Glossary of Terms
A
Attack Points (ATK): The offensive power of a monster. These are deducted from your opponent's Life Points when you attack; if you battle a monster in Attack Position, the damage inflicted to your opponent is decreased by the ATK of the monster you are battling against.
Attack Position: A monster in Attack Position is positioned where the name of the monster is on top and the monster's picture is visible to the player. A monster cannot be in face-down Attack position. Monsters in Attack Position will be destroyed in battle if it battles a monster of equal or greater ATK and will take Battle Damage if it battles a monster with a higher ATK.
B
Banish: To remove from the game. Formerly known as "remove from play". There is no specified place for "banished" cards but commonly duelists will place them right above or to the right of their Graveyard.
Battle Position: A is a status in which a Monster Card is placed to determine how it behaves in battle. Monsters that are in Attack Position are vertical, while Defense Position monsters are horizontal.
C
Contact Fusion Summon: Returning Fusion Material Monsters from the field to the deck to Fusion Summon a monster from the Extra Deck.
Cover Card: The card that is found in the image of a given Booster Box Set (Ex. Odin, Father of the Aesir and the booster box set Storm of Ragnorak). All Cover Cards are available in Ghost Rare, with the exception of Hidden Arsenal cover cards as the only rarities found in Hidden Arsenal are Super Rare and Secret Rare.
D
Detach: Remove 1 Xyz material from an Xyz monster by sending that monster card to the Graveyard. This DOES NOT count as having been sent from the field to the Graveyard.
Defense (DEF): The defensive power of a monster. If the DEF of your monster is greater than or equal to the ATK of your opponent's monster, your monster isn't destroyed by battle. If a Defense position monster is destroyed in battle, the person who controlled that monster takes no damage. If your monster's DEF is greater than the ATK of your opponent's monster, the difference is inflicted to your opponent as Battle Damage.
Defense Position: A monster in Defense position is positioned where the name of the monster is facing towards the Field Spell card zone or the Graveyard (horizontally oriented). Monsters can be in face-up or face-down Defense Position. Monsters in Defense Position will prevent you from taking damage from your opponent's attacks, even if it is destroyed in battle.
E
F
G
H
"Hand Trap": A monster card who has an effect that can be activated from the hand, especially one that activates during your opponent's turn . Hand traps in particular contain effects that are not restricted to only your Main Phase (for example, Gravekeeper's Commandant and Destroyersaurus are examples of card effects that activate in the hand, but are not considered hand traps). NOTE: The term "hand trap" is NOT an official term for the Yu-Gi-oh! card game.
Example: Effect Veiler, Maxx "C", Honest, Tragoedia, Blackwing - Kalut the Moonshade
I
J
K
L
M
"Mill": A common term used to describe the action of sending cards from the top of your deck to the Graveyard. Example: The first line in Charge of the Light Brigade.
N
Nomi (monsters): A monster that cannot be Normal Summoned or Set and cannot be Special Summoned by any means other than the one specified on the card (e.g. Dark Armed Dragon). Ritual monsters do not count as Nomi monsters.
Normal Set: To Set a monster in face-down Defense position (horizonatlly oriented with the card back visible). In the game's natural state, you cannot set a monster in face-up Defense position
Normal Summon: To Summon a monster in face-up Attack Position (vertically oriented with the picture of the monster visible).
O
Overlay: Stacking one monster on top of another, used to Xyz a monster.
P
Piercing Damage: Battle Damage that is inflicted when a monster attacks a monster in Defense Position, and the ATK of the attacking monster is greater than the DEF of the defending monster. Piercing Damage can only be inflicted if the monster has an effect that allows it to inflict Piercing Damage (Ex. Blackwing - Bora the Spear, Piercing Moray) or by a card effect (Ex. H - Heated Heart, Fairy Meteor Crush).
Q
R
Remove from Play: See Banish
S
Semi-Nomi (monster): A monster that cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This monster must be first be Special Summoned by the method listed on the card before being Special Summoned by other methods (e.g. Chaos Sorceror)
T
"Tag out": A term used to describe the effect of a Gladiator Beast returning to the deck during the end of the Battle Phase OR when used to Contact Fusion Summon a Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster.
Toolboxing: The use of a monster specifically for the situation at hand or a pending situation to come, usually from the Extra Deck. This term, in general, is describing the use of a wide variety of monsters (usually from the Extra Deck) for a wide variety of situations instead of having 1 go-to monster to handle a bulk of the scenarios you are going to face.
U
V
W
X
Xyz Materials: Monsters that were used to Xyz Summon a monster.
