New Rulers
Vol. 5 adds 3 brand new rulers to the game, and each of them have mechanics that set them apart substantially from previous rulers.
6. F - Frenzy
This is a new drive ruler that drives 3 cards at the start of turn instead of 2, and has 2 additional attack zones! These powerful advantages are balanced with a very low deck level cap of 30, made even tighter by the fact that you are not allowed to include any negative level cards in your deck. Also, this ruler can only have 1 Legendary card in the deck. A Frenzy is a great ruler for weenie decks that can put a lot of small units on the board to overwhelm your opponent!
19. S - Shuriken
This is a new hand ruler with 2 additional attack zones, an increased summon cap of 3, and draws 3 cards each turn instead of 2! In exchange, it only has 10 life, 2 resources, and worst of all, no defense zone. Also, like the Frenzy, a Shuriken is allowed only 1 Legendary card in the deck. You will have to leverage your superior numbers in card advantage and board advantage to finish off your opponent before they can whittle down your minimal life total to 0!
-Because a Shuriken has no defense zone, you cannot use Gear Up if you are using this ruler.
21. U - United
This is a new hand ruler which can play any card without using resources like a drive ruler. Like an Apprentice, it has a deck level cap of 50, but it also has a few other restrictions that affect gameplay. First, it has an “in-play level cap” of 4, which means that the total level of all allied units in play must be equal to or less than 4, otherwise you have to pick which among them to send to the graveyard to reduce that total. Second, you can play events only from your set zone, and you are restricted to placing up to 2 cards in your set zone per turn. Despite these restrictions, the ability to play multiple big event cards like 《ZAPZAPZAP!》 during your opponent’s turn without paying any cost is very powerful! This ruler is perfect for people who want to play more reactive decks but don’t want to worry about resources.
-Allied units with negative levels like 《Yadoukai of the Dark Roads》 will reduce the total combined level of your units in play.
-Setting a card through an effect does not count towards your limit of setting 2 cards during your turn.
-You can only play event cards from set zones, even if the event specifically says they “can be played from your hand”. However, if an event card would be played because of an effect or it has Forced Reveal, it still gets played normally even if it isn’t set.
New Keyword Abilities
Charge Link (As a standard action, you may add this unit as a charge underneath another unit without Charge Shield.)
Charge Link is an activated ability which puts a unit with this ability underneath another unit as a charge, which can then be used as a cost for a variety of abilities. However, most cards with Charge Link are also paired with the Charge Bonus ability described below, which will probably the primary reason you will be using their Charge Link ability.
Charge Bonus - (condition): (A unit that meets the condition and has this as 1 of its charges loses 【Charge Shield】 if it has 2 or more charges, and it has the following ability:)
Charge Bonus is a continuous ability that grants a specific ability to a unit which has a card with Charge Bonus among its charges.
If the unit that has the card with Charge Bonus fulfills the conditions specified by this keyword ability, then it gains the following abilities:
・If this unit has 2 or more charges, it loses Charge Shield.
・An additional ability specific to the card with Charge Bonus.
In Vol. 5, units with Charge Bonus also have Charge Link, so you can add them as a charge to a unit of your choice and grant it the benefits of the Charge Bonus!
Essence Drain (When this destroys an enemy unit with an attack, add the destroyed unit under this as a charge.)
Essence Drain is an automatic ability which causes a unit with this ability to add any enemy unit that it destroys with an attack underneath itself as a charge. These charges can then be used as a cost for various cards and abilities.
When a unit with Essence Drain attacks and destroys a unit with Charge Shield, the attacked unit must first spend a charge to remain in play after being destroyed, and then spend another charge to avoid being sent to the charge zone (which is what happens when a card becomes a charge). This means that if the attacked unit only has 1 charge to use for Charge Shield, it cannot avoid being eaten up by Essence Drain!
General Rules Changes
Damage
The way damage works in the game has been overhauled with this update. If you are not familiar with the term “damage resolution process”, then you don’t have much to worry about, and the game should now function more in line with your expectations. Otherwise, please read on.
