Digimon Card Game

The Digimon Card Game (デジモンカードゲーム Dejimon Kādo Gēmu) is a trading card game produced by Bandai, based on the Digimon franchise. It was introduced in 2020, and is currently ongoing.

=Overview=

Field
The Field is the play area in which the card game takes place. The playing field is divided into your area and the opponent's area. The Field consists of the following elements:
 * Security (Dub: Security Stack): The Security is a defensive wall that protects the player; the number of cards in the Security decreases each time the player is attacked. If the player is attacked while they have 0 cards in their Security, they lose the game.
 * Memory Gauge : The Memory Gauge is used for the payment of Cost, and is shared between both players.
 * Deck (Dub: Deck Zone): Where the deck is placed. A Deck is made up of exactly 50 cards, consisting of Digimon Cards, Tamer Cards, and/or Option Cards. Up to 4 cards with the same Card Number can be included in the same Deck.
 * Trash : A discard pile, where discarded cards are placed face-up.
 * Digitama Deck (Dub: Digi-Egg Deck Zone): Where the Digitama Deck is placed. A Digitama Deck is made up of 0~5 Digitama Cards, and is not mandatory for gameplay. Up to 4 cards with the same Card Number can be included in the same Digitama Deck.
 * Raising Area (Dub: Breeding Area): Digimon hatched from the Digitama Deck are placed in this area. Digimon placed in the Raising Area cannot activate any effects, but are also not affected by the effects of other cards unless the effect in question specifically targets Digimon placed in the Raising Area.
 * Battle Area : Digimon and Tamer Cards can be placed into the Battle Area, where they are put into play and considered "Digimon" and "Tamers" respectively.

Digimon Cards and Digitama Cards


Digimon Cards and Digitama Cards  are cards depicting Digimon that are used in-game to battle.
 * Play Cost : The Cost required to play a Digimon, allowing it to enter the Battle Area from the hand.
 * Digimon Power (DP) : The Digimon's attack power. During Battle, victory is determined by which side has higher DP. While a Digimon's DP does not decrease when it is attacked, there are effects that can reduce a Digimon's DP. During the game, if a Digimon's DP is reduced to 0 by any sort of effect, that Digimon is destroyed and sent to the discard pile (DP will not become negative).
 * Evolution Requirements (Dub: Digivolution Requirements): States the [Color] and [Level] of Digimon that are able to evolve into this Digimon, as well as the Cost required for evolution.
 * Effects : Any special effects this Digimon possesses.
 * Level (Lv.): A value identifying the Digimon's current stage of evolution progression, given as a number between 3 and 7 (for Digimon Cards) or 2 (for Digitama Cards). Digimon will evolve into a Digimon one level higher than itself during Evolution.
 * Card Name
 * Card Number
 * Rarity
 * Characteristics (Dub: Traits) A set of properties that describe the Digimon, usually Form, Attribute, and Type at minimum. Some card effects target specific Characteristics.


 * Evolution Base Effect (Dub: Inherited Effect): An effect that can be used after this Digimon has evolved into a higher Level Digimon.

Tamer Cards
Tamer Cards are cards depicting human characters, used to support Digimon Cards in battle.


 * Play Cost : The Cost required to play a Tamer, allowing it to enter the Battle Area from the hand.
 * Effects : Any special effects this Tamer possesses.
 * Card Name
 * Card Number
 * Rarity
 * Security Effect : An effect that is triggered when this card is flipped face-up while in Security.

Option Cards
Option Cards are support cards with various effects.


 * Usage Cost : The Cost required for this Option Card to be used.
 * Effects : The effects that result from using this Option Card.
 * Card Number
 * Rarity
 * Security Effect : An effect that is triggered when this card is flipped over while in Security.

