Basic FAQ: Phases & Steps

Each player's turn is comprised of six phases. These six phases continually cycle, alternating between players until a winner is declared. Strictly speaking, you must declare when you are entering or leaving a phase, and a phase can only be left if both players agree.



Draw Phase
During the Draw Phase, the Turn Player draws 1 card from his/her Deck. This is the very first thing that happens during the Draw Phase, which means an opponent cannot activate a card before the Turn Player draws a card. Some card effects, however, such as that of "Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi", will activate during the Draw Phase, before the Turn Player can draw a card.

If the Turn Player's Deck Zone contains no cards when he/she enters the Draw Phase, and if he/she is required to draw a card, then he/she loses the Duel.

Trap Cards and Quick-Play Spell Cards may be activated in this Phase, after the Turn Player has drawn a card.

Standby Phase
The Standby Phase happens immediately after the Draw Phase. Some cards state that certain actions are to take place in this Phase, such as the effects of "Treeborn Frog", "Royal Writ of Taxation" "Bowganian", "Legendary Fiend" and "Armed Dragon LV3" , as well as the Maintenance Costs for other cards, like "Messenger of Peace" and "Fairy Box". The Turn Player may decide in which order any of these actions are performed. There are some cards that can only be activated in the Standby Phase, such as "Curse of Fiend".

Trap Cards, Quick-Play Spell Cards and monster Quick Effects may be activated in this Phase.

Main Phase 1
In Main Phase 1, the Turn Player may:

-Normal Summon, Tribute Summon, or Set a monster.

-Special Summon a monster(s).

-Manually change the Battle Position or perform a Flip Summon on a Monster Card, provided it was not Set or Summoned this turn.

-Activate effects, such as those of "Barrel Dragon" or "Blowback Dragon".

-Activate or Set Spell and/or Trap Cards of any speed. Quick-Play Spell Cards and Trap Cards cannot be activated in the turn they are Set.

If a particular monster wasn't Summoned this turn, the Turn Player can flip it face-down using its effect (such as with "Guardian Sphinx" or "Swarm of Scarabs"), and then perform a manual Flip Summon on it, since the rules state that only one manual Battle Position change may be performed per turn; Battle Position changes by effects do not count towards this.

After Main Phase 1 has ended, the Turn Player may choose to enter the Battle Phase. If he/she chooses not to, the player automatically proceeds to the End Phase (he/she may NOT enter Main Phase 2).

Battle Phase
The Battle Phase is the Phase in which battles are conducted. A Battle Phase can be conducted every turn except the first turn of the Duel, after the Turn Player's Main Phase 1. It is split into four main areas:
Start Step
Battle Step
Damage Step (includes Damage calculation)
End Step

Start Step
In the Start Step, the Turn Player declares that he/she is entering the Battle Phase. Either player may activate Trap Cards and/or Quick-Play Spell Cards at this time.

Battle Step
In the Battle Step of the Battle Phase, the Turn Player selects, and announces 1 monster he/she wishes to attack with, and either targets 1 of the opponent's monsters he/she wishes to attack, or, if he/she is able to, announces that he/she wishes to attack the opponent's Life Points directly.
When an attack is declared, the Turn Player retains Priority to activate effects. At this time he/she is free to activate cards that perform an action when a monster attacks or any other effect with timing he/she can meet.

If the Turn Player decides that he/she will pass, the opponent is given a chance to activate effects that respond to the attack ("Sakuretsu Armor", "Mirror Force", etc.) or any other effects with timing he/she can meet.

If the Turn Player passes, and the opponent passes as well, the chance to activate any more cards that activate in response to an attack is GONE.

Example 1
The Turn Player declares an attack with a monster and passes priority. The opponent responds with his Set "Sakuretsu Armor". The Turn Player then Chains "Trap Jammer". Neither player has a response, so "Trap Jammer" negates and destroys "Sakuretsu Armor".
The opponent then wants to activate another copy of "Sakuretsu Armor", but he/she cannot. The response window is closed. It is no longer possible to activate cards like "Sakuretsu Armor" in response to this attack.

