Genesys News & Updates

Introducing: Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Genesys

Looking for something new?

A different way to Duel?

Got some old friends you’d like to get into Dueling, again?

Get ready for Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Genesys!

Genesys is a fully supported tournament system we’ve been working on for over 2 years, that you can now play at your local Official Tournament Store, and soon at the YCS level! (And a lot of Duelists have already played it – all of the Rivalry of Warlords Decks at the World Championship Qualifier were actually Genesys Decks. Surprise!)

Rules

Genesys uses the same rules as standard Duels, with a few simple changes to Deck construction:

  1. No Link or Pendulum Monsters are allowed, and the old game field is used (so no Extra Monster Zones or Pendulum Zones).
  2. All other cards are allowed. There is no Forbidden & Limited List.
  3. Deck construction uses a point system! Some (powerful) cards have a point cost when building your Deck; most cards cost no points. Each Duelist will have the same number of points to build their Deck. This brings the power ceiling on Decks down for everyone and focuses Duels on battle action.
  4. Tournament organizers can change the point cap for each event. Standard is 100 points, but you can do a 200-point event where people can have more power cards, or lower it to 50 (fewer power cards) or even zero (no power cards)! Whatever you want.

More details (and point list) at the Genesys page, here: https://www.yugioh-card.com/en/genesys/

Who It’s For

Genesys was designed for everyone! But it’s mostly meant as a Big Tent to provide a good and fun home for all sorts of Duelists:

  • Duelists looking for a less complicated game.
  • Duelists who are new to the game.
  • Duelists who have always had a favorite Deck, and want their favorite Deck to be a little more competitive.
  • Anybody looking for a new experience or change of pace.
  • Duelists who love love love a Deck-building challenge.
  • Everyone who just can’t get enough Dueling!

What’s Next

We’re going to be in early access for a bit. During early access, we’ll have a browser-based Deck builder site to build your Deck List, have it count up your point cost and make sure your Deck is legal, and download a copy to print out and take to a tournament.

Official Tournament Stores can run officially-sanctioned Genesys events starting today!

After a couple weeks, we’ll start running Genesys Invitationals at major events like the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series.

Here’s how Genesys Invitationals will work:

  • Multiple 16-player mini-tournaments will be run on Saturday.
  • The 1st and 2nd place finishers in each of those get to play in the main Invitational held on Sunday of that event.
  • We’ve dug into the vault for some special prizes to hand out, like original 2009 SJC Dark End Dragon prize cards, plus Giant Cards like a super-sized Pot of Greed!

Genesys Invitationals are planned for these upcoming YCS events:

October 4/5 – Anaheim, California, USA

October 11/12 – Sao Paulo, Brazil

November 8/9 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

November 29/30 – Merida, Mexico

For Europe, Genesys kicks off with an Invitational at YCS Bologna on November 22/23. Stay tuned for full details when the YCS Bologna FAQ goes up!

And the first North American full-on Genesys YCS (where the main event itself will be Genesys format) is coming in 2026.

We’re going to talk a lot about Genesys and how it works in the days to come, with multiple articles here every day, so stay tuned!