Glossary
Card Types Activation Timings
 * Digimon Card : Cards depicting Digimon.
 * Digitama Card  (Dub: Digi-Egg Card): Cards depicting Baby level Digimon. Digitama Cards have a different card back from regular cards, and are used only in the Digitama Deck.
 * Option Card : Use-and-throw cards whose effects are mainly triggered when they are played from the player's hand.
 * Tamer Card : Cards depicting Tamers. While they cannot attack, they are able to bestow effects onto the player's or opponent's Digimon. They cannot be attacked by the opponent's Digimon.
 * Digimon : A Digimon Card is treated as a "Digimon" when it is played from the player's hand or deck and placed into the Battle Area, or when it is deployed from the Raising Area.
 * Tamer : A Tamer Card is treated as a "Tamer" when it is played from the player's hand or deck and placed into the Battle Area.
 * When Played : When the Digimon directly enters the Battle Area from the player's hand. Evolution and moving a Digimon from the Raising Area do not count as [When Played].
 * When Evolving : When the Digimon on the Field undergoes evolution. Evolution that takes place in the Raising Area will not trigger effects that activate [When Evolving].
 * When Attacking : When the Digimon performs an attack. Effects triggered [When Attacking] are carried out before the battle with the opponent Digimon begins, or the Check on the opponent's Security is performed.
 * After Attacking : When the Digimon with the [After Attacking] effect finishes its attack. If the Digimon with this effect disappears while the attack is still in progress, such as when the Digimon loses the battle, the activation timing does not occur.
 * When Destroyed : When the Digimon is destroyed, whether by losing a battle, or by the effects of a card.
 * Your Turn : The entire period from the beginning of your turn to the end of your turn.
 * Both Players' Turns : An effect with this activation timing continues to remain in effect during the span of both your turn and the opponent's turn.
 * Opponent's Turn : The entire period from the beginning of the opponent's turn to the end of the opponent's turn.
 * Beginning of Your Turn : An effect with this activation timing is triggered the moment your turn begins.
 * Security : When the card is flipped face-up during a Security Check. When a card that has an effect with this activation timing is flipped face-up while in Security, the effect is triggered without payment of Cost.
 * Main : Effects with this activation timing can be activated during your Main Phase. They are activated when an Option card with such an effect is played, or when a Digimon or Tamer has such an effect, and you choose to trigger the effect anytime during the Main Phase.

Card State
 * Rest (Dub: Suspend): The action of  in order to perform an attack or use a Main effect.
 * Rest Position (Dub: Suspended State): The state of a Digimon or Tamer that has been placed horizontally after being Rested.
 * Turn Active (Dub: Unsuspend): The action of untapping a Digimon or Tamer in the Rest position, turning the card to the vertical position and allowing it to act again.
 * Active Position (Dub: Unsuspended State): The state of a Digimon or Tamer that has been placed in the vertical position, denoting that it has not attacked or acted yet.
 * Evolution Base (Dub: Digivolution card(s)): A card is situated below a Digimon that has evolved from it. If the card has an Evolution Base Effect, it is now able to activate its Evolution Base Effect.
 * Destroyed (Dub: Deleted): A Digimon that is sent to the Trash due to either having lost a battle, or receiving an effect that causes destruction.
 * Security Digimon : When a Digimon card is flipped face-up during a Security Check, that card becomes a Security Digimon. Security Digimon differ from regular Digimon in that Security Digimon are not affected by effects that target Digimon, and Security Digimon cannot activate any of their own effects aside from their Security Effects.

Card Characteristics: All Cards
 * Color : The color category to which the card belongs: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, White, Purple, or Black. A minority of cards have multiple colors.
 * Play Cost : The Cost required to play a Digimon or Tamer, allowing them to enter the Battle Area from the hand.
 * Rarity : The rarity of the card.
 * Effects : Effects found on Digimon, Tamers, and Option Cards. Evolution Base Effects are not considered "Effects".
 * Security Effect : An effect that is triggered when a card is flipped face-up during a Security Check.
 * Once per Turn : Denotes that this effect can only take effect once per turn. Such effects can only be triggered once, even if the conditions to trigger the effect are fulfilled multiple times within the same turn.

