This page details the basic how-to, turn-by-turn explanation of the game, as well as details on how to use some of the various card types.
- See also: How to Play/Advanced
Deck Construction[]
Before a game begins, each player must have a deck of 40 cards, with a few building constraints.
- You may only have up to 4 cards with the same name.
- The deck must be exactly 40 cards. (In the English game, this is only a minimum amount.)
- You may only include 1 copy of a card in the Hall of Fame and no copies of a card in the Premium Hall of Fame.
Card Types[]
There are many card types in the Duel Masters trading game, but 2 are the most important.
Card Frame[]
The card frame details the different characteristics of a card.
These include:
Term: | Explanation: |
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Card Name | The name of the card. |
Mana Cost | How much a card costs to play. |
Race | A creature group the card belongs to. |
Card Type | The type of card that governs the usage of the card. |
Text | The text of a card defines its abilities. |
Power | How powerful a creature is while battling. |
Mana Number | How much mana a card provides while in the mana zone. |
How to Start a Game[]
Before Playing[]
When you wish to start a game, put cards on the table in the following way.
- 1) Battle Zone: Creatures are put into this zone to battle against other creatures as well as break your opponent's shields.
- 2) Shield Zone: 5 Shields are put here at the start of a game to protect you. If you are attacked while you have no shields, you lose!
- 3) Deck: You draw a card from your deck each turn.
- 4) Graveyard: Destroyed creatures and spells that have been cast and resolved and put into this zone.
- 5) Hyperspatial Zone: Psychic and Dragheart creatures are put into this zone before a game starts. If you aren't playing with Psychic or Dragheart creatures, please ignore this.
- 6) Mana Zone: Cards are put into this zone from your hand to use as mana to pay for the cost of cards.
As you Start[]
- Handshake with your opponent.
- Shuffle your deck.
- Take 5 cards from the top of your deck without looking at them and put them in a row in front of you face down. These face-down cards are your shields.
- Draw 5 cards from the top of your deck.
- Decide who goes first by a randomly decided process.
- This can be done as a coin toss, a dice roll or via Rock-Paper-Scissors.
Turn Order[]
1. Start your turn.
- At the start of your turn, untap any of your tapped cards in the battle zone and your mana zone. (Ignore this on your first turn)
2. Draw a card.
- Draw a card from the top of your deck. (Ignore this on the beginning player's first turn)
3. Put a card from your hand into your mana zone.
- You may put a card from your hand into the mana zone (this is also known as a Mana Charge).
- Put the card into your mana zone upside down so you can read its mana number. Mana is used to summon creatures and cast spells.
4. Play cards.
- You can summon as many creatures and cast as many spells as your mana zone can afford during this step. You can play any card in any order.
5. Attack with your creatures
- You can attack with your creatures in the battle zone. You can't attack with creatures you just put into the battle zone this turn because they have 'summoning sickness'.
- Unless the creature has the Speed Attacker ability (such as Bombat, General of Speed) or a spell effect says otherwise (such as Diamond Cutter).
- To attack, you tap one of your creatures and declare what you are attacking. Creatures attack one at a time. As many of your creatures as you want can attack each turn.
- In most situations, you can only attack your opponent or their tapped creatures (unless a card effect says otherwise).
- You can't summon creatures or cast spells after one of your creatures attacks.
- When you attack your opponent and aren't blocked, you break one of your opponent's shields!
6. End your turn.
- Tell your opponent that you are finished with your turn. Now it's your opponent's turn! Continue taking turns until one of you wins the game.
Victory Conditions[]
Duel Masters has 2 main victory conditions.
- If you break all your opponent's shields, and then attack them directly, you win!
- If your opponent draws the last card in their deck, you win!
Sometimes other cards will enable you to win the game via their effects.
