The ''Duel Masters Trading Card Game'' is a two-player or two vs. two team

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with ''Magic: The G ...

(CCG) jointly developed by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

and

Takara Tomy (trade name, trading as Takara Tomy in Asia and Tomy elsewhere) is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as , became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pi ...

(itself an affiliate of

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

, which owns WotC). The card game is part of the '' Duel Masters'' franchise. The game was released in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in May 2002, where it quickly became the number one selling trading card game for over a year. Owing to this popularity, it was released in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on March 5, 2004. The game shares several similarities with '' Magic: The Gathering'', the world's first collectible card game, which was also published by Wizards of the Coast. In fact, ''Duel Masters'' was originally intended as an alternative tradename for ''Magic: The Gathering'' and the earlier game play was abandoned in the '' Duel Masters'' manga plot to promote this latest experience. As in ''Magic: The Gathering'', ''Duel Masters'' players summon creatures and cast spells using

mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...

. Key differences include the fact that all creatures and spells can act as mana producers, creatures cannot block attacking creatures without having the “blocker” ability, and that creatures only have one “power” statistic. Furthermore, duelists have shields in the form of cards that go to their hand when “broken” as opposed to ''Magic''s “life points”. Owing to the popularity of ''Duel Masters'', four video games (three released for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

and the other for the PS2) based around the game have been produced, titled ''Duel Masters: Kaijudo Showdown'', '' Duel Masters: Sempai Legends'', ''Duel Masters: Shadow of the Code'' for the GBA and ''Duel Masters: Cobalt'' for the PS2. As of December 2006, the English sets of ''Duel Masters'' were discontinued by Wizards of the Coast due to weak sales. In June 2012, Wizards of the Coast relaunched Duel Masters for the western market, under a new franchise named '' Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters''. Based on the existing Duel Masters brand, Kaijudo featured an online game, trading card game, and a television series. In 2014, the company announced they would stop production of the paper version of the game in the United States. As of 2025, the game is still published in Japan by

where it's still one of the most popular trading card games.

Game Play

In ''Duel Masters'', two players play the role of duelists, using the "art" of "kaijudo" (a marketing term created for the North American version which supposedly describes the "art of battling with giant monsters," from the Japanese words ''

kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

'', strange beast or giant monster, and ''do'', way or art) to bring their creatures to life to do battle. Players battle each other by placing cards into their respective "mana zones," then using that mana to cast spells or summon creatures into the "battle zone." Each player has five shields that protect them from damage; once these are gone, it takes one successful attack to win the duel. When a player's deck runs out of cards, that player automatically loses the duel. Each player's deck must have a minimum of 40 cards in it. As with all trading card games, players construct their own decks out of cards from their collection. Players can purchase

booster pack In collectible card games, digital collectible card games and collectible miniature wargames, a booster pack is a sealed package of cards or figurines, designed to add to a player's collection. A box of multiple booster packs is referred to as a ...

s to increase the number of cards they have in their collection. Boosters are available in English for the first 12 DM-series sets, and Japanese for each expansion set released.

References

External links

* * at

*{{Official website, http://dm.takaratomy.co.jp/ at

Card games introduced in 2002 Collectible card games Wizards of the Coast games Mike Elliott (game designer) games