Yu-Gi-Oh!
(Japanese for "King of Games")
Is a massive media franchise, primarily known as a popular trading card game (TCG) centered on magical duels with monsters, spells, and traps. Created by Kazuki Takahashi in 1996, it originated as a manga, spawning multiple anime series and a real-life TCG based on the "Duel Monsters" game, where players battle to reduce opponent life points to zero
In recent year the TCG has seen a resurgence of interest and new players with Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series (YCS) tournaments averaging about 1,000 and 3,000+ players, with European events often exceeding 2,000.
While overseas participation in the OCG on average exceeds 2,200, with the largest historical YCS being in Tokyo 2024 with 7,443 players.