Table of Contents

1. Entry Qualifications
2. Entry Fee
3. Sign-Up
4. Tournament Format
   1. Star Chips
   2. Challenges
   3. Determining the Winners
5. General Rules
   1. Spectators
   2. Antes, Bets, Wagers, Etc.
   3. Cheating
   4. Unsporting Conduct
   5. Dueling Misconduct
   6. Deck Construction
      1. Allowed Cards
      2. Forbidden Cards
      3. Limitations
      4. Number of Cards
      5. Side Deck
      6. Card Sleeves
   7. Other Rules
      1. Card Elevation
      2. Game Markers (Tokens, Spell Counters, Etc.)
      3. Appeals
      4. Shuffling
6. Disclaimers

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Entry Qualifications

1. Duelists must be seven years of age or older.
   
   
2. Duelists must possess a dueling deck. Only one deck may be used by each Duelist during the tournament. See the deck construction rules.

Entry Fee

Entry fee for Duelists will be $3.00, due when the Duelist registers. The entry fee is strictly non-refundable, and will not be returned for any reason, including disqualification. Parents and family members of minors will not be charged any fee if they wish to accompany their child and observe, but they cannot participate unless they are separately registered and pay a fee. Other spectators must pay a $1.00 entry fee. See rules on spectators.

Sign-Up

Sign up will begin 1 hour and 15 minutes before the tournament begins. No entrants will be accepted after 15 minutes before the tournament begins. At that time, tournament debriefing will be held. All entrants must be present for debriefing.

Free play may be undertaken during the time between opening and debriefing, but must end when debriefing begins. Some tournament rules still apply during free play, however. See the rules list. Free play will have no bearing upon the results of the tournament.

Tournament Format

The tournament will be held in a battle royale format. Opponents are chosen at the will of the players. Responding to a challenge is mandatory if and only if the challenger possesses fewer Star Chips than the duelist being challenged.

Star Chips

Upon entry, each duelist is given 7 "Star Chip" tokens. The tournament victors will be determined as the duelists who hold the most Star Chips when time is called.

Star Chips are mandatory for use as ante in any duel during the tournament. The duelists must agree on the Star Chip ante before starting a duel. In the event that duelists cannot agree on a number of Star Chips to ante, the number anted shall be 3 (THREE) Star Chips, or in the case that a duelist has less than three Star Chips, the number he/she has remaining. The minimum ante is 1 Star Chip. There is no maximum ante aside from the number of Star Chips a duelist possesses.

Once a duelist has run out of Star Chips, he/she is eliminated from the tournament at that time. Eliminated duelists may remain to observe the rest of the tournament, but cannot engage in any more duels in the tournament area. Eliminated duelists may proceed to the free play area if they desire.

Star Chips may not be exchanged freely or for any consideration (money, cards, etc.). Star Chips may only be acquired by winning duels. Duelists who give or receive Star Chips outside of this context will be disqualified.

The number of Star Chips anted must be given to the winner of the duel after the duel is complete. A draw results in no exchange of Star Chips. Failure to give the winner the anted number of star chips will be grounds for disqualification.

Challenges

Any two duelists still possessing Star Chips can participate in a duel when one issues a challenge to the other. As stated above, accepting a challenge is not mandatory unless the challenger possesses fewer Star Chips.

A challenge results in the play of one duel. Match play is not allowed.

Once a challenge is accepted, the duel must be completed. If a duel is not completed because one player refuses to continue, that player forfeits the duel and must render the anted number of Star Chips to the winner. If a duel is not completed because both players cannot continue, the players will both be fined 1 Star Chip by the tournament staff.

Duelists cannot challenge the same opponent twice in a row unless the opponent is the only other remaining opponent in the tournament. Duelists cannot challenge spectators or players who have been eliminated from the tournament. These are the only restrictions upon whom a duelist may challenge.

Determining the Winners

When the allotted time for the tournament has passed, time will be called. Any duel currently in progress at that time shall be decided by which player has the most Life Points remaining. No further exchange of Star Chips may occur after this time. A time warning will be given ahead of time so that duels in progress have a chance to be completed properly.

