When you bring a monster card to the field, you will choose whether to summon it in attack position or set it in defense position. How you choose to place it will be determined by several factors, such as the attack and defense points of your monster and other monsters on the field, any effects the monster might have, the presence of certain spell or trap cards on the field (or even in your hand), and your overall strategy. What happens when you want to change the position of that monster? There are a few basic rules to follow, but position changes will fall into one of two categories: manual shift and automatic shift. Manual shifts are pretty easy to learn, but the automatic ones can get a little tricky, so we're going to have an overview of both. Ready? Let's study the shift!

We'll start off with manual. A manual position shift is a change in a monster card's position executed by the duelist that does not rely on a spell, trap, or monster effect. A duelist may manually shift the monster card from attack position to defense position, or from defense to attack, with certain restrictions. Positions can only be changed manually once per turn, which includes the turn the monster was brought into play. If a duelist summons a monster in face-up attack position, the monster must stay in face-up attack position for the duration of the turn. The same applies to a monster card that is set face down in defense position. It must remain in face-down defense during the turn in which it was set. A duelist cannot set a monster, such as a Cyber Jar, and then manually shift it to face-up attack during the same turn. A monster switched to defense position will remain face-up—monsters cannot be manually flipped face down. Also, a monster card cannot manually switch to defense position during a turn in which it has attacked.

None of these actions can be performed manually. There is, however, another category of position shifts to explore, namely, automatic. An automatic position shift can happen as many times as there are card effects to allow it, and can be performed in addition to a manual shift (except where noted). There are a number of cards that can allow a duelist to automatically change a card's position, even on occasions when a manual shift would not be allowed. Let's take a look and see what is possible.


Spell Cards

Some spell cards that change a monster's position are cards that will specifically target your opponent's monsters. Cards like Stop Defense and Block Attack are spell cards that allow a duelist to select one of his or her opponent's monsters and shift it from attack to defense (Block Attack) or defense to attack (Stop Defense). They are not quick-play spells, so remember, they cannot be used during your opponent's turn, but they can shift one of your opponent's monsters into a position that will make it easier to destroy.

One of the most useful and popular spell cards for automatic position shift is a quick-play spell—Book of Moon. Book of Moon allows a duelist to select one face-up monster and flip it into face-down defense position. It can be used to negate an opponent's attack, reset a flip effect, destroy a card equipped to the targeted monster, negate a face-up effect, or take advantage of a weak defense. For instance, if a duelist uses Snatch Steal to gain control of one of his or her opponent's monsters and then uses Book of Moon on that monster, Snatch Steal will be destroyed (any cards equipped to face-down monsters are automatically destroyed), but Book of Moon will also 'reset' the monster itself, which means it remains under the control of the duelist who took control of it. Book of Moon will also 'reset' a Fusion monster special summoned by Magical Scientist, allowing it to remain on the field, rather than being destroyed. Since it isn't possible to flip a face-up monster face down manually, Book of Moon will allow Needle Worm to keep discarding cards from an opponent's deck, or Magician of Faith to bring back an additional spell card from the graveyard.

Book of Taiyou will flip one face-down defense position monster into face-up attack position. Flip effects will be activated, so it will enable a duelist to get a flip effect from a monster the same turn it was set, which is useful with cards such as Fiber Jar or Slate Warrior. Book of Taiyou is not a quick-play spell card, so it cannot be used during an opponent's turn, but it will give a duelist a valid target for Snatch Steal or Ring of Destruction, or allow access to an opponent's life points.

Curse of Fiend will shift the position of all the monster cards on the field. Each attack position monster will shift to defense, and each defense position monster will shift to attack. Since Curse of Fiend states on the card that these positions cannot be changed during the turn this card is activated except by the effect of a magic, trap or Effect monster card, duelists will not be able to manually shift the positions of any cards that were affected.


