Skill
Skill (スキル, Sukiru) is a special rule characteristic of Speed Duels, which are featured in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime, and as a variant of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game.
In the anime, it is also possible to use a Skill during a Master Duel under certain circumstances, the specifics of which are currently unknown, as shown when Bohman and Windy used Storm Access during their respective Master Duels with Playmaker and Varis.
Contents
TCG Speed DuelEdit
In Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game Speed Duels, Skills are represented by Skill Cards. Each player can include one Skill Card with their Deck, which is set aside face-down at the start of the Duel. When the Skill Card is activated, it is turned face-up.
The Skill Card backing depicts the character the Skill is associated with, and includes the activation condition for the Skill Card.
Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINSEdit
In Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, Skills are special effects that each player can use only once per Duel. They may possess a number of effects, like improving a draw, increasing one's LP or enhancing a monster's ATK.[1] They can be used during either player's turn.[2] Skills appear to be procedurally generated, though rather than being generated randomly like they would be in real-world video games, they appear to be generated to fit a Duelist's Deck and/or Dueling style. As seen with Playmaker and Varis, Skills are not necessarily unique to their users, and multiple Duelists can share a given Skill. As seen with the Gore and Skye Zaizen a Duelist may utilize different Skills between different Decks.
If two or more Duelists combine their LINK VRAINS avatars into one and play a Duel as that combined avatar, their avatar will have access to each of those players' Skills during that Duel and can use each Skill once. This technically enables a single Duelist within that Duel to use multiple Skills, beyond the normal "once per Duel" limit. (This is because the game considers each player to be using their own individual Skill once per Duel.) For example, Bit and Boot were able to use Marker's Portal twice during their Duel with Soulburner, since their avatars were combined into BitBoot.[3]
Skills can be hacked to do previously unheard-of abilities, such as the Double Draw Skill used by Number 10.
List of SkillsEdit
| Skill | User | Effect | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burning Draw | Theodore Hamilton | Reduce your LP to 100 and draw 1 card for every 1000 LP you lost. | 049 052 056 |
| Dinowrestle Revolution | George Gore | Activate "World Dino Wrestling" from your Deck. | 051 |
| Anti Skill | George Gore | Can be used when your opponent activates their Skill. Negate that Skill and draw 2 cards. | 075 082 |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel LinksEdit
In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, each character can use up to one Skill with their Deck. The Skills that can be used depend on the character—each character has a unique pool of Skills, but some Skills are available to multiple different characters.
Skills provide some effect during the Duel. Certain Skills can create cards on the field or in a player's Deck, change one card into another, or remove cards from the game entirely. (Monsters played to the field, or added to the Graveyard from outside of the deck, by Skills are treated as having been properly Special Summoned. Additionally, monsters played in face-down Defense Position by a Skill can be Flip Summoned in the same turn, and Trap Cards played face-down by a Skill can be activated during the same turn.) Along with the game's Forbidden and Limited lists, Skill effects are subject to change to maintain balance.
To use a Skill, it must first be unlocked for that character. Even if multiple characters can use the same Skill, it must be unlocked for each character individually.
Non-player characters normally do not use Skills, but they occasionally do during special events. Additionally, Jaden/Yubel's Level 40 Deck at the Gate includes the Skill "Neo-Spacian Onslaught".
Obtaining SkillsEdit
Skills can be obtained in a variety of ways:
- Level-up Skills:
- Unlocking a character
- Level-up rewards
- Drop Skills:
- Duel Rewards from Duels against Legendary Duelists or in Ranked Duels
- Spending 100 Skill Chips at the Card Trader
- Skill Tickets
- Special Skills:
- Events and campaigns
- Lifetime Missions
- Mission Bingo (Joey Wheeler's "Fields of the Warriors" only)
Each character has 3 level-up Skills, one of which may be obtained when the character in unlocked (listed as a Level 1 reward).
Each character has a set of several drop Skills. They are primarily obtained as random drops when defeating Legendary Duelists (originally the only way to obtain them) or Dueling in Ranked Duels. These are the only Skills that can be obtained using Skill Chips or Skill Tickets. Originally, it was possible obtain Skills the player already has as drops, but they would be automatically converted into Gems (originally always 15 Gems, but later 5, 10 or 15 Gems at random); in the current version of the game, this is no longer possible.
