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1[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duel_masters_card_back.jpg]]
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3''Duel Masters'' is a CollectibleCardGame jointly developed by Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast and Takara Tomy, based on the card game which appeared in the ''Anime/DuelMasters'' manga and anime. Despite being relatively obscure in the west, the game is one of the most popular collectible card games in Japan, and is popular enough to compete with ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' and ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' as one of Japan's most played trading card games.
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5Gameplay-wise, the game's core mechanics are derived from ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', as a result of some interesting historical developments when ''Duel Masters'' was a ''Magic'' manga, which are overviewed on the [[Franchise/DuelMasters franchise page]]. There are 5 Civilizations (Fire, Water, Light, Darkness and Nature), and playing any of the cards require paying Mana from your Mana Zone. Decks must have a minimum of 40 cards, and a maximum of 4 copies of an individual card.
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7One big difference from ''Magic'' is that it does away with Mana-supplying Lands; instead, any card can be put into the Mana Zone to generate Mana. This gives the game more flexibility against "dead draws" than almost any other card game, at the price of forcing players to make decisions on which card should be used for Mana, and which ones to keep.
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9Another difference is the absence of Life, which is replaced with 5 Shields, the top five cards from the player's deck placed face down in the Shield Zone at the start of the game. Shields are broken by creature attacks, and broken Shield cards are added to their owner's hand, or immediately played at 0 mana cost if they have the Shield Trigger ability. When all the Shields are broken, landing one more direct attack on the shieldless player will cause them to lose the game and grant their opponent victory. Running out of cards in a player's deck to draw from will also cause a loss.
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11It spawned a few games for the GBA and for the [=PS2=].
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13While the game was canceled in 2005 in America (and worldwide), it still keeps on running in Japan.
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15Not to be confused with the American remake, ''TabletopGame/{{Kaijudo}}''.
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17Not to be confused with Duel ''[[Anime/YuGiOh Monsters]]''.
18----
19!!This game includes tropes of:
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21* AdaptiveAbility: [[http://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/Survivor Survivors]] share their abilities among each other.
22* AngelsDevilsAndSquid: You can build a Deck like this if you mix Light and Darkness Civilizations and use some of the more EldritchAbomination-type Phoenixes.
23* ApocalypseHow: As said in [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Quark,_the_Original_God Quark, the Original God's]] flavor text, [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Original_Heart%2C_Ancient_Blackmoon_Fortress Original Heart]] attempted to bring about a Class 5 or 6.
24* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Valkyer%2C_Starstorm_Elemental Valkyer, Starstorm Elemental's]] flavor text.
25--> ''"I fear no enemy. I fear no battle. I fear no sacrifice. I'm a little afraid of clowns, though." ''
26* AwesomeButImpractical: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Romanov_Kaiser_NEX,_the_Super_Enlightened Romanoff Kaiser NEX, the Super Enlightened]] requires you to evolve from a creature that evolves from a creature that evolves from a creature. [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Sarutahiko,_the_Great_Hero Sarutahiko, the Great Hero]] makes things much easier, though.
27* BadassCreed:
28-->''[[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Sir_De_Ashis,_Mystic_Light_Mecha_King "Only we of the Mystic Light can connect Heaven and Hell.]] [[YinYangBomb World, prepare to bathe in the twilight of light and darkness!"]]''
29* BigCreepyCrawlies: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Giant_Insect Giant Insects]].
30* BreadEggsMilkSquick: The flavor text of [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Tulk,_the_Oracle Tulk, the Oracle.]]
31--> ''Light Bringers are forged in the crucible of dawn out of a cosmic mixture of the hope embodied by a brand-new day, the final kiss of a waning moon, the sigh of a cloud, the caress of a breeze, and a nuclear warhead unstable enough to blow a continent clear off the planet.''
32* CallAHitPointASmeerp: On in this case, call an equipment card a [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Cross_Gear Cross Gear.]]
33* CanonForeigner: [[http://kaijudo.wikia.com/wiki/Tatsurion Tatsurion]], created for the North American reboot/{{Expy}} ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaijudo}}'', has [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Tatsurion its own DM card]] in Japan.
