Many local shops that carry this game have hosted tournaments.In addition, Upper Deck, Konami, and Shonen Jump have organized numerous tournament systems in their respective areas. These tournaments attract hundreds of players to compete for prizes such as rare promotional cards.

There are two styles of tournament play called "Formats;" each format has its own rules and some restrictions on what cards are allowed to be used. Players must adhere to the rules of that format during tournaments.

Advanced Format:
The Advanced Format is used in all premier Upper Deck and Konami tournaments, including the World Championship.

This format follows all the normal rules of the game, but also places a complete ban on certain cards that are deemed too powerful for tournament play. These cards are on a special list called the Forbidden or Banned List. This list is updated every six months and is strictly followed in all tournaments that use this format.

Traditional Format:
Note: This format only applies to the countries where Upper Deck distributes the game

Traditional format is an alternative format which reflects the state of the game before the Forbidden Card list was created. Cards that are banned in Advanced are typically limited to one copy per deck in this format. The Traditional Format does not exist in areas where Konami distributes the game and is not widely used by Upper Deck in its sanctioned tournaments, leaving only local and unsanctioned tournaments to use it.

Casual play:
Casual players typically agree in advance to follow the rules of either the Advanced Format or the Traditional Format.In addition, there are countless other unofficial variants, such as tag team duels (duels where an even amount of duelists team up and duel against each other), multiple player duel (where three or more duelists play every-man-for-themself) and use of the Egyptian God Cards (promotional cards from the anime/manga adaptation, which are illegal in official tournaments). For these unofficial variants of the game, the rules, such as what cards are legal or not, are agreed upon ahead of time.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Cards are available in Starter Decks, Structure Decks, Booster Packs, and occasionally as promotional cards.

Booster packs:reissued (e.g. Dark Beginnings Volume 1 and 2). This type of set usually contains a larger amount of cards (around 200 to 250), and they contain twelve cards along with one tip card rather than the normal five or nine.

Starter Decks and Structure Decks:
Starter Decks were released in order for new players to learn most of the basic gameplay and mechanics, also named after various characters from the second animated series. Structure Decks, however, are for more advanced players, as they are focused on a single strategy and tend to have powerful cards and combos. Each Starter Deck contains forty or fifty different cards, a game mat, and a rule book. Each Structure Deck contains exactly forty cards, a game mat, a rule book and a small leaflet with recommendations for cards and booster packs to improve the deck. Structure decks are usually built to adhere to the current Advanced-Format Forbidden Card list.

Character Starter Decks:
There are currently seven Starter Decks available in the United States:

Yugi Starter Deck (SDY): features Yugi's favorite card Dark Magician.
Kaiba Starter Deck (SDK): features Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Joey Starter Deck (SDJ): includes Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
Pegasus Starter Deck (SDP): has Pegasus' "Toon" monsters and his Relinquished card.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Starter Deck 2006 (YSD) & Yu-Gi-Oh! Starter Deck 2007 (YSD2): include Elemental Hero cards and old spells and traps. Based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX series.
Jaden Yuki Starter Deck (YSDJ): includes cards used by Jaden in the show.
Syrus Truesdale Starter Deck (YSDS): includes cards used by Syrus in the show.

Character Structure Decks:
There are also eight character-based Structure Decks released in Japan. They are similar to their U.S. counterparts except that they contain different cards and are called Structure Decks. These decks tend to be more powerful than the Starter Decks and have been notable among fans as being "playable from the box".

The Structure Decks are:

