Goat Format Commander Rules

Based off the rules of the popular Magic: The Gathering format “Commander” (Also known as EDH), Goat Format Commander brings a somewhat analogous experience to the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! Choose one of your favorite monsters to represent your deck and lead similar monsters into battle! Rules created by necromancy4kids with the help of TKGriffiths and other community members of the Casual Goat Format server https://discord.gg/wYc7ANRNyy 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tFxZXgcvLg 

Basic Rules

Start by selecting a Goat Format legal monster that is neither:

  • DARK
  • LIGHT
  • Spellcaster-type
  • Warrior-type
  • A Fusion Monster
  • “Morphing Jar”

You can also choose from the following cards:

  • “Jam Breeding Machine”
  • “Multiplication of Ants”
  • “Scapegoat”
  • “Stray Lambs”
  • “Ultra Evolution Pill”
  • “Embodiment of Apophis”

Then, build a Goat Format legal deck with these restrictions:

  1. Include your chosen Commander.
  2. Deck must have 41 cards or more.
  3. No more than 1 copy of each card (see Special Exceptions).
  4. Monsters in your deck must share an Attribute, Type, Ability (except FLIP), or Archetype with your Commander, or support the Type/Attribute of your Commander. See sections below for full details.
  5. No Spells or Traps that summon Tokens not in these categories.

Examples:

  • Example 1: If you choose “Valkyrion the Magna Warrior” as your Commander, you can only include EARTH or Rock-type monsters in your deck.
  • Example 2: If you choose “Fushi No Tori” as your Commander, you can only include FIRE, Winged Beast, or Spirit monsters in your deck.
  • Example 3: If you choose “Scapegoat” as your Commander, you can only include EARTH or Beast-type monsters in your deck.
Decoration

Game Start:

  1. Banish your Commander from the deck. If it is in your opening hand, banish it and then draw a card.
  2. This action is done before anything else in the game and cannot be responded to.
  3. Summon your Commander from the banished zone later in the duel as detailed below.

Summoning Your Commander

ONCE during the game, except the first turn of the duel, you can summon your removed-from-play Commander as if it were in your hand or deck, at the appropriate time you would be able to play it from those areas, and by paying any associated costs as normal. This means:

  • You must use your Normal Summon for the turn, unless you are Special Summoning your Commander via some method. If you are Tribute Summoning it, you must still tribute the correct number of monsters.
  • If you are Special Summoning your Commander with its own effect or Summoning Condition, you still pay the associated costs and must meet the requirements for the Summon.
  • If your Commander is a Ritual Monster, you must use an appropriate Ritual Spell and tribute the appropriate monsters to Summon it.
  • If it is an EARTH monster with 1500 or less ATK, you can Summon it from the banished zone when “Giant Rat" is destroyed by battle, instead of a monster from the deck. This applies for all other similar recruiters and their respective Attribute/type.
  • If it is an Insect-type or Pyro-type monster, you can Special Summon it with the effect of “Pinch Hopper” or “The Thing in the Crater” respectively, instead of a monster from your hand.
  • Etc. etc.

If your Commander has an effect which requires you to discard itself as a cost to activate, and you have not yet attempted to summon it that game, you can activate that effect at the appropriate time by sending it from the banished zone to the Graveyard instead.

A Commander cannot be interacted with in any way until after it has been successfully summoned or its summon has been negated. Once you have either summoned your Commander or its summon has been negated, it goes to whatever zone is appropriate when it leaves the field. So if it is destroyed, it naturally goes to the Graveyard and you could later revive it with a card like “Premature Burial” if appropriate. Banishing your Commander is only used online as a representation of putting it into its own special play area. IRL, you would just set it aside face-up until you wish to play it.

If your Commander is a Spell or Trap, you can Set or activate it from the banished zone at any time you would normally be able to play that card from hand. “Embodiment of Apophis” can be activated directly without first being Set.

Decoration

What is an “Ability”?

Toon, Spirit, and Union are collectively referred to as an “Ability” in the rules of the game (along with “FLIP” which is not eligible for this benefit). This means that if your Commander is a Toon, Spirit, or Union monster, you can include any other such monsters in your deck.

As an additional benefit, if your Commander is a Union monster, you can also include the following cards in your deck:

  • “Dark Blade”
  • “Decayed Commander”
  • “Giant Orc”
  • “Vampire Orchis” (Vampiric Orchis)
  • “X-Head Cannon”
  • Fusion Monsters: “Dark Blade the Dragon Knight”, “XY-Dragon Cannon”, “XYZ-Dragon Cannon”, “XZ-Tank Cannon” and “YZ-Tank Dragon”
Decoration

What is an Archetype?

