Maximum of 3 Rule

Between your Main Deck, Extra Deck and Side Deck, you may only have 3 copies of 1 card of the same name. Here are some examples:

Example 1[]

The card effects of "Harpie Lady", "Cyber Harpie Lady", "Harpie Lady 1", "Harpie Lady 2", and "Harpie Lady 3" all state that their name is also "Harpie Lady", therefore they all share the same card name "Harpie Lady", so you can only have a maximum of 3 between these card names. For example:
- 3 copies of "Harpie Lady", no copies of the others.
- 1 copy of "Harpie Lady 1", 1 copy of "Harpie Lady 2", 1 copy of "Harpie Lady 3", no copies of either "Harpie Lady" or "Cyber Harpie Lady".
- 2 copies of "Harpie Lady 2", 1 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 it's 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 3 copies of this card, in addition to any legal combination of the above cards.

The rule also applies to "A Legendary Ocean". Its card effect states its name is treated as "Umi" at all times, so you can only have 3 cards in total between these two. You cannot have 3 copies of "A Legendary Ocean" and 3 copies of "Umi" in your deck.

Example 2[]

"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 4 or 5 cards on the field that all have the same card name, if the name change is only applicable while on the field and not in the Main Deck. So, you may theoretically have 3 copies of "Cyber Dragon", and 3 copies of "Proto-Cyber Dragon" in your Main Deck. However, Cyber Dragon is Limited for its power, reducing the amount you may have in a deck.

Example 3[]

Cards that are similar in name. For example:
- "Battle Ox" and "Enraged Battle Ox" have different card names.
- "Obnoxious Celtic Guard" and "Celtic Guardian" have different card names.
- "Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight" and "Gaia the Fierce Knight" have different card names.
- "Black Luster Soldier" and "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" have different card names.

In the above cases, a duelist may theoretically have up to 3 of each card above in their Deck. These cards are seen as Retrained from the original Normal Monster or Ritual Monster version of the card

Example 4[]

Cards that are stored in the Extra Deck and 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 effect its name is treated the same as "Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin" and 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 for "Neo-Spacian Marine Dolphin".

Gameplay and terminology

Card layout

Attribute • Property • Indicator (Level (Negative) / Rank / Link Rating / Affinity^† / Bass^† / Limit^† / Mana Count^† / Mana Energy^† / Nebula^† / Power Rating^† / Product^† / Quality^† / Stage^† / Star Cluster^† / Wavelength^†) • Card Number • Type • Ability • Pendulum Scale • Link Arrow • Esper Type^† • Evolute Currency^† • Card text • Material • Effect (Monster • Pendulum) • Flavor text • ATK / DEF (Original)

Errata • Simplified Effect Text • Problem-Solving Card Text

Rarities

Common • Rare • Super Rare • Ultra Rare • Secret Rare • Ultimate Rare • Holographic Rare / Ghost Rare • Parallel Rare • Gold Rare • other rarities...

Card types

Monster

Attributes	DARK • DIVINE • EARTH • FIRE • LIGHT • WATER • WIND TIME^† • VIRUS^†

Types	Aqua • Beast • Beast-Warrior • Creator God • Cyberse • Cyborg^RD • Dinosaur • Divine-Beast • Doomknight^RD • Dragon • Fairy • Fiend • Fish • High Dragon^RD • Insect • Machine • Magical Knight^RD • Plant • Psychic • Pyro • Reptile • Rock • Sea Serpent • Spellcaster • Thunder • Warrior • Winged Beast • Wyrm • Zombie Alchemical^† • Civilian^† • Data^† • Food^† • Ghost^† • Omega Arms^† • Pixie^†

Monster types	Normal • Effect • Non-Effect • Ritual • Fusion • Synchro (Dark^† • Accel^† • Delta Accel^† • Limit Over Accel^†) • Xyz • Pendulum • Link • Maximum^RD • Token • Spell • Trap Alloy^† • Broadcast^† • Burst^† • Chain-force^† • Chainlink^† • Chaos^† • Code^† • Composition^† • Constellation^† • Construct^† • Cosmic^† • Cross^† • Crossover^† • Dark Bind^† • Delta^† • Dreamer^† • Emblem^† • Enchant^† • Enhance^† • Esper^† • Evolute^† • Evolution^† • Extract^† • Extreme^† • Galaxy^† • Hybrid^† • HYPERFORCE^† • Imaginary^† • Legend^† • Legion^† • Maestro^† • Mana^† • Marshal^† • Master^† • Mega^† • Mirage^† • Mixmatch^† • Neon Positive^† • Nova^† • Overdrive Monster^†(Hawkatana^†) • Parallel^† • Persona^† • Plasma^† • Positive^† • Pressure^† • Quasar^† • Reactor Monster^† • Resolve^† • Reverse^† • Royal^† • Spectrum^† • Spiritual^† • Terrain^† • Timewarp^† • Transmute^† • Triad^† • Unification^† • Unity^† • Upgrade^† • Voodoo^† • Wild Card^† • Xynchro^†

Monster subtypes	Tuner Augment^† • Base^† • Catalyst^† • Chainling^† • Driver^† • Transaxle^† Special Summon

