Contents
Trigamon PCG Phase System
Unlike the Yu-Gi-Oh! game upon which the PCG is based, Trigamon uses a slightly different phase system. The Draw Phase is replaced with the new "Start Phase", which is not just a renaming. This is done because some Yu-Gi-Oh! cards skip the Draw Phase, a mechanic that we want to avoid altogether in Trigamon. Below, we list the different phases in each turn in Trigamon, as well as what can be done in each phase, and provide a flowchart for the progress of each turn.
It's important to note that the typical turn only follows the black arrows. Following the blue arrows is only done when instructed by card effect.
- Start Phase
- Activate cards and the effects of cards on the field.
- Activate effects above Speed 2.
- Activate skill effects specific to Start Phase.
- Draw 1 card to end the Start Phase (or enter Dread Phase)
- Standby Phase
- Activate effects above Speed 2.
- Activate skill effects specific to Standby Phase.
- Main Phase (1, 2, 3)
- Activate cards and the effects of cards on the field.
- Activate or set cards from your hand.
- Perform a Normal Summon/Set (one per turn only)
- Perform an Assist Summon (one per turn only)
- Perform Extra Deck and Permutation Summons
- Set Stream Triggers
- Use Skill
- Turn face-down cards in your Graveyard or your Removed from play zone face-up
- Battle Phase (Primary and Residual)
- Activate effects above Speed 2.
- Attack with cards capable of doing so
- Turn face-down cards in your Graveyard or your Removed from play zone face-up
- Clean-Up Phase
- Activate cards and the effects of cards on the field.
- Activate effects above Speed 2.
- Return set non-entity cards to hand
- End Phase
- Activate effects above Speed 2.
- Activate effects specific to End Phase.
- End turn.
- Duel Start
- Draw hand.
- Apply "At start of the Duel" effects
- Dread Phase
- Activate effects above Speed 2.
- Perform an exit procedure.
- Break Phase
- (whatever the card effect allows you to do)
About Dread and Break Phases
Dread Phase should be used exclusively to force a stalemate, in the case where that player would lose if the turn would continue as normal. While a player is in Dread Phase, that player's opponent(s) turns go on an infinite loop, until the player is able to perform an exit procedure. (I'll list these when I find them in my notes...) If both players are in Dread Phase, the Duel is a draw.
Break Phase is entered by an only by a card effect. Once the effect concludes, exit Break Phase. Break Phase also takes parameters, which I will post when I find my notes...
Trigamon Card Types
While Yu-Gi-Oh! uses only Spell, Trap, and Monster Cards, Trigamon can get a bit more complicated. This is partially due to the nature of the PCG in it's expanding upon Yu-Gi-Oh! As a child I had both Pokemon™ and Yu-Gi-Oh!™ cards, and I've thought long and hard about how to combine them together, or what it would even look like if the radically different games were effectively unified. The PCG allows this to a certain degree, however it increases the potential complexity by at least a full order of magnitude, although it's a small price to pay for inclusion.
It's important to note that this list is by no means complete. Other card types will be added as time goes on. Note that all non-Entity cards have special icons that indicate their function.
- Formula Cards (Speed 1)
- Spell Cards
- Trap Cards
- Trainer Cards
In Trigamon, the Spell/Trap Zone is now the Formula Zone. Formula cards include both Spell and Trap Cards, as well as Trainer cards (from Pokemon). Formula Cards have one (or more) icons which determine how they are to be played.
- Jumper Cards
- Delta Cards
- Energy Cards
Jumper Cards are odd because they never stay on the field long, unless they attach themselves to another card. Jumper cards are activated in the "Activator Zone", but then return to the hand or attach to another card. If a Jumper Card is continuous, it will always be revealed while in the player's hand after activation, and it's effect will only be active while it is in that state.
