| Spiritual Summon | |
|---|---|
| VS's Custom Summoning Mechanic | |
| |
| Original Illustrator: おつまみ | |
| Japanese | |
| ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Ruby | スピリチュアル しょうかん |
| ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Base | ＳＰ 召喚 |
| ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Romanized | Supirichuaru Shōkan |
| Anime Appearance | Yu-GI-Oh! VS |
| Game Appearance | Duel Portal |
A Spiritual Summon (
Of all the summoning methods so far Spiritual Summoning is the strangest, with many different kind of Summoning Conditions. For example, "Horseman of Apocalypse, Pestilence" can only be Spiritual Summoned when there are more than six monsters on the field while "King of Conquest, Alexander the Great" can only be Spiritual Summoned by Tributing "King of Macedon, Alexander" that has destroyed more than 5 monsters, on a Monster Zone linked by a Link Card (Link Monster or Link Spell) that specifically mentions and allows the Spiritual Summon of "Alexander".
Spiritual Monsters can be Spiritual Summoned to either the Extra Monster Zone or a Linked Zone but most of them requires to be Summoned on a Monster Zone linked with their respective Link Card.
Mechanics
During their Main Phase 1 or 2, the turn player can Spiritual Summon a Spiritual Monster from the Extra Deck by first declaring the action and then selecting the Spiritual Monster in their Extra Deck that they intend to Spiritual Summon. Following this, they fulfill whatever the Summoning Condition asks for. After that, the Spiritual Monster is taken from the Extra Deck and placed on either the Extra Monster Zone or an unoccupied Link Zone or Point in face-up Attack or Defense Position.
There are exception to this mechanics as some Spiritual Monsters' Summoning Condition allow the player to Spiritual Summon them outside their Main Phase. For example, "Horsemen of Apocalypse, Pestilence" can be Spiritual Summoned any time during either player's turn as long as its Summoning Condition is fulfilled.
Example
Advanced rulings
- A Spiritual Summon is a kind of Special Summon.
- Provided the Spiritual Monster is not a Nomi monster, once it is properly Spiritual Summoned, it can be later Special Summoned with "Call of the Haunted", "Soul Charge", etc. If the Spiritual Monster is sent to the Graveyard without being Summoned, such as by the effect of "Gale Dogra" or "Zaborg the Mega Monarch", then it cannot be Special Summoned.
- A Spiritual Summon can be negated with "Black Horn of Heaven", "Horn of Heaven", "Thunder King Rai-Oh", "Solemn Warning", etc.
- In this case, all the costs paid such as sending monsters to Graveyard, Tributing monsters or paying Life Points are irreversible. The Spiritual Monster is not considered properly Summoned, so it cannot be revived with "Call of the Haunted" or other similar effects.
- It is allowed to Spiritual Summon more than once per turn.