Card Characteristics: Digimon Cards
 * Type : A characteristic that generally denotes a Digimon's Type; some Digimon also have additional Types that mark them as members of particular Digimon groups.
 * Attribute : A characteristic that generally denotes a Digimon's Attribute.
 * Form : A characteristic that generally denotes a Digimon's Evolution Stage by name. Each Evolution Stage Form, aside from Hybrid, correlates with one numerical Level.

Actions Keyword Effects
 * Attack : The action of using your Digimon to attack either the opponent player, or one of the opponent's Digimon currently in Rest position.
 * Block : The action of using the <> effect to take the attack of an opponent Digimon that was intended for another target.
 * Battle : A "Battle" refers to the match that takes place between 2 Digimon or between a Digimon and a Security Digimon, when a Digimon performs an attack. During a battle, the DP of both Digimon are compared to determine the winner of the battle.
 * Play : The action of placing a Digimon or Tamer from your hand into the Battle Area by paying their Play Cost.
 * Hatching : The action of flipping 1 card from your Digitama deck face-up, and placing it into your Raising Area during your Raising Phase.
 * Evolution (Dub: Digivolution): The action of turning a Digimon into another Digimon of a Level higher by 1. During evolution, a Digimon card is placed atop a Digimon that meets its Evolution Requirements, and the Evolution Cost is paid. When evolution takes place, the player draws 1 card from their deck as an Evolution Bonus.
 * Discard : The action of discarding a card.
 * Pass : The action of declaring and voluntarily passing your turn to the opponent during your Main Phase. When a Pass is performed, regardless of the Counter's current position on the Memory Gauge, it is moved to the [3] position on the opponent's Memory Gauge.
 * Check : The action of flipping a Security card face-up when an attack is performed on a player.
 * <> : When the opponent Digimon performs an attack, if this Digimon is in the Active position, you may Rest this Digimon and change the target of the attack to this Digimon. This effect can be activated when the opponent's Digimon performs an attack. The target of that attack then becomes the Digimon that used <>, instead of the original target.
 * <> : The number of Security cards this Digimon Checks increases by X. This effect increases by X the number of Security cards checked when performing an attack on the opponent player. If the number of Security cards to be Checked becomes 2 or more as a result of this effect, perform the Checks one at a time. If the attacking Digimon is destroyed or returned to the hand during a Check, the attack ends at that point.
 * <> : The number of Security cards this Digimon Checks decreases by X. This effect decreases by X the number of Security cards checked when performing an attack on the opponent player. If the number of Security cards to be Checked becomes 0 as a result of this effect (it will not turn negative), you will be unable to Check the opponent's Security, and in the event that the opponent has 0 cards remaining in their Security, you will not win the game even by attacking the player.
 * <> : Take X cards from the top of your deck and place them onto Security. When this effect is triggered, take X cards from the top of your deck and place them onto your Security without looking at their contents. This effect allows for the recovery of Security cards; there is no upper limit to the number of cards that can be placed in Security.
 * <> : When this Digimon attacks and initiates a battle, if the opponent Digimon is the only Digimon destroyed in that battle, this Digimon Checks Security. When this effect is triggered, when attacking, if the opponent Digimon is the only Digimon destroyed in the battle between it and the attacking Digimon, the attacking Digimon proceeds to Check the opponent's Security cards. This effect is triggered even when the attacking Digimon is blocked; however, it will not be triggered in a battle with a Security Digimon.
 * <> : Draw X cards from your deck. When this effect is triggered, draw X cards from your deck and add them to your hand. There is no upper limit to the number of cards you can hold in your hand.
 * <> : This Digimon cannot be destroyed in a battle with a Security Digimon. A Digimon with this effect will not be destroyed even when it loses a battle against a Security Digimon. If you are still able to perform another Security Check due to the effect of <>, this Digimon can continue performing the next Check.

=Gameplay=
 * See also: the official rulebooks (/).

After performing the Game Setup, each player will take turns performing actions, starting from the player who goes first. Each turn consists of four phases: Active Phase, Draw Phase, Raising Phase, and Main Phase, after which the turn ends.

