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Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Left is a rather interesting footnote to the series’ long video game history. It is a mobile title that removes many parts of the format and effects of the famous card game to make the game faster. It is also noteworthy for ensuring that players get new cards when item falls or in 3 card booster pack draws which are rare in gacha app games. As much as this sounds like they detract from the experience, Duel Left works and is one of the most accessible ways to YGO TCG to date.

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Left originally launched on mobile devices in late 2016. A year later, the game was released for PC on Steam. While Duel Left got rave reviews from tons of fans, some hardcore players lamented the lack of a good card game simulator with the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game at full capacity. This demand for a truly digital YGO TCG experience led to the creation of Master Duel. But even though there is a full-fledged simulator for the game itself, Duel Left still has its place next to it.

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The famous card game is loved by many, but also criticized for being rather complicated. Yu-Gi-Oh! has been handling complaints from former players for years, and these concerns only seemed to grow with each new format added to the game. A YGO TCG game can easily take hours, and while some diehard fans don’t mind this, it’s one of the most common issues with the iconic TCG that many people struggle with.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Left changes this for the better. In the mobile game, players will experience a shortened version of YGO by playing in “Speed ​​Duel” format. This particular version of the deck features two sets of three spaces for monster, spell, and trap zones instead of the usual five per row. Decks are limited to a maximum of 30 cards and some monster effects, such as the Crystal Beasts cards, have been changed to compensate for this. These changes may not seem like much, but the Speed ​​Duel format lives up to its name, and Duels that once lasted hours now last minutes with the mobile title’s improvements to the game’s formula – a welcome change that fans have since has kept the launch playing.


When Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Left was first released, many fans of the series who love the animated spin-offs were upset to see that the game was strictly just the original YGO and his respective characters. However, as of 2017, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX was added, which started a small tradition of adding a new world based on a different anime season about every year. In addition to adding new maps and summoning methods to the mobile title depending on the added season, these worlds came with new characters with events that mirror canon stories in the shows they came from.

Following player feedback obtained through event surveys, the update added the world based on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds saw the events slowly weave into their own original stories for these characters. Some of these storylines take place after the original anime season, such as: Arc-Vs events implying that the villain who was defeated at the end of the series may return. Even Cross Duel uses anime characters after Master Duel chose to focus on map knowledge instead, Duel Left is the only one YGO video game that currently not only focuses on the anime, but continues the stories of the past seasons to bring new content to fans.


Even as the mobile title approaches the last anime created related to theYu-Gi-Oh! trading card game yourself, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINSthe game needs to add one more VRAINS world. This world, if the track record of past releases is anything to go by, should be out for the game sometime in September. That world, together with Arc-Vs, still has a decent amount of character additions to keep the game content going for quite some time. However, if Duel Left decided it wanted to focus on letting others down YGO Crossing eras after the last world was added, many fans wouldn’t have a problem with it considering that kind of crossover hasn’t been seen in the series since 2010.


Apart from that, because of the way the game is easier and faster to play, Duel Left remains one of the most welcoming ways to play Yu-Gi-Oh! for veterans and fans alike who want to learn the game at their own pace. Even though there are two other titles on the same platforms that can compete with Duel LeftThe way these titles offer completely different experiences to differentiate them is perfect for any fan. However, it is very clear that Duel Links is the most accessible, which gives it a bit of security against the experimental nature of Cross Dueland the definitive experience of the trading card game as a whole found in Master Duel. As a result, it is very likely that Duel Left will remain important for many Yu-Gi-Oh! fans for a long time.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Left is now available on Android, iOS and PC.

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