As someone who watched the anime more than played the card game, I'd be in for a RP that doesn't focus much on powerful decks and duelling simulators. I'd join the RP for the character-interaction and adventures, not to have a lot of duels. And I dislike the academy trope too.

People could get together in non-duel related ways and discover they all like to play duel monsters. An expo at a museum or library comes to mind. Maybe we all happened to visit Sea World because of a one-time free entry (where Make Tsunami tends to the dolphins?

With a wink to the first Yu-Gi-Oh!, we could all be visiting Kaibaland, where I'm sure Kaiba made some arenas for casual duels. But who wants that if they can go in a Blue Eyes Roller Coaster, am I right?

Alternatively, we could go Ancient Egypt too, where we all have just one spirit that we can use to fight with. Except for the spirits that already belong to the Pharaoh and his Priests.