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Doomkaiser Dragon
Card# CSOC-EN043
Doomkaiser Dragon's effect isn't just for Zombie World duelists: remember that its effect can swipe copies of Plaguespreader Zombie, too!
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Monsters are among the most popular icons associated with Yu-Gi-Oh!, and every duelist has a few he or she is partial to. Getting monsters out on the field is a main point of almost every deck, so in this article we’re going to focus on all the different ways a duelist can summon a monster. There are only a few, and by the time you’ve read through them you’ll be confident and sure of the rules. Let’s begin!
 We’ll start off with the most basic form of summoning—the normal summon. A duelist may normal summon one monster per turn, during his or her main phase. Normal summoning a monster means playing it from the hand to the field. Remember, a monster must have four level stars or less to be played directly to the field, regardless of the position in which it is placed. Monsters played in face-up attack position are considered "summoned," while monsters played in face-down defense position are considered "set." Now then . . . what are the differences between summoning a monster and setting a monster? First off, a set monster is not considered summoned for the purposes of cards like Trap Hole. However, deciding to set a monster does not mean a duelist also gets to summon a monster; the one normal summon per turn covers set monsters as well. So during the main phase, summon one monster (four level stars or less) from your hand in face-up attack position, or set one monster (four level stars or less) from your hand in face-down defense position, and you've used your normal summon for the turn. As a side note, the trap card Ultimate Offering will enable a duelist to use more than the usual one normal summon per turn, at the cost of 500 life points per summon.
What if you have a monster you wish to summon that has more than four level stars? Tribute summon, of course! If you want to bring out a monster with five or six level stars, you will need to offer one monster already on the field to the graveyard. If you want to bring out a monster with seven or more stars, then two monsters already on the field must go to the graveyard. A tribute summon will use up your one allotted normal summon, so you cannot normal summon one monster, and then use it for a tribute to bring out a tribute monster. If you are tribute summoning a Spirit monster (Spirit monsters return to the owner’s hand at the end of the turn), remember you will still need to tribute to bring it to the field again.
On to the next kind of summoning—flip summons. A duelist flip summons a monster when he or she manually flips it from face-down defense position to face-up attack position. Flip effects, if any, will then resolve. A duelist can flip summon as many monsters as he or she chooses per turn, and once a monster has been flip summoned, it must stay in attack position until that duelist’s next turn. It is important to remember that flip summoning a card is not the same thing as flipping a card face up. For example, if your opponent attacks your set monster, it is flipped face up (into defense position) during the battle step, or if a card like Ceasefire is activated, all set cards are flipped face up (into defense position). If a monster has a flip effect, pay close attention to the wording to determine if the effect is activated only as a result of a flip summon, or if it will resolve from any flip.
Now let’s move on to special summons. There are a lot of different ways that a monster can be special summoned. There are spell cards that enable it, trap cards, and even monster effects. Unlike normal summons, which are limited to one per turn, a duelist can perform as many special summons as he or she has cards to enable (and open monster zones, of course). Let’s take a look!
 First off—spell and trap cards. The most popular special summon spell and trap cards are probably Monster Reborn and Premature Burial. They both allow a duelist to choose a card from the graveyard and special summon it to the field, without requiring a tribute. Call of the Haunted is a trap card that will do the same thing, with the added benefit of being able to resolve during your opponent’s turn. It is important to remember that some Effect monster cards, including ritual monsters, that require special summoning (such as Dark Necrofear or Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End) can only be special summoned with these recursive cards if the monsters have already been summoned correctly.
There are a lot of special summon monster effects. Some monsters, like Mystic Tomato, Giant Germ, or Nimble Momonga, allow a duelist to special summon another monster from the deck to the field when they are destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard. Others, like Spear Cretin, have a recursive effect that summons monsters from the graveyard when they are destroyed. Gilasaurus has an effect that will allow a duelist to special summon it rather than normal summon it, and there are a great variety of cards that can only be special summoned, and only by removing cards in the graveyard from play (Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End and Dark Necrofear are two of the most popular).
You can still normal summon (once per turn) even if you have special summoned monsters, so you can special summon monsters and normal summon a monster, or use a special summon monster for a tribute summon on the same turn.
Now that you’ve mastered special summoning, it’s time to focus on Fusion summon. Fusion monsters have gotten a lot of play lately, and there are a few ways to bring them out. First off, like special summons, Fusion summons are not limited to one per turn. If a duelist can fulfill all the requirements for the summon, he or she can summon as many Fusion monsters as desired.
How are Fusion monsters summoned? The basic way is that a duelist must activate Polymerization, then send the monsters required for the Fusion to the graveyard in order to take the appropriate Fusion monster out of his or her Fusion deck and summon it to the field. There are several newer spell and monster cards that make using Fusions much easier, though.
We'll start with Fusion Gate. Fusion Gate is a field spell card, meaning it can be used for more than one Fusion summon (unlike Polymerization). It does have the drawback of removing the Fusion material monsters from play rather than sending them to the graveyard, but it does make Fusion summons easier. Metamorphosis will also get a Fusion monster onto the field by allowing a duelist to tribute one monster from the field to special summon a Fusion monster from the Fusion deck, equal in level stars to the tributed monster.
 There are a few Effect monsters that also assist Fusion summons. The most widely played is probably Magical Scientist. At the cost of 1000 life points per summon, a duelist may special summon a Fusion monster from his or her Fusion deck. The monsters are destroyed at the end of the turn, and they cannot attack an opponent’s life points directly, but there are several winning strategies that rely on the rush of Fusion monsters. Summoner of Illusions is an Effect monster that, like Metamorphosis, allows a duelist to tribute a monster from the field to bring out a Fusion monster from the Fusion deck, destroying the Fusion monster at the end of the turn.
Last but not least—ritual summoning. Ritual summon monsters are monsters that require the activation of a spell card to bring them to the field, as well as a tribute. Ritual monsters require a tribute, from the hand or from the field, of a number of monsters whose level stars are equal to the level stars of the ritual monster. Easy and straightforward! Ritual summons are also not limited to one per turn, so any number can be performed, provided the duelist can meet the requirements.
And there you have an overview of all the types of summoning. To review—one normal summon (or set) per turn, whether it is bringing a level 4 or lower monster straight to the field, or tributing one or more monsters already on the field for a tribute summon. In addition to the one normal summon, a duelist may perform any number of flip, special, Fusion, or ritual summons that have all conditions fulfilled. Monsters that can only be special summoned, such as Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, Rock Spirit, or Soul of Purity and Light, and all ritual monsters can only be special summoned from the graveyard with a spell or trap card, such as Monster Reborn or Call of the Haunted, if they have previously been correctly summoned to the field.
Branch out a bit from normal and tribute summoning and experiment with some of the other ways to get monsters out on the field! There are all kinds of new strategies to try out with special summon, Fusion, and ritual monsters—now that you’ve learned how they all work, why not give them a try?
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