Duel Masters Trading Card Game
Duel Masters Trading Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Both players do these things to set up for a game:
- Shuffle your deck.
- Take 5 cards from the top of your deck, but don't look at them. Put them in a row in front of you face down. These face-down cards become your shields.
- Draw 5 cards from the top of your deck.
- Decide who goes first.
How to Win
Attack your opponent with your creatures. Each time one of your creatures attacks your opponent and isn't blocked, it breaks a shield. When your opponent has no shields left, have one of your creatures attack him one more time to win!
Turn Order
1. Start your turn
Don't do anything during this step of your turn if you don't have any "tapped" creatures in the battle zone or tapped cards in your mana zone. Tapped cards are cards that you turned sideways on a previous turn to show you used them for something. You won't usually have any tapped cards until you have already played a couple turns of the game.
If you have any tapped cards, untap them now to show that you get to use those cards again this turn.
2. Draw a card
Important! Only the person who plays first skips drawing a card on his first turn. This is a rule that wasn't explained on the quick-start foldout.
Drawing a card means taking it from the top of your deck and putting it into your hand.
As soon as you draw the last card of your deck, you lose.
3. Put 1 card into your mana zone
You can put only 1 card (of any type) into your mana zone from your hand each turn, unless a spell or effect allows you to put more. You don't have to put a card into your mana zone each turn if you don't want to. There's no limit to the number of cards you can have in your mana zone.
Put the card into your mana zone upside down so you can read its mana number.
Cards in your mana zone can get mana for you. Mana is like money. You use it to pay for creatures and spells.
Important! Cards in your mana zone can't do anything but give you mana. Ignore all the text on them except for their mana numbers.
4. Summon creatures and cast spells
If you want to, you can summon any number of creatures and cast any number of spells during this step. You can do these things in any order.
How to cast a spell
Choose a spell from your hand. The cost for a spell is in the upper left corner. If you can't pay the cost, you can't cast the spell.
You pay a spell's cost by tapping cards in your mana zone for mana. At least 1 of the mana must be the same civilization as the spell.
Example: To cast a nature spell that costs 4, tap at least 1 nature card in your mana zone. The other 3 cards you tap may be of any civilization.
After you pay for a spell, do what it says. If you can't do everything it says, that's okay. Just do as much as you can. Then put the spell into your graveyard. Keep your graveyard face up next to your deck.
How to summon a creature
Choose a creature from your hand. The cost for a creature is in the upper left corner. If you can't pay the cost, you can't summon the creature.
You pay a creature's cost by tapping cards in your mana zone for mana. At least 1 of the mana must be the same civilization as the creature.
After you pay for a creature, put it into the battle zone. There's no limit to the number of creatures you can have in the battle zone.
Important! Creatures can't attack on the turn you put them into the battle zone because they have summoning sickness. They will be able to attack on your next turn.
How to summon an evolution creature
An evolution creature is a special kind of creature that will be introduced in the first Duel Masters expansion. Summoning an evolution creature works just like summoning a regular creature except you can summon an evolution creature only when you have the correct race of creature already in the battle zone. The evolution creature tells you what race of creature you need to have.
Once you summon an evolution creature, put it on top of the creature it "evolves" from. Leave that creature underneath the evolution creature, but ignore it. Only the evolution creature's name, abilities, color, and power matter.
Evolution creatures don't get summoning sickness even if the creature they evolved from had summoning sickness, so you can attack immediately after you put them into the battle zone.
There's no limit to the number of evolution creatures you can put on top of each other.
You can't ever evolve another player's creature, even in multiplayer games.
If an evolution creature is moved from the battle zone to anywhere else, then the whole pile moves, not just the evolution creature on top.
As long as the evolution creature is in play, it and the card it evolved from count as only one card. As soon as the pile ends up somewhere other than the battle zone, they are separate cards again. So if a spell makes you put your evolution creature into your mana zone, you get that many separate cards in your mana zone.
5. Attack
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. (Remember that evolution creatures are special and don't get summoning sickness!)
As many of your creatures as you want can attack each turn. Choose one, have it attack, choose another one, have that one attack, and so on.
Tap a creature you want to attack with and say what you want it to attack. It can attack your opponent or one of his tapped creatures in the battle zone.
When a creature taps to attack, you don't have to tap cards in your mana zone, too. Once you've paid to summon a creature, you don't have to pay to have it attack.