Previously, whenever something dealt damage, a “damage resolution process” was added to the gate, and the actual damage was reflected in the game only after this process was resolved. This was resulting in a lot of unintuitive situations and tactics, such as allowing players to use units that are supposed to have been dealt lethal damage and destroyed as a cost to play another card or ability. With this update, we decided to remove the damage resolution process entirely to make the game much more intuitive.
Here’s an overview of how the changes affect gameplay:
-Effect damage is dealt immediately in the process of resolving the card or ability that is the source of the damage (if the target is a unit and would be destroyed as a result of this damage, that also happens within the resolution of the source card/ability). There is no longer a window to play things in response between when the damage is dealt and when a unit is destroyed. If you want to do something in response to the damage, you must do it in response to its source.
-Dealing combat damage with an attack no longer creates a gate resolution process, which prevents you from playing something in response to the damage itself. Instead, you will have to play your card/ability in response to the attack, before the damage is dealt.
-Cards and abilities that have a play timing for when damage would be dealt (e.g. 《Rite of Redirection》) can be played in response to a card or ability that would deal damage, or at any time between the start of an attack and before combat damage is dealt. In these cases, these cards and abilities can be played as automatic abilities (allowing you to play them even if you don’t have priority). In addition, during the start of an attack and before combat damage is dealt, such cards and abilities can also be played as instant actions. Basically, you have a lot of freedom in how you play things that respond to damage.
-When something refers to the “next damage”, it is referring to the next damage dealt during this current turn. Previously, the phrase referred to a damage resolution process currently in the gate, but this updated definition should be more intuitive. If something refers to the “next damage” that fulfills a certain condition(s) (e.g. “the next effect damage”), then it will ignore any damage dealt that does not fulfill its condition(s).
-When there are multiple effects waiting on the “next damage”, they all get resolved as soon as damage occurs that fulfills their conditions. For example, if you have played 2 effects that say “reduce the next damage dealt to you by 1”, and then your opponent deals 1 damage to you, both effects get immediately resolved, even though one of them will be wasted.
However, if the damage does not fulfill the condition(s) of the effect (e.g. the effect refers to the “next combat damage” and then effect damage is dealt), then the effect simply ignores that damage and does not get resolved. It will remain waiting to be resolved for any later damage in the turn that does fulfill its condition(s).
Q. What does it mean that you can play a card or ability as an “automatic ability”?
A. This means that you can play that card or ability if the conditions dictated by its play timing (“when [target] would be dealt damage” or “when [target] is about to be dealt damage”) are fulfilled, even if you don’t have priority. You can play such cards or abilities before the player with priority can play an instant action. However, if your opponent is the active player and also has automatic abilities with the same play timing, those get played first.
Q. Can you play 《Flying Shield》 in response to a 《Blaster Cannon》?
A. Yes. Previously, the answer was no, and you had to play 《Flying Shield》 in response to the damage resolution process created when 《Blaster Cannon》 resolves, not in response to when 《Blaster Cannon》 is played. Now you can play 《Flying Shield》 in direct response to your opponent playing 《Blaster Cannon》.
Q. Can you reduce the damage dealt by a 《Embrace of Eons》 to 0 with a 《Rite of Redirection》?
A. Not anymore. Previously, you could play 《Rite of Redirection》 in response to the damage resolution process created after 《Embrace of Eons》 resolves (《Embrace of Eons》 is no longer in the gate at this point, so it’s restriction preventing either player from adding cards or abilities to the gate is no longer in effect).
Now, damage is dealt in the process of resolving 《Embrace of Eons》. Because of its effect that restricts both players from adding any other card or ability to the gate, there is no window for you to play 《Rite of Redirection》 before the damage is dealt to the target.
Q. If the effect of a previously played《Rite of Kami's Scorn》 is waiting to go off and the opponent plays an 《Embrace of Eons》, will its damage be reduced to 0?
A. Yes. You cannot play 《Rite of Kami’s Scorn》 in response to 《Embrace of Eons》 because of the latter’s restriction, but if the 《Rite of Kami’s Scorn》 was played beforehand and is still waiting on the “next damage dealt”, then since that is not an ability which gets added to the gate, it still can reduce the damage of 《Embrace of Eons》 to 0.
