench, going so far as to have slaaneshi and khornates have the hatred special rule against eachother.
* Bro god - Nurgle, although he doesn't seem to mind Khaela Mensha Khaine (they're probably the same thing, though), and he is rumored to be in a polyamorous relationship with Mork and Gork.
* Love Interest - Gork and Mork (see above). [[Valkia the Bloody]] (Canonically - yes, your brain is now broken).
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[World Eaters]], other various chapters and bands of warriors dedicated themselves to him since. Also has IG-equivalent armies like the [[Blood Pact]].
*[[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Arbaal the Undefeated (ANGRY VIKINGS!! FUCK YEAH!!), Valkia the Bloody, Scylla Afingrimm (former warlord turned [[Chaos Spawn]] and still kicks ass), Hrafn Untam, Haargroth the Blooded, Skarr Bloodwrath. Khorne also has an entire Norse confederation especially devoted to him known as the Aeslingr.
* Sacred Number - 8 ("The eightfold path")
<gallery>
Image:500px-Video-Game-Warhammer-15925.jpg|A Khornate Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Nurgle==
{{Main|Nurgle}}
[[File:Nurgle Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Despite his and his minion's appearances, they're actually pretty nice.]]

Nurgle is the god of filth, pestilence, decay, and generally being a cool dude (which are obviously related). Formed from despair and fear of death, his portfolio also includes acceptance and stoicism. Other values include inevitability, empathy, kinship, struggle, (familial) love, tradition, mercy, and memory. Nurgle is also notable for being the only Chaos god that cares for his followers whatsoever, bordering on love (in fact in 40k, he loves the [[Eldar]] goddess [[Isha]] so much that he [[grimdark|chained her up and force feeds her his new diseases]], because that's the only way he knows how to express love... yeah, love sucks <s>sometimes</s> all the time). Also note that one aspect of him that is played up in the End Times is that he is in fact the god of life, only for him it means unrestrained, infinite life (Case in point, Tumor).
* Gender - A (slob of a) man. A VERY fat one.
* Main Enemy - Tzeentch, the paragon of hope and change, in opposition to Nurgle's representation of decay and inevitability.
* Bro god - Khorne, mostly because Nurgle is the only Chaos god Khorne doesn't entirely hate.
* Love Interest - His joy and wife, [[Isha]]. Now pins for Alarielle, since he [[Everqueen#Isha.2FAriel_Alarielle_Fusion_Dance.21|lost Isha to her]].
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - The [[Death Guard]]. Has tons of other followers like the [[The Purge]] (omnicidal wackos who have no problem using chemical and virus weapons on helpless populations), [[Apostles of Contagion]] ([[Zombie Plague]] aficionados), the [[Lords of Decay]] (utterly loyal Marines sent to die in the Eye, holy fuck these guys made a direct assault on the Solar System and won Pluto), and human IG armies like the rebellion on [[Vraks]].
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: [[Valnir|Valnir the Reaper]], old school champion of Nurgle; [[Festus the Leechlord]] (this guy used to be a doctor in the Empire; he's not even a Northman). The Crow Brothers of the Björnlings are especially devoted to him also (Festus leads these guys), the [[Glottkin]], [[Gutrot Spume]] (a Nurglite pirate barbarian), the [[Maggoth]] Riders of Icehorn Peak. It could also be possibly argued (especially considering [[Age of Sigmar|Age of Skubmar]]) that the Skaven Clan Pestilens is some sort of splinter cult built on worshipping Nurgle while thinking that they're worshiping an aspect of the Horned Rat.
* Sacred Number - 7 (though 3 is also a popular number)
<gallery>
Image:Nurgle Images.jpg|A Nurglite Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Slaanesh==
{{Main|Slaanesh}}
[[File:Slaanesh Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The embodiment of all things PR0N.]]