Abilities	Flip • Toon • Spirit • Union • Gemini Armor^† • Breakdown^† • Legion^† • Overlimit^† • Overload^† • Power Generator^† • Soul^† • Timeshifted^†

Spell

Normal • Continuous • Field • Equip • Quick-Play • Ritual
Blast^† • Cometshower^† • Conjoint^† • Link^† (Link Equip^†) • Splice^†

Trap

Normal • Continuous • Counter
Cometshower^† • Field^† • Conjoint^† • Ritual^† • Splice^†

Skill

Normal • Continuous • Field

Other^†

Equip • Ritual • Speed Spell (Normal • Quick-Play • Ritual)
Non-game • Character • Checklist • FAQ • Strategy • Tip

Archetype • Series • Card evolutions • Support • Anti-support

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) • Mana Position^† • Public knowledge

Areas	Deck (Main • Extra • Side) • Field • In Play • Hand • Graveyard • Limbo^† • Attached

Zones	Column • Deck • Extra Deck • Monster • Main Monster • Extra Monster • Spell & Trap • Field • Pendulum Cross^† • Event Horizon^† • Moving^† • Rune Zone^† •

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 • Linked • Co-linked • Extra Link • Points to • Attack • Direct • Target • Replay • Battle • Activate • Pay • Declare • Target • Respond • Chain • Link • Resolve • Unaffected • Negate

Card effects

Types	Condition (Archetype • Archetype-exclusion • Level • Name • Rank • Summoning • Common • Normal • Special • Fusion • Ritual • Victory) • Cost (Maintenance cost) • Monster • Continuous • like • Ignition • Like • Quick • Like • Trigger • Like • Flip • 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)

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^† • Accel Synchro^† • Limit Over^† • Xyz Evolution^† •

Mechanics	Summoning Rules • Double Tributer • Material • (Fusion • Fusion Substitute • Synchro • Synchro Substitute • Xyz • Link) • Alloy^† • Alloy Substitute^† • Broadcast^† • Broadcast Substitute^† • Burst^† • Burst Substitute^† • Chain-force^† • Chain-force Substitute^† • Chainlink^† • Chainlink Substitute^† • Chaos^† • Chaos Substitute^† • Code^† • Code Substitute^† • Composition^† • Composition Substitute^† • Constellation^† • Constellation Substitute^† • Construct^† • Construct Substitute^† • Cosmic^† • Cosmic Substitute^† • Cross^† • Cross Substitute^† • Crossover^† • Crossover Substitute^† • Dark Bind^† • Dark Bind Substitute^† • Delta^† • Delta Substitute^† • Dreamer^† • Dreamer Substitute^† • Driver^† • Driver Substitute^† • Emblem^† • Emblem Substitute^† • Enchant^† • Enchant Substitute^† • Enhance^† • Enhance Substitute^† • Esper^† • Esper Substitute^† • Evolute^† • Evolute Substitute^† • Evolution^† • Evolution Substitute^† • Extract^† • Extract Substitute^† • Extreme^† • Extreme Substitute^† • Galaxy^† • Galaxy Substitute^† • HYPERFORCE^† • HYPERFORCE Substitute^† • Hybrid^† • Hybrid Substitute^† • Imaginary^† • Imaginary Substitute^† • Legend^† • Legend Substitute^† • Legion^† • Legion Substitute^† • Maestro^† • Maestro Substitute^† • Mana^† • Mana Substitute^† • Marshal^† • Marshal Substitute^† • Master^† • Master Substitute^† • Mega^† • Mega Substitute^† • Mirage^† • Mirage Substitute^† • Mixmatch^† • Mixmatch Substitute^† • Neon Positive^† • Neon Positive Substitute^† • Nova^† • Nova Substitute^† • Overdrive Material^† • Overdrive Substitute Monster Substitute^† • Parallel^† • Parallel Substitute^† • Persona^† • Persona Substitute^† • Plasma^† • Plasma Substitute^† • Positive^† • Positive Substitute^† • Pressure^† • Pressure Substitute^† • Quasar^† • Quasar Substitute^† • Reactor Material^† • Reactor Substitute Monster Substitute^† • Resolve^† • Resolve Substitute^† • Reverse^† • Reverse Substitute^† • Royal^† • Royal Substitute^† • Spectrum^† • Spectrum Substitute^† • Spiritual^† • Spiritual Substitute^† • Terrain^† • Terrain Substitute^† • Timewarp^† • Timewarp Substitute^† • Transmute^† • Transmute Substitute^† • Triad^† • Triad Substitute^† • Unification^† • Unification Substitute^† • Unity^† • Unity Substitute^† • Upgrade^† • Upgrade Substitute^† • Voodoo^† • Voodoo Substitute^† • Wild Card^† • Wild Card Substitute^† • Xynchro^† • Xynchro Substitute^† • Normal Summon Monster • Special Summon-only • Nomi • Ignoring the Summoning conditions

Other

Activation & Targeting Eligibility • Activation requirement • Difference between Costs and Effects • Chains, Activation, and Resolution • Engine (Draw) • Advantage • Card • Field • Hand • One Turn Kill (First • Zero) • Lockdown • Loop (Controlled loop • Infinite loop)

^† Does not exist in the OCG or TCG

Maximum of 3 Rule

Contents

Example 1[]

Example 2[]

Example 3[]

Example 4[]

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