Q. If the effect of a previously played《Rite of Kami's Scorn》 is waiting to go off and the opponent puts a 《Lucifer, the Lightbringer》 into play, will the effect reduce the damage from 《 Lucifer, the Lightbringer》’s enter play ability to 0?
A. No, since 《Lucifer, the Lightbringer》’s ability prevents its damage from being reduced. In this case, this damage is considered to not fulfill the conditions specified by the damage reduction effect of 《Rite of Kami’s Scorn》. Hence, the effect does not go off, and it will instead remain in the game, to trigger off of the next source of damage instead (assuming it can be reduced).
Q. When you are being attacked by a 《Oumagatsuhi, Dragon Oni of Calamity》 and it is about to destroy a card in your set zone, can you play that card in response if it’s a 《Rite of Redirection 》? What about if it was a 《Rite of Kami’s Scorn》 or a 《Shields Up》?
A. All three cards can be played in response. Previously, 《Rite of Redirection》 could not be played (no damage resolution process in the gate to respond to), 《Rite of Kami’s Scorn》 could be played but did nothing (again, no damage resolution process in the gate to reduce the damage of), and only 《Shields Up》 could be played normally. However, with this update, all of them can be played as automatic abilities or instant actions in response to the attack.
Destruction
The destruction mechanic has also been revisited. The primary change is that like the damage resolution process, the destruction resolution process that previously resolved the destruction of a card has been removed from the rules. Now, card destruction is a game action that is immediately performed when an effect instructs you to do so or when a unit fulfills any condition for its destruction (i.e. has more damage than its HP or its HP is at 0).
In terms of gameplay, the thing to remember is that destruction from effect damage also occurs during the resolution of the source of the damage.
Q. How many times does a 《Exosuit Titan Gashadokuro》 with 2 charges get destroyed when it becomes the target of a 《Sword of Bruncvík》?
A. 《Exosuit Titan Gashadokuro》 will be destroyed two times, assuming its controller uses its Charge Shield ability twice to keep it in play. The card destruction game action will trigger each time lethal damage is dealt during the resolution of 《Sword of Bruncvík》 (which deals 2 damage twice).
Summon Cap
Rules for summon cap have been revisited, but the primary change is now you just reduce your summon cap for the turn when you normal summon a unit by however much it counts towards your summon cap, instead of comparing the number of times you normal summoned this turn with the value of your summon cap.
-Effects that change a player’s summon cap now simply increase or decrease it. Relevant cards such as 《Melror, Reclusive Demon Lord》 have received an errata to reflect this. Instead of changing your summon cap to 3, 《Melror, Reclusive Demon Lord》 now increases your summon cap by 1, making it useful even if you are using a ruler like Shuriken which has a summon cap of 3 by default.
Effects That Add Abilities VS. Effects That Remove Abilities
Previously, effects that add abilities and remove abilities were resolved at the same time, which made it unclear what happens when the same unit is subject to both. With this update, effects that remove abilities occur after effects that add abilities, which basically means that effects that remove abilities are prioritized over effects that add abilities.
Q. If an allied 《Alice, Wonderland's Champion 》 has a 《A7 "Humpty Dumpty" the SentinelA7 "Humpty Dumpty" the Sentinel》 as a charge and the opponent has a 《Popo-chan of the Hachi-Shaku》 in play, does 《Alice, Wonderland’s Champion》 have Charge Shield during the opponent’s turn?
A. No. 《A7 "Humpty Dumpty" the SentinelA7 "Humpty Dumpty" the Sentinel》 grants Charge Shield to your 《Alice, Wonderland’s Champion》, but the ability of your opponent’s 《Popo-chan of the Hachi-Shaku》 to remove all of your units’ abilities outside of your main phase takes priority. Hence, your 《Alice, Wonderland's Champion 》 will have no abilities during your opponent’s turn, including Charge Shield.
Set Cap
Vol. 5 introduces 《21. U - United》, the first ruler with a limit on how many times they can set a card during their turn, and rules have been added to support this. Basically, some rulers may have a “set cap” defined for them like a summon cap. A set cap works basically the same as the summon cap but for setting cards into your set zone.
