CyberDramon's Digital Index -Digimon CCG

The previous article was for the rules, and this one is for an in-depth look at the cards, what they're used for, what would be the best ways to use certain cards, and so on... As stated in the last article, this article will be updated with new info when it's made available. (New info coming soon; check official erratas and clarifications in the meantime, as these articles are no longer up-to-date)

But now, on to the cards!

The order the cards will be looked at is Digimon, Digi-Modify, Digi-Destined, and Digivolve:

Digimon:

The Digimon cards each have several parts to them (Attack power, Defense power, Level, Digimon name, Special Effect, Digimon Group, Attack name, and Digivolution Requirements), 4 levels (Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega), and 3 strengths (Attack power, Defense power, and Special Effect).

We'll start off with Rookie Digimon. As you know from reading the previous article (if you did read it), Rookie Digimon are the only ones who can be brought Online during the Bring Online Phase, and are the base from which all other Digimon Digivolve from. Because of this, Rookie Digimon are probably the most important in the game, especialy early in the game. Rookie Digimon should also make up about 1/3 of all the Digimon cards in your deck, and should be about 1/5 of the cards on your entire deck. Too few Rookies in a deck is a very bad thing, I can assure you.

It seems that the balance of a Digimon's powers is slightly different from level to level... As you know, a Digimon has 3 main strengths: Attack power, Defense Power, and the Special Effect. On Rookies, it seems that when one of those powers is strong the other 2 is weak, and when the Special Effect is strong the Attack and Defense are averaged out, unlike some cards who have a high Attack and weak Defense or a weak Attack and high Defense.

It has been said that 'The best Defense is a good Offense', which is true most of the time. However, it's not always possible for a player to have a continual offense (or always be on the attack) in this game. That's why it's a good idea to have a balanced mix of Rookie cards with both high attacks and high defenses. I would avoid Rookies with a balanced Attack and Defense power, unless it's nessesary, because the Attack and Defense power usualy tends to be low enough so that they can't do or take much damage without a power boost (and power boosts generaly only last 1 attack unless it's provided by a Special Effect). It's also a good idea to have cards to make up for your Digimons' weaknesses...

It has also been said 'Never put all your eggs in 1 basket' (which simply means you should diversify so that if something goes wrong you're not left with nothing). The same is true in this game... : There are 3 different ways to boost a Digimon's Attack and Defense powers -Special Effect, Digi-Destined cards, and Digi-Modify cards (I'll go into them a little later on in the article).

Champion Digimon are generaly more powerful than Rookies is some aspect, whether it be a boosted Attack, Defense, or Special Effect. I can't say what exactly is boosted as a generic standard since Champions can usualy come from 1 to 3 different choices of Rookie, depending on the card. Champions usualy tend to have a better or more useful Special Effect though...

The power balance of Champions is pretty much the same as Rookies' power balances, except that Champions tend to have an Attack and Defense power that's pretty much equal when their Special Effect isn't all that good (except for strong Champions like Gatomon who has a decently high Defense, slightly weaker Attack, and a Special Effect that raises her Attack to decently high as well as the Attacks of all your other Animal Digimon). The Digimons' powers don't seem to increase *too* much from level to level, although the Special Effects seem to get better the higher level your Digimon is...

I suggest having the same amount of Champions in your deck as Rookies, or less Champions, but I advise against having in more... Like Rookies, Champions should make up about 1/3 of your Digimon cards and 1/5 of the total cards in your deck.

Ultimate Digimon generaly have the same power balance as Rookies, but with noticably higher powers... Ultimate Digimon also usualy only have about 2 to 3 Digimon in their Requirements (half of them have 2 Digimon and the other half has 3, on average) -there's only 1 Ultimate in the game so far that has a single Digimon in it's Requirements.

I suggest the amount of Ultimates in your deck being half the amount of Champions you have, unless you have a realy good strategy and you know exactly what you're doing (or almost exactly, anyway). If you want more Ultimates than half, I suggest having less Megas then. Ultimates should be about 1/6 of all the Digimon in your deck and 1/10 of the total cards in your deck.

