Editing Yu-Gi-Oh (section)

=== Speed Duel ===
Speed Duel was an alternate ruleset in the game for years that was primarily used for spin-off video games (''Duel Terminal'', ''Saikyo Card Battle'' and ''Duel Links'') and has lower starting LP/hand size/deck minimum, only three slots each for monsters and spell/traps, no extra monster zone (though this is at least in part due to predating that rule), and no Main Phase 2. The one unique thing about this format is that in the most recent incarnations each player has a skill card that is always activate-able if the conditions are met. One odd consequence of the lower deck size is that mill decks are actually quite good, and some cards [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Cup_of_Ace that are absolutely horrible] [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Hiro%27s_Shadow_Scout in the normal game] (because they give your opponent free cards) are actually used since you need to mill less than 16 cards to win. Likewise, the smaller field means giving your opponent cards they can't get rid of to block them from putting something useful on the field is also viable. 

There's several variants of this format with their own card pools.

The most prominent is Duel Links, Konami's gotchapon mobile game adapation of the franchise. The card pool for this is fairly eccentric, containing reprints of OG anime era cards, some synchro era stuff, some new cards that are weaker in the normal game, and a few anime cards that don't exist in the real world. These cards are selected to make a format based on moderately hard to bring out beatsticks instead of getting into crazy chains to wipe the opponent's field while summoning a bunch of monsters in one turn.

The reason this is getting a section is that in 2019 it was used for a soft reboot of the game in the west. Taking the skill cards from Duel Links with a completely different card pool that only allows cards printed with a Speed Duel watermark (these cards are also legal in normal TCG matches), though the core rules haven't really changed so casual matches with the full TCG card pool are possible. There's actually a few physical cards that have exclusively been released for this format, but they're just really old normal monsters that were never released physically in the west before because they were terrible (though they have shown up in video games). In 2020 Konami used it to make a quasi Living Card Game with the Speed Duel Box.