Y
Z
Attack Points (ATK): The offensive power of a monster. These are deducted from your opponent's Life Points when you attack; if you battle a monster in Attack Position, the damage inflicted to your opponent is decreased by the ATK of the monster you are battling against.
Attack Position: A monster in Attack Position is positioned where the name of the monster is on top and the monster's picture is visible to the player. A monster cannot be in face-down Attack position. Monsters in Attack Position will be destroyed in battle if it battles a monster of equal or greater ATK and will take Battle Damage if it battles a monster with a higher ATK.
B
Banish: To remove from the game. Formerly known as "remove from play". There is no specified place for "banished" cards but commonly duelists will place them right above or to the right of their Graveyard.
Battle Position: A is a status in which a Monster Card is placed to determine how it behaves in battle. Monsters that are in Attack Position are vertical, while Defense Position monsters are horizontal.
C
Contact Fusion Summon: Returning Fusion Material Monsters from the field to the deck to Fusion Summon a monster from the Extra Deck.
Cover Card: The card that is found in the image of a given Booster Box Set (Ex. Odin, Father of the Aesir and the booster box set Storm of Ragnorak). All Cover Cards are available in Ghost Rare, with the exception of Hidden Arsenal cover cards as the only rarities found in Hidden Arsenal are Super Rare and Secret Rare.
D
Detach: Remove 1 Xyz material from an Xyz monster by sending that monster card to the Graveyard. This DOES NOT count as having been sent from the field to the Graveyard.
Defense (DEF): The defensive power of a monster. If the DEF of your monster is greater than or equal to the ATK of your opponent's monster, your monster isn't destroyed by battle. If a Defense position monster is destroyed in battle, the person who controlled that monster takes no damage. If your monster's DEF is greater than the ATK of your opponent's monster, the difference is inflicted to your opponent as Battle Damage.
Defense Position: A monster in Defense position is positioned where the name of the monster is facing towards the Field Spell card zone or the Graveyard (horizontally oriented). Monsters can be in face-up or face-down Defense Position. Monsters in Defense Position will prevent you from taking damage from your opponent's attacks, even if it is destroyed in battle.
E
F
G
H
"Hand Trap": A monster card who has an effect that can be activated from the hand, especially one that activates during your opponent's turn . Hand traps in particular contain effects that are not restricted to only your Main Phase (for example, Gravekeeper's Commandant and Destroyersaurus are examples of card effects that activate in the hand, but are not considered hand traps). NOTE: The term "hand trap" is NOT an official term for the Yu-Gi-oh! card game.
Example: Effect Veiler, Maxx "C", Honest, Tragoedia, Blackwing - Kalut the Moonshade
I
J
K
L
M
"Mill": A common term used to describe the action of sending cards from the top of your deck to the Graveyard. Example: The first line in Charge of the Light Brigade.
N
Nomi (monsters): A monster that cannot be Normal Summoned or Set and cannot be Special Summoned by any means other than the one specified on the card (e.g. Dark Armed Dragon). Ritual monsters do not count as Nomi monsters.
Normal Set: To Set a monster in face-down Defense position (horizonatlly oriented with the card back visible). In the game's natural state, you cannot set a monster in face-up Defense position
Normal Summon: To Summon a monster in face-up Attack Position (vertically oriented with the picture of the monster visible).
O
Overlay: Stacking one monster on top of another, used to Xyz a monster.
P
Piercing Damage: Battle Damage that is inflicted when a monster attacks a monster in Defense Position, and the ATK of the attacking monster is greater than the DEF of the defending monster. Piercing Damage can only be inflicted if the monster has an effect that allows it to inflict Piercing Damage (Ex. Blackwing - Bora the Spear, Piercing Moray) or by a card effect (Ex. H - Heated Heart, Fairy Meteor Crush).
Q
R
Remove from Play: See Banish
S
Semi-Nomi (monster): A monster that cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This monster must be first be Special Summoned by the method listed on the card before being Special Summoned by other methods (e.g. Chaos Sorceror)
T
"Tag out": A term used to describe the effect of a Gladiator Beast returning to the deck during the end of the Battle Phase OR when used to Contact Fusion Summon a Gladiator Beast Fusion Monster.
Toolboxing: The use of a monster specifically for the situation at hand or a pending situation to come, usually from the Extra Deck. This term, in general, is describing the use of a wide variety of monsters (usually from the Extra Deck) for a wide variety of situations instead of having 1 go-to monster to handle a bulk of the scenarios you are going to face.
U
V
W
X
Xyz Materials: Monsters that were used to Xyz Summon a monster.
Y
Z