Example 2
The Turn Player declares an attack with a monster and passes priority. The opponent responds with his Set "Sakuretsu Armor". The Turn Player then Chains "Trap Jammer". Neither player has a response, so "Trap Jammer" negates and destroys "Sakuretsu Armor".
The opponent then wants to activate "Book of Moon", and he/she can, because "Book of Moon" does not have to respond to an attack in order to be activated. The initial response window has passed, but since the Turn Player cannot enter the Damage Step until both players agree to do so, other cards may still be activated.

Example 3
The Turn Player declares an attack with a monster and passes priority. The opponent passes back. The Turn Player then wants to activate "Magician's Circle", but he/she cannot. The chance to respond to the attack is over, because both players passed. If the Turn Player had wanted to ensure the activation of his "Magician's Circle", he/she should have retained priority and activated it when he/she first declared an attack.

Example 4
The Turn Player declares an attack. He/She retains priority to activate "Magician's Circle". The opponent responds with "Seven Tools of the Bandit". The Turn Player passes, so the Chain resolves, and "Magician's Circle" is negated and destroyed. The chance to activate effects that respond to the attack declaration has passed.
The Turn Player then activates "Enemy Controller", using its first effect, and targets the monster he/she was planning to attack. The opponent Chains "Ring of Destruction", targeting the same monster the Turn Player selected. Neither player activates any further effect, so the Chain resolves. "Ring of Destruction" destroys its target, and "Enemy Controller" loses its target and its effect because its target was removed by "Ring of Destruction".

Now that the attack target has been removed from the field, a replay occurs. The Turn Player must redirect their attack.

In the Battle Step, "Book of Moon" can be used on a vulnerable monster that has had an attack declared against it. The monster will flip face-down, and if no other actions are declared, it will flip face-up during the Damage Step. This way, Flip Effects can be re-used, and since the number of monsters on the field (and therefore, the number of potential attack targets) has not changed, a replay is not triggered.

The Battle Step doesn't immediately proceed to the Damage Step after both players pass. Players can still activate cards or card effects in the Battle Step. However, at this point it is too late to use cards that need to respond to an attack. Other cards may still be used if their timing and speed is correct, though.

Damage Step
During the Damage Step, of the Battle Phase, the damage is calculated from the declared attack. If the defending monster is face-down, it is flipped face-up first during this Phase. If the defending monster has a Flip Effect, it is applied after Damage calculation, but still within the Damage Step. The Flip Effect does not affect monsters that have already been destroyed as a result of Damage Calculation. This includes the monster itself, so a flipped "Penguin Soldier" that was destroyed in battle cannot select itself as a target since it has already been destroyed. This is because, even though the monster has not left the field, it has already been decided that the "Penguin Soldier" in question will be sent to the Graveyard.

In the Damage Step, only certain cards and effects may be activated. These include:
Counter Trap Cards can be activated in the Damage Step as they are Spell Speed 3 (regardless of whether they affect a monster's ATK/DEF or not).

Normal Trap Cards, Continuous Trap Cards, Quick-Play Spell Cards, and Quick Effect Monster Cards that alter the ATK and/or DEF of one or more monsters on the field ("Blast with Chain", "Rush Recklessly", "Castle Walls", "Reinforcements", "Shrink", "Honest", etc). A card that alters the ATK and/or DEF can only be activated up until the start of damage calculation. Also, the card must DIRECTLY affect ATK/DEF to be valid; you cannot activate "Scapegoat" during the Damage Step even if you control "United We Stand", for example, because "Scapegoat" does not directly change the ATK/DEF of any monsters.

Mandatory Trigger Effects ("King Tiger Wanghu").

Flip Monster Effects (which are mandatory by nature) ("Cyber Jar").

Quick Effect Monster Cards that negate the activation of other cards or effects ("Herald of Perfection, "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8").

Any card whose text specifically says it may be activated during the Damage Step ("Nutrient Z", "Kuriboh").

Cards that do not meet the activation criteria, but whom Konami have stated may be activated during the Damage Step ("Null and Void").