Mega Digimon are generaly stronger than all other levels below it, and tend to have an Attack and Defense around the 1500 range. It also seems that this is averaged out across the Attack and Defense power so that if one is higher the other is lower, like DM-013 Imperialdramon (Fighter Mode) having an Attack of 1900 and a Defense of 1000, or DM-102 Diaboromon having an attack of 1900 and a Defense of 1200. Megas also tend to have a decently strong Special Effect regardless of the strength of their Attack and Defense power...

It also seems to me that the better a card is the higher the rarity on the card (making the powerful cards harder to get in the Booster packs than the average or weak cards). However, this is not to say that average or weak cards can't make a good deck... If you know how to use the cards wisely, what combos to pull when and with what cards, and the right timing to play Digi-Destined and Digi-Modify cards for maximum impact, your deck can be good regardless of how rare the cards are that are in it. There will be more on some combos later on in this article...

Digimon cards also have different coloured frames to show the difference between levels.. I'm not going to go into that since the cards also say which level the Digimon is without having to look at the frame...

The Digimon Group of a card is worth mentioning, not only because the background of the card's pic represents that card's Digimon Group, but because certain Special Effects and Digi-Destined cards effect Digimon from certain Groups. For example, some Digi-Destined cards give a power boost to all your Digimon in the Attack Row of a certain Group, while other Digi-Destined cards can give a power boost, but only to 1 Digimon.

For example, DD-001 Tai can give a +500 Attack boost to any 1 Digimon in your Attack Row. DD-008 Matt gives a +500 Attack boost to all the Digimon in your Attack Row from the Insectiod, Reptile, and Mammal groups. What's the significance of this? Well, I've found that a good deck may contain Digimon from various Groups, and if you have a Digi-Destined card that gives a power boost to all the Digimon in your Attack Row of certain Groups, and your deck happens to have many of those types of Digimon in it, you can play, say, 2 Digi-Destined cards to give all the Digimon in your Attack Row of the specific Groups a +1000 Attack. Since you're allowed up to 4 Digimon in your Attack Row, it's a little better than playing 8 Digi-Destined cards that increases any 1 Digimon's Attack by +500 to achieve the same result.

A Digimon's Level and Digivolution Requirements work together most of the time. The higher level the Digimon is, the more powerful it usualy is. The Digivolution order is usualy Rookie to Champion to Ultimate to Mega, although Gatomon can Digivolve to a few other Champions (what I consider a glitch in the game) and Megas can 'Digivolve' to more powerful Megas, like DM-033 Gallantmon + DV-005 Grani = DM-104 Gallantmon (Crimson Mode).

Rookies don't have Digivolve Requirements as they can be placed directly into the Digivolve Row during the Bring Online Phase. However, Rookies *do* have 4 Digimon in brackets in their Digivolve Requirements box... This is to show a Rookie's 'true line' for Special/Warp Digivolution. A Special Digivolution is done by placing the Rookie, as well as the Champion, Ultimate, and Mega whos name appears on that Rookie's card, all in 1 free slot in the Digivolve Row during the Digivolve Phase. That Rookie, Champion, and Ultimate then goes Offline and the Mega remains in that slot in the Digivolve Row. You also get 500 Data Points added to your total Data Points every time you make a Special/Warp Digivolution. One question that seems to be asked alot is if you need a free slot for each card in a Special Digivolution. The answer is 'no' -all 4 cards in a Special Digivolution get played from your hand during the Digivolve Phase to the same free slot in your Digivolve Row.

At this point in the game (series 1 -Eternal Courage), the only Requirement for a Digivolution is that the, or one of the, Digimon whos name is on the next-level card must be in the Digivolve Row (and if the Digimon is Champion or higher, you must not have Digivolved to it during that turn. You may only Digivolve a Digimon 1 level per turn unless the Digivolution is done through a Special Effect, like DM-001 Impmon's Special Effect or with the help of a Digivolve card, which allows you to skip a level or 2 when Digivolving). The only exception to this getting from DM-033 Gallantmon to DM-104 Gallantmon (Crimson Mode) because Gallantmon (Crimson Mode) specificaly states in it's Digivolve Requirements that you need Gallantmon + Grani. The only Grani card in the game so far is DV-005 and can only be used to Digivolve Gallantmon to Gallantmon (Crimson Mode). More on Digivolve cards later on.

