Grand Format and Exhibition Tournaments
By Johnny Tek

There have been many concerns and doubts about the viability of Grand Format for tournament play. This article is written to explain how Grand Format is used for tournament play.

First of all, it has been emphasized many times that Grand Format is currently not to be used for the open tournament system. Grand Format is to be used for exhibition game play. An exhibition duel or tournament is meant to be a show, casting special invited players in the lead roles.
(If programmed into a video game however, Grand Format could be used for open tournament play.)

The theory is that Grand Format matches are more interesting to watch than Advanced Format matches because they accurately recreate the unpredictability and high-level strategy game play as depicted in the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! fiction on which the card game is based. Therefore if a Grand Format match between champion level players is filmed and made available for public viewing (uploaded onto a web site for example), fans and players of the game would watch it and find it entertaining.

Here’s the general idea of exhibition game play in tournament form: Invite a small number of the best or well-known players and judges in the region or beyond to compete against each other. Have them construct Decks and Side Decks using Grand Format, and then proceed with a single judge presiding over each individual match. Since the number of players is small and each judge (or just the one judge if each match is handled one at a time) can focus all of his/her attention into a single match, it becomes possible to hold a fair competition using Grand Format outside of computerized play.

Grand Format creates a particular motivation for champion Yu-Gi-Oh! players to compete in exhibition game play: The format is so much harder to master that their skills will be pushed to their limits, especially if they’re having to construct strategies against fellow players of the same level. Add to that the fact that it is practically impossible to predict the strategies used by opponents due to the forced variation in card selection and you have the makings of some very tense competition.

Grand Format is also great for demonstration matches and casual game play. During testing, players often note that a lot more thinking is involved when considering one’s next move in a Grand Format match.

~I’d like to thank all the players who have taken an interest in Grand Format at least enough to try it out among friends. In coming weeks, the update for Force of the Breaker will be posted.

Thats very inlighting that is. I have actually tested Grand Format and have a nice toon deck not the best out there though lol in fact I got creamed to often with it lol. But I like Grand Format because it dose make one think oh crap what to do next rather then oh well i'll just use a monarch and kill him

Grand format is the best! but the it has not been updated for a long time and a lot of strong cards have been issued in tactical evolution and some more are coming. We hope they update it soon.

the format is honestly ridiculous. Card games are hard enough as it is without having to learn multiple if and or but conditions when building a deck. I understand that you're trying to eliminate the "summon a monarch and win" type scenarios, but eventually someone will find a very good loop hole in your format (i haven't read through it completely) and then everyone will use that type of deck.
Stronger decks rise to the surface while mediocre deck types fall to the bottom. That's just how it is.

World reknown players and many of the top ranked players in North America don't have a serious problem with the current banlist. True, a few formats ago there were problems, But most of them have been fixed. If people have fixes for the current banlist, it's just to suit a particular playing style they like to support (e.g. vet players on pojo have created their own goat format rules they play by because it's a widely accepted format on the internet used by very experienced players. they in no way shape or form expect to use it in tournaments sanctioned by UDE or see it used at tournaments even for fun).

I dunno...grand format isn't used competitively and doesn't really serve a purpose in making a game more skillful. It just creates even more restrictions to enable an already weak group of players. When you try and make your own rules, you shift focus from the actual rules and eventually you're not even playing the same game...