-If your ruler has no set cap defined, it is infinite. You have no limit on the number of times you can set cards during your turn. Currently, you only need to worry about the set cap if you are playing 《21. U - United》.
-If your ruler specifies a set cap as part of its Start of Turn actions, reduce your set cap by 1 for the turn each time you set a card as a basic main phase action. If doing so would reduce your set cap to less than 0, then you cannot set that card.
-A set cap gets reset as part of the Start of Turn actions, much like the summon cap.
-Setting a card through an effect does not count towards your set cap, much like how special summoning does not count towards your summon cap.
In-Play Level Cap
《21. U - United》 also introduces the “in-play level cap”, which restricts the total combined level of allied units that a ruler can have in play simultaneously. Basically, if your ruler has an in-play level cap defined for them, then you have to keep the total level of all your allied units equal to or below that number.
-Rulers with no in-play level cap defined have an unlimited in-play level cap. Currently, you only need to worry about an in-play level cap if you are playing 《21. U - United》.
-Going over your in-play level cap is functionally similar to having overlapping units in a single attack or defense zone, and they are both resolved as Rules Effects (so basically, they are dealt with immediately whenever the game is not in the middle of resolving a card or ability).
Whenever the total combined level of all allied units in play is higher than your level cap, you must resolve the Exceeding In-Play Level Cap rules effect. You must select an allied unit in play of level 1 or higher and put it into the graveyard, and keep repeating this process until the total combined level of your allied units drops to equal or less than your level cap.
-If you go over your level cap when putting a new unit into play, you must prioritize allied units that were already in play when selecting a unit to put into the graveyard for the above. Basically, you can’t summon a unit to take advantage of its enter play ability and then immediately send it to the graveyard to keep your existing units in play.
Q. When playing a ruler with an in-play level cap of 4, can I keep a level 5 unit like 《Uroboros, Gyre of Torment》 in play if I also have an allied unit in play with negative levels like 《Yadoukai of the Dark Roads》?
A. Yes, since the total combined level of 《Uroboros, Gyre of Torment》(level 5) and 《 Yadoukai of the Dark Roads》 (level -1) is not greater than your in-play level cap (4). However, you will have to immediately deal with exceeding your level cap as soon as your 《Yadoukai of the Dark Roads》 leaves play or you add another unit of level 1 or higher.
Rules Clarifications & Adjustments
Gaining Control of a Card Outside of Play
The updated rules now properly handle what happens when you are instructed to gain control of something that exists outside of the play area.
Q. If you have a 《Xiannu of the Three Sisters》 in play and you use the 【OD】 ability of your 《 Heddie Headhunter, Syndicate Recruiter》 from your drive zone, does your opponent gain control of your 《Heddie Headhunter, Syndicate Recruiter》?
A. Yes, but because gaining control of a unit that exists outside of the play area involves special summoning it into play and 《Xiannu of the Three Sisters》 prevents your opponent from special summoning units, in this case 《Heddie Headhunter, Syndicate Recruiter》 is just sent to its owner’s graveyard.
Geared Up
Rules regarding the Gear Up keyword ability and the state of being Geared Up have been cleaned up to reduce confusion.
Q. If you use 《Soulforge Aura》 to grant Breakthrough to your ruler that is Geared Up, does that get applied to the unit card or ruler card?
A. If any effect that is not damage is applied to a card that is Geared Up, it gets applied to the unit card. Hence, if the two cards become no longer Geared Up after 《Soulforge Aura》 is resolved, then the Breakthrough is not passed on to the ruler.
However, if a ruler granted Breakthrough with 《Soulforge Aura》 then uses Gear Up, the resulting Geared up cards will also have Breakthrough (the STK value for this Breakthrough should be provided by the unit card on top).
Adding Cards as Charges
We expanded the rules regarding what happens when cards are added as charges to another card in play.
-When an opponent’s card is added as a charge to a card you control, the controller of the card that is now a charge is changed to you.
-If an effect says that a card should be added as a charge to another card, but the latter is no longer in play, the former card is sent to its owner’s graveyard.