Attacking your opponent
When one of your creatures attacks your opponent and it isn't blocked, it "breaks" one of your opponent's shields. That means you choose one of those shields. Your opponent then picks up that shield and puts it into his hand.
When your opponent has no shields left, if one of your creatures attacks him one more time, you win the game.
Some creatures can break more than one shield when they hit your opponent. They say "double breaker."
Important! If your opponent has fewer shields than your attacking creature can break, your creature doesn't knock out your opponent, just however many shields are left.
Attacking a tapped creature
When one of your creatures attacks one of your opponent's tapped creatures in the battle zone and it isn't blocked, then the creatures battle.
Each creature has a power number in its lower left corner. The creature with the higher power wins the battle. The loser's owner puts it into his graveyard. If the creatures have the same power number, then both creatures go to their owners' graveyards. Some creatures have "+" after their power. This means that the creature's power can get bigger because of something in the creature's text box. Make sure to read what it says!
Attack effects
Some of the creatures in upcoming sets have extra effects when they attack. When you want one of your creatures to attack, choose which creature you want to attack with, tap it, and choose what it's attacking. Then do any effects that happen because that creature is attacking. After that, your opponent can choose blockers.
Blocking an attack
Only creatures with the "blocker" ability can get in the way to stop creatures from attacking what the attacking player wants them to attack.
You can use one of your "blocker" creatures to stop any attack. When your creature blocks, you have to tap it, so it can block only if it's untapped. Summoning sickness doesn't stop a creature from being able to block.
When a creature blocks, it battles the attacking creature. The attacking creature can't attack what it was going to attack (your opponent or another creature), because it must now battle the blocker.
The creature with the higher power wins the battle. The other creature's owner puts it into his graveyard. If the creatures have the same power, then both creatures go to their owners' graveyards. Some creatures have "+" after their power. This means the creature's power can get bigger because of something in the creature's text box. Make sure to read what it says!
Order of attack steps
What happens first can sometimes matter during an attack. The following rules talk about the order in which things happen.
When you tap your creature to attack your opponent, do any effects that say they happen "when this creature attacks." Then, if your opponent doesn't block, follow any other instructions on your creature that apply. Then break shields (or win if no shields are left).
When two creatures battle, first follow any instructions on your creature that apply. Then your opponent follows any instructions on his creature that apply. Then compare the powers of the two creatures. If one creature's power is lower, put it in its owner's graveyard. If the powers are the same, put both creatures in their owners' graveyards. Then follow any card instructions that apply after the battle.
6. End your turn
Tell your opponent you're done. Now it's your opponent's turn! Continue taking turns until one of you wins.
Keywords
Some cards have special abilities that have just one or two words. These "keyword" abilities appear on the cards with descriptions that remind you of what they do. There are currently 5 keyword abilities.
Blocker. Each of your creatures that has "blocker" can stop the attacks of your opponent's creatures. As long as it's untapped, you can use it to get in the way when your opponent attacks you or one of your creatures. Simply say you want to have your creature block, and then it taps and battles the attacker. Whatever your opponent's creature was originally attacking is safe!
Double breaker. Each of your creatures that has "double breaker" breaks 2 shields (one at a time) each time it attacks your opponent and isn't blocked. If only 1 shield remains, it breaks just that 1 shield and you must have one of your creatures hit the player again to win the game.
Power attacker. Creatures that have "power attacker" get more powerful when they attack. Simply add the "power attacker" number to the creature's power during its attacks. For example, a creature that has power 3000 and "power attacker +2000" has 5000 power during its attacks. Whenever you see "+" after a creature's power, make sure to read the card to find out how its power can get bigger!
Shield trigger. As soon as you put a spell that has "shield trigger" from the shield zone into your hand, you may cast it without paying its cost. This is the only type of spell that you can cast during your opponent's turn. You can also decide just to keep the spell in your hand. You can then cast it during any of your turns as usual by paying its cost.
Slayer. Creatures that have "slayer" are very deadly in battle. When one of these creatures battles another creature, the other creature is put into its owner's graveyard even if that creature wins the battle.
Deck Building
One of the great things about the Duel Masters game is that you get to build your own deck. You can build your deck however you like, as long as you follow these simple rules:
- Your deck must have at least 40 cards in it.
- Your deck can have, at most, 4 copies of any card.