34* ComebackMechanic: Broken shields are usually put into your hand, and if it has a Shield Trigger ability you get to play that card for free right away. This means that advancing the win condition will feed your opponent card advantage to mount a counterattack, and shield triggers can also punish aggressive players taking an early lead.
35* {{Cowboy}}: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Jolly_the_Johnny Jolly the Johnny]] is undoubtedly one.
36* CulturalTranslation: Later expansions start using flavor text based on the GagDub of the anime.
37* {{Dracolich}}: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Zombie_Dragon Zombie Dragons]].
38* EldritchAbomination:
39** Plenty of Darkness creatures are {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Supernova_Black_Hole_Thanatos Case in point.]]
40** Quite a few of the Phoenixes are {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, strangely enough. Any Phoenix with 'Supernova' in its name will more-than-likely be this.
41* EnemyMine: The storyline in the Dark Emperor pack has Light, Water, Fire, and Nature civilizations ally against the Darkness civilization.
42* EnergyWeapons: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Hanusa,_Radiance_Elemental Hanusa, Radiance Elemental.]] The Light Civilization in general prefers laser beams.
43* EvolutionaryLevels: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Ken,_Crimson_Lord_~Journey%27s_Beginning~ Ken, Crimson Lord]] [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Wan_Ken,_Crimson_Lord_~Moonlight_Howl~ and]] [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Ken_Gou,_Crimson_Lord_~The_Sundering~ its]] [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Lord_Gou_Ken_~Symphony_of_Swords~ four]] [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Ken_Geki,_Absolute_Ruler_~Final_Flare~ evolutions.]]
44* {{Expy}}: The five civilizations are Expies of the [[MagicTheGathering/ColorTropes five colors]] of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''.
45* GagDub: While the Japanese flavor texts of cards have a relatively serious tone, those of the English cards ignore translation and go for something sillier.
46* GuestFighter:
47** [[VideoGame/MegamanBattleNetwork Bass]] makes an appearance [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Forte,_Brave_Fear_Lord as a promotional card]], as does [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Rockman_EXE_%26_Katta MegaMan.EXE himself]].
48** [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]]. True to his ''Transformers'' nature, he has a double-sided card for [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Convoy_Trailer,_Temporal_Commander vehicle]] and [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Convoy,_Awakened_Commander robot]] modes.
49** From ''VideoGame/PuzzleAndDragons'': [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Dragon_Caller,_Sonia Red Dragon Caller, Sonia]] and [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Awoken_Zeus_Olympios Awoken Zeus Olympios]].
50** From ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Jace,_the_Mind_Sculptor Jace]] and [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Nicol_Bolas Nicol Bolas]]
51** From ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Aqua_Jack Jack Skellington]].
52* HistoricalDomainCharacter: [[UsefulNotes/HattoriHanzo Hanzou]], [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Hanzou,_Menacing_Phantom Menacing Phantom]] and Shadow Sword [[UsefulNotes/YagyuJubei "Yagyuu"]] [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_Sword_%22Yagyuu%22_Dragon Dragon]].
53%%* HumansAreWarriors
54* InstantWinCondition:
55** [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Ultimate_Galaxy_Universe Ultimate Galaxy Universe]], [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Ken_Geki,_Absolute_Ruler_%7EFinal_Flare%7E Ken Geki]], [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Alephtina,_Spiritual_Princess Alephtina, Spiritual Princess]], and [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Cyber_J_Eleven Cyber J Eleven]]
56** More cards have since been added to the list, here's the full [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Alternate_Win_Condition list]].
57* MonsterClown: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Jester_Brain Jester Brain]] depicts one.
58* MoreDakka: Almost every creature in the Fire Civilization.
59* MagicKnight: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Knight_(Race) Knight creatures and their "Magic Shot" spells.]]
60* {{Nerf}}: Several cards got edited in the transition from their Japanese iteration to the English version. For instance, [[https://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/Cyber_Brain Cyber Brain]] which draws three cards was watered down into [[https://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/Brain_Serum Brain Serum]], which only draws two.