Game Setup
Before the start of the game, each player will carry out the following steps. If there are any discrepancies or contradictions between the rules and card text, the card text takes priority.
 * 1) Shuffle your Deck and place it in the [Deck] area.
 * 2) Shuffle your Digitama Deck and place it in the [Digitama Deck] area.
 * 3) Draw 5 cards from the top of your Deck and place them face-down in your [Security] without looking at their contents.
 * 4) Decide who goes first and second through a game of rock-paper-scissors; the player who wins the game goes first.
 * 5) Draw 5 cards from your Deck. In February 2022 a Mulligan rule was added. If a player is not happy with their opening hand, they can place it at the bottom of their deck and draw a new one. They can only do this once.
 * 6) Place the Counter on the [0] position on the [Memory Gauge], and begin the game.

Active Phase
During the Active Phase (Dub: Unsuspend Phase), the player untaps all of their cards currently in the Rest position, turning them Active.

Draw Phase
During the Draw Phase, the player draws 1 card from their Deck. If during this Phase, the player's Deck is out of cards and the player is unable to draw a card, the player loses the game. The player who goes first does not draw a card during Draw Phase, only on their first turn.

Raising Phase
During the Raising Phase  (Dub: Breeding Phase), the player can choose to perform one of the following three acts only once: [Hatch a Digitama], [Deploy a Digimon from the Raising Area], or [Do nothing].

Hatch a Digitama
This act can only be performed if there are no Digimon in the player's Raising Area. The player flips 1 card from the top of their Digitama Deck face-up, and places it in their Raising Area.

Deploy a Digimon from the Raising Area
A Digimon in the Raising Area can be deployed to the Battle Area if it has evolved to Level 3 or higher; Level 2 or lower Digimon cannot be deployed to the Battle Area. However, deploying Digimon from the Raising Area does not count as "entry"; as such, it will not trigger effects that are triggered upon entry, and the Digimon deployed to the Battle Area can attack on the same turn they are deployed.

Do nothing
No actions are performed, and the player proceeds to the next Phase.

Main Phase
During the Main Phase, the player can choose to perform the following five acts in any order they wish, and as many times as they are able: [Digimon Entry], [Digimon Evolution], [Tamer Entry], [Use an Option Card], and [Attack]. The Main Phase, and subsequently the player's turn, automatically ends when the Cost paid for an action causes the Counter to move to position [1] or further on the opponent's side of the Memory Gauge. If the Counter is still on the player's side of the Memory Gauge, and the player has no more actions they wish to perform during this turn, they can declare to [Pass] their turn.

Digimon Entry
In this act, a Digimon Card is made to enter the Battle Area from the player's hand. The player places the Digimon Card they wish to enter from their hand onto the Battle Area in the Active position, and pays their Entry Cost to complete the entry. There is no limit on the number of Digimon that can be placed in the Battle Area, and Digimon cannot attack on the same turn they enter.

Digimon Evolution
In this act, the player evolves a Digimon in their Battle Area or Raising Area. When a card is stacked atop another card during evolution, the cards below become "Evolution Bases", and their Evolution Base Effect become usable. A Digimon card and its Evolution Bases are all treated as a single Digimon; when a Digimon is destroyed, it is sent to the discard pile along with all of its Evolution Base cards.
 * 1) The player looks at the Evolution Requirements of the Digimon card in their hand; that card can be used to evolve a Digimon matching the required color and Level that the player currently has in play.
 * 2) The player places that card onto a Digimon card in play that meets the Evolution Requirements, such that the bottom Digimon's Evolution Base Effect is visible.
 * 3) The player pays the Evolution Cost, and the evolution is completed.
 * 4) As an "evolution bonus", after performing an evolution, the player draws 1 card from their deck and adds it to their hand.

Tamer Entry
In this act, a Tamer Card is made to enter the Battle Area from the player's hand. The player places the Tamer Card they wish to enter from their hand onto the Battle Area in the Active position, and pays their Entry Cost to complete the entry. There is no limit on the number of Tamers that can be placed in the Battle Area, and Tamers cannot attack or block.