Some characters additionally have special Skills, which can only be obtained from events, campaigns, Lifetime Missions, or other ways. Some time after an event or campaign has finished (and usually after it has been run twice in the case of events), the previously exclusive Skills from that event or campaign are made available as Lifetime Missions. For character unlock events, these Skills are usually made available when the character is added to the Gate. Some Skills are made available as Lifetime Missions without first being event rewards, often to promote new BOX cards.
List of SkillsEdit
This is a list of Skills that players can obtain for their characters (Skills that are exclusive to non-player opponents are not listed).
| Lore | Duel Links characters | |
|---|---|---|
| A Bond Illuminates the Future | Each of the following effects can only be used once per Duel. (You can change the battle position of Set monsters)
| Yusei Fudo (Duel Links) |
| A Burning Roar | Add 1 "Salamangreat Heatleo" and 1 "Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf" to your Extra Deck at the beginning of the Duel. The following effect can be used once per turn. Until the end of this turn, all monsters on your field gain 100 ATK for each monster on your field. This Skill can only be used/applied if your Deck/Extra Deck contains 10 or more "Salamangreat" monsters including at least 1 "Salamangreat Heatleo". | Soulburner (Duel Links) |
| A Card Entrusted | At the beginning of the Duel, add 1 "Fiend's Sanctuary" to your Deck. | Yami Yugi (Duel Links) |
| A Cosmic Scourge: Galaxy-Eyes | At the beginning of the Duel, add 1 "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" to your Deck. Can be used if you control 2 or more monsters with 2000 ATK or higher. Return 1 "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon" from your Graveyard to your hand. This Skill can only be used once per Duel. | Kite Tenjo (Duel Links) |
| A Galactic Battle | Can be used when a "Galaxy-Eyes" Xyz Monster exists on either field. During your Draw Phase, instead of conducting your normal draw, send all cards but "Galaxy-Eyes" Xyz Monsters on both fields to the Graveyard. After using this Skill, this turn will end. This Skill can only be used once per Duel. | Mizar (Duel Links) |
| A New Power! | At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin" to your Deck. Then, add 1 "Elemental HERO Aqua Neos" to your Extra Deck. | Jaden/Yubel |
| A Trick up the Sleeve | Your starting hand will include 1 Level 7 or higher DARK Spellcaster-Type monster, randomly selected from your Deck. This Skill will not activate if your Deck does not contain any Level 7 DARK Spellcaster-Type monsters. You cannot Special Summon effect monsters during your first turn. | Arkana (Duel Links) |
| ATK Booster: Level 2 | Increase the ATK of all level 2 or lower monsters on your side of the field by 200. | Yusei Fudo (Duel Links) |
| ATK Booster: Synchro Warriors | Until the end of the turn, "Warrior" Synchro Monsters on your side of the field will gain 100 ATK times their Level. This Skill can only be used once per turn. | Yusei Fudo (Duel Links) |
| ATK: 8800 Pulse | Can only be used if you control exactly 1 Level 4 monster with an ATK equal to its DEF. Your monster's ATK becomes 8800, but returns to its original value at the end of the turn. For the rest of the turn after using this Skill, your opponent takes no damage. This Skill can only be used once per Duel. | Sera (Duel Links) |
| ... further results | ||
Event-exclusive SkillsEdit
| Lore | Events | Duel Links characters | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action Card (Skill) | Activates once per turn after obtaining 1 Action Card from the Action Field for which you have fulfilled the Dueltain Meter conditions. You can choose from a maximum of 6 different cards set by you and your opponent. Each card can be selected only once more after the Dueltain Meter reaches 150%. | A Soldier from the Fusion Dimension: Sora Perse | Sora Perse (Duel Links) |
| Alternative White Dragon Advent | If your Life Points are at 2000 or below, play 1 "Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon" from outside of the Deck at the beginning of your turn. You can only activate this Skill once per Duel. | Tag Duel Tournament IX | Seto Kaiba (DSOD) (Duel Links) |
