Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game

The 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (often abbreviated to "TCG'") is the part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game manufactured by Konami, and is the best-selling card game of all time according to Guinness World Records, with over 22 billion cards sold as of August 2009. The TCG is played worldwide, but mostly in North America, Europe, Latin America and Australia. The ''Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG was first published in 2002, with Upper Deck Entertainment acquiring the rights to market the TCG'' in 2000 for USD$75,000,000 from Konami.

The agreement between Upper Deck Entertainment and Konami was due to expire in 2010. Konami issued a press release on December 10, 2008, stating that it was retaking full control of all aspects of the TCG, including:


 * Distribution
 * Customer Service
 * Sales
 * Gameplay
 * Organized Play

Upper Deck Entertainment then responded by issuing a lawsuit against Konami Digital Entertainment for USD$75,001,000, citing loss of earnings and breach of contract, as Konami Digital Entertainment cut ties between itself and Upper Deck Entertainment more than a year prior to to the legal conclusion of their contract. On December 27, 2008, Konami was denied the temporary selling and shipping ban that would prevent Upper Deck from marketing, selling, distributing and providing game support for the TCG. The reason Konami was successful in terminating the agreement with Upper Deck Entertainment was because Konami accused and proved in court that Upper Deck was producing unsanctioned cards - some employees had taken some printing plates to a different printer.

The TCG is printed in English (EN), French (FR), German (DE), Italian (IT), Portuguese (PT) and Spanish (SP). Portuguese printings had been halted for a few years after the release of Cybernetic Revolution and before the release of Cosmo Blazer. TCG cards are tournament-legal in any country where the game is played, outside of Asia. Cards from the Official Card Game (OCG), are not tournament-legal in TCG territories, even if a player attempting to use one has a translation on-hand, or the card has an officially-released TCG counterpart.

Tournaments are held each year that give out prizes which are usually rare cards or exclusive game mats. Players first start out in the Regionals and advance their way to the Championships. Shonen Jump used to host their own tournament known as the Shonen Jump Championship. There are tournaments in the OCG as well as the TCG.

Upper Deck no longer has any connection with the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG'', with Konami continuing tournaments.