Trap Cards

There are also some trap cards that can change the position of monsters on the field. Final Attack Orders is a continuous trap that switches all monsters to attack position and prevents them from shifting to defense. If a duelist activates Shadow of Eyes when his or her opponent sets a monster in defense position, that monster is switched to face-up attack. Ready for Intercepting enables a duelist to flip one face up Warrior or Spellcaster-type monster into face-down defense. It can be used to reset a flip effect, and since it is a trap card, it can be activated during your opponent's turn to negate an attack.

Ceasefire causes all face-down monsters to flip into face-up defense. It won't change them from defense to attack, but it will negate their effects, if any, allow a duelist an easier choice as to what to attack, and deal 500 points of direct damage to the opponent for each face-up effect monster on the field.


Monster Cards

The majority of automatic position shift effects are generated by monster cards. Some allow you to change the position of your own monsters, and some allow you to change the position of your opponent's monsters. Some target only themselves, and some allow a choice. Several different play strategies can be built around them. There are a few things to remember about monster effect shifts. Each effect can only be used once per turn, and attention must be paid to the timing in which effects can be used. Most are only used during the turn of the duelist controlling the card, and some specifically state a game phase in which the effect can be activated, so it's important to carefully read the card to ensure it is being used correctly.

There are several categories of monster effects that change a card's position, so let's take a look at them. We'll start off with some self-referencing ones (cards with effects that only affect themselves).

Pharaonic Guardian had a large number of monsters that could automatically flip, once per turn, into face-down defense position from either face-up defense or face-up attack position. The monsters also have flip summon effects, so the combination of an automatic position change and the flip effect enables a duelist to use and reuse the monsters' effects. Guardian Sphinx is one of the more popular of these types of cards, due to its effect and high defense points. When Guardian Sphinx is flip summoned, all monsters on the opponent's side of the field are returned to their owner's hand. Since Guardian Sphinx also has an effect that allows it to be flipped into face-down defense position once per turn during the main phase, a duelist can attack with it, flip it face down, and let its high defense (2400) protect it until his or her next turn, when it can again be flip summoned, attacked with again, then flipped face down to repeat on the next turn.

Swarm of Scarabs, also from Pharaonic Guardian, works similarly to Man-Eater Bug, destroying one monster on the opponent's side of the field. Note that both of these cards specify "when this card is Flip Summoned." If the card is flipped face up for any other reason, the effect will not trigger. Pay careful attention to the wording on any flip effect card.

Goblin Attack Force is another self-referencing monster card, and one that most duelists are familiar with. It has an effect that switches it to face-up defense position at the end of the battle phase (remember, the battle phase does not end until a duelist has finished attacking with each monster he or she wishes to attack with). Spear Dragon is similar, with an effect that switches it to face-up defense position at the end of the damage step.

Cards such as Otohime and Ryu-Kishin Clown allow a duelist to select one of his or her opponent's monsters and change its position. When Otohime is successfully summoned (including flip summoned) or flipped face up, a duelist can choose one face-up monster on the opponent's field and change its position. Ryu-Kishin Clown works similarly, but its effect can only be used when it is successfully summoned (including flip summoned).

Some monsters have position-changing effects that can be used during your opponent's turn. Garuda the Wind Spirit's effect states that as long as it remains face-up on the field, a duelist can change the battle position of one of his or her opponent's monsters during the opponent's end phase. Aqua Spirit's effect is nearly identical, with the exception of the timing. Aqua Spirit allows a duelist to change the position of one of his or her opponent's monsters during the opponent's standby phase.


There you have it—the difference between manual position shifts and automatic ones. While a duelist is limited to one manual shift per turn, with restrictions, automatic shifts can be used as many times as there are card effects to trigger them. If a monster's effect allows a position shift, that specific effect can only be used once per turn, but can be used in addition to the manual shift. Spell or trap card position shifts can be used in addition to monster effect shifts and manual shifts. Remember, it's important to make sure you read the cards carefully to understand what the cards will affect, when you can activate them, and what sorts of restrictions they might have. Look through your collection, find some of these cards, read them over, and start experimenting with all the different combinations and strategies you can think of. With all the different types of position-changing cards out there, it's possible to build a deck that will really get your opponent's head spinning!

Please email any questions or comments about this article to Julia@metagame.com.