Use an Option Card
In this act, players can activate the main effect on their Option Cards. In order to use an Option Card from their hand, the player must have a Digimon or Tamer of the same color as the Option Card already in play. By deploying an Option Card from their hand and paying the Usage Cost, players may trigger the card's main effect. After its effect is triggered, the Option Card is sent to the discard pile and placed in the Trash area. Security effects on Option cards cannot be triggered when the card is played from the player's hand.

Attack
In this act, players attack using the Digimon placed in their Battle Area. Digimon Card: When a Digimon Card is produced by the Check, the Digimon becomes a [Security Digimon], and enters a battle with the attacking Digimon. The battle flow here is the same as the battle flow when attacking a Digimon in the Battle Area, and the Digimon with higher DP wins the battle. Security Digimon are not considered regular Digimon, and are not affected by effects that target Digimon; however, Security Digimon cannot trigger effects aside from their own Security Effect. If the attacking Digimon loses the battle, the attacking Digimon is destroyed and the battle ends. Regardless of the outcome of the battle, the Security Digimon is discarded after the battle ends. Option Card or Tamer Card: The card is discarded. (However, if the card has a Security Effect that allows it to enter play or be added to the player's hand, it will not be discarded)</li></ul></li></ul> If an attack on the opponent player succeeds when the opponent player has 0 cards left in their Security, the attacking player wins the game.
 * 1) The player chooses a Digimon in the Active position to use for the attack, places it in the Rest position, and announces the attack.
 * 2) If there are any effects that are triggered "when attacking", they will take effect at this point of time.
 * 3) The player chooses the target of the attack; attacks can either target one of the opponent player's Digimon placed in their Battle Area in the Rest position, or the opponent player themselves.
 * When attacking the opponent's Digimon: A battle between the attacking Digimon and the target Digimon begins. The Digimon with higher DP wins the battle, and the losing Digimon is destroyed and sent to the Trash area. Should both Digimon have the same DP, the battle ends in a draw and both Digimon are destroyed.
 * When attacking the opponent player:
 * 1) If the opponent player has 1 or more cards remaining in their Security, the opponent flips the top card of their Security face-up. This action of flipping a Security card face-up when attacked is called a [Check].
 * 2) If the card produced by a Check has a Security Effect, that Security Effect is triggered. Security Effects can be triggered without the need to pay any Cost, and are not affected by color restrictions in the case of Option Cards.
 * 3) After the card's Security Effect has been triggered, or if the card produced by the Check does not have a Security Effect, the following occurs depending on the type of card produced by the Check:
 * When Checking 2 or more Security cards in 1 attack: When multiple Security cards have to be Checked in one attack, such as in the case where the attacking Digimon has <<Security Attack +1>>, perform the Checks 1 card at a time. If the attacking Digimon is destroyed or returned to the attacking player's hand by the card produced by the first Check, the attack ends at that point.
 * When the Security becomes 0: When the number of cards in the Security is reduced to 0, the attack ends, ignoring effects such as <<Security Attack +1>> that allow the Checking of additional Security cards. The game continues even when the Security reaches 0; when the player whose Security has reached 0 is attacked once more in that state, the attacking player wins the game.
 * Blocking with <<Blocker>>: Some Digimon have the <<Blocker>> effect, which allows them to [Block] the opponent's attack, taking the attack in place of the original target. When a Block is carried out, the target of the opponent Digimon's attack becomes the Blocking Digimon, and the battle commences. Blocking can be used to defend against attacks that can potentially destroy Digimon or attack Security.

Pass
When the player has no more actions they wish to perform during this turn, they can declare to Pass their turn, passing the turn to the opponent. When a Pass is carried out, the Counter is moved to the [3] position on the opponent's side of the Memory Gauge, regardless of the Counter's current position.