Archetypes in this instance are monsters that share a particular part of their name. There are a number of different archetypes within Goat Format, but because of the way the rules for Goat Format Commander are currently structured, the only ones which will be relevant for this question are:

  • Archfiend
  • Dark Scorpion (See “Burglar” in Special Exceptions)
  • Gravekeeper (See “Charm of Shabti” and “An Owl of Luck” in Special Exceptions)
  • Guardian
  • LV
  • Ninja (See “Nin-Ken Dog” in Special Exceptions)
  • Sphinx
  • Toon
Decoration

What are some monsters that support other types/attributes?

The relevant rules for this category are as follows. If your Commander is of the Type or Attribute, you can play the corresponding card(s):

  • ANY: “Elemental Mistress Doriado”. Cannot be Commander.
  • Beast-Type or Winged Beast-Type: “Enraged Battle Ox” or “Manticore of Darkness”. If either is your Commander, you can play Beast-type and Winged-Beast-type monsters.
  • Winged Beast-Type or FIRE: “Hand of Nephthys”
  • Dragon-Type: “Lord of D.” or “Kaibaman”.
  • Fairy-Type or Fiend-Type: “Warrior of Zera”.
  • Insect-Type: “Anti-Aircraft Flower” or “Prickle Fairy”. If either monster is your Commander, you can play Insect-type monsters.
  • Plant-Type: “Arcane Archer of the Forest” or “Wodan the Resident of the Forest”.
  • Thunder-Type: “The Creator Incarnate”
  • Zombie-Type: “Castle of Dark Illusions” or “Great Dezard”.
  • EARTH: “Element Doom”, “Element Saurus”, or “Element Soldier”.
  • FIRE: “Element Dragon”, “Element Saurus”, or “Element Valkyrie”.
  • WATER: “Element Magician”, “Element Soldier”, or “Element Valkyrie”.
  • WIND: “Element Doom”, “Element Saurus”, or “Element Magician”.
Decoration

What about Fusion Monsters and their materials?

You can only play Fusion Monsters that match your Commander’s Type, Attribute, or Archetype. If your Commander has a Fusion Monster associated with it, you also get additional benefits as described below:

  • “Blast Juggler” or “Two-Headed King Rex” as your Commander allows you to play the other and “Cybersaurus”.
  • “Cave Dragon” as your Commander allows you to play “Lesser Fiend”.
  • “Dissolverock” as your Commander allows you to play “Skull Servant” and “Flame Ghost”.
  • “Maryokutai” as your Commander allows you to play “Zombyra the Dark” and “The Last Warrior from Another Planet”.
  • “Baby Dragon” as your Commander allows you to play “Time Wizard”.
  • “Spirit Ryu” as your Commander allows you to play “Warrior Dai Grepher” and “Ryu Senshi”.
Decoration

Special Exceptions

  • Cards that alter the level of monsters in your hand such as “A Legendary Ocean” or “Cost Down” affect your banished Commander as if they were in your hand. “Level Conversion Lab” cannot be used this way.
  • Different printed names do not count for the highlander (1 card) rule, so you may play both “Umi” and “A Legendary Ocean” and you may play up to 3 “Harpie Lady” monsters of different printed names.
  • You may play up to 3 copies of “Mokey Mokey”, “Polymerization”, “Skull Servant”, and/or “Toon World” in your deck.
  • You may play “Ultra Evolution Pill” as your Commander. If you do, you can play all Dinosaur-type and Reptile-type monsters.
  • “Crab Turtle” or “Sonic Bird” as your Commander allows you to play all Ritual Monsters, “Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands”, and “Senju of the Thousand Hands”.
  • “Burglar” as your Commander allows you to play “Dark Scorpion” monsters and “Don Zaloog”.
  • “Charm of Shabti”, “An Owl of Luck”, and “A Cat of Ill Omen” are considered “Gravekeeper” monsters for deck building.
  • “Nin-Ken Dog” as your Commander allows you to play “Ninja” monsters.
  • “Arsenal Summoner”, “Sanga of the Thunder”, “Suijin” and “Kazejin” are considered “Guardian” monsters for deck building.
  • “Pandemonium Watchbear” is considered an “Archfiend” monster for deck building.
  • “People Running About”, “Oppressed People”, or “United Resistance” as your Commander allows you to play all 3.
  • If “Frog the Jam” is your Commander, it is unaffected by other Commander effects, and cannot be destroyed as a result of battle by other Commanders.
Decoration

Sample Decks

Yamata Dragon Deck (provided by RhazBash)

Levia-Dragon - Daedalus Deck (provided by RhazBash)

Metal Fish Deck (provided by TKGriffiths)

Rescue Cat Deck (provided by RhazBash)

Megarock Dragon (1st place deck by Alex Zander)

Sinister Serpent (1st Place Goat Commander Star Chip Tournament by qwertyop1)

Frog the Jam (2nd Place by Cucumber Salad)

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Decoration