Over the course of many years, my fantasy of major card games becoming digital, replete with the excitement of booster pack openings and the chance to share what you earned with friends or other like-minded people, has remained just that: a pipe dream.

The truth is that people like me who have never genuinely been with them for years at a time on a committed agreement never really learned how to play these sorts of games when we were younger. Whenever we were younger, we would just make up rules on the fly, and as a result, I never really learned how to play these kinds of games properly (outside of one Pokemon PC card game I had.) However, I’m delighted to be able to declare unequivocally that Yu-Gi-Oh! is a terrific game. For gamers like me, Master Duel is a fantasy come true. However, despite marketing promises that the game has more than 10,000 cards, I was only able to locate around 7,000 of them throughout my playthrough. No matter how you look at it, this may serve as a motivational incentive for both new and seasoned Yu-Gi-Oh players. As much as this may look to certain players, such as myself, Master Duel strikes the right balance between teaching all players how to play and grasping both old and new game mechanics in a fun and engaging manner.

For newcomers to this game, putting together a deck is rather straightforward. New players may get their hands on the game’s microtransactions, known as “gems,” by finishing the tutorial, logging in on a daily basis, and accomplishing activities and missions inside the game’s environment. If you play for a few hours on the most basic settings, you should have enough gems to purchase at least 20 packs of playing cards. This does not include one of the three basic decks that the game provides you with to pick from until you’ve learned the foundations of the game, which is not included in the price.
With each new pack you open, you will discover secret packs and bonus packs, which will help you narrow down your search and reveal the precise cards that you are looking for more quickly. A new card-making method is also incorporated into this game, in addition to the option of finding the cards you want in special packs, which is a nice touch. Alternatively, if you have duplicate cards, you can deconstruct them to obtain rarity points, which you can then utilize to construct the cards of your choice.

There are two game modes to choose from: solo and online multiplayer.
The solo mode pits you against AI in a variety of circumstances, each of which provides you with a stock deck to use against them in challenges. Once you have accomplished these tasks, you can use your own deck against the challenges you have already completed. The more missions you finish in solo mode, the more points you earn, which you can use to unlock new missions. Not only do you get points, but you also gain access to additional cards and gems as you progress through the game.

The multiplayer mode is divided into two categories: ranked matches and open lobbies, which allow for more free play versus other players.
In a nutshell, ranking matches are ranked matches made up of games in which you play against random individuals using custom-built decks, as the name suggests.
lobby matches are made up of custom rooms created by users in order to challenge random individuals as well as friends in custom rule matches.
Because the game is still in its early stages, the online servers have a proclivity to toss players out of games at any time.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is a fun and entertaining game, but it has a very high learning curve because of the large amount of content it contains.