Monster Mechanics: Part 1

Hello Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelists,

Today I'm giving a bit of  a history lesson. To those new to the YTCG world, you've probably learned about the three types of cards: Monsters, Spells, and Traps. I thought I'd look into the Monster Cards first. Over the years, there have been thousands of Monster Cards released. They can be grouped into 6 different Attributes, 21 Types, and come in 6 colors.





   
Normal Monsters: These cards come in yellow. There aren't a lot of special ones, but they can be used to summon more powerful monsters. Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the most powerful normal monster to date.

Effect Monsters: These cards are orange in color and each has one or more special abilities. Their effects range from summoning other monsters in their place when they get destroyed, to filling a field quickly when they are summoned. These cards make up the majority of a duelist's deck.

Fusion Monsters: These cards are purple, and summoned by blending 2 or more other monsters together. Some of the most powerful fusion monsters can have 4000 or more ATK and DEF points. These cards were introduced in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series, but gained a lot of fame in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX era.

Ritual Monsters: These blue cards are summoned by offering monsters whose combined levels are greater than or equal to the level of the ritual monster to be summoned.

Synchro Monsters: These white cards are summoned by using a Tuner monster with 1 or more non-Tuner monsters. The catch is that the sum of the levels of the monsters must add up to the level of the Synchro Monster being summoned. These cards were introduced in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's era.

Xyz Monsters: These dark colored monsters are summoned by stacking 2 or more monsters of the same level together, and applying the monster of the same "Rank" on top of it. The monsters beneath the Xyz monster are "Overlay Units" that may be used to activate its special ability. These cards were introduced in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal era.

So, there you have it. A basic history of the types of Monster cards out there. Next time, I'll give a breakdown of the Attributes and Types. Until next time, keep on dueling!