An Introduction to Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game: Monsters

Monster cards are the forefront of the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! in my opinion, because for all intents and purposes, they make up the majority of any player's deck. Choosing the right monsters for the right deck is crucial to victory. Here are the properties of every monster card in the game:

• Attribute Located at the top-right corner of every monster card. These are the elemental properties of the many monster cards in the game. Monster attributes include Wind, Water, Earth, Light, Dark, Fire, and the newest, Divine, which there is only one of--Oblelisk the Tormentor available in the English version of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG (trading card game). All monsters are categorized in one of these attributes.
  
• Type So far, there are a total of 22 types of monsters in the game. They include Aqua, Beast, Beast-Warrior, Dinosaur, Divine-Beast, Dragon, Fairy, Fiend, Fish, Insect, Machine, Plant, Psychic, Pyro, Reptile, Rock, Sea Serpent, Spellcaster, Thunder, Warrior, Winged-Beast, and Zombie (It's important to note that the only Divine-Beast Monsters were the illegal Egyptian God Cards).
  
• Level Each and every monster in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG has a level of stars. Monsters whose level of stars of up to four stars may be normal summoned onto the field. Monsters whose level of stars of five or six need one monster to be tributed or "sacrificed" to the graveyard in order to be tribute summoned and monsters whose level of stars are seven or more require that two monsters be tributed or sacrificed in order to be Tribute Summoned to the field of play.
  

Here is a break down of the many monsters in the game. Please click images to enlarge.

Normal Monsters are monsters can be called non-effect monsters and are sometimes nicknamed "Vanilla Monsters" for their distinct yellow color. They're simple or plain (like vanilla) as far as Yu-Gi-Oh! cards go and have an ATK (attack) and DEF (defense) including a brief description or summary of the card itself. In the beginning when Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG made its debut, many players gravitated towards monsters with the highest attack, such as Harpie's Brother, Seven-Colored Fish, and La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, all having an attack power of 1800. Until Mechanical Chaser and later on, Gemini Elf were released, these four-star normal monsters had the highest attack in the game without needing a tribute. Such cards were common in the typical beat-down deck, which was the most simple of strategies towards winning a duel...How times have changed.

Effect Monsters are monsters that have a specific EFFECT regarding their ability and the way in which they should be played. Timing could definitely play a role, due to the speed in which the effect monster possesses. For instance, Kuriboh is one of the few Multi-Trigger Monsters in the game, which also makes it one of the "fastest" monsters in the game. Why? Because his effect can be triggered while he's in his owner's hand! Another rare monster in the game is Honest which is also a Multi-Trigger Monster that can be played from its owner's hand as well, making for a very nasty surprise for your opponent. Notice it's dark orange-color border in comparison to its "Vanilla" counterpart.

Fusion Monsters monsters are violet in color and in order to summon them to the field of play, certain conditions must be met. For instance, the Spell Card Polymerization in many cases, is needed in order to properly summon the fusion monster, unless otherwise stated (on the Fusion Monster card itself) in addition to two or more monsters. Cards such as Power Bond and Miracle Fusion are some other examples. The Fusion Monster featured here is one of the most powerful of them all and can be a bit of a chore to summon. In order to do so, a player would need a total of three Blue-Eyes White Dragon and a Polymerization to summon him.

Now here's where it gets a little tricky...

Tuner Monsters are usually one-half of the Synchro material monsters needed to summon a Synchro Monster (more on Synchro Monsters later) onto the field. Why is this? Because in order for you to summon a Synchro Monster onto the field, you will need one Tuner Monster in addition to one or more Non-Tuner Monster(s) whose star-level add up to exactly the star-level (no more, no less) of the Synchro Monster you're summoning. For the most part, monsters who are indeed Tuner Monsters may have unique effects themselves.

Pictured here is Black Salvo, a machine Tuner and Cannon Soldier, an Effect Monster. Black Salvo's special ability allows you to special summon a four-star Dark Machine type from the graveyard to the field, such as Cannon Soldier, which would meet the requirements to bring out a Synchro Monster like Power Tool Dragon or Dark Strike Fighter, which are both seven-star Synchro Monsters.

So here's the breakdown: Black Salvo (3-star Tuner) + Cannon Soldier (4-star Non-Tuner) = Dark Strike Fighter (7-star Synchro Monster).

I actually used to play Black Salvo just so I could summon Dark Strike Fighter in an instant. Unfortunately, times have changed and Dark Strike Fighter was banned from the Advanced Format of tourney play (I'll write another hub article on what that entails another time).

As I said before, Synchro Monsters are one of the newest additions to the trading card of Yu-Gi-Oh! and ever since its reception, beginning with Starter Deck 2008, competitive players have been stock-piling them as they became instantly essential for every tournament-ready deck. Their distinct white color are easy to identify in comparison to other Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in the game and they belong in your Extra Deck--apart from your Main Deck of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Your Extra Deck also includes any Fusion Monsters you may be using, such as Ultimate Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Also important to note is that you are allowed only a total of 15 cards in yoiur Extra Deck.

For further information concerning Synchro Monsters, please click here.

Ritual Monster cards are light-blue in color. They require that you play the specific Ritual Spell card in order to summon the Ritual Monster to the field. For instance, to summon Black Luster Soldier, which instruction reads:

This monster can only be Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Spell Card, "Black Luster Ritual". You must also offer monsters whose total Level Stars equal 8 or more as a Tribute from the field or your hand.

Pretty simple, right? However, in some ways, using Polymerization might actually be easier and more effective as it's more versatile whereas using a ritual card is specifically geared to only bring out (summon) one specific Ritual Monster. By the way, Fusion Summoning and Ritual Summoning is very similar in this instance. In addition to this, summoning them have their rewards in terms of effect and attack power which could consequently give you an advantage over your opponent.

Please come back to check for links on more hub articles on Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG!  Thank you for reading.

-SFG