The typical "special summon only" monster will have text saying something like, "This card cannot be special summoned, except by . . ." or it will say, "This card can only be special summoned by . . ." These lines of text are dual-purpose, telling you how to special summon the monster while also making it clear if the monster can ever be special summoned from the graveyard or removed zone. The difference in wording clues us in.

Monsters with, "this card cannot be special summoned, except by . . ." have only one way onto the field: the method written in their text. When such a monster is placed into the graveyard or removed-from-play pile, the standard forms of revival don’t apply. Monster Reborn, Premature Burial, Call of the Haunted, Escape from the Dark Dimension, and their close comrades are unable to special summon these monsters.

We have received quite a few of these monsters in the last few years. In just Phantom Darkness and Light of Destruction, we have Rainbow Dark Dragon, Dark Armed Dragon, Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior, Jinzo - Lord, Arcana Force EX - The Dark Ruler, and Judgment Dragon. Quite a list, isn’t it? When any of these monsters is sent to the graveyard or removed-from-play pile, that’s where they stay.

Normally these monsters must be special summoned from your hand during your main phases, when you can meet certain requirements or pay some kind of cost. Dark Armed Dragon, Rainbow Dark Dragon, and ask you to meet a specific criteria, but have no additional cost. Aztekipede, the Worm Warrior, Jinzo - Lord, and Arcana Force EX - The Dark Ruler ask that you pay a specific cost in order to special summon them. When these things come together during one of your main phases, you’re ready to go.

A few select monsters with the "cannot be special summoned, except by . . ." text actually can be special summoned from the graveyard, but doing so is limited to a very small selection of cards. Rainbow Dragon and Rainbow Dark Dragon have Rainbow Gravity. "LV" monsters like Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 have Level Modulation. They are given this ability because they have a line of text that says to "ignore the summoning conditions," which means that you can ignore the line of text demanding that the monster "cannot be special summoned, except by . . ." It does have one catch though: the monster you want to special summon must have first been special summoned properly by following the instructions stated in its card text. I will explain further in just a bit.

The Dark Creator from Phantom Darkness says that he can only be special summoned while you have no monsters on your side of the field and five or more Dark monsters in your graveyard. When you meet this requirement, you can special summon The Dark Creator from your hand during your main phase. With The Dark Creator special summoned according to the method written in its text, he is now "properly summoned," and if he’s sent to the graveyard or removed pile you can special summon him.

What you can’t do is special summon him "according to its text" while he is resting in your graveyard or removed-from-play pile. His text was only good enough to get him from your hand onto the field. It won’t help you get him into play from your deck, graveyard, or removed pile. You will need to use another card’s effect to special summon The Dark Creator back to the field, like Monster Reborn, Escape from the Dark Dimension, or even the effect of another copy of The Dark Creator.

Here’s what you don’t want to do: you don’t want to discard these monsters and you don’t want them getting returned to your hand. When you discard or otherwise send one of these monsters from your hand or deck to your graveyard, you will not be able to special summon it because it has not been properly special summoned first. Sometimes you may need to do this to one of these monsters because there just wasn’t anything else you could do. Just make sure you remember what happened, because you don’t want to count on them for a special summon later in the duel.

Perhaps even more annoying is having one of your "can only be special summoned by" monsters finally making its way into play, only to get returned to your hand or deck afterward. Whenever this happens, the monster "forgets" that it was properly special summoned, and when it returns to your hand it will need to be special summoned according to its text all over again. This rule is also true for monsters with the text "cannot be special summoned, except by . . ." Return either type of monster to your hand and you’ll be doing everything all over again.

Next week we will conclude the special summon article series with monsters that have added special summon abilities, and we will look into Fusion monsters and their own unique quirks. Until next time, send all comments and questions to Curtis@Metagame.com