Cards that Special Summon monsters when destroyed in battle, such as "Shining Angel", "Mystic Tomato" and "Pyramid Turtle" all Special Summon monsters during the Damage Step, and as such, "Torrential Tribute" and "Bottomless Trap Hole" cannot be used against them, since these cards cannot be activated during the Damage Step. For the same reasons, "Royal Decree" cannot be activated in response to Trap Cards like "Skull Dice" during the Damage Step, since it does not alter ATK or DEF (if Royal Decree was already face-up prior to the Damage Step, though, then it will still negate cards such as "Skull Dice" during the Damage Step). The Flip Effects of Flip Effect Monsters such as "Cyber Jar" activate after Damage calculation if flipped face-up as a result of battle, but it is still within the Damage Step, so "Royal Oppression" cannot negate it. Also, certain cards prevent the activation of Spell and/or Trap Cards until the end of this step, such as the "Ancient Gear" monsters (with the exception of "Ancient Gear" and "Ancient Gear Cannon").

"Spellbinding Circle" cannot be used in the Damage Step since it does not change the ATK or DEF of its target. However, "Shadow Spell" can be used. Although "Shadow Spell" has the same attack prevention effect as "Spellbinding Circle", it lowers its target's ATK by 700.

At the end of the Damage Step, the Monster Card(s) destroyed as a result of battle are sent to the Graveyard, unless a card effect specifies that they go elsewhere, such as when "Macro Cosmos" or "Dimensional Fissure" is active.

End Step
Once all battles have been resolved by repeating the Battle Step and Damage Step Sub-Phases, the Turn Player may declare an end to the Battle Phase, resulting in the End Step.

Either player may activate Trap Cards, monsters' effects like "Alien Mother", "Miracle Flipper", "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon", "Sword Hunter", "Scrap Worm", "Protector of the Founders, Tyrus", "Dark Diviner" and/or Quick-Play Spell Cards at this time. The effects of "Gladiator Beast" monsters also take place during the End Step.

Main Phase 2
After the Battle Phase, the Turn Player enters Main Phase 2. In this Phase, any action that could normally be performed in Main Phase 1 can occur, as long as the requirements are met (i.e. no more than 1 Normal Summon or Set).

In Main Phase 2, the Turn Player may:
-Normal Summon, Tribute Summon, or Set a monster if you have not already done so in Main Phase 1.

-Special Summon a monster(s).

-Manually change the Battle Position of a monster, provided that monster did not declare an attack during the Battle Phase, and provided that it was not Set, Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned this turn.

-Perform a Flip Summon on a Monster Card, provided it was not Set or Summoned in Main Phase 1.

-Activate effects, such as those of "Barrel Dragon" or "Blowback Dragon" if they have not been activated in Main Phase 1.

-Activate effects like "Cannon Soldier's" effect that can only be activated during the Main Phase, but can be used more than once per turn.

-Activate or Set Spell and/or Trap Cards of any speed. Quick-Play Spell Cards and Trap Cards cannot be activated in the turn they are Set.

If a particular monster wasn't Summoned this turn, the Turn Player can flip it face-down using its effect (such as with "Guardian Sphinx" or "Swarm of Scarabs"), and then perform a manual Flip Summon on it, since the rules state that one manual Battle Position change may be performed per turn.

The only cards available to skip this phase are "Flashbang", "Terminal World" and "Cardcar D".

End Phase
Once Main Phase 2 (or Main Phase 1 if no Battle Phase was conducted) has been completed, the player proceeds to the End Phase. Any card effects that resolve in this Phase now take effect, such as "Change of Heart" or "Brain Control". The Turn Player gets to decide in which order any effect they own resolves. In addition, the Turn Player may also have to pay maintenance costs for cards such as "Clear World".

If the Turn Player has seven or more cards in his/her hand at this time, he/she must discard to the Graveyard cards until they have only six cards in their hand. This action is the very last thing to happen in any End Phase.

If an action is to be taken "at the end of the End Phase", such as the wear-off of the temporary 3000 ATK boost of "Theinen the Great Sphinx", it is, predictably, the very last thing to happen in this Phase before the Hand Limit Discard occurs.