Konami has announced that Yu-Gi-Oh! is getting a new format for players to sink their teeth into. Given the formal title of ‘Genesys’, Konami has advertised that this format will be officially supported at the tournament level, starting with invitationals to regional tournaments on October 4th/5th.
Format Details
The format for Genesys has four simple rules to follow, as listed above. The biggest of these rules is that the Genesys format has given a blanket ‘No Pendulum and Link Monsters’ clause. Despite first impressions, this first rule will only take out around 800 cards that players can use in the format. This rule also comes with the reversion of the field to before the introduction of the extra monster and pendulum zones.
The second rule of the format gives more context to some of Konami’s recent moves. Allowing cards from the Forbidden/Limited list explains why the recent 2025 Yu-Gi-Oh! Tins had included forbidden cards like Pot of Greed.
The last two rules introduced pretty much dictate how deck construction will be handled for Genesys. In a nutshell, the player has an allocated budget of points that can be used to access some of the more powerful cards in the format. Not only do players finally get to use some of the older cards collecting dust in the collection, but there’s more decision-making involved when selecting cards to use in the format. These rules point out that all aspects of the deck are under the subject of the point allocation (main, extra, and side).
Genesys Deck Building
Part of Konami’s official announcement is the initial list of points allocated to the more powerful cards for the format. While not expressly stated in their initial announcement, the point buy system operates on a per-card basis.
In a follow-up blog post, Konami gave an example of how players could potentially run copies of ‘Maxx C’ in their deck. In the example, each copy of ‘Maxx C’ would cost 50 allocated points each. This makes consistency an aspect to consider because something like the K9 hand trap package (x3 K9-17 Izuna, x1 K9-ØØ Lupis, and x1 K9-17 "Ripper") would use up 85 points already.
Konami mentioned that the standard point allocation for the Genesys format will initially be set to 100 points. There is a caveat that the point cap is open to modification depending on the event or OTS (Official Tournament Store). Players will need to keep an eye out for any point cap modification since there's more emphasis on deck building with this new format.
One last detail Konami mentions is that the Point Allocation will be constantly modified as the Genesys format proceeds. This may see Konami making changes to the point cost of cards as the format develops.
Genesys as a Tournament Format
Part of Konami’s advertising is the formal support of Genesys as an officially recognized tournament format. According to their announcement, Genesys format tournaments will be held at major events like a YCS (Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series).
Konami will be easing the Genesys format into the North American player zeitgeist by holding multiple 16-player tournaments starting at YCS Anaheim on October 4th/5th in Anaheim, California. All these invitationals will then culminate in the first Genesys-focused YCS in 2026.
For players in Europe, Konami had mentioned that the first Genesys invitational will be held at YCS Bologna on November 22nd/23rd. Other details were mentioned to follow, but we can probably guess that the European side of things won’t be too far behind. Unfortunately for players in other regions, there are no details to be found yet on how the Genesys format will be implemented.
Konami has expressed the intention to keep the fanbase abreast of the situation. The Genesys format is a new frontier for the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! as a whole. Maintaining this new format will be a constant work in progress as Konami tweaks things from behind the scenes.
The Potential Future with the Genesys Format
There’s a general buzz of excitement concerning this new format that Konami decided to surprise its fanbase with. The creative deck-building aspect of Yu-Gi-Oh will be taking center stage in Genesys.
The second-hand market will consequently shift as well, depending on how successful the Genesys format becomes. Older cards, the ones at bargain prices, might see a resurgence in popularity, and the prices may shift if players find it worth investing in the Genesys format. Konami has mentioned that they have some special prize support, like a 2009 SJC Dark End Dragon and super-sized cards, planned for this new undertaking, so at the very leas,t there’s some intent shown to ensure the success of the format. How that will look in the future will be anyone’s guess, but this may be the start of a new era for Yu-Gi-Oh!