Xyz Material

Xyz Materials (pronounced ik-seez, エクシーズ素材, Ekushīzu sozai, known as Overlay Units in the anime), are the result of monsters being used in an Xyz Summon. When an Xyz Monster is Summoned, the monsters used in the Xyz Summon are stacked underneath the monster instead of being sent to the Graveyard (called "overlaid" in the anime), and so only one Monster Card Zone is occupied.

Xyz Materials are essential to Xyz Monsters as in most cases they are used for a card effect, such as that of "Number 17: Leviathan Dragon". Removing an Xyz Material for the effect of an Xyz Monster is referred to as "detaching". If the Xyz Monster is destroyed or banished from the field, any associated Xyz Materials are sent to the Graveyard. When an Xyz Material stacked under an Xyz Monster is removed or detached, it is sent to the Graveyard.

Xyz Materials underneath Xyz Monsters do not count as monsters, so detached Xyz Materials will be sent to the Graveyard even if "Dimensional Fissure" is on the field, and they cannot be targeted or activate any of their effects.

Xyz Materials are not treated as being on the field, as seen in the October/November 2011 issue of Shonen Jump and later confirmed by Konami. When an Xyz Material is detached, any "leave the field" effects it may have are not activated, so for example, the search effect of "Sangan" does not activate upon being detached, and "Reborn Tengu" does not Summon a copy of itself when it is detached.

As an interim ruling before that ruling update, the rulings for Xyz Materials as "cards on the field" were different between the OCG and the TCG, with the TCG treating them as being on the field.

However, should an Xyz Material have an effect which activates in the Graveyard regardless of whether it was sent there from the field, such as with "Dandylion", then the effect can activate.

Certain cards such as "Overlay Owl" allow you to forcibly detach Xyz Materials from monsters without having their effects activate.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Xyz Materials are depicted as orbs of light colored the same as the Xyz Monster's Attribute, which orbit around their respective Xyz Monsters. Also, during an Xyz Summon, the Xyz Materials' corresponding Attributes light up their bodies. When the player detaches Xyz Materials for their respective Xyz Monster's effect, the Xyz Monster absorbs Xyz Material through several methods, such as, by their mouths, arsenals, etc. In some cases, the Xyz Monster will glow the color of the orb it absorbed before releasing its effect. This is also seen in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 6 when the player Xyz Summons a monster.