61* NonstandardGameOver: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Bombazar,_Dragon_of_Destiny Bombazar, Dragon of Destiny]], [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Suva,_Emperor_of_the_Gods Suva, Emperor of the Gods]], and [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Gabriella,_Holy_Princess Gabriella, Holy Princess]].
62%%* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Angel Commands.
63* OurDragonsAreDifferent: This game ''[[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon loves]]'' its Dragons. There are to date 40 races of them and they're often among the strongest creatures in the game.
64* OutOfTurnInteraction: While most card abilities in ''Duel Masters'' are available only on the player's turn, trigger abilities can be triggered outside of the player's turn, and breaking a shield with a Shield Trigger lets the player use it immediately, in the middle of the opponent's turn, at no cost.
65* RandomEffectSpell:
66** Any spell that requires shuffling the deck before doing something. [[https://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/Mystery_Cube Mystery Cube]] is a good example
67** GR Summoning. You don't know which creature you'll get from the GR Zone (12 cards, no more than 2 of each creature), but your odds are 1-in-6 at best that it's the one you want.
68* ThePhoenix: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Phoenix Well...kind of.]] Most of them are pretty far from traditional Phoenixes, crossing into EldritchAbomination territory in quite a few cases.
69* RockMonster: The Rock Beast family of cards.
70* {{Samurai}}: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Samurai Samurai,]] obviously.
71* SerialEscalation: Naturally, given the new mechanics and variants thereof when new sets are introduced.
72** Evolution creatures, being one of the oldest mechanics, get the greatest number of variations. Originally, it involved placing a stronger creature on top of another. Then Vortex evolution was introduced, behaving like a FusionDance between two creatures. Then ''three'' creatures. Then evolution creatures that evolve specifically off other evolution creatures were introduced, etc. [[https://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/Evolution_Creature See here for a full list]].
73** For the first 10 sets or so each card could only belong to a specific Civilization. Then, cards of two civilizations were introduced. Then three (counterbalanced by the fact they cannot tap for mana), then five, and culminating in cards ''not'' associated with any Civilization at all.
74** The earliest of the "[[https://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/Breaker breaker]]" keywords was double breaker, letting a creature break 2 shields at once. Then triple breaker was added in the fifth set to befit really grandiose creatures. It kept escalating until the biggest creatures now can ''break all your opponent's shields at once''.
75** Creatures with the God-Link abilities started with fusing with each other by the sides, [[FusionDance attacking and blocking as one]]. Then the way future Gods could link got more elaborate, culminating in a 2x3 formation involving ''six'' Gods focused around [[https://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/Atom,_the_Divine_Core Atom, the Divine Core]].
76*** Psychic Creatures take this one step further. A Psychic Super Creature involves multiple cards (usually three) flipping at the same time and fusing into one tall creature once the condition is fulfilled, with stats and abilities that no normal creature would usually be seen having. Draghearts take this ''another'' step further, with [[https://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/All_Over_The_World,_Supreme_True_Dragon_Soul All Over the World]] requiring ''FIVE'' different cards to flip at once, and all of them linking together in a V formation, which no set of cards has done before.
77** The card art also gets more elaborate. Stronger, rarer, or promotional cards have art so elaborate that it bursts out onto the rest of the card and goes under the card text, which can make some wordy cards difficult to read. Creatures with God-Link have modified image borders such that when they're fully linked all card arts join together into a large mural. Psychic Super Creatures, once everything is linked, have three entire cards' worth of space to accommodate their art.
78* SignificantAnagram: The names of many, ''many'' cards in the TCG are anagrams of their Japanese names.
79* SymmetricEffect: The "Galaxy Breaker" ability lets a creature break all of your opponent's shields in one attack, at the cost of breaking all of yours after the attack.
80* TitleDrop: [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Eternal_Phoenix,_Phoenix_of_the_Dragon_Flame Eternal Phoenix]] was released in the set... Eternal Phoenix.
81* YinYangBomb: Any Light and Darkness creature, naturally. Also, the Mystic Light creatures.

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