How you win: 8 points

The number to aim at is the Victory Score: 8 points by default.¹Rule 194.3. The Victory Score is 8 points by default. Open in the rules browser Reaching it is not by itself the win. You win when a cleanup finds you with points greater than or equal to the Victory Score and more points than any other player.²Rule 194.2. A player wins the game if, in a cleanup, they have points greater than or equal to the Victory Score and more points than any other player. See rule 318. Cleanups for more information. Open in the rules browser

There is no life total to grind down, and an empty Main Deck does not end the game either. What the deck can do to you is triggered by an attempt: try to take more cards out of your Main Deck than are left in it, for instance by drawing when nothing is left to draw, and you Burn Out.³Rule 431.1.a. If a player must Draw cards in excess to the number of cards in their Main Deck, they will Draw as many as possible, perform this action, then Draw the remaining amount instructed. Open in the rules browser Burning out recycles your trash back into your Main Deck recycling the trash⁴Rule 431.2.b. Recycles their trash into their Main Deck. Reminder: When multiple cards are Recycled to the Main Deck at the same time, those cards must be randomized Open in the rules browser, and you choose an opponent to gain 1 point.⁵Rule 431.2.c. Chooses an opponent to gain 1 point. Open in the rules browser

If your trash is empty too there is nothing to recycle, so the next attempt burns you out again.⁶Rule 431.3. A player's Main Deck may remain empty as they Burn Out, usually because their trash is also empty. When they attempt to perform the original action again, it will cause another Burn Out. Open in the rules browser Unless something intervenes, that repeats, giving an opponent a point each time, until an opponent passes the Victory Score and wins.⁷Rule 431.3.a. Unless some effect intervenes, this will result in them burning out repeatedly, giving 1 point to an opponent each time, until an opponent passes the Victory Score and wins the game. Open in the rules browser

Where points come from

Nearly every point comes from battlefields, the locations both players are trying to control. You score a battlefield in one of two ways:

• Conquer it: gain control of a battlefield you have not already scored this turn.⁸Rule 469.1. Conquer: A player gains Control of a Battlefield they did not yet Score this turn. Open in the rules browser
• Hold it: still control it during your Beginning Phase, again only if you have not already scored it this turn.⁹Rule 469.2. Hold: A player maintains Control of a Battlefield they did not yet Score this turn during their Beginning Phase. Open in the rules browser

Either way, one battlefield scores you at most once per turn.¹⁰Rule 470. A player may only Score, from either method, once per Battlefield per turn. Open in the rules browser A few cards grant points directly points from cards¹¹Rule 194.1.c. Spells, Triggered Abilities and Activated Abilities that instruct them to gain one or more points. Open in the rules browser, but the loop you will repeat all game is: move units to battlefields, take them, keep them.

The last point is different, and the difference lands on Conquer alone. Once your point total is one point from the Victory Score or beyond it (rule 471.1.b.), a Conquer gives you that point only if you have scored every battlefield this turn; if you have not, you draw a card instead.¹³Rule 471.1.b.1. If the player has Scored every Battlefield this turn, that player Gains the Final Point. If the player has not Scored every Battlefield this turn, that player draws a card instead. Open in the rules browser A Duel uses two battlefields two battlefields in a Duel¹⁴Rule 485.4. Battlefield Count: 2 Open in the rules browser, so at 7 points, conquering one of them does not win you the game. A Hold is not restricted this way, and neither is a point from a card.¹⁵Rule 471.1.a.1. Notably, points Gained from sources that are not Conquer are not beholden to these restrictions. Open in the rules browser The loop above still takes you to 7; the eighth point asks for both battlefields in the same turn.

When the game ends

The win is checked during a cleanup, the housekeeping pass the game runs at a set list of moments, one of which is whenever game objects enter or leave the board.¹⁶Rule 319.6. After any number of Game Objects enter or leave the Board Open in the rules browser A cleanup that finds you at 8 or more points and ahead of your opponent wins you the game winning in a cleanup¹⁷Rule 472. When a cleanup occurs and a player has accrued Points greater than or equal to the Victory Score for their Mode of Play, and if they have more points than any opponent, they Win the Game. Open in the rules browser, and the game ends the moment it is won.¹⁸Rule 196. When a player wins the game, the game ends. Open in the rules browser In the standard one-on-one Duel format the Victory Score is 8.¹⁹Rule 485.3. Victory Score: 8 Open in the rules browser

One thing does not wait for a cleanup: the Burn Out above. Once the burning out is repeating, a point that takes the chosen opponent to or past the Victory Score with more points than anyone else the burn-out win²⁰Rule 431.3.c. Points gained after the first Burn Out being processed in sequence that cause a player to reach or surpass the Victory Score for their game mode will cause that player to win the game if they also have more points than any opponent.Example: If a player has no cards in their deck or their trash and they go to draw 1, they will begin to burn out repeatedly. After the first burn out is processed, any subsequent burnout that brings a player to a number of points greater than the Victory Score and more than any opponent will cause them to win the game. Open in the rules browser wins them the game immediately, without waiting for a cleanup.²¹Rule 431.3.c.1. The player wins immediately, without needing to wait for a cleanup to occur. Open in the rules browser