As a card game's community grows in popularity and develops, prerelease events for new card sets commonly emerge, with tournaments organized under special rules.
Digimon is no different, and the most common format used for these game tournaments is generally called "Sealed."
In the Sealed Play format of Digimon Card Game, players open a set number of booster packs from a new set being released and build their decks using only the cards they opened. However, unlike in a standard match, you may ignore color when digivolving your cards (only the level and digivolution cost matter), and there are special rules for building your deck.
But before continuing with our article on Sealed tournament rules, we invite new players to review the most basic Digimon Card Game rules here at Eu, Brasileiro if they do not yet understand them. With that said, let us continue!
Deck-Building Rules
There is no exact number of booster packs to open, but the suggested number is six boosters (and each participant must use the same number and type of packs).
After opening their packs, each player builds a 40-card deck and a Digi-Egg deck of 0–5 cards. There are no banned or restricted cards, and players may include as many copies of those cards as they wish. In other words, the standard four-card limit does not apply, so five or more copies of a card with the same number may be included in decks. Any cards left over after deck construction are treated as "sideboard cards."
Suggested Match Format
A Swiss-system tournament that pairs players with the closest win rates is recommended by Bandai Namco itself, but it is not a rule.
In this system, players are paired according to their win/loss records. Players are not eliminated when they lose. Instead, they are paired against players with similar win/loss records.
Sideboard Cards
Cards not used in decks are generally treated as reserve cards or a sideboard, without a precise name. Between games, players may swap cards in their deck with sideboard cards. Players may exchange as many cards as they wish between the deck and the sideboard, provided that their deck contains the correct number of cards after the exchange.
Players Keep the Cards After the Tournament
Players may keep any cards they opened in the booster packs after the tournament.
Explaining the General Rules
As already mentioned, the rules for evolving a card change in the Sealed Format because of the limited number of cards in the opened packs, with the aim of making deck construction easier and gameplay more fluid.
Example: If a Digimon's digivolution requirements are "digivolve from a red level 3 Digimon with a digivolution cost of 2," the player may digivolve from any level 3 Digimon for a digivolution cost of 2, regardless of color. Color may be ignored only for standard digivolutions. Color requirements in general card text and for Option cards still apply normally. Color requirements also still apply when digivolving "Hybrid"-type Digimon from "Tamers" or when digivolving through card text effects.
However, when digivolving through a card effect, if the effect does not specify any color, color requirements may also be ignored. Example: "Digivolve your [Agumon] into 1 [Agumon - Bond of Bravery] in your hand for its digivolution cost, ignoring its level" — no color is specified, so you can digivolve using an [Agumon] of any color in this Sealed format.
Color may also be ignored for DNA Digivolution and special digivolutions. However, all other conditions, such as level, name, and traits, must be met. When stacking cards for DNA Digivolution, you may stack cards on top of the Digimon of your choice.
In Sealed Format games, during the breeding phase, players do not choose between hatching a new Digi-Egg card onto the field or moving a level 3 or higher Digimon from the breeding area to the battle area. Instead, players may also place a level 3 Digimon card from their hand directly into the breeding area without having to digivolve from a level 2 Digi-Egg card.
Example: During the breeding phase, any player may place a level 3 Agumon from their hand into the breeding area without digivolving from a Koromon. There is no need to digivolve from a hatched level 2 Digi-Egg card here.
Bandai TCG+ App Requirement
To participate in official Bandai events, players must register with a Bandai TCG+ account. If you do not have one, you can create it here: https://www.bandai-tcg-plus.com/
Players must ensure that the information associated with their Bandai TCG+ account is up to date. They must also understand the Digimon Card Game rules and may not engage in unsportsmanlike conduct, clearly communicating with judges, opponents, and tournament staff, announcing and responding to timing and effect activations, and reporting the results of completed matches immediately after they end.
