Xyz Summon

An Xyz Summon (pronounced ik-seez ; Japanese: Ekushīzu Shōkan, エクシーズ in card text before Duelist Alliance) is the act of Special Summoning an Xyz Monster from the Extra Deck by overlaying at least 2 monsters with the same Level.

How to Xyz Summon
During their Main Phase 1 or 2, the turn player can Xyz Summon an Xyz Monster from the Extra Deck by first declaring the action and then selecting the Xyz Monster in their Extra Deck that they intend to Xyz Summon. Following this, they stack the requisite Xyz Materials on top of each other in a single Monster Zone, as listed on the Xyz Monster itself (which include at least 2 monsters with a Level that matches the Xyz Monster's Rank). After that, the Xyz Monster is taken from the Extra Deck and placed on top of the stack of Xyz Materials in face-up Attack or Defense Position.

Advanced rulings

 * An Xyz Summon is a kind of built-in Special Summon, like Contact Fusion, Pendulum Summon, Synchro Summon or the Special Summon of a monster like "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning", therefore it does not start a Chain.


 * Xyz Materials currently attached to an Xyz Monster are neither treated as monsters, nor treated as being on the field.


 * Trap Monsters and Pseudo-Trap Monsters can be used as Xyz Materials, but not Token Monsters, as Tokens cannot be in any state other than being on the field.


 * The battle positions of the Xyz Materials do not matter, as long as they are all face-up. However, once you have Xyz Summoned your Xyz Monster, ensure that the entire stack is neatly aligned in face-up Attack Position, regardless of which Battle position the Xyz Monster is currently in.


 * Xyz Monsters frequently have effects that require you to remove an Xyz Material(s) from beneath it, known as detaching. When this happens, the Materials are sent to the Graveyard. Some Xyz Monsters have negative effects if they have no Xyz Materials left beneath them.


 * An Xyz Monster Special Summoned via any means other than an Xyz Summon will not have any Xyz Materials (unless given to it by a card effect, such as "Xyz Reborn"). In this case, certain negative effects will apply immediately for some Xyz Monsters, such as those of "Number 17: Leviathan Dragon" and "Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction".


 * If an Xyz Monster leaves the field or otherwise ceases to be a monster (such as being treated as an Equip Card by "Destiny HERO - Plasma", or being treated as an Xyz Material by the effect of "Number 101: Silent Honor ARK" or for the Xyz Summon of "Number F0: Utopic Future"), then its Xyz Materials are sent to the Graveyard, unless the card effect says otherwise, such as those of the "Rank-Up-Magic" archetype. If an Xyz Monster is flipped face-down, its Xyz Materials remain attached to it.


 * Xyz Materials are not treated as monsters, so they will not be affected by a card like "Dimensional Fissure". While "Dimensional Fissure" is on the field, detaching Xyz Materials still sends them to the Graveyard. If the Xyz Monster leaves the field, its Xyz Materials are still sent to the Graveyard, and if the Xyz Monster is destroyed, it will be banished while its Xyz Materials are sent to the Graveyard.


 * If a card effect banishes all cards that would be sent to the Graveyard (such as "Macro Cosmos" or "Banisher of the Radiance"), then when an Xyz Monster leaves the field, its Xyz Materials will be banished. An Xyz Monster can still detach its Materials while such an effect is active; the Xyz Materials will be banished instead of being sent to the Graveyard.

Alternate methods
Apart from the basic method of performing an Xyz Summon outlined above, certain cards allow the controller to perform an Xyz Summon outside of its parameters. Usually through "Rank-Up-Magic" cards or "Xyz Evolution".


 * See list Xyz Summon with card effect.

In the anime
In the anime, using monsters to perform an Xyz Summon is known as overlaying them (similar to how performing a Synchro Summon is known as tuning the Tuner monster with the non-Tuner monster(s)).

When an Xyz Summon is performed, the Xyz Materials then turn into forms of energy whose colors match their Attributes before shooting into the air, sometimes spiraling around each other. A red-colored spiral portal known as an Overlay Network then appears, and the energy forms enter the portal. The newly Summoned Xyz Monster then emerges from the portal, its Xyz Materials, now colored in accordance with its Attribute, orbiting around it. The emergence from the portal differs between Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL and Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V; in ZEXAL, the portal twists shut and explodes with light; in ARC-V a column of blue energy emerges from the portal (although the color of the energy is different for some monsters, such as "Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon" for which red energy emerged).

Certain monsters, especially "Number" monsters, may have unique or specially designed Overlay Networks of a different color or shape. The idea of a spiral-shaped portal is derived from Konami's statement that Xyz Monsters entered our universe through a black hole. However, in Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, all Xyz Summons so far have used the galaxy-style spiral portal used largely by "Number" cards from Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

In the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V'' anime, an Xyz Summon performed using monsters that have been Pendulum Summoned is referred to as a "Pendulum-Xyz Summon".

Shay Obsidian also refers to an Xyz Summon performed using an Xyz Monster and a non-Xyz Monster as materials as a "Cross Xyz Summon".

Trivia

 * When Xyz Summons were revealed in the OCG, they were at first translated as "Exceed Summons" by fans. This was likely because "Xyz" is not an actual word and has no immediately obvious pronunciation. The word "Exceed" was likely the closest English equivalent to the Japanese エクシーズ Ekushīzu.
 * This term has fallen into official use in the Chinese OCG, where the term for "Xyz" is 超量 Chāoliàng or literally "Exceeding". This could also be due in part to the Chinese language having no phonetic script for easy transliteration, forcing developers to adopt an equivalent, translatable term.