Expert Gameplay FAQ: Advanced Format, Traditional Format, Sealed Deck Format, & Booster Draft Format

Advanced Format is what is used at Regional, National, and World Championship Events. Advanced Format includes the Forbidden List, the Limited List, and the Semi-Limited List.

The Forbidden List was made to prevent cards being used that were either too powerful, had no drawbacks, or ended games too quickly. One of the most infamous One Turn Kills/First Turn Kills dealt with involved Magical Scientist and Catapult Turtle. The Last Turn OTK and Tsukuyomi-Based Lockdown has also been addressed in later Advanced Format revision, with further lists tackling Goat Control and the Chaos Series.

Since some players dislike playing without the Forbidden cards, a Traditional Format was set up, in which no cards are Forbidden, only Limited.

The Traditional Format was created as a counterpart to the Advanced Format, since some players, especially those that had been playing for longer, still wanted to play with the "Forbidden" cards. Traditional Format does not have a Forbidden List, instead possessing only Limited and Semi-Limited Lists, with all the Forbidden cards from Advanced Format placed in Limited.

Traditional Format isn't used very often in Regional Tournaments, and not at all in National Tournaments or World Championship Events.

The OCG does not use the Traditional List at all, and all OCG Konami Sanctioned Tournaments exclusively use the Advanced Format.

A Sealed Deck Format is a format where the cards you play with are still sealed within Starter Decks or Booster Packs provided by the tournament location and staff. This type of format allows everyone the same chances of victory, since new, inexperienced players or those without money to spend on the best cards have access to the same cards as everyone else.

An example of a Sealed Deck Format is a Booster Draft, which also comes in two types of formats. The first is a basic version, where each player receives 5 unopened booster packs. Then once they have been told too, each player has 40 minutes to open their packs and build a 20-card deck using only the cards they pulled from their packs. This is the format used at Sneak Previews.

The other form of Booster Draft involves players sitting at tables in groups of 4-8, depending on the number participating, with their unopened booster packs on the table. Then when told to by the Tournament Organizer, each player picks up 1 of their booster packs and opens it, then takes 1 of the cards and sets it face-down in front of them to start a pile. After that, they pass the remaining cards to the left or right, dictated by the Tournament organizer. This continues until all 9 card from each pack has been selected and no more cards are being passed around, then each player opens the next pack and repeats, passing the cards in the opposite direction. Once all packs have been used up, players separate to construct 20-card decks with the cards they've selected.

When doing a Booster Draft, the following rules apply:

-Players may not trade cards pulled in the Booster Draft until the tournament is over.
-Decks must contain 20-cards, no more and no less.
-Decks may contain more than 3 cards of the same name.
-The Advanced Format/Traditional Format lists are ignored.
-Extra Decks can have any number of Fusion Monsters, Synchro Monsters or Xyz Monsters
-Any cards not used in a player's Main Deck or Extra Deck are placed in their Side Deck, which has no maximum.

Another Sealed Deck Format is the Structure Deck Duel, where each player is randomly given a Structure Deck or Starter Deck to use for the duration of the tournament. The only thing to be noted is that some decks may contain cards that are currently forbidden, and it is up to the Tournament Organizer whether these cards can be used and to provide replacements if they cannot.

Tournament Organizers can also create their own form of Sealed Deck Tournaments. If your local Tournament Organizer is holding a Sealed Deck Tournament, ask them for more details.

A Draft Format is where players sit at tables in groups of 4-8, depending on the number participating, with their unopened booster packs on the table. Then when told to by the Tournament Organizer, each player picks up 1 of their booster packs and opens it, then takes 1 of the cards and sets it face-down in front of them to start a pile. After that, they pass the remaining cards to the left or right, dictated by the Tournament organizer. This continues until all 9 card from each pack has been selected and no more cards are being passed around, then each player opens the next pack and repeats, passing the cards in the opposite direction. Once all packs have been used up, players separate to construct Decks with a minimum of 20 using the cards they've selected.
When doing a Booster Draft, the following rules apply:

-Players may not trade cards pulled in the Booster Draft until the tournament is over.
-Decks must have a minimum of 20-cards.
-Decks may contain more than 3 cards of the same name.
-The Advanced Format/Traditional Format lists are ignored.
-Extra Decks can have any number of Fusion Monsters, Synchro Monsters or Xyz Monsters.
-Any cards not used in a player's Main Deck or Extra Deck are placed in their Side Deck, which has no maximum.