Slaanesh is the god/dess of pain, pleasure, and perfection... or, in other words, a god of [[1d4chan|emotions formed from emotions]], not all of which are bad. In 40k (WHFB didn't elaborate how Slaanesh was born, so we can only assume s/he manifested normally like the other Gods), the [[Eldar]] created him/her/it/hermaphrodite by having so many damn orgies they tore space-time a new asshole (The Eye of Terror). Formed mainly from hedonism and excess, love and creativity are also attributes of Slaanesh. Other facets include perfectionism, obsessiveness, attention-whoring, jealousy, sensuality, DRUGS, empathy, self-expression, individuality, art, music, joy, and admiration (so quite literally the god of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!).
* Gender - Whatever you want it to be, sugar! In WH Fantasy you'll see illustrations of a lecherous old hag / old man / old bits-of-both; in WH40k depictions are of a young flamboyant hermaphrodite or trap.
* Main enemy - The brutish Khorne, obviously. H-he never calls...
* Bro god - Tzeentch, although that's mostly because he's the least icky of the Chaos gods. Her friendship with Nurgle is a bit questionable since he stole [[Isha]] during Slaanesh's proverbial and... literal raping of the former Eldar Empire, though it isn't shown anywhere that Slaanesh still openly detests Nurgle for that (Hell, their daemons temporarily joined forces once or twice). Generally the most open to working with the others.
* Love Interest - All of them. Still pines for Isha, and is depressed no one ever seems to love him/her back. Messes around with Khorne. Gave up on Nurgle after he got married. For a long time has been pining for Tzeentch of all people, but she can never seem to make him think she likes him as more than just a friend. Basically, she's the hot chick who got friendzoned by the nerd. But she won't give up!
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Emperor's Children]]. Also has others to call on like The [[Flawless Host]] (their drugs make Emperor's Children's look like baking powder), Violaters (these guys body sculpt themselves enough to make a [[VtM|Tzimisce]] well up with pride), as well as, again, various IG-equivalent armies.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: Sigvald the Magnificent (he really is quite magnificent...), [[Dechala|Dechala the Denied one]], former high elf maiden turned into near greater daemon level, Azazel, former bro of [[Sigmar]], Styrkaar of Sortsvinear. <s>The Varg tribes serve him.</s> NO WE DON'T. Likely that the Hung worship him, purely judging from their nomenclature. Also, [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]], pre-retcon.
*Sacred Number - 6
<gallery>
Image:3808336-1057810675-Video.jpg|A Slaaneshi Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Tzeentch==
{{Main|Tzeentch}}
[[File:Tzeentch Old.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Change we can all believe in...]]

Tzeentch is the god of [[Just as planned]] and magic. Tzeentch is formed from paranoia and plotting, but also, amazingly enough, hope and ambition. Other values include trust, curiosity, dissatisfaction, aspiration, progress, knowledge, learning, protection, will, and change.
* Gender - Always changing, but usually male.
* Main Enemy - Nurgle, because he symbolizes stagnation, a.k.a. refusal towards change.
* Bro god(dess) - Slaanesh, who isn't as brutal as Khorne and not as much of a lazy bastard as Nurgle. Plus, she's nice to little Tzeentch!
* Love Interest - Kind of wishes that the Deceiver, Cegorach, and the Emperor were.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Legion - [[Thousand Sons]]. Unlike the other gods, Tzeentch apparently doesn't have any IG-equivalent armies dedicated to him in particular (besides the [[Prospero Spireguard]]). Most likely the reason for this is because if a Guardsman is going to turn to a specific Chaos god, the prospect of [[Khorne|power and unending glorious conquest]], [[Nurgle|freedom from all pain and suffering]], or [[Slaanesh|all the booze, drugs and whores you can handle and then some]] are much more attractive options than becoming some nerd's pawn. Then again, as Tzeentch cares not for the quantity of his followers over quality, he'd just recruit their leader (or his right hand and help him overthrow said leader). He also offers limited knowledge of the future, represented in game with a boosted Ward save from the Mark of Tzeentch.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero": <s>Vilitch the Curseling</s> [[Egrimm van Horstmann|Egrimm van Horstmann]]. No Chaos Tribe seems to revere him to any exceptional extent (well there was this Sarl tribe and it was ruled by a Tzeentch chieftian, but [[Wulfrik the Wanderer|Wulfrik]] killed him as well as his son) but he pulled out some nasty tricks such as becoming the grand magister of the Order of Light and fucking said order up before flying away on top of a dragon. Also, got [[Cathay]] in a bag.
* Sacred Number - 9
<gallery>
Image:240078tzeentch-1024.jpg|A Tzeentchian Space Marine.
</gallery>

==Malal==
{{Main|Malal}}
[[File:Malal.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Then we have this motherfucking out of place/odd one out weirdo here....]]

Though not as relevant as the other big four, Malal is still more notable than the other minor Gods mentioned below.

