Full-sized playmats are able to support the playing field of both players for a more smooth and seamless duel. There is no right or wrong playmat to use. The last thing you need to decide is whether or not you want zones printed on your mat. Zones are defined areas where certain card types must be placed (e.g. Monster, Spell, and Trap). Some people find them helpful while others think they’re unnecessary clutter. There are essentialy two different sizes of playmats that you need to look out for. There are half playmats, and full-size playmats. The half playmat is only big enough to accompany the cards on your side of the playing field. It wouldn’t be a proper review or roundup without having Ultra PRO in this list. We feel that they deserve a spot in this list since they have done so much in terms of products and innovation in the trading card community.

On the other hand, the Master Rule 4 Link Zones Playmat is priced very low and offers a lot of the features that The Gaming Mat Company offers, but it is only a half-playmat. Each vertical line of Zones stretching from one player's Spell & Trap Zone to their opponent's constitutes a column; there are five columns on the field. The playmat is created out of durable, environmentally-friendly, odorless, and non-toxic materials and is built to last. It has a soft cotton top, with a non-slip bottom.To start, it has high quality printed images to help keep the mat bright even after machine washing, which we don’t recommend. The entire mat is covered in a waterproof coating to help protect against accidental drink spills, or any other type of spills. If you play multiple different trading card games, then it would be wise to select a playmat that is playfield neutral, meaning that it only has artwork on it and not an outline of a playfield. The standard gaming playmat was invented about a decade ago. The first iterations of the playmat were cloth surfaces. They were machine washable and protected your cards, but something was missing. After the rubber bottom with cloth surface playmats started hitting the market, the full cloth ones started falling by the wayside.

The top of all of their playmats are super smooth so your cards will not get damaged in the heat of the moment. Stitched Edging: Stitched edging is our most popular add on. It has been shown to improve the lifespan of your playmat, provide a clean look to your image, and generate some extra table grip. The image or design on a playmat is what makes it unique to the others on the market. There are various forms of artwork on them that try to appeal to the player’s taste.Zones make it easier to set up complex board states and combos. Having dedicated spaces for each type of card (monsters, spells, traps, etc.) helps you visualize what’s going on and plan your moves accordingly. A zone (Japanese: ゾーン Zōn) is a space for a card(s) on the Playmat [Notes 1]. Each side of the player features 16 zones, divided into 5 columns of 2 zones each, and 2 end columns of 2 zones each. We advise against washing a playmat in a laundry machine. The safest way to clean a dirty playmat is to gently hand wash it in a sink with small amounts of cold water. The Zone placed at the top left corner of the playmat (next to the Main Monster Zone) is known as the Field Zone . This zone is meant to hold (and play) your Field Spell Cards . The Graveyard Zone (GY) can be found at the top right corner of the mat. This Zone serves as your discard pile for destroyed Monster Cards and spent Spell & Trap Cards.