

This monster is a Link Monster and one of its Link Arrows is pointing to another monster. A Link Arrow is pointing to this monster. Linked: A monster is “linked” if one or both of the following is true 1. A Decode Talker placed in the center Main Monster Zone does not point to anything, as there are no Monster Zones directly adjacent to the tip of its Link Arrows. A Decode Talker placed in an Extra Monster Zone, for example, points to the Main Monster Zone directly above it, as well as the Main Monster Zones diagonally downwards to the left and right.

Points to: The Monster Zones and/or monsters that are directly adjacent to the tip of a Link Arrow are the zones and/or monsters that Link Monster “points to”. It’s still only 1 monster no matter how many Link Materials it’s counting as. Normally, 1 monster = 1 Link Material, but when you’re Link Summoning with a Link Monster as Link Material, you can choose to use it as 1 Link Material, or to substitute its Link Rating as the number of Link Materials it counts as. All the monsters you use as Link Material must meet the specification on the Link Monster you’re trying to Summon.

Link Material: These are the face-up monsters on your side of the field that you use to Link Summon. This is the number of Link Arrows the monster has, and also the number of Link Materials you need to use to Link Summon it. Link Rating: Link Rating is the number in the lower right hand corner of a Link Monster where the DEF would normally be located. Link Arrows: These are the big red triangles surrounding the picture of the monster.

Now that you know the basics of Link Monsters and Link Summoning, here are some common terms you should know when dealing with Link Monsters. If you’ve already seen it, great! If not, we recommend checking it out, then coming back here. Before we get into that though, it’s highly recommend that you watch this video to learn about the updates to the official rules and the basics of how Link Monsters and Link Summoning work. Today marks the release of Starter Deck: Link Strike, and the start of the next era of Yu-Gi-Oh! Link Monsters are different than every type of monster before them, so they needed some specialized words and phrases to describe them, their effects, and the individual parts of the Link Monster cards.