Malal is a renegade Chaos god that only appeared in one comic for Fantasy before his creators divorced and took their character with them, resulting in GW shitcanning most of the original sculptors and artists. Then he was replaced with two entirely different characters with the same basic domain before being quietly swept under the rug and forgotten, barring the odd reference that slips out here and there. He is fittingly the god of fractiousness and dissent, which, given the company he keeps, makes him a tad redundant. Also sometimes a god of atheism, and contradictions, and paradoxes, when he exists at all. That being said, he did have awesome champions who lived solely to hunt down the greatest champions of the other gods, which is pretty [[Awesome]]. Sadly (or not, depending on your opinion), [[Games Workshop]] idiotically lost the rights to his name, so he's been more or less retconned. Except now he <i>might</i> be back in 40k, with a [[Chaos Space Marine]] warband called the [[Sons of Malice]] who worship a god called Malice...who just happen to wear a color scheme of black and white, and just happen to have a symbol of a bisected skull, and whose premier Chaos weapon specializes in killing Daemons. There's also [[Beastmen]] of Malal in one of the card games. But nope, don't you dare say they worship Malal. Like Khorne, Malal has an aspect of hate, however it's more along the lines of loathing (including towards self), [[derp|malice]] and cold contempt compared to Khorne's ragey hot-blooded variety. While a worshipper of either might shoot up a school, a malal worshipper would probably think of it like exterminating pests rather than a pleasant rampage. Beyond all that, his portfolio includes paradoxes, justice, revenge, nihilism, and the inevitability of Chaos turning upon itself. Every time the others fight or power shifts between them, he grows stronger. Just like Chaos will eventually win and consume all worlds, Malal will eventually win and consume all Chaos resulting in oblivion for all things...then if GW took the full bite off Moorcock's work and not just the parts they wanted, the whole thing starts all over again from the beginning.
* Gender - A god with a gender? ''Really?''
* Main Enemy - EVERYONE. Because Malal's an edgy loner who doesn't play by the rules (also because he represents one of the few things GW didn't steal from Moorcock, that Chaos eventually destroys itself).
* Bro God(ess) - Probably any character that has been retconned away, that [[Squats|is angry about not being a part of the canon anymore]].
* Love Interest(s) - What part of him being an edgelord did you not understand?
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - [[Sons of Malice]]. And that just about sums it up. No Imperial Guard equivalent, no daemon spawn, nothing (that we know of). So yeah, that pretty much makes him a god of hipsters too. /tg/ has made a fan-codex for [[Malal Daemonkin]], though, so go help yourself :)
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero"/Chaos Tribe: A fellow named Kaleb Daark was Malal's first revealed servant, who swung around a pterodactyl head on a stick. The Ogre Skrag the Slaughterer fucked up dwarves in his name before pussying out to follow some shitty Ogre god thanks to retcons. There's a small tribe of Beastmen named the Claws of Malal as well.
* Sacred Number - 11
<gallery>
Image:Maxresdefault.jpg|220px|A Malalic Space Marine
</gallery>

==Great Horned Rat==
{{Main|Horned Rat}}
[[File:Betterskaven.jpg|220px|right|thumb|Thinks he's better than sliced Jesus.]]

This otherwise-unnamed deity is patron of the [[Skaven]], and god of... well, rats. Also disease, mutations, etc., but mostly rats. The Horned Rat once appeared in material form; he's the only Chaos god to do so. Of course, in Skaven fashion, he just ate a ton of the Skaven present, gave some orders and left; the Skaven only serve him out of fear, even though their belief in him only makes him stronger. He left them with a warpstone monolith containing the Skaven equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

In Age of Sigmar he was promoted to Chaos God following the demotion of Slaanesh out of the Great Game.
* Gender - Referred to as male.
* Main Enemy - Everyone, backstabbing is his primary creed and portfolio. Being cowardly, he will also work with any Chaos God, mostly Nurgle. Archaon shows him the least respect, however.
* Bro God(ess) - Nurgle, as far as his followers are concerned. They have very similar hobbies.
* Love Interest(s) - As Skaven themselves are incapable of feeling love, it is unlikely GHR can either.
* Dedicated [[Chaos Space Marine]] Chapters - None. Great Horned Rat does not exist in 40k. Although there are [[Death Guard]] miniatures with [[Skaven]] heads.
* [[Warriors of Chaos]] "Hero" - [[Clanrats]]. All of them. ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also apparently [[Thanquol]], who despite being an annoying failure that would make [[Transformers|Starscream]] laugh, he keeps somehow surviving and staying in charge of all the things.
* Sacred Number - 13

==The Other Ones==
Older editions of Warhammer Fantasy and 40k mention several lesser Chaos gods. Nowadays, they only appear in WFB (and even then, only sparingly), with some (the Horned Rat and Hashut in particular) generally considered to be separate from the "main" Chaos pantheon.

