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Maximum of 3 Rule

The Maximum of 3 Rule states that during deck construction, there can only have three copies of one card of the same name between the Main Deck, Extra Deck and Side Deck.

Examples[]

Rule Applies[]

Name Condition[]

The cards "Harpie Lady", "Cyber Harpie Lady", "Harpie Lady 1", "Harpie Lady 2", and "Harpie Lady 3" each have a name condition stating that their name is also "Harpie Lady". Therefore you can only have a total of three of these cards in your Deck. For example:

Three copies of "Harpie Lady", no copies of the others.
One copy of "Harpie Lady 1", one copy of "Harpie Lady 2", one copy of "Harpie Lady 3", no copies of either "Harpie Lady" or "Cyber Harpie Lady".
Two copies of "Harpie Lady 2", one copy of "Harpie Lady 3", no copies of either "Harpie Lady 1", "Harpie Lady", or "Cyber Harpie Lady".

"Harpie Queen", on the other hand, only has its name treated as "Harpie Lady" while it is face-up on the field or in the Graveyard, but not in the Main Deck, so you can have three copies of "Harpie Queen" in addition to any legal combination of the above cards.

The rule also applies to "A Legendary Ocean". Its condition states its name is treated as "Umi" at all times, so you can only have three cards in total between these two. You cannot have three copies of "A Legendary Ocean" and three copies of "Umi" in your deck.

Name Condition between Main Deck and Extra Deck[]

Some cards that are stored in the Extra Deck have the same name as a card that exists in either the Main Deck or Side Deck:

"Neo-Spacian Marine Dolphin" is stored in the Extra Deck, but by its condition its name is treated as "Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin" at all times. Therefore you cannot have more than three of a combination of these cards, despite them being stored in separate Decks. "Neo-Spacian Twinkle Moss" follows the same rule with "Neo-Spacian Glow Moss".

Rule does not apply[]

Card Effect: Changes card names[]

"Proto-Cyber Dragon" only has its name treated as "Cyber Dragon" while it is face-up on the field. It is not illegal to have more than three cards on the field with the same name; the rule only applies while the cards are in the Deck. Therefore, you can have three copies of "Cyber Dragon" and three copies of "Proto-Cyber Dragon" in your Main Deck.

Retrains[]

Some cards are similar in name and stats and depict the same monster. For example:

"Enraged Battle Ox" and "Battle Ox"
"Obnoxious Celtic Guard" and "Celtic Guardian"
"Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight" and "Gaia the Fierce Knight"
"Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" and "Black Luster Soldier"

In the above cases, a player may have up to three of each card above in their Deck. These cards are considered "Retrained" and are not treated as the same Monster Card.

In Real World[]

Deck Construction[]

This rule must be followed even if the participants decide to ignore Card limitations set by tournament standards.

In Trading[]

Due to this rule, Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are also generally traded in a bundle of 3, and thus being known as Playset. Preconstructed Sets (usually Structure Decks and Starter Decks) are also sold/bought in a set of 3, in order to gain a playset of its contents.

Gameplay and terminology

Card layout

Colors
Artwork
- Original
- Alternate
Attribute
Property
Level (Negative^†) / Rank / Link Rating
- Original
Card Number
Type
Ability
Pendulum Scale
Link Arrow
Card text
ATK / DEF
- Original
Passcode
Limitation text
Eye of Anubis Hologram
Card backing
QR code

Alignments^†	Divine Earth Fire Forest Thunder Water Wind Black Magic Demon Magic Illusion Magic White Magic

Attributes	DARK DIVINE EARTH FIRE LAUGH^† LIGHT WATER WIND

Types	Aqua Beast Beast-Warrior Charisma^† Creator God Cyberse Dinosaur Divine-Beast Dragon Fairy Fiend Fish Illusion Insect Machine Plant Psychic Pyro Reptile Rock Sea Serpent Spellcaster Thunder Warrior Winged Beast Wyrm Zombie Black Magic^† Celestial Warrior^† Cyborg^† Dragon Magic^† High Dragon^† Galaxy^† Human^† Illusion Magic^† Immortal^† Magical Knight^† Omega Psychic^† Sea Beast^† White Magic^† Yokai^†

Monster types	Normal Effect Non-Effect Ritual Fusion Synchro Dark^† Accel^† Delta Accel^† Limit Over Accel^† Xyz Pendulum Link Token Spell^† Trap Field^† Pseudo

Monster subtypes	Tuner Dark^† Special Summon Armor^† Plus^† Minus^† Plus Minus^†

Abilities	Flip Toon Spirit Union Gemini

Spell

Trap

Other^†

Equip
Illusion
Ritual
Speed Spell
- Normal
- Quick-Play
- Ritual
Trap Spell
- Normal
- Continuous
Virus
- Normal
- Field

Non-game
- Character
- Checklist
- FAQ
- Strategy
- Tip

Game
mechanics

General	Match Duel DRAW Surrender LP Counter Damage Battle Piercing Effect Card limits Deck Minimum Maximum Hand Three-card rule Spell Speed Position Face-down Face-up Battle position Attack Position Defense Position Public knowledge

Areas	Deck Main Extra Side Field In Play Hand Graveyard Banished Limbo^† Attached

Zones	Deck Extra Deck Monster Main Monster Extra Monster Spell & Trap Field Pendulum Column

Turns	Count Player Phase Draw Normal draw Standby Main 1 Battle Start Step Battle Step Damage Step Damage calculation End Step Main 2 End

Actions	Owner Possess Control Look Reveal Pick up a card Excavate Add a card Draw a card Shuffle Cut Random Summon Set Flip Change battle position Send Discard Tribute Destroy By battle Banish Attach Detach Transfer Equip Unequip Leave the field Bounce Spin Return Linked Co-linked Extra Link Points to Attack Direct Target Replay Double^† Battle Activate Pay Declare Select Target Respond Chain Link Resolve Unaffected Negate

Card effects

Types	Condition Archetype Archetype-exclusion Level Name Rank Summoning Common Normal Special Fusion Strict Ritual Victory Cost Maintenance cost Monster Continuous like Ignition Like Quick Like Trigger Like Flip Pseudo Unclassified Control only one Field-Unique Match winner Summon monster Unconfirmed Mandatory Optional Lingering Once per turn

Speeds	Spell Speed 1 Fast effect Spell Speed 2 Spell Speed 3

Timing	Game state Priority Fast effect timing Post-resolution window Summon negation window Summon response window Attack declaration window SEGOC Missing the timing

Summoning

Types	Normal Tribute Set Normal Tribute Flip Special By own condition Fusion Ritual Synchro Xyz Pendulum Link Contact Fusion^† Transformation^† Double Tuning^† Dark Synchro^† Phantom Synchro^† Accel Synchro^† Delta^† Limit Over^† Xyz Evolution^† Rank-Up^† Rank-Down^† Cross Xyz^† Dimension^† Integration^† Overscale Pendulum^† Transcendent Pendulum^† Reincarnation Link^†

Mechanics	Summoning Rules Double Tributer Material Fusion Substitute Synchro Substitute Xyz Link Normal Summon Monster Special Summon-only Nomi Ignoring its Summoning conditions

Other

^† Does not exist or is not official in the OCG or TCG
See also {{Card lists}} and {{Monsters and Monster Cards}}