It's important to note that you may only make 2 Digivolutions in the Digivolve Phase per turn, whether they be Special/Warp Digivolutions, Regular Digivolutions, or Digivolutions aided by a Digivolve card. It's interesting to note that you may bring Online up to 2 Rookie Digimon in the 'Bring Online Phase' and still do up to 2 Digivolutions (like Special/Warp Digivolutions) in the 'Digivolve Phase'. If you Do decide to bring Online 2 Rookies and also do 2 Special Digivolutions, then you'd have 4 new Digimon on your playmat in that turn instead of just 2 (or 3)...

Some of the Digimons' Special Effects may not make perfect sense... It's a good idea to remember that a Digimon's Special Effect works on common sense rather than 'lawyering rules', so an Effect may still be active on a Digimon after the Digimon who the Special Effect belongs to is Offline, like DM-001 Impmon's Special Effect (And I feel that I should note here that the Ultimate that Impmon Digivolves to with it's Special Effect may not attack or use it's Special Effect on the turn of the Digivolution. If the Special Effect triggers when the Digimon is attacked, then it can still be used since you can't be attacked during your turn and the the effect of Impmon's limitations on the new Ultimate is gone by the end of your turn).

Other things to remember about a Special Effect are: Special Effects are meant to be self-explanatory. If the Special Effect isn't, then it has to be activated at the start of your Attack Phase before any of your Digimon launch an attack. It lasts until the end of your turn, unless it boosts a Digimon's Defense power or does something during an opponent's turn (then it would last until the start of your next turn). Either way, you'd have to re-activate it at the start of your next Attack Phase, if you so desire. If you have to choose a Digimon or opponent to activate it on, that gets chosen at the start of your Attack Phase when you activate the Special Effect. (Remember, this only applies to Special Effects that aren't already self-explanitory)

For Special Effects in Multiplayer games, if the Special Effect effects 'the opponent', it means 1 of your opponents -you choose which one when you activate the Special Effect. Special Effects that effect 'all the opponent's Digimon' can only be applied to all the Digimon of 1 opponent, not all the Digimon of all opponents or a few Digimon from each opponent. Special Effects that apply to one of the opponent's Digimon apply to any 1 Digimon belonging to any opponent.

There are some rather good combos that can be pulled with Modify cards when used together in the right combination and timing...

Modify cards can do a range of different things, including (but not limited to):

Allow you to draw cards.
Stop your opponent from drawing cards (or as many cards).
Stop your opponent from performing an action, or limiting the action than can be performed, in a phase.
Add extra Data Points to your total, usualy with a price of some kind.
Make your opponent Offline one or more Digimon or Discard one or more cards, usualy with a price of some kind.
Add Attack power or Defense power to one, or all, of your Digimon.
Allow you to perform the same action as your opponent during your opponent's turn in a specific phase.
Change the location your opponent sends one or more cards too or draws one or more cards from.

And the list will probably grow as more cards are released.

One thing to remember is that the Modify cards are meant to be self-explanitory too. Also, once a card is played there is no take-backs -the action(s) must take place. Some cards, like MD-012 Gatling Arm, requires your opponent to perform an action and you to recieve an action, like your opponent having to discard 1 card from his/her hand and you getting 500 Data Points. In a case like this, you recieve the action whether or not your opponent can perform the action (if your opponent doesn't have any cards in his/her hand to discard, you still get that 500 Data Points).

For Multiplayer games, any Modify cards that effect 'the opponent' only effects one of your opponents, not all of your opponents -you choose which opponent when you play the card (if the card is played during your turn). If the card is supposed to be played during the opponent's turn, it effects the opponent whos turn it's played in.

Digi-Destined cards basicaly add Attack or Defense power to one or more of your Digimon in the Attack Row. Boost Attack cards add +350 Attack, +500 Attack, or Attack x2 (double's the attack and any other bonuses). It seems that +500 Attack cards are the only type that can add Attack power to any 1 Digimon or to all Digimon of a certain Group -all other Boost Attack cards only effect 1 Digimon in your Attack Row. Boost Attack cards last for a single Attack, and cards that increase more than 1 Digimon's Attack Power gives each of the appropriate Digimon the power boost for 1 attack (since a Digimon can only attack once per turn, the power boost lasting only 1 attack is appropriate).