The top three winners will be determined by the number of Star Chips possessed. In the event of ties for any place, those duelists holding the same ranks will proceed to the sudden-death elimination round.

Sudden-death elimination will consist of single-round duels (not match play). The players of the same rank will be arranged at random into a tournament tree, with the winners of each pair of duels facing each other next. In the event of an odd number of tied duelists, byes will be drawn at random. Losing a duel during this stage of the tournament eliminates you automatically. Failure to duel the assigned opponent is also grounds for elimination.

Star Chips are not anted during sudden-death elimination.

Once one duelist remains for each place, those three duelists are declared the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.

General Rules

Spectators

Spectators may not participate in any duel, and they are strictly not allowed to coach duelists or interfere in the state of a duel in any way. Any duel in which a spectator has interfered will be declared void and may either be restarted or abandoned, at the choice of the involved players. If spectators are helping a duelist cheat, that duelist will be at risk for immediate disqualification. The spectator rules apply during free play; if a spectator wishes to join the tournament, he/she must register. Spectators who violate these rules will be asked to leave the tournament area.

Antes, Bets, Wagers, Etc.

Only Star Chips may be anted. Under no circumstances will the wager of cards, money, or any other material be allowed. Any reported instance of the wagering of such materials may result in disqualification of the involved duelists. This rule applies during free play.

Cheating

Cheating will be considered grounds for disqualification.
Cheating includes but may not be limited to the following activities:

1. Receiving outside assistance during any duel. This includes the use of coaches or electronic devices which may be used to store and retrieve gameplay information (this should not be construed as a prohibition on life point calculators, which are strongly encouraged).
   
   
2. Looking at an opponent's card faces while shuffling or cutting their deck.
   
   
3. Use of marked cards or sleeves.
   
   
4. Deliberate misrepresentation of any card or game rule with intent to alter the outcome of a duel or match.
   
   
5. Drawing extra cards, altering the order of the deck or graveyard when such an action is not allowed, or failure to draw cards when required.
   
   
6. Misrepresenting any public information (the number of life points, the current phase of gameplay, the contents and order of the graveyard, the effects of any card which is face-up on the field or whose effect has been activated from the hand, and a player's hand when he/she is required to show it because of a card effect).
   
   
7. Failure to comply with a request for the above information, especially a request to view the effect text of a card or the contents of a player's graveyard.
   
   
8. Providing false information to any tournament official.
   
   
9. Altering the contents of the dueling deck (except by use of its corresponding side deck), or concealing and then using any forbidden cards. See the deck construction rules for more information.

Unsporting Conduct

Unsporting conduct is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at any time. Judges, Duelists, spectators, and officials must behave in a polite, respectable, and sporting manner.

Duelists who use profanity, argue, act belligerently toward officials or one another, or harass spectators, tournament officials, or opponents will be subject to penalties which will be determined by the severity of the infraction (this may include a Star Chip penalty, forfeiture of the current duel, or disqualification).

Unsporting conduct rules apply during free play.

Dueling Misconduct

Misconduct is an unintentional and non-malicious failure to comply with the basic rules of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. Tournament officials will be responsible for determining whether an action is to be treated as misconduct or cheating, and penalties will be determined by the severity of the infraction as per the following guidelines:

1. If the state of play can be easily repaired, no penalty will be incurred for the first infraction. A second infraction against the same rule will be regarded as cheating.
   
   
2. If the state of play is clearly disturbed, but the duel can continue without being unfair to either player, a penalty of 1 Star Chip will be applied to the offending duelist. A second infraction against the same rule will be regarded as cheating.
   
   
3. If the state of play in the current duel is broken beyond repair, the duel will be forfeited by the offending player. In that event, the other player will be credited with a win and is entitled to the ante for that match. A second infraction resulting in a duel forfeiture (no matter what rule is broken) will be regarded as cheating.