Glossary[]
Term: | Explanation: |
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Tap / Untap | The keyword action of turning a creature or card in your mana zone sideways to the right in a 90-degree angle. Tapping a card shows that it has been used for the turn. Creatures are tapped when they are used to attack or use their tap abilities or block any attack. Only tapped creatures can be attacked. |
Summon | The keyword action of putting a creature from your hand into the battle zone. To summon a creature from your hand, you check its mana cost first. You pay for the cost of the creature by tapping cards in your mana zone for mana. At least 1 of the tapped mana must be of the same civilization as the creature. |
Summoning Sickness | A creature that wasn't in the battle zone since the beginning of that player's turn can't attack. |
Attack | A keyword action your creatures in the battle zone can take against either your opponent or their tapped creatures in the battle zone. Break all your opponent's shields and attack them directly to win the game! |
Block | A keyword action only available to creatures with the Blocker keyword ability. Whenever one of your opponent's creatures attacks, you may tap one of your creatures that has the "Blocker" keyword. The attack is stopped, and those creatures battle. |
Battle | A battles occurs when a creature attacks another creature or becomes blocked by another creature and they compare their power. The creature with the lowest power is destroyed and put into the owner's graveyard. |
Destroy | The keyword action of putting a creature in the battle zone into it its owner's graveyard. |
Break | The keyword action of putting one of your opponent's shields into their hand when one of your creatures in the battle zone attacks your opponent and isn't blocked. |
Shield Trigger | Whenever a shield is broken and it has the Shield Trigger keyword, the card's owner may use it for no cost. |
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Effects
Oneshot Effect ● Continuous Effect ● Replacement Effect
Destruction Replacement effect ● Sprout
Abilities
Static Ability ● Trigger Ability ● Activated Ability ● Spell Ability
List of Static Abilities
Triggers
When you put / Come Into Play
Attack Trigger ● Put Into Graveyard ● Leave Trigger
List of Trigger Conditions
Hall of Fame
(Gallery / History / Timeline / Reasons)
Cheating ● Errata ● Metagame (summary) ● Stalling ● Restricted Card
March 25, 2017 Rules revision ● March 16, 2021 Rules revision
Tournament Formats
Advance ● Original
Block Constructed ● 2 Block Constructed
After Generate League
Special Restriction
Hall of Fame Zero Duel ● 10 Races Deck Battle
Mega Deck Duel 7 ● Zero Civilization King Finals
Monocolored Tournament
Sealed
Limit 10 ● Tokkyu 8 ● Booster Draft
Prebuilt Decks
Super Deck Zero Duel ● Start Deck Champion Finals
Events
Duel Road ● Due Festival ● Duema Festival
Certified Grand Prix ● Certified Judge Test ● Official Tournament
Championship ● Challenge Cup ● Super CS
Adds Civilization ● Adds Race ● Alternate Win ● Alternative Cost
Attack Bend ● Basic Card ● Cantrip ● Card Discard ● Chump Block
Cost Reduction ● Clutch ● Deck Manipulation ● Degenerate ● Diamond State
Draw Engine ● Draw Lock ● Draw Source ● Draw Spell
Extra Turn ● Finisher ● Graveyard Fertilizer ● Graveyard Summon
Hand Addition ● Hand Change ● Increase Power
Infinite ● Infinite Attacker ● Infinite Blocker
Mana Acceleration ● Mana Burn ● Mana Curve ● Mana Summon
Opponent Reliance ● Peeping ● Prevents Attack ● Prevents Defeat
Reset ● Resistance ● Reverse Fury Charge ● Reverse Slayer ● Shield Addition
Shield Burn ● Shield Change ● Shield Peek
Suicide ● Skip the rest of the turn ● Trample
Unattackable ● Unblockable ● Unchoosable
Vigilance ● Win All Battles ● 3D Dragsolution
Cards that can be put into the Battle Zone at the start of the game
Recovery (Salvage)
Graveyard Recovery ● Mana Recovery ● Shield Recovery
For No Cost
Madness ● Reanimate ● Recruit ● Shield Trigger creature
Removal
Blocker Based Removal ● Bounce ● Can Attack Untapped Creatures
Card Based Removal ● Decrease Power ● Fixed Removal ● Force Battle ● Mass Removal
Power Based Removal ● Reset ● Sealing ● Self Removal ● Tap In ● Tap and Destroy
Deck Feed ● Graveyard Feed ● Mana Feed ● Shield Feed
Advantage (Merit)
Disadvantage ● Board Advantage ● Field Advantage
Hand Advantage ● Information Advantage ● Mana Advantage
Tempo Advantage ● Time Advantage ● Suppression
Demerits
Can't Attack ● Can't Block
Attack if Able ● Block if Able
Alternate Loss Condition
Characteristic support
Cost 1 ● Cost 3 ● Cost 7 or less ● Cost 9 ● Cost 10
Power 6000 or more ● Power 12000 or more
Blocker ● Last 3 Digits
Activation Cost ● Additional Cost ● Attacking Creature
Can't be destroyed ● Choose a race ● Color Accident ● Concept ● Consists of ● Counter ● Cycle
Dead Card ● Deck Building ● Deck Compression ● Designer's Combo ● Evolution Icon
Evolution Source ● Face Up ● Forced ● Gacha Figure ● Game
Game Table ● Hyperspatial Cost ● Key Card ● Limited Card ● Mode ● More than 4 of this card in your deck
Name Rule ● Optional ● Overkill ● Play ● Power Creep ● Quasi-Vanilla ● Real Cost ● Repair
Rock-Paper-Scissors ● Stop ● System Creature ● The Over Eggplant-cross
Touch ● Trivia card ● Twinpactification ● Vanilla