A new event with deckbuilding restriction is upon us, but this one isn't quite a Festival like the old ones. The new Special Duel "Link Reg." will take place between October 14th and October 28th. Unlike the previous Festivals, Special Duels will include a ranked ladder and offer no loaner decks for players.

As with previous events before it, this one also coincides with a Structure Deck and a Selection Pack that take full advantage of its theming. You've got the Burning Spirits deck, which includes a good chunk of Salamangreat cards, and Cosmic Ocean, which contains the Marincess cards, among others.

If you need a refresher on how Link Monsters work, we've got a dedicated guide. Now let's get into it!

Ranks and Rewards

The ranks are identical in structure to the regular ladder. You start at Rookie 2, make it to Rookie 1, and then you have Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, each with 5 tiers. We don't know how many matches you need to win to advance your rank or if there's safety nets, but it's likely to be very similar to the regular Ranked Ladder. You'll automatically start on the same rank as your Standard rank and get the rewards from skipped ranks.

The rewards for ranking up aren't as meaty, though. Here's a breakdown:

  • Cosmetics:
    • Reaching tier 1 for each rank will award you with a title: 
      • Rookie 1: Link Beginner.
      • Bronze 1: Link Challenger.
      • Silver 1: Link Practitioner.
      • Gold 1: Link Expert.
      • Platinum 1: Link Elite.
      • Diamond 1: Link Master.
    • Platinum 5 awards you with the Link Blue Protector.
    • Diamond 1 gives you the Link Master Icon Frame.
  • Gems:
    • Reaching Rookie 1 will grant you 100 gems.
    • The Bronze, Silver and Gold ranks have 400 Gems each, 100 for odd tiers and 50 for even ones.
    • Platinum 5 offers 100 Gems.
    • Afterwards, each tier, except Diamond 1, offers 50 Gems.
    • That's a total of 1800 Gems.

Sadly, this is the lowest amount of Gems so far, with the previous Festival giving you 1900, and most before it 2300. Of course, we don't have the missions for the event yet, so we'll have to wait and see what's there. On the cosmetic sides, things are looking decent, with 2 different cosmetics and a bunch of titles.

Ban List

Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo Card Image Jowgen the Spiritualist Card Image

As with previous events, we have a special ban list. All Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Monsters are forbidden for the event. There's also a number of specific forbidden cards that you can check out below (these lists do not include cards that are already on the list in the Standard format).

Forbidden Normal Monsters

Forbidden Effect Monsters

Forbidden Ritual Monsters

Forbidden Spells

Forbidden Traps

Limited Effect Monsters

Quote From Konami (in-game notifications)

Notice: Special Duel "Link Reg."

Special Duel "Link Reg." will be held on the following dates.

Show your adaptability by becoming a master of Special Duels! Use a non-Standard Deck and duke it out with your rivals to reach the highest Rank!

Event Duration

Oct 14 06:00 Oct 28 05:59

Time to Receive Rewards

Oct 28 06:00 Oct 29 05:59

*Rewards cannot be claimed once the allotted time has passed. Don't forget to collect the rewards that aren't claimed 'automatically!

Special Duels

These are Duels where you fight to improve your rank, with a different Forbidden/Limited List to Standard Duels.

The Forbidden/Limited List for this event is intended to promote Link Summoning.

For more information on Event Regulations, please press the Forbidden/Limited button.

Special Duels Details

You will go up a rank once you win a certain number of Duels.

The higher your rank, the more rewards you can earn, so keep Dueling!

Your rank at the start of this event will be determined by your "Standard" season rank. The season used to determine your starting rank may vary depending on when the event is held.

More details regarding the event will be available on the Event page once it opens. Thank you for playing "Yu-Gi-Oh! MASTER DUEL."

Do you like this type of event, or do you prefer the previous format? What decks do you plan to play? Let us know in the comments below!