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Level

Level

Japanese

(レベル) [Note 1]
Formerly sometimes: (ほし) (かず)

Japanese (ruby)

レベル[Note 2]
Formerly sometimes: ほしのかず

Japanese (base text)


Formerly sometimes: 星の数

Japanese (romanized)

Reberu
Formerly sometimes: hoshi no kazu

Japanese (translated)

Level
Formerly sometimes: star count

English

Level
Formerly sometimes: Level Star

A Level (レベル Reberu, abbreviated as (レベル) [Note 3]in the card text of Trap Monster Cards and cards that Summon a Token), formerly Level Star ( (ほし) (かず) hoshi no kazu) in the card text of Ritual Monster Cards and Ritual Spell Cards, is a property of monsters.

In the OCG and TCG, monsters' printed Level can range from 0 to 12, with a monster's original Level providing a rough indication of how powerful it is. Card effects can freely raise a monster's Level to arbitrarily large values in excess of 12, but cannot reduce a monster's Level to be less than 1. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime and manga, as well as in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force series of video games, Dark Synchro Monsters can have negative Levels. A monster can only have a single Level at a time.[1]

The original Level of a Monster Card is represented by a number of stars a yellow star on an orange circle in the top-right, except for a very small number of monsters with unusual built-in summoning conditions. "Ultimaya Tzolkin" and "Phantasmal Lord Ultimitl Bishbaalkin" are Level 0, but have a Level condition stating that their original Levels are 12.

Not all monsters have Levels. Xyz Monsters have Ranks and Link Monsters have Link Ratings, instead. Spell/Trap Cards Special Summoned as monsters by the effect of "Magical Hats", as well as Boss Duel monsters, do not have Levels.

Normal Summoning[]

Excluding monsters with Summoning conditions that specify otherwise,

  • Level 1 to 4 monsters can be Normal Summoned without Tributes
  • Level 5 and 6 monsters require 1 Tribute to be Normal Summoned (this is a Tribute Summon)
  • Level 7 and higher monsters require 2 Tributes to be Normal Summoned (this is a Tribute Summon)

If the Level of a monster in the hand is changed (such as due to the effect of "Cost Down" or "Star Blast"), the modified Level is considered when Normal Summoning the monster.

Role in Special Summons[]

A monster's Level is also important in Ritual, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum Summoning.

  • Most Ritual Spell Cards require monsters to be Tributed who total Levels are greater than or equal to the Level of the Ritual Monster to be Ritual Summoned.
  • To Synchro Summon a Synchro Monster, the player must use Synchro Materials whose total Levels exactly equal the Synchro Monster's Level.
  • To Xyz Summon an Xyz Monster, the player must use 2 or more Xyz Materials whose Levels all equal the Xyz Monster's Rank.
  • Pendulum Summoning allows the player to Special Summon multiple monsters who each have a Level that is between the Pendulum Scales of the cards in the Pendulum Zones.

Patterns[]

A common guideline is that:

  • Level 1 monsters have no more than 1000 ATK
  • Level 2 monsters have no more than 1500 ATK
  • Level 3 monsters have no more than 1800 ATK
  • Level 4 monsters have no more than 2000 ATK
  • Level 6 monsters have no more than 2600 ATK
  • Level 8 monsters have no more than 3000 ATK
  • Level 10 monsters have no more than 4000 ATK
  • Level 12 monsters have no more than 5000 ATK

Monsters that break this rule generally have negative effects or restrictive Summoning conditions that make them harder to use.

Play style[]

Due to the higher requirements involved in Summoning them, higher-Level monsters are typically not as numerous as lower-Level monsters in a player's Deck, assuming the Deck is properly balanced. While high-Level monsters are usually considered the most effective in combat, it is often the low-Level monsters that perform the most important roles, due to their ease of use and often versatile card effects such as searching other cards out of the player's Deck. In addition, many low-Level monsters possess effects that can change their ATK, which in a well-supported Deck can often give them far higher ATK than any high-Level monster. For example, "Copycat" and "Relinquished" base their ATK upon the opponent's monster, the "Meklord Emperors" can take the ATK power of the opponent's Synchro Monsters, and "King of the Skull Servants" can have an enormous ATK in the right Deck.

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  1. Abbreviation.
  2. Full form, and annotative furigana for the abbreviation.
  3. The kanji here means "star".

References[]

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