===Be'lakor===
In [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], Be'lakor was one of the earliest Chaos warlords, leading vast hordes of Daemons to ravage the world long before the Elves rose up against them. He impressed the Chaos Gods so much they turned him into a [[Daemon Prince]], the first time they ever did that to a mortal follower of Chaos Gods. He is still among the most powerful of all Daemon Princes and is able to grant his followers unique magic powers. But then he grew proud and considerd himself better than the Chaos Gods themselves, so Tzeentch cursed him for his arrogance. Tzeentch made him be the one to crown Everchosens of Chaos while never getting to become the Everchosen himself, which pisses him off to no end. With the latest Everchosen, [[Archaon]], Be'lakor was once again forced to crown the Everchosen of Chaos with the final artifact. Be'lakor played a big part in the [[Storm of Chaos]] campaign, but that has since been retconned. Although he still shows up from time to time, he no longer appears to be quite as powerful as he once was, although he is still a Daemon Prince of [[Chaos Undivided]], which is a massive accomplishment in and of itself.

During the End Times, Be'lakor was all set to return to his former glory and then some, plotting to become the fifth Chaos God by breaking into ''Kazad Drengazi'', the Fortress of the First Slayer ([[Grimnir]], natch), a temple containing the Chaos Gate that Grimnir used to get to the Realm of Chaos in the first place. Be'lakor used the power of the Chaos Gate to break Tzeentch's curse, regain his physical form, and summon four greater daemons, one of each of the Chaos Gods; two of them had had their shit ruined by [[Gotrek_%26_Felix|Gotrek]] and [[Gotrek_%26_Felix|Felix]] once before. Be'lakor and his posse planned to backstab Grimnir from behind, at which point Be'lakor would take all of Grimnir's power and ascend to become the fifth Chaos God, but Gotrek and Felix showed up and wrecked Be'lakor and the Bloodthirster, while Grimnir kicked the asses of the Keeper of Secrets, Lord of Change, and Great Unclean One. It looked like Be'lakor and Gotrek's duel could go either way at first, then Gotrek ''hit Be'lakor with the Bloodthirster'' and kicked all their asses back to the Realm of Chaos, ruining Be'lakor's plans and forcing him to go get trapped in a magic ruby by [[Alarielle]] for the rest of eternity. One true Everchosen my ass! Somehow he managed to escape into the new world, only to get his ass royally handed to him by the Lizardmen dive bombing him with Pterodactyl riders.

In [[Warhammer 40,000]], Be'lakor was the first Daemon Prince, as well as the first (and allegedly "last", but there have been two more since) Daemon Prince created through the action of all four Chaos Gods ([[Derp|apparently]] [[Lorgar]] and [[Perturabo]] were special exceptions or something (though knowing Pert, I wouldn't be surprised if he was 75% Khornate or something)), and quickly proved to be difficult to control even at the best of times. Apparently his creation gave him the Daemonic equivalent of daddy issues and now he spends most of his time trying to kill all other Champions of Chaos, including other Daemon Princes. The Chaos Gods tolerate him mostly because his wild-card status makes him an excellent pawn in their power struggles, something Be'lakor himself is completely unaware of (as he thinks he still has free will and just wants to cement his position as Chaos' sole champion). Recently, he's shown up to "help" with [[Abaddon]]'s [[Black Crusade]]s by giving him [[Troll|seemingly helpful advice that often leads to unexpectedly heavy losses]], all in an attempt to undermine his credibility (well, more so than he does on his own). In a stunning display of insight, Abaddon saw through his ruse, but allowed him to remain within the Black Legion in order to keep tabs on him and better prepare for his sudden but inevitable betrayal. The Imperium isn't even aware that he exists, as Be'lakor has been very careful about concealing his presence from history (with the unwitting help of a Magos who learned just enough about him to know that he exists, but not enough to realize that he's a Daemon Prince). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOiQOOrj-fY| Playing in a band really doesn't help his concealment much though].

He's also been shown to be in contact with [[Ahriman]]. No word on whether Ahriman has accepted his offer of being made his greatest champion in exchange for his service, however, but seeing as Ahzek rejects even Tzeentch's own offerings to be HIS chosen champion, still thinks he's independent of any god (despite having Tzeentch's mark on the tabletop), and actively tries to become the fifth Chaos god himself, it's a good bet he told Be'lakor to go fuck himself with someone else's force sword.