It's tricky to build a good deck, but a good way to start is by picking 2 or 3 colors to include in it. Put in mostly creatures, since you can't win without them.
You should probably include a mixture of cards with low costs and cards with high costs. If you play with all big creatures, your opponent will quickly overrun you with small creatures. If you play with all small creatures, your opponent will drop a big creature or two and stop you in your tracks.
After you build a deck, play it a lot. Replace cards that don't help you or that you can rarely play. Keep working on your deck and soon you'll be able to out-duel all your opponents. Remember, the best part of trading card games is that you can put any card you want into your deck, so start experimenting!
Multiplayer
Playing with More than 2 Players
You can play a Duel Masters game with a whole group of your friends! Each player uses his own deck! Sit around a table together and use the special rules in this section.
Master Rules
- Take turns clockwise around the table.
- Your creatures can attack only your opponents directly to your left and right. When you defeat an opponent, you'll then be able to attack the next opponent around the table.
- You can cast spells on any player and on any player's creatures, even if you can't attack that player.
- Your creatures can't block attacks on another player or on another player's creatures.
- Each time you defeat an opponent, you get to add a card to your shields as a reward. Take the top card of your deck and put it face down (without looking at it) into your shield zone.
Free-For-All Variant
In this type of game, you're on your own. You win if everyone else is defeated before you are.
Team Variant
In this type of game, you're part of a team. Each team should have the same number of players.
Sit between two members of the other team. Your team wins if all the players on the other team are defeated.
In a team game, when you defeat an opponent, you'll be able to attack the next opponent around the table. But that opponent won't be able to attack you if one of your team members is between the two of you. The opponent will have to attack your team member.
Glossary
attack. Your creatures in the battle zone can attack either your opponent or his tapped creatures in the battle zone. To have one of your creatures attack, tap it and say what you want to attack. When a creature attacks another creature, they battle. The creature with the higher power wins. The loser goes to its owner's graveyard. If the powers are tied, both creatures go to their owners' graveyards. When a creature attacks your opponent and isn't blocked, you choose one of your opponent's shields. Your opponent must put it into his hand. If you hit your opponent when he has no shields, you win the game!
battle. Two creatures battle when one attacks the other. They also battle when one blocks the other's attack. The creature with the higher power wins. The loser goes to its owner's graveyard. If the powers are tied, both creatures go to their owners' graveyards.
battle zone. This is the area of the table between your shields and your opponent's shields. Only creatures in the battle zone may attack.
blocker. Each of your creatures that has "blocker" can stop the attacks of your opponent's creatures. See the "Keywords" section of the rulebook.
break a shield. When one of your creatures attacks your opponent and isn't blocked, it breaks one of your opponent's shields. That means you choose one of those shields and your opponent puts it into his hand.
cast. To cast a spell means to take it from your hand, pay its cost, and then do what it says to do. Spells go to your graveyard after you cast them.
civilization. Five civilizations exist in the Duel Masters game. They are shown on the cards by the color of the cards: yellow for light, black for darkness, red for fire, green for nature, and blue for water. The civilizations are very important when summoning creatures and casting spells. To pay for a creature or spell, you must use at least 1 mana that is the same civilization as the creature or spell you want to summon or cast.
cost. The cost to pay for a creature or spell is printed in the upper left corner of the card. You pay an amount of mana equal to the cost of a card to summon or cast that card. At least 1 of the mana you pay must be the same civilization as the card you want to summon or cast.
creature. Creatures are the most important cards in the game. They can attack when they're in the battle zone. Attacking your opponent is how you win the game.
deck. You and your opponent each have your own deck of cards. The Starter Set decks are each only 20 cards. When you're not playing with the Starter Set, your deck needs to have at least 40 cards in it. Also, you can have only up to 4 copies of any card in your deck. You can combine the 2 small decks in the Starter Set to make 1 full-size deck. During the game, neither you nor your opponent can look at the cards in your deck or change their order unless a card says to.
destroy. Destroying a creature means putting it into its owner's graveyard from the battle zone. You can destroy your own creatures or your opponent's creatures. if a card tells you to destroy something, you can only choose a creature—not a shield or a card in the mana zone.
discard. Discarding a card from your hand means putting it into your graveyard from your hand.
double breaker. Each of your creatures that has "double breaker" breaks 2 shields each time it attacks your opponent and isn't blocked. See the "Keywords" section or the web page.
