Digimon TCG: How Digivolution Works: Blast, DNA, Warp, Hybrid and More!

The first word that comes to mind when Digimon are mentioned is digivolutions. Digimon TCG, of course, turned this iconic concept into a mechanic, and most decks in this game use it. In a simple way: when you Digivolve a Digimon, it gets stronger and bigger, and, as such, makes your strategies and your board more powerful.

Regular Digivolution is quite easy to understand: you pick a higher-level Digimon in the same color as one of your Digimon in play, pay for its Digivolution cost, and Digivolve your Digimon into it.

Even though regular Digivolution is quite self-explanatory, there are a few different types of Digivolution that often confuse many beginners.

So, today we'll go over these different ways to Digivolve your Digimon and see how they work!

Blast Digivolution

Blast Digivolutions are tied to ACE cards. As an answer to an enemy attack, after all their effects resolve, you can Blast Digivolve an ACE Digimon immediately.

This mechanic is a really interesting way to interact with the opponent in Digimon TCG, and perfectly represents how, canonically, Digimon often evolve on the spot to overcome a problem. Besides really fun, this mechanic is also a problem for "solitary" decks, that is, decks that "play by themselves" and are difficult to interact with. That's because, if you use this mechanic, your opponent will always have to consider the possibility that you have an answer to their attack, particularly if they can't interact with your board before attacking. After all, if they do, you can simply Digivolve a Digimon for free and answer their attack with this mechanic.

However, ACE cards are a double-edged sword, as another mechanic tied to them is Overflow. If your ACE Digimon leaves the battlefield, the player who controlled it will lose memory.

So far, the standard is that you'll lose 2 memory less than that Digimon's level. For instance, a level 6 ACE Digimon usually has Overflow 4. This mechanic also makes the game more dynamic for the opponent, considering that, if they can remove that Digimon, they can get more memory and play even more cards.

Below, check out what an ACE card looks like.

DNA Digivolution

DNA Digivolution is basically when two Digimon fuse together to get stronger.

It was first introduced in the first season of the anime series with Omnimon, and became the main form of Digivolution in the second season. In that season, all protagonists used DNA Digivolution to combine two Digimon.

In Digimon TCG, this mechanic lets you combine two Digimon stacks to form a new Digivolution, which enters play ready to attack. Usually, you'd have to wait to attack with a Digimon you just played or Digivolved, but this type of Digivolution lets you play around that. This mechanic, besides relatively new, also lets you combine Digimon with different levels.

You can play the card below with two level 6 Digimon of the specified colors, or combine a Plessiomon and a level 5 card with "Seadramon" in its name.

You can DNA Digivolve your Digimon into EX8's Aegisdramon, shown above, in two ways. Namely, you can combine a blue or purple Digimon with a second Digimon that is either black or yellow. Besides these conditions, you can also Digivolve your Digimon into this card if you combine a Plessiomon with a level 5 card with "Seadramon" in its name. This is an interesting case because Plesiomon is a level 6 Digimon, and you can DNA Digivolve Digimon of different levels into this Digimon in specific.

When you DNA Digivolve a Digimon, you'll draw a card, and that Digivolved Digimon will be able to attack straight away. As such, DNA Digivolutions are great ways to attack a few extra times and win the game.

There is also a variation called Blast DNA Digivolve. To use this Digivolution, you can combine one Digimon already in play, and one in your hand. When your opponent attacks, you can use this Digivolution as an answer. It is similar to the Blast Digivolution we mentioned before, but you'll need a second Digimon in your hand to use it. It is also a bit harder than regular ACE Digimon, but these cards often have stronger effects.

Below, check out a Blast DNA Digivolution, and a DNA Digivolution (created under specific circumstances, without Blast).

Another exclusive DNA Digimon mechanic is Partition. If your Digimon is removed from the board through an enemy effect, the cards you used to DNA Digivolve it return to the board.

Please note that this only happens if your opponent uses an effect to remove it. If it is destroyed in battle, Partition doesn't work. This mechanic makes this entire archetype more powerful because it makes DNA Digivolving other Digimon afterward easier, as the cards you'll need will remain in play even if your Digimon is removed through an enemy effect.

Here's a good example of this mechanic.

In this case, it still has Partition even after you Digivolve it again because its Inherited effect also has this mechanic. This means you can keep Digivolving it, and, as such, keep doing what makes this keyword so strong.

