Monster Card

Monster cards represent monsters that players battle against each other or directly against either player during the Battle Phase. Monster cards are differentiated by their names, Type, Attribute, ATK, DEF, Level. Furthermore, there are Normal monsters, which are monsters that lack effects and aren't any of the other kinds of monsters, in addition to Effect Monsters, Ritual Monsters, Fusion Monsters, Synchro Monsters and Token Monsters.

During play, monster cards can be played in either face-up Attack Position or face-down Defense Position. The importance of monster cards lies in their effects (which usually activate during their controller's Main Phase) and their ATK and DEF values during the Battle Phase (or more specifically, the Damage Step).

When a card's text reads a word or phrase in quotation marks followed by monster, it means a monster with the word or phrase in its name. e.g. a "Six Samurai" monster is a monster with "Six Samurai" in its card name.