draw. Drawing a card means taking it from the top of your deck and putting it into your hand. Don't show it to your opponent.
evolution creature. You can summon an evolution creature only on top of one of your creatures of the same type in the battle zone. See the online rulebook.
flavor text. This is text at the bottom of some text boxes that doesn't do anything in the game. It's called "flavor" text because it's just for fun.
graveyard. This is your discard pile. Keep it face up next to your deck.
hand. The cards you are holding are your hand of cards. You may look at them, but don't show them to your opponent. You still have a hand even if you have no cards in it. For example, if a card tells you to discard your hand and you have no cards in your hand, you can still discard your hand. (You just discard 0 cards.)
mana. Mana is a type of magical energy. You use the energy to pay for creatures and spells. You get mana by tapping cards in your mana zone. Each card you tap gives you 1 mana of that card's civilization. To pay for a creature or spell, you must use at least 1 mana that is the same civilization as that creature or spell. For example, to summon a nature creature that costs 8, you have to spend at least 1 nature mana. The other 7 mana can be of any civilization.
mana zone. This is the area of the table between you and your shields. You can put only 1 card into your mana zone each turn, unless a spell or effect tells you otherwise. You don't have to put a card into your mana zone each turn if you don't want to. There's no limit to the number of cards you can have in your mana zone. You don't pay a card's cost when you put it into your mana zone because you're not casting or summoning it. Cards in the mana zone don't have any abilities except being able to tap for mana. (Ignore everything they say.)
power. This is the number in the lower left corner of a creature card. A creature's power is how well it battles. When creatures battle, the one with the higher power defeats the other one. In a tie, they defeat each other. Some creatures have plus signs (+) next to their power numbers. The plus sign is a reminder on creatures that sometimes get extra power from special abilities like "power attacker."
power attacker. Creatures that have "power attacker" get more powerful when they attack. See the "Keywords" section of the web page.
shield. You begin the game by putting 5 cards face down in front of you. Those are your shields. When a creature attacks a player and isn't blocked, that creature breaks one of that player's shields. Each time a player's shield is broken, the player puts the shield into his hand. You win the game if one of your creatures attacks your opponent when he has no shields left (as long as your creature isn't blocked). If a card lets your opponent look at any of your shields, you can't mix them up so your opponent doesn't know which one he saw.
shield trigger. As soon as you put a spell that has "shield trigger" into your hand from the shield zone, you may cast it without paying its cost. See the "Keywords" section of the web page.
slayer. Creatures that have "slayer" are very deadly in battle. See the "Keywords" section of the web page.
spell. Spells are cards that do something and then go to your graveyard. If you can't do everything a spell says, just do as much as you can.
step. Each player's turn has 6 steps: (1) start your turn, (2) draw a card, (3) put 1 card into your mana zone, (4) summon creatures and cast spells, (5) attack, and (6) end your turn. See the "Turn Order" section of the online rulebook.
summon. To summon a creature means to take it from your hand, pay its cost, and then put it into the battle zone.
summoning sickness. Most creatures have summoning sickness on the turn you put them into the battle zone. That means they can't attack until your next turn. Summoning sickness doesn't stop a creature from blocking. Evolution creatures don't have summoning sickness.
tap. To tap a creature means to turn it sideways. Tapping a card shows that it has been used for the turn. When a creature taps (such as to attack), you don't have to tap cards in your mana zone, too. Once you've paid for a creature, you don't have to pay to have it attack.
untap. Untapping a card means straightening it out.
Rulebook F.A.Q.
General Questions
Q: How are creatures different from spells?
When you summon a creature, you put it into the battle zone and it stays and fights for you turn after turn (unless it loses a battle or goes to the graveyard for some other reason). When you cast a spell, you do what it says and then put it into your graveyard right away. When you put creatures and spells in your mana zone, though, they both work the same. You put them there and they stay.
Q: If I have a spell that says to choose a creature, can I still play it even when there are no creatures I could choose?
Yes. You can cast any spell you want as long as it's the right part of the turn for casting spells and you have the mana to pay for it. When you cast a spell, you follow as much of its instructions as you can. If you can't do anything the spell says, it just doesn't do anything and you put it into your graveyard.
Q: If a card makes my opponent and me do something at the same time, who goes first?
Usually the order doesn't matter. But if it does, the person whose turn it is always goes first.
