YGO Lab and Duelingbook

What Duelingbook is

Duelingbook is a free, browser-based simulator. Nothing is automated: players move the cards themselves and apply the rules and rulings between them, the way they would at a table. That is its strength. Any card works the moment it is in the database, unusual interactions are settled by the players, and formats survive long after they leave tournament play.

It has a rated Duelist Pool for Advanced, Genesys, Goat and Edison, unrated rooms for Speed, Rush, Traditional and Unlimited, player-run and official tournaments, custom cards, and a choice of TCG or OCG rules. It is free and supported by donations. It has no computer opponent: its Solo Mode is a room where you play both sides yourself.

What YGO Lab is

YGO Lab automates every rule on ygopro-core, the open-source engine EDOPro runs on, and gives you an opponent that is always there: an AI that pilots a real decklist. Going first it plays the deck's combos; on your turn it holds hand traps and decides when to use them. You bring your own deck and the current TCG Forbidden & Limited list applies.

Side by side

Practicing a matchup on each

On Duelingbook you need a partner who plays the deck you want to practice against, knows its lines, and plays them at full strength, then does it again for the next twenty games. Every interaction is applied by hand, which is good practice at rulings and slow practice at combos. With a strong testing group it is hard to beat.

On YGO Lab the opponent is already sitting down. Choose the Rival deck, choose First or Second, and play. It runs the deck's real lines going first and adapts when you interrupt them; on your turn it decides when to drop its hand traps. Because the engine resolves everything, a game of combo practice takes minutes, and you can restart during the first two turns to try an opening again.

When Duelingbook is the better choice

• You want to play people: friends, a testing group, rated games or tournaments.
• You play a format YGO Lab doesn't: Goat, Edison, Genesys, Speed or Rush.
• You want OCG rules, or custom cards.
• You want to settle a ruling the way a judge would, at the table.

When YGO Lab is the better choice

• There is nobody to play the matchup against you right now.
• You want the opponent's deck played by its real lines, every game.
• You want the rules enforced, so a game is practice at the combo, not at moving cards.
• You want to drill one moment: in Combos, record your turn, interrupt it with the hand trap you expect, and practice that branch.

Moving your deck between them

Bring your Duelingbook deck to YGO Lab in one of three ways: a .ydk file, a ydke:// link, or the decklist pasted as text, where YGO Lab matches the card names. It exports the same three ways, so a list you tune against the AI can go back to your Duelingbook games.

Questions