| Amazoness Tactics | At the beginning of your first turn, add "Amazoness Queen" to your hand from outside your Deck. Then, play "Amazoness Onslaught." | Tag Duel Tournament VIII | Mai Valentine (Duel Links) |
| Ancient Fairy Rescue | If your Life Points are at 3000 or below, add 1 "Forest" to your hand from outside your Deck at the beginning of your turn. Then, play 1 "Ancient Pixie Dragon" in Defense Position from outside of your Deck. You can only activate this Skill once per Duel. | Tag Duel Tournament IX Tag Duel Tournament X | Luna (Duel Links) |
| Armored Xyz (Skill) | The ATK of monsters you control is multiplied by 5 until the end of the turn. In addition, Equip "Black Ray Lancer" from outside of your Deck to 1 Xyz Monster you control as an Equip Card. While "Black Ray Lancer" is equipped with this effect, that monster can attack twice during each Battle Phase. This Skill can only be used once per Duel. | Raid Duel - Giant Grinder: The Meet-And-Greet of Nightmares | Reginald "Shark" Kastle (Duel Links) |
| Arrival of the Earthbound Immortal | This Skill will be activated at the beginning of a Duel. Add 1 Field Spell Card and 1 "Earthbound Immortal" monster card from your Deck to your hand. | Duelist Chronicles 5D's: Attack of the Dark Signers! | Earthbound Immortal Cusillu (Duel Links) Earthbound Immortal Chacu Challhua (Duel Links) Dark Signer Kalin Kessler Earthbound Immortal Uru (Duel Links) Dark Signer Carly Carmine Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua (Duel Links) Dark Signer Rex Goodwin |
| Battle Fusion! | If your Life Points are at 3000 or below, add 1 "Battle Fusion" to your hand from outside of the Deck at the beginning of your turn. You can only activate this Skill once per Duel. | Tag Duel Tournament X | Jaden Yuki (Duel Links) |
| Black Flower Bloom | If your Life Points are at 3000 or below, play 1 "Black Rose Dragon" from outside your Deck at the beginning of your turn. You can only activate this Skill once per Duel. | ||
| Blue-Eyes Advent | If your Life Points are at 3000 or below, play 1 "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from outside your Deck at the beginning of your turn. You can only activate this Skill once per Duel. | ||
| Cheer Up Fairies (event Skill) | From the beginning of your 6th turn onward, play 1 "Little Fairy" from outside your Deck, and then place 1 "Fairy Cheer Girl" from your Extra Deck on top of "Little Fairy" (This will be treated as an Xyz Summon).This Skill can only be used once per Duel. | Tag Duel Tournament X | Tori Meadows (Duel Links) |
| ... further results | |||
Duel Links Legend Deck GuideEdit
The Duel Links Legend Deck Guide listed certain Skills as suggestions for casual play using the Legend Decks in the guide. It included three different sets of three skills: Yami Yugi skills, Seto Kaiba skills, and generic skills.
Power of Dark (Yugi)
Sorcery Conduit (Yugi)
Destiny Draw (Yugi)
Peak Performance (Kaiba)
Beatdown (Kaiba)
Heavy Starter (Kaiba)
Restart (Generic)
LP Boost α (Generic)
Draw Sense: Spell/Trap (Generic)
Differences between the anime and Duel LinksEdit
In the anime, if the use of a certain Skill would cause a certain effect to meet its activation requirement, that effect can be activated normally after the Skill has finished being applied. For example, discarding "Trickstar Mandrake" in order to use her "Trickstar Fraud" Skill allowed Skye Zaizen to activate Mandrake's Trigger Effect afterward.
In Duel Links and Speed Duels, Skills are designed not to interact with any card effects that would be triggered by the Skill's usage. As such, immediately after a Skill is applied, the game proceeds to an open game state, leaving no chance for any effects to be activated in response to the Skill (even mandatory Trigger Effects). Originally, "Last Gamble" was an exception to this, and cards could be activated in response to drawing cards with the Skill, but this was changed in a later update. Additionally, in the current version of Duel Links, the effects of cards can be activated in response to a card being sent to the Graveyard by the effect of "Phantom Strategy".
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 2: "Seize the Wind!"
- ↑ Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 4: "Pain and Gain"
- ↑ Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 49: "Bring the Heat"