German Age of Sigmar players love to field him in chaos lists as there is a translation error in his German rules, allowing him to control an enemy miniature in the whole battle. Fun fact he's also a kick ass band.

===Hashut===
Hashut apparently means "Father of Darkness" in Dwarfen, which naturally means he's the god of the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. And if his followers are any indication, he's also god of penis-compensating hats.

===Mo'rcck, Phraz-Etar, and Ans'l===
Puns on the last names of sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock (from whom the idea of [[Chaos]] as a fundamental force in the world was blatantly stolen/took inspiration from, and don't anyone ever say "borrow for a while" since even the author and Games Workshop have admitted it), artist Frank Frazetta (who drew a lot of movie and comic book posters, especially in sci-fi and fantasy), and Citadel Miniatures founder Bryan Ansell (who wrote several of the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] rulebooks). These guys helped set the tone of the early [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe (purposefully or not), including the propensity of putting spikes on [[Chaos]] things. Games Workshop decided to pay homage in the (initial) Third Edition [[Codex]]: [[Chaos Space Marines]], which mentioned that Chaos Space Marines often put "spiky bits" on their armour in praise of these three gods. They were never mentioned anywhere else, and probably shouldn't be considered "canonical"... not that canonicity counts for much in 40k anyway.

===Necoho===
[[File:Necoho_Revealed.png|500px|thumb|right|[[/tg/]] has recently deduced Necoho's true identity.]]
Necoho is the god of atheism and one of the other minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. Stupid as it sounds, it actually works, as Chaos is a reflection of all human beliefs and emotions, including, paradoxically, disbelief. He generally works to make religious movements disappear and wears a permanent expression of comic amusement, as he fucking knows he's a walking, talking paradox.

Note that Necoho was introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least. That being said, he has been mentioned sporadically since then, such as the [[Gotrek & Felix]] novel ''Road of Skulls'', which is more than can be said for Zuvassin. Has been mentioned by name in the Age of Sigmar novel ''Auction of Blood'', along with a mention to his cult.

===Urlfdaemonkin===
Urlf isn't a name. It's the last fucking death cry a guy makes when you gut him. That should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, this guy used to be a Norscan (like most of the daemon princes on this list) and was elevated to princehood by Khorne for exceptional badassery. Before his ascension, he was a massive, tall, bearded, Clint Eastwood-type Chaos Champion and was a chieftain of the Snaegr clan of Aeslingr. He's so fucking powerful that he was able to create his own lesser daemons and can bless warriors with the Mark and mutations of Khorne. Urlf has his own summoning days like most powerful daemon princes, and is usually worshiped as a lesser deity of Chaos by those who serve his master, Khorne. He has a short story in the 7th edition Chaos army book, where he muses on the fuck-you nature of time in the Warp and remarks on how the new Chieftain of the Snaegr resembles one of the sons he fathered in his mortal life. He also blesses the new chief with Khorne's mark and turns him into a monstrous cross [[Awesome|between a Bloodletter and a Chaos Champion]].

===Zuvassin===
Zuvassin is one of the two minor gods invented as a replacement for Malal. He just likes to see shit fall apart, specifically nonphysical stuff like schemes and lives - in other words, he's the god of [[not as planned]]. He's the guy who makes all the bad shit happen in infomercials. Generally, he makes sure that Murphy's Law is always enforced in the most spectacular possible ways. He doesn't have many worshippers, as he makes sure to fuck up whatever they're planning too.

Note that Zuvassin was only introduced in an adventure for [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st Edition, so his current canonicity is doubtful, to say the least.

Actually, he is still canon, at least in Warhammer Fantasy. The 2nd Edition "Tome of Salvation" actually lists both him and Necoho as Chaos Gods.

===Nuffle===
{{Main|Nuffle}}
A joke Chaos God for [[Bloodbowl]], Nuffle is a mispronunciation of NFL (as in "National Football League", the American gridiron football pro league in real life), which would be pronounced "Noofle" as in "book" if you tried pronouncing it. Nuffle explains why the Blood Bowl universe is so wacky and gridiron football obsessed. Technically the superior to the rest of Chaos, although apparently only in the Blood Bowl universe.

{{Template:ChaosGods}}

[[Category:Heresy]]
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]