-Set cards cannot gain charges.
Cards Placed on Top of Decks
When a card would be moved from 1 zone that is hidden for 1 or more players to another zone that is also hidden for 1 or more players, normally that card must be revealed to all players to finish the movement. This means that when putting a card from your hand to the deck, you usually have to reveal it first. However, starting with this update, if you are specifically putting a card back on top of a deck, you do not need to reveal what it is to the other player(s).
This should make cards like 《Bob the Striker》 much more interesting to use.
Ongoing Effects
When a card or ability applies an ongoing effect to cards in play, cards that enter play after that card or ability is resolved do not get that ongoing effect applied to them, even if they fulfill the conditions of the original card or ability.
For example, any allied unit that enters play after you resolve a 《Glarak's Veil》 (“Allied units gain +3 HP until the end of turn.”) will not gain +3 HP.
Choosing Targets After a “Then,” or “If you do”
When a card or ability instructs you to choose a target or targets after “Then,” or “If you do,”, you do not choose the targets for that part of the card/ability as you play it. Instead, you choose those targets as instructed during the resolution of that card or ability.
-You can play these cards or abilities even if you have no valid targets to choose for the part that comes after “Then,” or “If you do,”.
Start of Turn Actions
The Start of Turn actions of a ruler have been clarified that they do not count as playing abilities. Hence, they are performed without getting added to the gate. If a player wants to play an instant action before Start of Turn actions are done, there is a gate resolution process right before Start of Turn actions are performed.
Gaining the Same Keyword Ability Twice
Starting with this update, cards cannot gain any keyword ability that they already have if the content of the two keyword abilities are exactly the same. Basically, a unit that has Breakthrough can’t gain another instance of Breakthrough.
Modified Keywords and Keyword Abilities
Breakthrough
Updated Rules Text: “At the end of the damage step, if this unit/ruler is a unit/ruler that is attacking the central column, and if the card that this attacker battled with is no longer present in that column, and if this unit/ruler has not dealt combat damage to your opponent’s ruler with this attack, then this unit/ruler deals damage equal to its STK to your opponent’s ruler.”
Previously, damage from Breakthrough could be prevented if another unit was immediately summoned into the defense zone after the previous one was destroyed by the attacking unit with Breakthrough. Now, if the same unit that the attacker with Breakthrough was attacking is no longer in the defense zone when resolving this keyword ability, Breakthrough’s STK damage is still dealt even if that defense zone has a new occupant.
Double Attack and Triple Attack
Updated Rules Text: “At the end of a combat in which this unit attacked, if it has attacked less than (number) times this turn, ready this unit.”
Previously, these keyword abilities were triggered when the unit attacked, but were actually resolved at the end of that combat. Now they are both triggered and resolved at the end of combat.
Deadly
Updated Rules Text: “When this unit deals combat damage to another unit, at the end of the damage step, destroy the latter.”
Previously, the comprehensive rules and the one unit with this keyword ability had different timings listed for when the ability kicked in and destroyed the unit being attacked. Now, the comprehensive rules have been fixed to be the same as what is written on cards, so Deadly destroys the unit being attacked at the end of the damage step.
Forced Reveal
Previously, the timing of when Forced Reveal cards must be played was overly complicated. Now, they are played at the same time that triggered automatic abilities are played. If there are multiple Forced Reveal cards and automatic abilities that need to be played, players play their cards and abilities in the order of their choice, 1 at a time starting with the active player.
Q. If you draw a 《TATARI-JYAAAAH!》 through the 【CNT】 ability of a 《Dragon Rider Reconnaissance》, do you have to play it before you can discard it?
A. No. You only play 《TATARI-JYAAAH!》 after the 【CNT】 ability of 《Dragon Rider Reconnaissance》 is resolved and you still have 《TATARI-JYAAAH!》 in your hand. If you discard the drawn 《TATARI-JYAAAH!》 from your hand as you resolve this 【CNT】 ability, you will not have to play 《TATARI-JYAAAH!》.
For a full list of changes made to the comprehensive rules in this update, please check the Update Summary section in the very back of the comprehensive rules.