Boost Defense cards give +300, +400, or +500 Defense, and only last 1 attack (with the exception of DD-020 Mimi which lasts a full turn). Why is that siginificant? Because a Digimon can be attacked more than once, as long as it's not by the same Digimon each time. Of course, to be able to be attacked more than once in a single turn the Digimon would had to have survived the previous attacks...

I should note here that the Digiqueue rules only apply to situations where both players are playing cards and/or activating Special Effects in response to other cards and/or Effects done by an opponent. If a player is playing cards and/or activating Special Effects without anything to do with any other player, then each card and Effect resolves in the order it's done in.

For an example: Say you have a Digimon in your Attack Row with an Attack Power of 1000. Now you play a +500 Attack card, then a second +500 Attack card, and then an Attack x2 card (before you've launched any attack). Your Digimon's power would raise to 1500, then 2000, and then double to 4000. Why? Because what you've done had nothing to do with any other player, so the cards and their effects resolve in the order they're played.

Now let's say that you decide to use your Digimon with an Attack of 4000 to attack an opponent's Digimon who has a Defense of 1700. You call the attack and your opponent plays a +500 Boost Defense card. Then you play a +500 Boost Attack card, your opponent plays another +500 Boost Defense card, then you decide to pass on playing anymore cards, and your opponent plays another three +500 Defense cards.

Because there's been interaction with another player now, the Digiqueue rules apply. The last card played was your opponent's three +500 Defense cards, so your opponent's Digimon's Defense power raises to 3200. Then your opponent's other +500 Defense card activates card activates raising your opponent's Defense to 3700. Then your opponent +500 Attack card activates raising your Digimon's Atack power to 4500. Then your opponent's +500 Boost Defense card, the first played in the Digiqueue, activates raising your opponent's Defense power to 4200.

Also notice how each player takes turns playing cards, and only one card each until one of the players passes? I did it that way for this example only. According to the Digiqueue rules, "Players take turns playing cards that activate effects.", and since it says 'cards', which is plural, a player may play more than 1 card before the opponent decides to play another card. Only after all the players that are involved in the Digiqueue have passed do the cards played in the Digiqueue resolve. This goes with the Digiqueue rules in the second paragraph of page 16 of the rulebook.

>>Digiqueue<<

The Digimon Collectible Card Game uses a "Last In, First Out"system to resolve effects that are triggered in response to other effects.

Players take turns playing cards that activate effects. Once both players have passed, the effects resolve from last played to first played. After being played, all cards are discarded to the owner's Offline pile.

I should also note that Digimon whos Special Effect activates when the Digimon is attacked activates directly after the attack is called and before any cards are played. Also, if the Special Effect states that you may draw x amount of cards when your Digimon is attacked, the cards may be drawn directly after the attack is called and before the attack is resolved, thus allowing you to potentialy use the cards you've just drawn to keep your Digimon from being defeated.

In Multiplayer games, it's a good idea to have a bunch of Defense-boosting cards and/or Digimon with a Special Effect that boosts another Digimon's Defense. Why? Because unless you're in a Team Game with another team of an equal number of players as your team, you're going to be defending more than you're going to be attacking (since you'd be up against more than 1 opponent). It's also a very good idea for players on the same team to have decks that compliment each other so that both players can work together instead of trying to defeat each opponent alone. Teamwork is a very powerful thing, and can be the difference between a win and a loss. I'll have more on 'Multiplayer' and 'Team Decks' in the next article.

Digivolve cards are, obviously, used for Digivolution. All the Digivolve cards in series 1, except DV-005 Grani, can be used to Digivolve to any Digimon of the higher level mentioned on the Digivolve card (Digivolve cards are meant to be self-explanitory too). Remember, you have to have enough cards in your hand to discard for payment for using the Digivolve card or you can't use it.

No, you cannot discard the Digivolve card you're using as part of that Digivolve card's payment.

Digi-Destined cards and Digi-Modify cards should each be about 1/5 of the cards in your deck. I can't tell you how many Digivolve cards should be in your deck since you're only allowed a maximum of 5 Digivolve cards in your deck at this point in the game, but if you're going to include Digivolve cards they should take the place of some of your Digi-Destined and/or Digi-Modify cards -not in place of your Digimon cards (unless you have less Digimon cards in your deck than suggested and you know exactly what you're doing).