Turn End
During a player's turn, if the Counter moves to position [1] and beyond on the opponent's side of the Memory Gauge after a Cost is paid, the player's turn automatically ends, and the opponent's turn begins after any effects that were in the process of being triggered have been completed. The position of the Counter on the Memory Gauge remains in the position it was in when the turn ended (excluding when a Pass had been carried out). E.g. If a Cost of 5 is paid while the Counter is in the [1] position, the Counter moves to the [4] position on the opponent's side, and the opponent begins their turn with the Counter in the [4] position.

Game End
A player wins the game by fulfilling one of the following conditions:
 * Successfully performing an attack on the opponent player while the opponent player's Security is 0
 * The opponent is unable to draw a card during their Draw Phase due to their Deck having 0 cards remaining

=Card Sets=

Promotional

 * Main article: Digimon Card Game Promo

Other
=Localization=

English
An English-language edition of the Digimon Card Game has been marketed in the Americas, Europe and Oceania since 2021, following a commemorative limited pre-sale launch on November 27, 2020.

Differences
Unlike past card games (such as the Digital Monster Card Game), no changes have been made to the game's rules or mechanics, or to its design aesthetic, and the Japanese and English editions remain fully compatible with each other.

The only significant change made in the English localization process is that all of Sistermon Noir and Sistermon Noir (Awaken)'s cards are edited to replace these Digimon with, respectively, Sistermon Ciel and Sistermon Ciel (Awaken), out of concerns by Bandai that featuring the former two Digimon in North American material is unfeasible due to their strong resemblance to Catholic nuns. Both versions of each card, aside from the different species and change of Attribute from Virus (Noir) to Data (Ciel). In order to accommodate for this replacement in international tournament play, Bandai has established a ruling that Japanese Sistermon Noir cards and their English Sistermon Ciel counterparts are to be treated as one and the same, and as having all of the properties, including Card Name, of their counterpart in the other edition of the game. Sistermon Noir is also edited out of the background of some other cards' art, such as BT6-011 Bao Huckmon.

The English edition also changes the designs and layouts of the Parallel Cards in EX-01 Classic Collection to maintain the cards' theme of throwing back to an earlier Digimon trading card game for the foreign audience. Whereas the Japanese Parallel cards mimic the style and layout of the Digital Monster Card Game, the English cards instead mimic its American adaptation, the Digi-Battle Card Game. Changes in the service of this adaptation include:


 * Changing the card's frame to that of the Digi-Battle Card Game, which itself came from the background style used on contemporary American Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02 merchandising
 * Adding a "Digivolve Cost" header box to the Evolution Requirements box, although the main body text still retains a redundant "Digivolves from:" introduction like the Japanese version
 * Adding a black shape (circle for Red/A, square for Green/B, triangle for Yellow/C) to the faux-Battle Type background of the Play Cost
 * Adding a second instance of the Card Name along the edge of the card, in the same style as on Digi-Battle Card Game cards
 * Removing the flavor text blurbs since, unlike the Digital Monster Card Game, the Digi-Battle Card Game did not have those

However, the same was not done for a later card using the same gimmick&mdash;the BT3-111 Imperialdramon: Dragon Mode box topper from EX-03 Draconic Roar (Dragon's Roar)&mdash;whose Digital Monster Card Game styling is unchanged in the English edition.

Release Changes
On occasion, cards from a given Japanese set have been repackaged for the English edition of the Digimon Card Game into different sets and/or released under different circumstances.

Simplified Chinese
Bandai and Shanghai Windo Entertainment have marketed a Simplified Chinese edition of the Digimon Card Game in mainland China since April 2022.

Release Changes
Unlike the Japanese and English editions, Chinese set releases are distinguished from all other set releases with an identifying "C" in their set number.

To date, the Chinese booster set range also differs drastically from the other editions, as each is a compilation of cards from multiple Japanese booster sets.

=Image Gallery=

=Additional Information=

=External Links=
 * Digimon Card Game official website (Japanese edition)
 * Digimon Card Game official website (English edition)
 * Digimon Card Game official website (Simplified Chinese edition)