Yugi Structure Deck (YU): features Dark Magician Girl, the Dark Magician family, and other cards used by Yugi in early parts of the Battle City arc of the anime.
Jonouchi ("Joey") Structure Deck (JY): features Jinzo, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, some luck based cards, and other cards used by Jonouchi in early parts of the Battle City arc. Also includes two dice, one red and one blue, based on his cards, Skull Dice and Graceful Dice, respectfully.
Kaiba Structure Deck (KA): features the Vampire Lord, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon (three in the deck, one with Japanese writing, one with Chinese writing, and one with English writing, referencing the Manga, which mentioned the previous owners of the BEWD's were from those countries [citation needed]), and other cards used by Kaiba in early Battle City arc of anime. Also includes a coin with the Millennium Puzzle printed on it.
Pegasus Structure Deck (PE): features cards that are used by Pegasus in the Duelist Kingdom arc of the anime. Examples include the "toon" monsters and Relinquished. Also includes the three (non-playable) "invitation" cards that were sent to Yugi before the Duelist Kingdom.
Yugi Volume 2 Structure Deck (SY2): features cards used by Yugi later in the Battle City arc in the anime. Some examples are Dark Paladin and Dimensional Magic.
Kaiba Volume 2 Structure Deck (SK2): features cards used by Kaiba later in the Battle City arc in the anime. Some examples are XYZ Dragon Cannon and Shrink.
Jonouchi ("Joey") Volume 2 Structure Deck (SJ2): features cards used by Jonouchi later in the Battle City arc in the anime. Some examples are Gilford the Lightning and Foolish Burial.
Marik Structure Deck (SDM): features cards used by Marik in the Battle City arc in the anime. Some examples are Lava Golem, Magic Shard Excavation, and Unholy Calamity.

Evolution Starter Decks:
The Yugi and Kaiba Starter Decks have been re-released with slightly different cards since their initial release in the U.S., and the second set is known as the Evolution series. It is generally thought that the Evolution series improved the respective deck of each character, and they are more readily available than the initial release.

The codes for the Evolution Series decks are:

Yugi Evolution Starter Deck (SYE): contains the Ritual Monster Black Luster Soldier, the Ritual Spell Card Black Luster Ritual, and Dark Magician (LOB artwork)
Kaiba Evolution Starter Deck (SKE): includes a Kaiser Sea Horse card along with the Continuous Trap Card Shadow Spell and Blue-Eyes White Dragon (LOB artwork)

Type Structure Decks:
The Type Structure decks contain forty cards each. These decks do not follow the theme of being based on a character from the show. Instead they are based on a specific Monster type or attribute. The main purpose is to help new players start the game with stronger cards and combos.These decks may also contain multiple copies of same named cards and common versions of hard-to-find cards, making these decks powerful even without modifications.

In addition, all decks include an instruction booklet with tips on how to use the deck's current goal (for example, the Fury of the Deep Structure Deck explains how to use Gravity Bind and A Legendary Ocean as a combo to allow four-starred monsters to attack), and how to expand on that goal with new cards. Each Structure Deck also contains one or more cards that can only be found by buying that deck.

The codes for the structure deck, and what they are based on, are:

Dragon's Roar Structure Deck (SD1): Based on Dragon Type monsters. The new card is Red Eyes Darkness Dragon.
Zombie Madness Structure Deck (SD2): Based on Zombie Type monsters. The new card is Vampire Genesis.
Blaze of Destruction Structure Deck (SD3): Based on Fire Attribute monsters. The new card is Infernal Flame Emperor.
Fury of the Deep Structure Deck (SD4): Based on Water Attribute monsters. The new card is Ocean Dragon Lord - Neo Daedalus.
Warrior's Triumph Structure Deck (SD5): Based on Warrior Type monsters. The new cards are Gilford the Legend, Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, and Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade.
Spellcaster's Judgment Structure Deck (SD6): Based on Spellcaster Type monsters. The new cards are Dark Eradicator Warlock, Mythical Beast Cerberus, Magical Blast, (and for TCG) Nightmare's Steelcage, Magical Dimension, and Mystic Box.
Invincible Fortress Structure Deck (SD7): Based on Earth Attribute monsters. The new cards are Exxod, Master of the Guard; Great Spirit; and Canyon.
Lord of the Storm Structure Deck (SD8): Based on Wind Attribute monsters. The new cards are Simorgh, Bird of Divinity; Sonic Shooter; and Hysteric Party.
Dinosaurs Rage Structure Deck (SD09): Based on Dinosaur Type monsters. The new cards are Super Conductive Tyranno, Jurassic World, Great Evolution Pill, Tail Swipe, Hunting Instinct, Survival Instinct, Volcanic Eruption, and Seismic Shockwave.