Digimon TCG Guide: How to Play, Goals, Types of Cards, and Much More!

Digimon TCG won over many fans who watched the TV show when they were kids. The cards are beautiful, and stand out even when you compare them to other established TCGs in the market. Its metagame is also quite diverse, which is uncommon for other card games.

However, despite all of this, many players don't give Digimon TCG a chance because they believe they'll have to invest a lot of time just to start playing. They think learning the mechanics will be too hard, or that they'll need to memorize a whole new vocabulary just to play, for instance (and, so far, the cards are only available in English, which may be discouraging if it isn't your first language).

As someone who started playing at the end of 2023 and who now competes in local tournaments on a weekly basis, I can assure you: you don't need to worry about these details as much as you think. The Digimon TCG community is quite welcoming and loves helping beginners!

To give back to the community that welcomed me so warmly into this wonderful game, I'd like to pay it forward and teach new players how to play Digimon TCG!

Without further ado, let's go!

In this game, your goal is to defeat your opponent with your Digimon. You need to take down your opponent's defenses so you can defeat them by attacking them directly with your Digimon.

Don't worry - we'll go through every concept so that, at the end of the article, you'll know everything there is to know about this game.

There are 5 types of cards in Digimon TCG: Digimon, Digi-Eggs or Digitamas, Tamers, Options, and Tokens.

Digimon

Digimon are the most important cards in the game. With them, you'll attack your opponent or their Digimon.

Take a look at this Agumon and its most important traits:

Here are the details I listed above that you should keep in mind when looking at Digimon TCG cards:

- (1) Card Type;

- (2) Cost to Play;

- (3) Cost to Digievolve;

- (4) Digimon Power or DP;

- (5) Alternative Cost to Digievolve;

- (6) Digimon Effects;

- (7) Digimon Level;

- (8) Card Name;

- (9) Set Symbol, and

- (10) Inherited Effects.

The card type is quite straightforward: it determines the category that card belongs to.

Cost to play means the cost you'll need to pay to play the card directly on the board. Cost to Digievolve refers to how much you need to pay to Digievolve this card from a level 2 red egg.

Digimon Power or DP is how powerful that Digimon is. As for alternative cost, a card may or may not have it; if they do, you'll have to meet a specific condition to Digievolve that card. In this case, Agumon can Digievolve from any card called Koromon, regardless of its color. This is important because Digimon also come in different colors, so not every Agumon or Koromon is red.

Cards can also have effects, and require you to meet a condition or pay something to activate it. In this case, Agumon's effect activates at the start of your Main Phase.

Then, there's card level, name, and set - this Agumon is from the BT14 set and is the seventh card in this set, so its code is BT14-007.

As for Inherited effect, it is a unique mechanic. As you Digievolve your Digimon, the Digievolved Digimon can inherit effects, which are then stated in the text box at the bottom of the card. In this case, Agumon's effect is listed below Greymon when it Digievolves; this means it leaves an Inherited effect to the card above. Greymon wouldn't have any effect if we didn't consider the Inherited effect left by Agumon. And, when you evolve Greymon, it will also leave an Inherited effect to the next Digimon.

Digitamas

Digi-eggs or Digitamas (as they're usually called), are the most distinctive cards in this game. Firstly, you don't add them to your main deck. They also have a white background, while other cards (except for tokens) have a blue background, as such:

Digitamas are typically level 2 cards, and don't have any Digimon Powers because a Digimon at this level can only be played in a separate area on the board called the "breeding area". They often only have Inherited effects and a base, so you can start Digievolving your Digimon later on.

Tamers

Most Tamers have static effects, and really resemble Magic: The Gathering's enchantments;

Among them, a specific type of Tamer called Setter definitely stands out: these Tamers make sure you start your turn with a certain amount of memory, which is the resource you'll use to play anything in this game. They can't be attacked by Digimon and typically only leave the board when someone plays an effect that specifically hits Tamers.

Options

Options are card effects that you can activate for a cost. Furthermore, you can only play them as long as there is a Digimon or Tamer card in play with the same colors as them. Most have "security" effects, like Tamers, and you'll find this effect in the same place you'll find Inherited effects on Digimons.

