Female Yu-Gi-Oh player quits tournament because opponents smelled bad

A Yu-Gi-Oh card tournament smelled so bad that a player decided to drop out because she couldn’t stand it anymore.

Personal hygiene is always important, but some gaming conventions and tournaments have earned a reputation for their players not exactly showing up fresh.

Over the years we’ve seen plenty of instances where an attendee’s smell causes backlash and it’s not just limited to the United States. Earlier this month, a Japanese tournament went off the rails when a player’s smell was so bad, it made a competitor quit.

The situation became public in a thread on X where a player expressed concern for one of the women competing after revealing it was her first-ever Yu-Gi-Oh event and was under the impression she got clobbered.

However, the female player would set the matter straight, revealing that she left because of third-rate duelists with fourth-rate hygiene.

“I left halfway through because I couldn’t stand the smell,” she said. “Not that I’m sad about losing at all or anything.”

In the comments, the player elaborated on the disgust, explaining that the smell was “no laughing matter” and urged duelists to take baths.

“There are some stinky female duelists, but the men are in a class of their own,” she added.

Hygiene has been so much of an issue at Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments that Konami even made a rule that players who show up smelling bad or wearing dirty clothes could be penalized.

The problem isn’t limited to Yu-Gi-Oh either. Last year, Smash pro Cosmos struggled to find deodorant at a tournament after his opponent complained about his body odor.