- Entity Cards
- Actor Cards
- Standard Actor
- Synchro Actor
- Xyz Actor
- Monster Cards
- Standard Monster
- Fusion Monster
- Ritual Monster
- Synchro Monster
- Advance Synchro Monster (aka "Accel Synchro")
- Gamma Synchro Monster
- Reverse Synchro Monster (aka "Dark Synchro")
- Xyz Monster
- Wxyz Monster
- Link Monster
- Fission Monster
- Permutation Monster
- Parity Monster
- Actor Cards
The following table explains the icons of formula cards. Note that some cards can belong to multiple subtypes, (although pictures might lack multiple icons due to design restrictions, look at card text)
| Subtype | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Formula card. Leaves zone in which activated after activation resolves. | ||
 |
Faster in some way than Normal Formula Cards, whether it be being Speed 2 in the case of Spell and Trainer Cards, or being able to be activated in the next phase instead of having to wait until the next turn in the case of Quick-Play Traps. | |
 |
Counter cards are designed to counter a player action. They are always one Speed above the Speed of normal cards of the given type. | |
 |
Stays in the zone that it was activated in until an effect removes it, and effect can only be used while the card is in that zone. | |
 |
Targets an Entity card in order to be activated, and then remains on the field until it is destroyed or the targeted Entity card leaves the field. In the case of Equip Spells and Equip Traps, both are destroyed if the Entity that they are equipped to is flipped face-down. Equip Trainer cards are not destroyed if the Entity is flipped face-down, and even follow the Entity card back to the hand. (But not the Deck). | |
 |
Played in the Field Zone. Each player can only have one field card active at a time, and playing another (setting or activating) removes the active one. | |
| Played in the Field Zone. There can only be one Stadium card active at a time, and playing another (setting or activating) removes the active one. | ||
 |
Acts like a normal card, but summons an Ritual Entity Card. | |
| Moves cards in and/or out of the Duel. | ||
| Each player can only activate 1 Supporter Card per turn. | ||
| Speed 4 |
Jumper Icon Table
The following table explains the icons of Jumper cards. Note that the meaning is different from Formula cards
| Subtype | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Jumper card. Played in Activator Zone and returns to hand after activation resolves. | ||
|
Faster in some way than Normal Jumper Cards. (We don't plan on making any of these) | |
|
Counter cards are designed to counter a player action. They are always one Speed above the Speed of normal cards of the given type. (We don't plan on making any of these) | |
|
Stays revealed in hand after activation resolves. Effect is only active while card is revealed in hand. | |
|
Targets an Entity card in order to be activated, and then is attached to the Entity card. Usually sent to the Graveyard when Entity leaves the field, or can follow Entity back to the hand. | |
|
Would give an Entity card the effect of a Field Formula Card. (For an example of this, see Maiden of the Aqua) (We don't plan on making any of these) | |
| Would give an Entity card the effect of a Stadium Formula Card. (We don't plan on making any of these) | ||
|
Acts like a normal card, but summons an Ritual Entity Card. | |
| Moves cards in and/or out of the Duel. | ||
| Each player can only activate 1 Supporter Card per turn. | ||
| Speed 4 (We don't plan on making any of these) |
Trigamon Summon Types
There are 5 types of Summons in Trigamon.
| Summon Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Normal Summon | Summon a monster in Attack, Defense, or Core Position. Usually you can only Normal Summon from your hand, and only once per turn, however some card effects allow you to Normal Summon multiple times or from other places. This is different from Yu-Gi-Oh! where you can only Normal Summon in Attack Position! |
| Flip Summon | Whenever a monster is flipped face-up, it is flip-summoned. This is different from Yu-Gi-Oh! where monsters flipped face-up from battle are not flip-summoned. |
| Assist Summon | A hybrid of Normal and Special Summons. There are two main scenarios when a Entity gets Assist Summoned. The first is when a Entity cannot be Normal Summoned or Set, and lists no specific way to Special Summon it. This includes Main-Deck Entity Cards that lack levels. The second is Assist Summoning from the bench. Any card that can respond to Normal AND Special Summons can do the same with Assist Summons. |
| Special Summon | Used to Summon Entities via effects or from the Extra Deck. |
| Hyper Summon | Similar to a Special Summon, but cannot be negated. (except possibly by cards that activate in real time, other effects miss the timing) |
Tributing
When Normal Summoning, Setting, or Assist Summoning, some monsters will require tributes. This depends on their Level, Rank, or *shudders* Link Rating:
| Tributes | Normal Summon or Set | Assist Summon |
|---|---|---|
(0 < level < 4.8) |
ranks ≤ 2.5 |
|
(4.8 ≤ level ≤ 6.75) |
2.5 < ranks ≤ 7.5 Link-1 |
|
(6.75 < level < 9.82) |
7.5 < ranks ≤ 13.5 Link-2,3 |
|
(9.82 ≤ level ≤ 12.31) |
Link-4,5 |
|
(12.31 < level < 16.65) |
Link-6,7 |
|
(16.65 ≤ level < 25.0) |
Link-8 |
|
(25.0 ≤ level < 31.5) |
Link-9+ |
Ruling Changes
While the Trigamon PCG is designed to be compatible with the Yu-Gi-Oh!™ TCG, they are by no means the same game. Trigamon gets rid of many factors from Yu-Gi-Oh! such as "Missing the Timing".
