World Championship Finals 2025 Rule-Set Announced
Introduction
Konami have officially announced details on the World Championship 2025 Ruleset, which will take place on August 29th - 30th in Paris, France! Here's what you need to know, straight from Konami's official website!
- The WCS 2025 Duel Links Division RUSH DUEL Format will feature 8 players competing for the championship.
- The WCS 2025 Duel Links Division SPEED DUEL Format will feature 16 players competing for the championship.
- The Main Tournament 1st Stages for WCS 2025 Duel Links Division RUSH DUEL Format and SPEED DUEL Format will be held simultaneously.
- Speed Duel
- Rush Duel
Finals 1st Stage - August 29th 2025
The Main Tournament 1st Stage will comprise 4 rounds played in a Swiss Draw format. This means that players with the most similar results (DP) will be pitted against each other in their next matches.
The winner of each round will be determined by a BO5 match (first to win 3 Duels / max. 5 Duels).
- Once a Deck is used, it cannot be reused in the same round.
- During each round, you will be awarded 3 DP for a win, 0 DP for a loss, and 1 DP for a draw.
- The top 4 players after 4 rounds will advance to the Final Tournament.
Precedence for Deciding Rankings
- Highest DP
- Highest average DP of opponents
- Highest average DP of opponents defeated
- Most Duels won
- Least Duels lost
- Highest average DP of opponents Dueled by opponents you Dueled
- Highest average DP of opponents' opponents
- Highest total of remaining LP at the end of Duels won
Final Tournament - August 29th/30th 2025
The Final Tournament will comprise 2 Semi-Finals and 1 Final played in a single elimination format between the 4 players who advanced from the Main Tournament 1st Stage.
- The winner of each round will be determined by a BO5 match (first to win 3 Duels / max. 5 Duels).
- Once a Deck is used, it cannot be reused in the same round.
The Semi-Finals of the Final Tournament will be held on the same day that the Main Tournament 1st Stage concludes (August 29th). The Championship Match is scheduled to be played the following day (August 30th).
Deck Rules
Duelists will construct 5 Decks that follow the guidelines below.
- Duelists must follow the Forbidden/Limited List effective as of Aug. 1, 2025 (JST).
- Duelists cannot use any new cards, characters, and Skills scheduled to be added to the game on or after Aug. 1, 2025 PM2:00 (JST).
- Duelists must prepare 5 Decks, each with a different character and Skill.
- At least 3 Decks must have a Legendary Skill set.
- Duelists can only have up to 3 copies in total of each card across all Decks.
- Duelists can only have up to 1 copy in total of each Limited 1 card across all of their Decks, and up to 2 copies in total of each Limited 2 card across all Decks.
- Cards you can only obtain 1 or 2 copies of in-game can only be included up to that number in total across all Decks.
- Each Duelist can select 3 "Tactical Cards" and include up to 3 copies of it per Deck. If only 1 or 2 copies of the selected card are obtainable in-game, or if it is Limited 1 or Limited 2, only 1 or 2 copies respectively can be included per Deck.
Finals 1st Stage - August 29th 2025
The Main Tournament 1st Stage will comprise 3 rounds played in a Swiss Draw format. This means that players with similar results (DP) will be pitted against each other in their next matches.
The winner of each round will be determined by a BO5 match (first to win 3 Duels / max. 5 Duels).
- Once a Deck is used, it cannot be reused in the same round.
- During each round, you will be awarded 3 DP for a win, 0 DP for a loss, and 1 DP for a draw.
- The top 4 players after 3 rounds will advance to the Final Tournament.
Precedence for Deciding Rankings
- Highest DP
- Highest average DP of opponents
- Highest average DP of opponents defeated
- Most Duels won
- Least Duels lost
- Highest average DP of opponents Dueled by opponents you Dueled
- Highest average DP of opponents' opponents
- Highest total of remaining LP at the end of Duels won
Final Tournament - August 29th/30th 2025
The Final Tournament will comprise 2 Semi-Finals and 1 Final played in a single elimination format between the 4 players who advanced from the Main Tournament 1st Stage.
- The winner of each round will be determined by a BO5 match (first to win 3 Duels / max. 5 Duels).
- Once a Deck is used, it cannot be reused in the same round.
The Semi-Finals of the Final Tournament will be held on the same day that the Main Tournament 1st Stage concludes (August 29th). The Championship Match is scheduled to be played the following day (August 30th).
Deck Rules
Duelists will construct 5 Decks that follow the guidelines below.
- Duelists must follow the Forbidden/Limited List effective as of Aug. 1, 2025 (JST).
- Duelists cannot use any new cards, characters, and Skills scheduled to be added to the game on or after Aug. 1, 2025 2PM (JST).
- Duelists must prepare 5 Decks, each with a different character and Skill.
- At least 3 Decks must have a Legendary Skill set.
- Duelists can only have up to 3 copies in total of each card across all Decks.
- Duelists can only have up to 1 copy in total of each Limited 1 card across all of their Decks, and up to 2 copies in total of each Limited 2 card across all Decks.
- Cards you can only obtain 1 or 2 copies of in-game can only be included up to that number in total across all Decks. (Legend Cards are an exception to this rule.)
- Duelists can have up to 3 copies in total of each Legend Card, with a maximum of 1 per Deck. However, if a Legend Card is Limited 1 or Limited 2, only 1 or 2 copies respectively in total can be included across all Decks.
- Each Duelist can select 3 Tactical Cards and include up to 3 copies of each per Deck. If only 1 or 2 copies of a selected card are obtainable in-game, or if it is Limited 1 or Limited 2, only 1 or 2 copies respectively can be included per Deck. Legend Cards cannot be selected as Tactical Cards.