Another detail is that some of them work with a mechanic called delay - this means one of its effects happens first, and you have to wait until the end of your turn to use its second effect. The card stays in play until you use all of its effects.

For instance, the card above has an effect that activates when you play it, and then it stays on the board so you can use its delay effect later on.

Tokens

Finally, Tokens. Tokens are special cards that some effects put in play, and are not part of any deck. For instance, Diaboromon; its effect puts a token in play with the same name as Diaboromon, but different stats.

Tokens can't Digievolve, and, if, for any reason, they leave play, they basically cease to exist and aren't considered trashed.

A Digimon TCG deck actually includes 2 decks: the main deck, with 50 cards, and the Digitama deck, which may have up to 5 cards. The most common type of Digitama deck includes 4 to 5 cards.

This game doesn't have a rotation, so you can add to your deck all cards that haven't been banned or restricted in some way by Bandai. The most important restriction, however, is that you can't add more than 4 cards with the same code in both decks. This is important because it means you can add more than one Agumon to the same deck. Usually, you'll be able to use a Digimon base that includes the same Digimon (but different codes), and create powerful synergies with them.

A Digimon TCG board includes a few zones:

On the right, you'll find the deck and trash zones. The trash zone is where you put cards that have left play.

On the left, you'll find the security stack and the breeding area, which we'll explain below. You'll also find the memory counter at the top border.

Security Stack

The Security Stack is where you'll put 5 random cards from your main deck before you start the match. These 5 cards form a sort of barrier that protects your Digimon from your opponents, similar to an "antivirus". Once your opponent destroys all 5 cards in your Security Stack, they can attack you directly and win the game.

Whenever your opponent attacks your Security Stack, you'll reveal a card from the top of that stack, and face that attack with whatever you reveal. If you find Digimon, you'll compare your Digimon DP with the attacker's DP. If you find Tamers or Options, you'll activate their security effects.

Whenever two Digimon face each other this way, two things may happen: your Digimon's DP may be higher than your opponent's Digimon, which means you'll reduce their Security and your Digimon will remain alive. If your Digimon's DP is lower or the same as your opponent's Digimon, your Digimon will be deleted, and you'll put it on your trash pile. The card your opponent revealed from their Security Stack will also go to their trash pile.

In any case, any card revealed from the Security Stack leaves this area once combat is over.

Breeding Area

As for the breeding area, that's where you'll breed your eggs or move Digimon from the zone to the battle area. This area is not affected by effects, and Digimon you put there can't be attacked. It's where you'll develop your monsters.

However, Digimon that Digievolve in this zone lose any Digievolve effect they would have if they were on the board. So, even if it is a "safe" zone, it prevents you from using a few effects that would be great in many situations. This means you'll have to consider your options wisely before you move your Digimon from the breeding area and become a target for your opponent.

Memory Counter

Finally, we have what many players say it's the best mechanic of the game, which is the memory counter at the top border of the board. Memory is a resource both players share, similar to a "tug-o-war" situation. As long as you have memory, it is your turn, and, once you don't have any memory left, it will be your opponent's turn.

The Memory Counter shows two symmetrical lines numbered from 0 to 10. Each player can use this resource, but can't go over the limit. So, imagine you have 2 memory. As your opponent can get up to 10 memory, you can use any card that doesn't go over 10 on your opponent's side, so you can play any card that costs up to 12 directly on the board.

A great detail about this mechanic is that, even if you can't play what was ideal for your deck, you can still play the game. So, you won't have to sit around not doing anything while your opponent plays by themselves.

Furthermore, this mechanic is what makes this game incredibly diverse, strategically speaking. Because of it, some decks focus on controlling their memory efficiently and passing the turn to the opponent while spending as little as possible, and some focus less on the resources you're giving your opponent and play more explosively.

Memory counters are common in playmats meant for this game, and most starter products also include a version of this counter. Another great advantage is that, in a match, only one player needs to have this counter because both players will use it at the same time.

If you read this far, thank you! I hope I was able to help you learn a bit more about this wonderful game!

See you next time!