My Little Guide to the Little Things on Your Card!

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

People can have big huge awesome pictures, the coolest, most original effect ever, the perfect balance, etc. But even so, they still often overlook the little things, and that's what this guide's all about. I know the fact that I'm making a card making tutorial is EVEN STRANGER than me making a card, which is already really strange, but bear with me.

 

[spoiler=Set IDs - Before the Dash!]

 

Below's a picture of the fan-favorite Elemental Hero Flame Wingman.

 

 

Why am I showing you this picture you ask? Well, if you look at the set ID, you'll notice it has 3 characters, DP1, in its first part. This is an old, outdated Set ID, Konami will never use a set ID like this again, and neither should you. Why you ask? Look below.

 

 

Hey! It's one of my favorites, a Destiny Hero! He was released in the 5th Duelist Pack, so he was released later than Flame Wingman. Look at HIS Set ID. You'll notice its first part shows "DP05" and not just "DP5" whereas Flame Wingman showed "DP1" and not "DP01". This is proof that Konami has switched to using 4-character 1st parts for their Set IDs, and they always do now. Look at all of the newest packs for example. Crimson Crisis (CRMS), Dark Legends (DLG1), Crossroads of Chaos (CSOC), Light of Destruction (LOTD), Phantom Darkness (PTDN), etc. all use 4 character set IDs, the old packs like Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon (LOB), Metal Raiders (MRD), Magic Ruler/Spell Ruler (MRL/SRL), Labirynth of Nightmare (LON), and Pharaoh's Servant (PSV) all have 3 letter Set IDs. Coincidence? I think not, Konami's not using 3 character Set ID prefixes any more and neither should you, stick to 4 to be realistic. As for 1, 2, and 5 character set IDs, they're never used by Konami, and are even more unrealistic than 3 letter Set IDs, so stick to 4. ^_^

 

Also keep in mind that a Set ID prefix shouldn't be any four random characters, the characters should serve as an acronym for a set. Pretend the card you're making is in a Booster Pack, and choose the name of that Pack taking into account the theme of the card. For example, if your card's name is Dark Demon of Darkity Darkness, a good pack name would be something based around that theme of Darkness, like Darkity Darkness pack. Then convert that pack name to a four-character acronym, such as DKDS.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Set IDs: After the Dash!]

 

 

Old versions of cards have 3 characters after the dash, a simple 3-digit number. However, lately cards've ALWAYS had EN before the 3 digits, as shown in the cool new Anniversary Pack Blue-Eyes with its latest alternate art. =D

 

 

Keep this in mind when making cards, always use "EN" in the Set ID.

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Circulation]

 

Circulation is that little place where you put in the Edition. Your best bet is to leave the Circulation blank or use "Limited Edition", since they both work with silver stickers, which can be used without an image editor.

 

1st Edition doesn't work because it becomes block capitalized by the card maker, making it "1ST EDITION". This is unrealistic. All 1st Edition cards in the TCG also have Gold Stickers, which require you to take a screenshot of from a real card and plunk on to your card, you'll need to do this with an image editor.

 

Duel Terminal is the 3rd circulation used in the TCG as shown below in a new edition of another popular card, Cyber Dragon.

 

 

The lettering in this circulation isn't just block capitals, it has its own cool font, you'll need to crop it off andd plunk it on your card with an image editor if you want to use it. Duel Terminal cards don't require Gold Stickers.

 

 

Hope you learned a thing or two. ;) See you around. Also, if you see people posting cards with incorrect or unrealistic Little Things, feel free to link them to this guide. ^_^

[Lemniscate]

Very good.

A nice, helpful tutorial.

[Juuzou]

this is what i tell people and then they say "no, i don't need it." thatks for putting this up

[iKiller]

I think you sort of went a bit over :P

Still, many people don't do this, all I see is something like "26146-44689" on noobs cards ,really annoying. +Rep, even though this is already in my tutorial, you just explained it alot more :D

[Spire]

Thanks alot for this. Has helped. I'll be sure to follow this, good job!