Card Types
The primary cards in the game are Character Cards, which are divided into several factions: Humans, Gods, Devils, Aliens, Robots, and Beasts.
Each card also has a value or alignment, such as Clans, Materialism, Idealism, Brahm, Order, Mind or Neutral. Additionally, characters and Witchcrafter Cards make use of attributes like Metal, Forest, Water, Fire, Earth, Darkness, Light or Normal. Some cards may also include tribe-specific effects or abilities that provide additional tactical options.
Deck Construction
A player’s deck is composed of Star Level 1–10 Character Cards (including both Ordinary Characters, Effect Characters, Summoning Elemental Characters), along with Spells, Traps, Territory Cards and Witchcrafter Cards.
A standard deck should contain around 45–60 cards. This mixture of card types ensures a balance between offense, defense and strategic support.
Board / Battlefield
The battlefield is divided into several zones.
The Character Summoning Area is where monsters are placed.
The Trap Zone holds up to 5 traps at a time, while the Reservation Zone is used to store Discarded Cards or Special Effect Characters, spells, or traps that leave the field in a non-standard way . This zone is positioned to the right of the main Character area.
On the left side of the board is the Territory Slot (Slot 6), which is reserved for Witchcrafter Cards and Territory Cards.
Spells and Traps
Spells and traps play a key supporting role. Trap Cards can be set in advance and trigger automatically when their conditions are met, with a maximum of five traps on the board at once. Unlike traps, Spell Cards activate immediately when played onto the field, producing their effects instantly.
Character Cards
Character cards are divided into four main types:
- Ordinary Characters are characters with no effects. They can be summoned through a normal summon.
- Effect Characters possess special abilities in addition to their stats. Their effects may include several types:
- Flip Effects activate when the card is flipped face-up.
- Ignition Effects are activated deliberately during the controller’s turn.
- Continuous Effects remain active while the character is face-up on the field.
- Trigger Effects activate when specific conditions are met.
- Quick Effects can be activated during either player’s turn if their conditions are satisfied.
- Ritual Characters may or may not have effects. To summon them, the player must have the Ritual Character in hand, a specific Ritual Spell Card, and meet the spell’s requirements, which may involve tributing monsters, banishing them, sending them to the graveyard, or paying life points.
- Fusion Characters may also be effect or non-effect cards. Their summoning requires the correct fusion materials on the field along with a Fusion Spell Card in hand.
Summoning Rules
Summoning is an essential mechanic. A Normal Summon may be performed once per turn. Characters of Star Level 1–4 require no tribute, while Star 5–6 monsters require 2 tributes, and Star 7 or 8 requires 3 and Star 9 or 10 requires 4. Some special characters may demand 5 tributes. When tributes are required, the summon is considered a Tribute Summon.
There are also Special Summons, which include Ritual Summons, Fusion Summons, Deck Summons and Spirit Summons. These are not limited by turn count, meaning they can be performed multiple times in a turn if conditions are met. Pendulum Summons are a special type of summon that can be used once per turn. Additionally, a character’s battle position may be changed once per turn, unless otherwise modified by an effect.
Characters Tokens
Some effects generate Characters Tokens, which function like characters but are not represented by actual cards. These are temporary creatures created through abilities and are subject to the same gameplay rules as regular monsters, except they cannot exist outside the field.