Q: If a card tells me to destroy one of my opponent's creatures, can I choose one in his mana zone?
No. Only creatures in the battle zone can be "destroyed." If a spell lets you put a card from your opponent's mana zone into his graveyard, it will clearly say so.
Deck and Graveyard Questions
Q: When do I lose the game if I run out of cards in my deck? Is it when I draw my last card or when I try to draw a card but can't because they're all gone?
You lose as soon as you draw your last card.
Q: Can my opponent look at the cards in my graveyard?
Yes. Both you and your opponent can look at what's in your graveyard. (Only you can look at what's in your hand, and nobody can look at what's in your deck, not even you.)
Questions about Paying Costs
Q: If a creature costs 5, do I have to tap 5 cards in my mana zone whenever I attack with it?
No. Tap the 5 cards only when you first put the creature from your hand into the battle zone. You never have to pay that cost again.
Q: If I have a darkness card in my hand that costs 4, does that mean I have to tap 4 darkness cards in my mana zone?
No. Only 1 of the 4 cards you tap has to be darkness. (If more than 1 is darkness, that's okay, too.)
Questions about How Creatures Work in Different Zones
Q: What's the difference between putting a creature into my mana zone and summoning it into the battle zone?
If you put the creature into your mana zone, none of the things written on it matter. All that matters is what civilization it is. The cards in your mana zone don't fight for you or do anything except tap to pay for your other cards. If you put a creature into the battle zone (or cast a spell), you read all the text and do what it says. Normally you can't move cards between your mana zone and the battle zone, but some special cards let you do it.
Q: How can I tell which of my cards are giving me mana and which can fight for me?
There are 2 ways to tell. The main one is that your fighting creatures are in the battle zone, in front of your shields. The cards that give you mana are in your mana zone, behind your shields. You can also tell because you put the cards that give mana upside down (so you can't read their text but you can read their mana numbers).
Q: Can I follow the instructions on one of the creatures that's in my graveyard?
No. Unless a card specifically says otherwise, the words in the text box don't do anything on creatures that are in your graveyard, hand, or mana zone.
Questions about Attacking
Q: When one of my creatures attacks my opponent and breaks a shield, who chooses which shield it breaks?
You do. Of course, normally you won't know what cards the shields are, so it won't matter which one you choose. But if you played a card that let you look at your opponent's shields, then you might care which one your creature breaks.
Q: In what order do things happen if one of my creatures does something when it attacks?
When you want one of your creatures to attack, you choose the creature, tap it, and choose what it's attacking. Then you do any effects that happen because the creature is attacking. Then your opponent decides whether or not to have any of his creatures block (if they have "blocker").
Q: If one of my creatures that has "double breaker" attacks my opponent, and the first shield broken has a "shield trigger" ability that puts my attacking creature in the graveyard, does the second shield still get broken?
Yes. As soon as a creature that has "double breaker" isn't blocked, it creates the effect "break 2 shields." The shields break one at a time, but both get broken even if the attacking creature leaves the battle zone first.
Questions about Evolution Creatures
Q: I can't find any evolution creatures. Where are they?
There aren't any evolution creatures in the Duel Masters base set, but the next few expansions have plenty!
Q: How do I play an evolution creature?
Just like with a regular creature, you tap cards for mana to pay an evolution creature's cost. At least 1 of that mana needs to be of that creature's civilization. Here's where it gets different. The evolution creature's text tells you which race it evolves from. You have to play the evolution creature on top of one of your creatures of that race in the battle zone.
Q: Can a card that affects a creature also affect an evolution creature?
Yes. An evolution creature is a creature in every way.
Q: If my evolution creature leaves the battle zone, what happens to the creatures under it?
Once you evolve a creature, the evolution creature and the creatures under it count as one card until they leave the battle zone. If the evolution creature leaves the battle zone, the creatures underneath go with it.
Q: If my evolution creature goes to my mana zone, what happens?
Both the evolution creature and the creatures under it go to your mana zone. When they are in your mana zone, they are separate cards again.
Q: If an evolution creature goes to the top of my deck, in what order do I put the cards?
Whatever order you like. The deck's owner gets to choose the order of the cards.
Q: If I play a creature that has summoning sickness and then play an evolution creature on top of it that turn, can the evolution creature attack that turn?
Yes. An evolution creature doesn't have summoning sickness even if the creature it evolved from did.