Spell & Trap Zone

Spell & Trap Zones (魔（ま）法（ほう）＆罠（トラップ）ゾーン Mahō & Torappu Zōn "Magic & Trap Zone"), formerly Spell & Trap Card Zones (魔（ま）法（ほう）＆罠（トラップ）カードゾーン Mahō & Torappu Kādo Zōn "Magic & Trap Card Zone"), are the 5 Zones in which Spell and Trap Cards can be placed on the field (except Field Spell Cards, which are placed in the Field Zone). They are located in the middle of the field behind the Monster Zones; for this reason, they are also sometimes unofficially referred to as "backrow." On game mats, they are often colored cyan.

If all Spell & Trap Zones are occupied or rendered unusable, new Spell/Trap Cards (other than Field Spell Cards) cannot be activated or Set, as there must be a usable vacant Spell & Trap Zone to place the card in (before the activation). Cards cannot be moved between Spell & Trap Zones.

Trap Monsters

A Trap Monster requires both a Spell & Trap Zone and a Monster Zone, due to the fact that it is simultaneously treated as both a Trap Card and a Monster Card.^[3] However, it is placed in the Monster Zone, and despite the Spell & Trap Zone being unusable, it is not considered occupied (for the purposes of cards such as "Straight Flush" and "D/D/D Dragonbane King Beowulf").^[4]

If a Trap Monster is flipped face-down ("Book of Moon" or "Cyber Shadow Gardna", etc.) or has its Trap effect negated ("Jinzo", etc.), it returns to that associated Spell & Trap Zone as a Trap Card.^[5]

Pendulum Zones

Current field

The leftmost and rightmost Spell & Trap Zones are also used as Pendulum Zones. These Zones are treated as Pendulum Zones only while there is a Pendulum Monster in that zone (but are not treated as Pendulum Zones if the Pendulum Monster is in that zone as an Equip Spell Card). If there is a Pendulum Monster in the zone, it is treated as both a Spell & Trap Zone and a Pendulum Zone. If one of these Zones has a Pendulum Monster in it while the other does not, only the zone with a Pendulum Monster in it is treated as a Pendulum Zone.

Old field

Prior to the release of Starter Deck 2017 in the OCG and Starter Deck: Link Strike in the TCG, the Pendulum Zones were distinct zones in which only Pendulum Monsters could be placed. These zones were not treated as Spell & Trap Zones, and Pendulum Monsters could not be placed in the Spell & Trap Zones.

References

1. ↑ "Traditional Chinese version of Master Rule 2 version 1.0". Konami. http://www.yugioh-card.com/hk/howto/beginner.php?lang=cn-t.
2. ↑ "Master Rule 3 Overview". Konami. http://www.yugioh-card.com/hk/howto/master_rule_3.php?lang=cn-t.
3. ↑ Miller, Scott (July 11, 2012). "Trap Monsters: How Do They Work?". Konami. https://yugiohblog.konami.com/articles/?p=4062. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
4. ↑ "Individual Card Rulings [S-T]". UDE. Straight Flush. Archived from the original on 17 February 2009. http://web.archive.org/20090226221425/http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/yugioh/en/gameplay/faqs/cardfaqs/default.aspx?first=S&last=T. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
5. ↑ "Individual Card Rulings [D-E]". UDE. Embodiment of Apophis. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090218205242/http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/yugioh/en/gameplay/faqs/cardfaqs/default.aspx?first=D&last=E. Retrieved 26 January 2016.