Guide to Dueling Ethics by Sean





---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: seanslcars@comcast.net
Date:  Tue, 05 Apr 2005 09:10:57 +0000

Hey it’s me Sean again. I’m back. I took a break over Easter 
break, but I’m back. 
SEAN’S IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I have my own website now! Feel 
free to click around www.seanzhomepage.freeservers.com. Custom 
page 1 is my yugioh page.
This article is about dueling ethics. They’re in critically short 
demand these days, it seems.
Respect your opponent’s deck: Even if you’re a major supporter of 
the ban list and think half the yugioh cards in existence should be 
banned, and your opponent is running a cookie-cutter, you may be 
annoyed, but still respect their choice of cards. 
Respect your opponent’s cards: Never, EVER should you touch an 
opponent’s cards without their permission. Let’s say you’re playing 
Traditional and you play Monster Reborn and want to revive an 
opponent’s mon. You do NOT just reach over the table, grab their 
graveyard, and start flipping through it. You ask, "May I look 
through your Graveyard?" When your opponent says yes, which they 
should because you’re entitled to know it’s contents, a point I’ll 
address more later, carefully pick them up, select the card you’re 
using, and place, not toss or drop, their Graveyard back. When looking 
through an opponent’s cards treat them like their your own and each 
one is a Royal Decree. You have an obligation to respect them.
Don’t be a smartmouth: My friend Jay had a habit of this. Jay’s a great 
guy and superb duelist, and Jay, if you’re reading this, no offense 
meant, but you DID do this way too much. When your opponent asks the 
contents of your Graveyard, don’t say "12 cards". When your opponent 
asks to see them, don’t whip them in front of their face and put them 
back. Come on people. Your opponent is entitled to know each and every 
card in your Graveyard as well as the number of cards in your hand. 
Don’t try to be a smart@$$. It’s not funny.
Pay attention to the Duel!: One of the most aggravating things is trying 
to have a duel with someone who keeps holding side conversations. Part 
of showing respect to your opponent is remembering that when you drew 
your opening hand you committed to playing this duel out. You want to 
talk about God-knows-what with the other people hanging around, knock 
yourself out. But do one thing first: forfeit. If you’re dueling, duel.
Stay out of a duel that’s not yours: I don’t mind people watching my 
duels. The second best lesson in yugioh is to learn from your mistakes. 
The best is to learn from someone else’s. Watching other duels is an 
excellent learning experience. If you’re dueling and someone wants to 
watch, let them. However, watching means just that. Watching. Don’t open 
your mouth unless you’re invited to by the duelists. Leaning over 
someone’s shoulder and going, "oh do that!", "that was dumb!", "oh you’re 
dead now" etc. is just obnoxious. Sit on the side and keep your mouth 
closed until invited to do otherwise. Along these same lines, if you’re 
one of the duelists, don’t offer advice or comments, especially those
 beginning with "you should have", unless your opponent asks your advice.
Keep the language appropriate: If you wouldn’t say it in front of your 
mother, don’t say it in front of your opponent. Also, I realize that 
waving your hand over the deck and saying, "Heart of the Cards, guide me!" 
or shouting out "White Lightning Attack!" when you attack with Blue Eyes 
can be fun, but it can also be obnoxious. If your opponent asks you to 
cut the theatrics, cut the theatrics.
Don’t be annoyed when you play a card and your opponent asks what it does: 
This happens on two occasions. Many people new to the game don’t know 
the cards, and they’re the ones you should be taking extra steps to support. 
The other is if you’re using vague cards that no one else uses. There are 
2,268 yugioh cards currently printed in english. If you try saying you 
know what each and every one of them does, I’m going to say I don’t 
believe you. If you’re opponent asks what a card does, tell them. 
Comments? Questions? My email is seanslcars@comcast.net and my AIM 
screenname is NazGul0010. I’m not one of those people that says "No 
hatemail please". I love reading that stuff. Until next time-SetoKaibafan13