There are various combos that can be made, some better than others in certain situations...

For example, if you use DM-032 Antylamon's and/or DM-065 Karatenmon's Special Effect and/or MD-011 Big Bang Hammer, you can do some serious damage to your opponent's hand. However, your opponent would be drawing 2 cards at the start of his/her turn, so the damage isn't lasting... Except when you play MD-016 Mysterious Wand too. That stops your opponent from drawing any cards during his/her 'Draw Phase' leaving him/her with whatever cards are left in his/her hand to work with during that turn.

Then again, there are Modify cards than can be played during an opponent's turn to increase your hand... MD-009 Spiritual Crystal allows you to draw 1 card for every Digimon in your opponent's Digivolve Row, and MD-001 Red Virus Bean allows you to draw 1 card for every Digimon in your opponent's Attack Row. If you have few, or no, Digimon in your Attack Row, your opponent may take the opportunity to move their Digimon so that there's 4 in the Attack Row for a massive assult. Since Spiritual Crystal gets played at the end of your opponent's 'Bring Online Phase', you get to draw cards before any Digivolution is made (which may be siginificant for the rumored DNA Digivolving that could be in series 2), and Red Virus Bean gets played at the end of your opponent's 'Move Phase', so it's before your opponent has a chance to attack.

Because you're allowed up to 3 copies of both MD-009 Spiritual Crystal and MD-001 Red Virus Bean, that means 3 copies of each you can play in a single turn, which can possibly increase your hand size dramaticaly. Also, since you get to draw the cards for Red Virus Bean before your opponent can carry in with his/her turn, you may draw a MD-007 Aero Wing or MD-018 Ice Arrow, of which you're also allowed 3 copies each, and which can be played at the end of your opponent's 'Move Phase' too thus stopping your opponent from attacking. In a case like that, which has happened to me before, the opponent thinking he's/she's taking a great opportunity to score some Data Points can be used to your advantage and increase the cards in your hand while stopping the opponent from attacking, thus costing you no damage. It was once said 'Turn your weaknesses into strengths'. ;-)

Another way of turning your weakness into strengths, or at least trying for a good bluff, would be with DM-007 Patamon, or any Digimon with a similar Special Effect. Because that Special Effect gives an extra Bonus to any Digi-Destined Boost Defense card you play on that Digimon, it's rather good as a strategic Digimon if you have any cards in your hand. If you're low on cards and don't want your Digimon to get defeated, you can move all the Digimon you want to keep safe to the Digivolve Row (within the limits of the rules), except Digimon like Patamon. The smart opponent will be able to see what you're up to with Patamon's Special Effect and either think you're bluffing and attack or not attack to be safe incase they don't have enough Boost Attack cards to make up for the high Defense you may suddenly have.

But the great thing is that you may or may not be bluffing, and they wouldn't know (especialy if you look worried when you play this strategy so they thing you're bluffing, but then find out when it's too late that you're not). However, I advize caution when using any strategies, combos, or anything of the like. For example, it'd be a bit unwise to try the Patamon strategy when your opponent has a Digimon like DM-074 Aquilamon in his/her Attack Row that stops you from playing Digi-Destined Boost Defense cards...

Another strategy that works is playing MD-027 King Device when your opponent has little, or no, Digimon on their Playmat and/or when you've reduced their hand size somehow (possibly with the first strategy I mentioned).

Playing MD-029 Knight Device (and possibly MD-028 Rook Device) when you have Digimon in your Attack Row that get a Defense bonus when attacked by an Animal Digimon may be a good way to prevent your opponent from attacking. However, if your opponent decided to attack anyway, having some Boost Defense cards handy to make sure your Digimon doesn't get defeated is a good idea.

There are plenty more combos and stratagies that can be played, but most of them are deck-specific. Try reading through all of the cards and seeing what you can do the most with when making a deck. It'll pay off, especialy when you 'think outside the box'. ;-) Although, I will have a few stratagies and combos for decks in the next article, since it'd be about deck combinations and all.

Hope this helps someone. :-)

-CyberDramon