Duelist Cup

Fight against Duelists from all over the world to become the very best!

Duelist Cup consists of a series of events that take place in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel triannually. Each subsequent Duelist Cup after the first iteration is distinguished with its month and year.

Season 1: 09 — 22 Aug 2022

Season 2: 08 — 19 Dec 2022

Season 3: 15 — 27 Mar 2023

Season 4: 17 — 30 Oct 2023

Season 5: 07 — 18 Dec 2023

Season 6: 13 — 25 Mar 2024

Event Details

This event is split into 2 Stages: the 1st Stage and the 2nd Stage. At the start of the event, all players begin in the 1st Stage, with a Duelist Level (DLv.) dependent on the rank they had by the end of the prior Season in Ranked:

• Rookie/Bronze: DLv. 1
• Silver: DLv. 3
• Gold: DLv. 5
• Platinum: DLv. 7
• Diamond: DLv. 10
• Master: DLv. 12

Each player has a time limit of 300 seconds for their actions in each Duel (with a 60-second Bronstein delay added every other turn), adjusted from the usual 480 seconds.

Duelist Cups and WCS Qualifiers are the only events that do not have deckbuilding restrictions so each Duelist Cup follows the corresponding Forbidden and Limited List at the time.

1st Stage

In order to pass through the 1st Stage and enter the 2nd Stage, players have to Duel other players present in the event's 1st Stage and reach DLv. MAX (20).

Players increased their DLv. by winning their Duels (in increments of 1 DLv. at a time), but if they lost a certain number of Duels within their last several Duels, their DLv. would be reduced by 1 instead. Players cannot have their DLv. reduced at any point from 2-15, nor below 17 nor MAX (once attained).

The exact number of wins or losses needed to alter one's DLv. is unknown, but in general, 3 consecutive losses would lead to a reduction, while an increase required 1-5 more wins than the number of losses a player incurred at their current DLv. (excluding excess consecutive losses that would normally reduce a player's DLv.).

2nd Stage

If a player reached DLv. MAX in the 1st Stage, they are eligible to enter the 2nd Stage. This Stage only opens for Dueling 72 hours before the end of the event.

Once in the 2nd Stage, players aim to earn as much Duelist Points (DP) in the event as possible before the event ends, whereupon rankings are tallied (by calculating players' DP) and rewards are distributed based on final rankings.

Players can only earn DP by Dueling other players present in the 2nd Stage; correspondingly, losing Duels would cost players a portion of their DP.

The amount of DP gained/lost from a Duel depends on the difference in DP between a player and their opponent, with a minimum of 1000 DP always earned for the winning player, and a maximum of 1200 DP lost for the losing player. In general, when facing a higher-ranked opponent, more DP would be earned for defeating them and less DP would be lost for losing to that opponent; likewise, less DP would be earned by defeating a lower-ranked opponent, and more DP would be lost for losing to them. Additionally, players with 9000 or less DP would not lose much DP if they were defeated.

Rankings

For players who reached the 2nd Stage, their rankings would be displayed according to their amount of earned DP with the top-earners being placed first.

If multiple players finished the event with the same amount of DP, the tie-breaker for each of those rankings would be determined by the number of wins each tied player had. If there were still tied players with the same amount of wins, that tie-breaker would be determined by the number of losses each still-tied player had.

By the end of this decisive criteria, if there were still multiple people with the same ranking, only one of those players would appear in the overall ranking.

Rewards

For the 1st Stage, All Duelist Cups have Gems, Duelist Cup Reward Tickets, a Protector, and a Title available.

In the 2nd Stage, DC Reward Tickets, Icons, and Titles are offered depending on the player's final placement.

Missions can be completed by Dueling in either Stage and offer just Gems.

WCS Invitations

Starting with the WCS 2024, the finalists from the previous 3 Duelist Cups prior to a WCS will be invited as team leaders to participate in the WCS Finals. The specific placement required to be invited is currently not disclosed.

These 3 previous Duelist Cups and corresponding WCS Qualifier also factor in to Season Points (SP) which are awarded to teams created prior to a Duelist Cup. To be eligible, these teams cannot be disbanded between the beginning of the first Duelist Cup any member has participated in and the WCS Finals. Each team must consist of 3 players whose individual performance in the 2nd Stage is summed up and then compared to other established teams. At the end of the WCS Qualifier, the team with the highest SP is automatically invited to that year's Finals.