Warp Digivolution

Warp Digivolution is when you can ignore regular Digivolution conditions and Digivolve a Digimon into its final form straight away, usually after you meet a few other conditions. One example is MetalGarurumon:

If an enemy Digimon in play has over 10.000 DP, and you have a Tamer called Matt Ishida, you can Digivolve a level 3 Gabumon directly into a MetalGarurumon, essentially skipping several steps and speeding up the game considerably. Overall, this mechanic is a way to get back into the game, as it requires the opponent to be quite ahead in terms of power.

Many lower level Digimon also have this effect. Below, check out Dorumon:

In this case, its level 3 effect lets you skip straight ahead, but you need to respect a few conditions. In particular, a level 6 enemy Digimon needs to be in play, and Dorumon's Tamer has to be in its Digivolution cards.

This mechanic and this Digimon are part of the Mind Link archetype. In this archetype, Tamers can temporarily connect to their Digimon, so you can put them in their Digivolution cards and remove them later on.

Burst Mode

Burst Mode was introduced in Digimon Data Squad. To use this alternative Digivolution and temporarily Digivolve a Digimon into their Burst form, you must return a Tamer to your hand.

For instance, ShineGreymon's Burst Mode works like this: when you return a Marcus Damon to your hand, you can Digivolve a ShineGreymon into its Burst form until the end of the turn. After that, you'll have to remove this card from your level 6 Digimon, which is a great representation of this temporary power-up.

Hybrid Digivolution

Hybrid Digivolution was introduced in the fourth season of the anime series, Digimon Frontiers. Essentially, a Tamer can use the spirit of a Digimon stored in an armor to Digivolve into that Digimon.

This type of Digivolution has existed for a few sets now, but recently got some great support, more specifically in the Special Booster Ver.2.0 set, which features hybrid cards. In this set, level 4 Digimon have an Inherited effect that made decks a lot more consistent, as this effect lets you play a Tamer when the Digimon in question is deleted. This also made these decks more aggressive, as this essentially lets you use Tamers for future Digivolutions even if the Digimon in question is defeated in battle.

Hybrid Digivolution works just like regular Digivolution: you pay the Digivolve cost, but, instead of Digivolving with a level 3 Digimon, you do it with a Tamer. Usually, the condition you need to meet is described just below the regular Digivolve cost. In some cases, though, you'll find it in a black box just above its effects.

For instance, here's Beetlemon.

Biomerge Digivolution

Biomerge Digivolution was first introduced in Digimon Tamers. Essentially, it is when a Tamer combines themselves with their Digimon to form a Mega Digimon.

This Digivolution is also featured in Tamers from the third season of the anime series. For instance, here's Henry Wong.

To use Biomerge Digivolution successfully, the Tamer (in this case, Henry Wong), and their respective level 3 Digimon (any Terriermon) need to be on your board. If both are on your board, you can get a level 4 Gargomon and a Rapidmon to Biomerge Digivolve directly into MegaGargomon. All you need to do is put both cards and your Tamer over Terriermon.

Furthermore, the Digimon Digivolved this way gets Rush, so you'll be able to attack with it on the same turn you play Terriermon if you still have enough memory to play.

DigiXRos

DigiXRos was introduced in the Digimon Xros Wars anime series, and is a reference to Super Sentai, as this Digivolution uses Digimon to form a new creature. In some cases, they even look like the giant tokusatsus robots.

In the TCG, DigiXRos isn't a Digivolution per se, but rather an alternative way to play a Digimon. It is similar to DNA Digivolution, as it lets you use the cards listed in the DigiXRos effect from your hand or on your board to discount the cost of the Digimon in question.

You can use more than one card with a DigiXRos effect, and also store many cards in this archetype underneath your Tamers so you can use them later on as a resource. For instance, here's Shoutmon X7.

You can use each card named in the DigiXRos box to discount its play cost by 2, and can even lower the total cost to 2 if you use all the cards. Please note that, usually, you can only use a certain card once. For instance, you can't use two Starmons to discount its cost twice.

One of this mechanic's greatest issues is that it is vulnerable to floodgates, which prevent you from discounting the cost of your cards. So, decks that use DigiXRos need to play ways to deal with those threats so they can progress their own game plans.

There are many ways to Digivolve Digimon, but, in general, these are only ways to transform them into their final forms. Though we already have so many, I'm sure we'll get even more in the future. Until then, I hope this guide helps you understand all the ways we can Digivolve Digimon right now.

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