The battle table
ATK vs ATK
ATK vs DEF
Three battles with real cards
Otomí Shock Warrior
Lake Texcoco SerpentOtomí Shock Warrior attacks Lake Texcoco Serpent in Attack position: 1,650 against 1,200. The defender is destroyed and its owner loses 450 Life.
Mountain Lightning FalconLake Texcoco Serpent attacks Mountain Lightning Falcon in Defense position: 1,200 against 950 DEF. The defender is destroyed, but nobody loses Life.
Herald Beyond the VeilLake Texcoco Serpent attacks Herald Beyond the Veil in Defense position: 1,200 against 1,800 DEF. Nothing is destroyed, and the attacker loses 600 Life.
Direct attack
You can only attack directly when the opponent has no monster at all. The opponent loses the attacker's full ATK. Constellations do not apply to direct attacks.
The order of an attack
Every attack follows the same sequence: attack, reveal (if the monster was face-down), constellation, trap, battle, destruction, damage and, at the end, the game-over check. That is why a trap can change the result before the battle is calculated.
Graveyard and Life
A destroyed monster goes to its owner's graveyard. Life has no cap: a heal can take you above 8,000.
The "current" ATK and DEF
The value that counts in battle is the current one: the card's value plus boosts (spells and equipment), plus the field effect and temporary effects, and never below zero. The constellation is added only during the battle (Constellations, Spells, traps and more).
The modifier badge
When the current ATK or DEF of a monster on the table differs from the printed number, a badge appears on the card with the source of the change and the new value, with the difference. Real example: Lanceiro de Atlatl (ATK 1300) equipped with Machado Barbado Rúnico, with Salões de Valhöll in play, shows “2 effects · ATK 2300 (+1000)”. On a phone the badge is shorter: the source and the value with ▲ (up) or ▼ (down).
- ✦ Spell: a spell that boosted or weakened the monster (the weakening one lasts until the end of the opponent's next turn);
- ⚒ Equipment: an equipment played on it or consumed in a fusion;
- ▦ Field: the field in play, which counts for the monsters on both sides;
- ❖ Rule: a Crossing rule (blessing, curse or boss rule);
- ★ Challenge: a Daily Challenge modifier;
- ✧ Effect: another card effect.
Tap the badge to see the whole sum: each modifier with the card or rule that applied it, how much it adds to ATK and DEF and, if it is temporary, how long it lasts. The enlarged card (when you tap a monster) and View cards enlarged show the same numbers. The constellation is not in the fixed badge: it only adds during a battle and depends on the opponent, so it shows up when you attack (see "The constellation on the card").
My monster had higher ATK and lost. Why?
The ATK printed on the card is not the number that fights. Check: was the target in Defense? Then its DEF counts, not its ATK. Did the defender win the constellation advantage (+500)? The field applies to the monsters on both sides. Are there boosts (spells and equipment) or a temporary effect? A trap can also change everything before the battle. Against a monster in Defense, an ATK lower than its DEF destroys nothing and you lose the difference.
The attack preview
When you tap an enemy monster, the screen shows the math before you confirm, for example "ATK 1800 vs DEF 2100 (defense)", with the constellation advantage when there is one, and what happens ("Higher defense: you take 300 damage"). Tap the same monster again, or Attack, to confirm. A face-down monster shows "?" until it is revealed. After the clash, a short caption repeats the result, on both sides of the table.
The constellation on the card
When you pick an attacker, every face-up enemy monster its constellation beats gets a green badge "You +500", and every one whose constellation beats yours gets a red badge with its value already added (for example "DEF 2300 (+500)"). When you choose the target, your attacker's badge shows its ATK with the constellation ("Constellation · ATK 1800 (+500)"), the same number that fights in the battle; the target buttons mark "✧+500" on the side that has the edge. During the clash, the number over each card already includes the constellation, and the constellation glow shows "+500 → ATK 1800". The opponent's face-down monsters show nothing.
The combat balloon
When a battle ends, a balloon appears at the side of the screen (on a computer, on the right; on a phone, just under the opponent's name plate, above the table) and explains in words what happened: who attacked whom and with what numbers, the constellation edge with the new value, the trap that fired, who won, who was destroyed and how much damage, and both life totals afterwards. Real example: "Atlatl Spear-Thrower (1300) attacked Burning Sands Warrior (1650). Constellation ❦ Feather beats ☉ Sun: Atlatl Spear-Thrower +500 → 1800. Atlatl Spear-Thrower won: Burning Sands Warrior destroyed, 150 damage to the opponent." A spell, equipment or field that changes ATK or DEF gets a balloon too ("Values changed"). The balloon stays 15 seconds and closes by itself; the ✕ closes it earlier. A new balloon replaces the previous one.
The match history
The ☰ History button, top right (on a phone, just the ☰ icon), opens the whole match in lines, newest first: the turn number, the plays (summon, fusion, card set, spell activated), each battle with why it was won and the damage, and the life totals afterwards. Only what both players can see is shown: an opponent's face-down card stays a "face-down card" until it is revealed. The history does not pause the duel; the same button, the ✕, Esc or a tap outside closes it.
