Byronite's guide to Yu-Gi-Oh

Basics

So the basics is the best place to start. You will have cards. There are 4 main categories:
Normal monsters (known distinctly for their yellow borders.)
Effect Monsters: have special abilities that can both help and hinder you at the same time. (Known for their dark orange borders.)
Spells: Often help you, wether they destroy other spells on your opponents side of the field. These come in equip(power-up monsters) continuous(repeat at a certain stage.) Known for green borders
Traps: These are used to trick your opponents, very essential to your deck in order to defeat opponents. Known for pink-ish purple borders.

But then there is also other cards like XYZ monsters, which requires monsters of a certain variety. Synchro monsters that require synchron summons, with tuner monsters and a normal monster. Using all of these will result in a perfect deck.

Tribute rule:
When it comes to tribute monsters, you need to learn rules.
5-6 star monsters: require one monster tribute
7- star monsters: require two monsters tribute.
1-4 star monsters: require no monster tribute, so they are your lifeline.

Deck rules:
In order to be a superstar duelist, you need to learn deck rules. You must have a minimum of 40 cards in a deck and a maximum of 60 cards in a deck. Majority of people either focus on monsters or spells and traps. Try to have some of each card, focus on traps and spells and 1-4 star monsters. Then have 5-6 powerful monsters ranging from the 5-6 star to 7- star monsters to effectively utilise the deck limit.

Going first or second?
This is always a tough decision. There is a coin toss to decide who decides. If you win the tough decision comes in. If you are a spell and trapper, going first is the best way to go. If you like to go in for the attack, with powerful monsters, going second is the way to go.

So those are the basics, read the next stage for a slightly more in depth look at the wonserful world of ritual cards.