During sudden-death elimination, any act of misconduct will result in forfeiture of the current duel and elimination from the tournament. Players are strongly encouraged to resolve duel misconduct issues on their own when possible. Players who attempt to abuse duel misconduct in a bid to disqualify opponents may themselves be disqualified for unsporting conduct.

Deck Construction

The following rules will apply to decks which can be used in this tournament:

1. Allowed Cards

All cards must be official Upper Deck Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards printed in English for use in the United States and Canada. Japanese cards will not be allowed. Counterfeit cards are also not allowed.

2. Forbidden Cards

Not excluding the above mentioned classes of cards, the forbidden card list is as follows:

• Obelisk the Tormentor
• Slifer the Sky Dragon
• The Winged Dragon of Ra

These are the "Egyptian God Cards," and are not allowed for tournament play. These cards may be used as tokens, as long as such use would not result in confusion about the current state of the game.

3. Limitations

Decks may only contain one copy of the following cards in the deck and side-deck combined:

Decks may only contain up to two copies of the following cards in the deck and side deck combined:

• APPRENTICE MAGICIAN
• CREATURE SWAP
• D. D. ASSAILANT
• DECK DEVASTATION VIRUS
• GOOD GOBLIN HOUSEKEEPING
• MAGICIAN OF FAITH
• MANTICORE OF DARKNESS
• MASK OF DARKNESS
• METAMORPHOSIS
• NIGHT ASSAILANT
• RECKLESS GREED
• REINFORCEMENT OF THE ARMY
• WALL OF REVEALING LIGHT

Differences from the official Limitations list:

• Thousand-Eyes Restrict is unlimited.
• Magician of Faith and Night Assailant are limited to two per deck rather than one.

4. Number of Cards

The number of cards in a duelist's deck must be no less than 40 and no greater than 60. Fusion monsters are not included in the number of cards in a duelist's deck. There are no limitations on cards in the Fusion deck in this tournament.

5. Side Deck

As in the official rules, a duelist may have a side deck of exactly 15 cards. Side deck cards may be exchanged on a one-to-one basis with cards in the duelist's main deck between duels. The number of cards in the deck must remain constant. Duelists are not required to return their deck to its initial state after the conclusion of a duel in this tournament. Any combination of the same number of cards from the main deck and side deck is considered valid.

6. Card Sleeves

If a duelist uses card sleeves, all of his cards, including those in the Fusion and Side decks, must be in identical sleeves, and must be in the sleeves at the time of registration. If any sleeve bears marks which could be used to distinguish the card held in that sleeve, the duelist will not be allowed to use that card sleeve.

Other Rules

1. Card Elevation

Duelists must keep all cards above the surface being used for play at all times.

2. Game Markers (Tokens, Spell Counters, etc.)

No game markers of any kind may be placed on top of or in a location that obscures a Duelist's deck. An official may disallow the use of game markers that may cause confusion with regard to the state of the game.

3. Appeals

If Duelists should disagree with an official's decision, they are free to appeal the ruling to the main organizer. The main organizer has the right to overrule other officials' decisions. Duelists may not appeal to the main organizer before the official responding to the situation renders an initial decision. The main organizer's decision is final.

4. Shuffling

Shuffling must be done so that the faces of the cards cannot be seen. Regardless of the method used to shuffle, Duelists' decks must be sufficiently randomized. Each time Duelists shuffle their decks, they must present their decks to their opponents for additional shuffling and/or cutting. Duelists may request to have a judge shuffle their cards rather than pass that duty to their opponent. By presenting their decks to their opponents or to an official, duelists state that their decks are sufficiently randomized.

Disclaimers

In no event shall the organizers of the tournament, tournament officials, or owners of the tournament venue be liable for any loss or injury resulting from participation in the tournament or presence at the tournament venue, so far as such liability may be disclaimed under the law.

Duelists are responsible for their own property. Theft will be grounds for immediate disqualification and ejection from the tournament grounds, but tournament staff will not be able to offer direct surveillance of all participants.

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