Starting out....

I recommend all DM players who are starting out
to go and use the base set
It has a rule book and its a starter deck, so it comes with a ready made deck
also, it's the most uncomplicated set, so i don't have to explain evolution, vortex evo, crossgear, god link, and stuff.(yet)

First off, you'll have to read the rule book to get started XD
The rule book and an online demo are on this site: duelmasters.com

Then, you have to find your civilization.There are five civilizations in the game.
It's a good idea to play a civilization that suits your style and your personality.
These are:
LIGHT(yellow),WATER(blue),DARKNESS(black),FIRE(red) and NATURE(green)
Here are their playing styles:

LIGHT emphasizes impenetrability. It has a lot of incredibly strong blockers, however it's offense comes in late game, so you should protect yourself with blockers
Light can also tap(turn sideways), which puts enemy creatures vulnerable to attack.
This is awesome because light blockers CAN attack enemy creatures..... some Light creatures untap at the end of the turn, so they cannot be attacked.....and some Light cards even add cards to your shields!
This civilization is great for defensive players because they can take their time, then summon their big creatures to do the job.

WATER emphasizes strategy. It has weak creatures, but these creatures are deadly in the hands of a master strategist. It has strong blockers like light, but these are static, or blockers who cannot attack creatures. Some water cards allow you to draw cards, others can return enemy creatures back to their hand, thus a water deck is great in the hands of a master strategist.

DARKNESS emphasizes destruction. It disrupts enemy strategies because of its destructive cards. Some creatures have Slayer, so a weak creature can suicide with a bigger creature to destroy it. Darkness cards can discard, destroy, and some cards can even bring back creatures from your graveyard to your hand! Darkness is great for mixing strategy with a little chaos..... and it's great for people who want to see their opponent squirm with fear XD

FIRE emphasizes.....RUSH!! It has no blockers, so your only chance of winning would be breaking all of the opponent's shields and TODOMEDA before they do. FIRE has lots of little creatures,so it should definitely rush. some creatures have power attacker, which means it gets extra power while attacking, which is great for destroying blockers and big creatures. Fire spells can destroy creatures within a certain power gap, meaning,for example, tornado flame can destroy a creature with 4000 power or less. Fire destruction is cheaper than darkness destruction and can destroy more than one creature....also, some cards can attack untapped creatures, and some cards allow attackers to break extra shields! awesome!Fire is for CHAOS!!!

NATURE also emphasizes rush, but not as much. It is more of a mana rush than a todomeda-rush, because its cards can manipulate mana. Nature is great for summoning big creatures much earlier than your opponent would expect,so Nature is great for people who wanna play with lots of creatures and summon big creatures to annoy their enemies XD This civilization ,along with Fire, is recommended for players who are just starting out.

to conclude the first chapter of my guide, i'll add a final note...
YOU CAN HAVE MORE THAN ONE CIV IN YOUR DECK!!
be it a nature/dark, water/dark, light/nature, fire/nature, water/light
BASICALLY ANY COMBO!
YOU CAN EVEN HAVE ALL FIVE CIVS!!
as long as you can play with it
and have the right cards(no stealing =])
YOU CAN HAVE 100-CARD DECKS WITH EVERY COLOR IN IT!!
it's up to you XD
so, see you next time for more chaos!!

--ballommasterofdeath