Summoning in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Getting monsters onto the field is the heart of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Summoning methods fall into two groups: things you can do only once per turn (your Normal Summon or Set) and things you can do as often as the cards allow (Special Summons). For the different card types referenced here, see our Card Types guide.

Once-Per-Turn Summons

Normal Summon: Play a monster from your hand face-up in Attack Position. Most Level 1-4 monsters can be Normal Summoned with no cost.
Normal Set: Play a monster from your hand face-down in Defense Position. A Set monster is not considered summoned yet; it can later be flipped up. You may Normal Summon or Normal Set once per turn, not both.
Tribute Summon: To Normal Summon a high-Level monster, you must Tribute monsters you control first: 1 Tribute for Level 5-6, and 2 Tributes for Level 7 or higher. Doing this face-down is called a Tribute Set.

Flip Summon

You can flip your own face-down Defense Position monster into face-up Attack Position without using a card effect. This is a Flip Summon. You cannot Flip Summon a monster the same turn it was Set.

Special Summons

A Special Summon is any way of putting a monster on the field other than a Normal Summon or Set. There is no per-turn limit. A Special Summoned monster goes to the field in your choice of face-up Attack or Defense Position. Each Extra Deck summon method is its own kind of Special Summon.

Fusion Summon

Activate a Summoning card (such as Polymerization), send the listed Fusion Materials to the Graveyard, and place the Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck.

Synchro Summon

During your Main Phase, send 1 face-up Tuner monster plus any number of other face-up monsters to the Graveyard, where the sum of their Levels equals the Synchro Monster's Level exactly. Then summon the Synchro Monster.

Xyz Summon

Stack two or more monsters of the same Level as Xyz Materials, then place the Xyz Monster on top in the Extra Monster Zone. Materials stay attached underneath and are detached to pay for the monster's effects.

Link Summon

Send face-up monsters from your field to the Graveyard equal to the Link Monster's Link Rating, matching its material recipe, then place the Link Monster. A Link Monster used as material can count as 1 monster or as its own Link Rating.

Pendulum Summon

With a Pendulum Monster in each of your two Pendulum Zones, once per turn you can Special Summon multiple monsters from your hand (and face-up Pendulum Monsters from your Extra Deck) whose Levels fall between your two Pendulum Scales.

Ritual Summon

Activate the matching Ritual Spell Card, Tribute monsters whose Levels meet the requirement, and Special Summon the Ritual Monster from your hand.

Important: "Properly" Special Summoning

Extra Deck monsters must be summoned by their proper method first before they can be Special Summoned again by another card. For example, if a Synchro Monster reaches the Graveyard without ever being Synchro Summoned, you cannot revive it with a Spell, because it was never properly summoned.

Extra Monster Zone & Link Arrows

Monsters summoned from the Extra Deck normally must go to the Extra Monster Zone. Link Monsters change this: any of your Main Monster Zones that a Link Monster's arrow points to can also receive Extra Deck monsters. (Monsters that started in the Extra Deck but are being summoned from the Graveyard or banishment go to a Main Monster Zone and do not need an arrow.)

Next, learn how monsters fight and how effects resolve against each other in Battles, Chains & Spell Speed, or review the card types.