Missing the Timing:In Yu-Gi-Oh!, sometimes optional card effects can "miss the timing" if another play is taking place *when* the effect would be activated. However, this only applies to certain effects: specifically those that use are phrased [when X you can do Y] (unless the word "immediately" is used?) and not those that are phrased [if X you can do Y]. It's very confusing, and in the PCG we hope to remedy this.
The Trigamon PCG is a lot more straightforwards with effect resolution. The only way to miss the timing is if a card effect specifically says to do so. This is because Trigamon allows plays to be simultaneous. However, how cards are phrased tells you the order that effects activate, although for the vast majority of cases, this will be completely inconsequential.
| Effect Wording or Scenario | What Happens? |
|---|---|
| As soon as X concludes perform Y. If a play Z is going on, Y and Z happen simultaneously. | |
| After X concludes, perform Y at the next possible opportunity. If a play Z is going on, Y waits until after Z. | |
| X and Y are performed simultanously | |
| Activate effects simultaneously. |
Not-Quite-Simultaneous Effects
When a card effects says to affect multiple cards, the cards are not affected at exactly the same time. However, this only applies when the destruction actually occurs and not when it would occur, for instance:
- Example: Dark Hole now does not destroy all monsters on the field at the same time. So if multiple Plant-Type monsters would be destroyed in this way, a card like "The World Tree" gains one counter for each Plant-Type monster that was destroyed. However, Starlight Road can still block Dark Hole because multiple cards "would be" destroyed.
- Example: Solemn Wishes now gives you 500 Life Points for each card you draw.
Note that an effect that can only activate when two things happen at once, now should be read as happening when two things happen in rapid succession.
The logic behind rule may sound a bit strange: but it's because the speed that information travels (the speed of light) is constant. A card can only be affect when the information reaches it to affect it. However, the rule is to deal with potential ruling issues coming from simultaneous effects.
Trigamon Effect Streams
Stream Effects can be brought into play card effects, but usually come from items (not cards) called Stream Triggers. These effects are generally weak, and can be toggled on an off at Speed 1.
More Coming Soon...
Trigamon Player Abilities (aka "Skills")
In Trigamon, players have special skills they can use during a duel, similar how they work in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links™ Not every Duel Links skill will be usable (as some are broken, luck-based (AKA: sacky), or don't really make sense in a physical card game). We are currently working on assembling a database of usable ones.
Players generally won't change their skill during a Duel, Match, or even a Tournament, (although there may be exceptions) and some skills may have multiple effects, such as "Option-Z/Casualize" (which does many things) or "Trace" which copies the opponent's skill.
Important Variables
While playing the Trigamon PCG, it's also important to keep track of other variables. While these variables are rarely used, it's still bad to be caught off guard. Some of these variables are:
- Blood-Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
- Some cards can cause a player to drink. Other cards may require it. If a card requires consumption, this effect can be blocked by relevant legislation depending on your location, or pre-existing medical conditions.
- G-Force
- Time of Day
- Who the head judge is
- Some card effect will change the head judge in the tournament. If the head judge changes, when the current judge reviewing the issue, the ruling can be appealed to the new head judge.
Status Conditions
Although it's extremely rare, some Trigamon cards can place status conditions on monsters (just like in Pokemon)
| Status Condition | Effect |
|---|---|
| DEF is halved. | |
| ATK is halved. | |
| Battle position cannot be changed (including by card effects, except those that use the word "force"). | |
| Cannot declare an attack. | |
| Cannot activate it's effect. | |
| Cannot select attack target: attack target is chosen randomly from all monsters on the field. |