by When it comes Yugioh! monster types, there are some strange cards. But, perhaps the strangest of them all is the Pendulum Monster. These half-monster half-spell cards can seem convoluted and complicated at first glance, but once you see them in action, their secrets start to unfold. Let’s take a closer look at Yugioh Pendulum Monsters and how they work!
What is a Pendulum?
First off, what is a Pendulum Monster? A Pendulum Monster is type of monster that is both Monster and Spell. These cards stand out from other monster cards with their two-tone brown and green backgrounds and two textboxes for effects. These cards can act like monsters and can be summoned in the monster zones, but they can also be played face-up in your Spell and Trap Pendulum Zones like Continuous Spell cards. Depending on where these cards a played, they have different effects, either their Monster effect or Spell effect is applied. They also have a “Pendulum Scale” displayed on them in the form of a red arrow and blue arrow accompanied by a number. We’ll get to that in a moment.
Now, while a Pendulum Monster is a Main Deck monster, there is a little twist. If a Pendulum Monster on the Field is destroyed by battle or a card effect and would be sent to your GY, it’s instead sent to your Extra Deck face-up. Why? Well, when a Pendulum Monster is face-up on the Extra Deck, it can actually be summoned back to your field, Pendulum Summoned!
Pendulum Summoning
Pendulum Monsters in your Pendulum Zones can actually be used to perform a unique type of Special Summon called a Pendulum Summon. Remember those blue and red Pendulum Scales? Yes! The numbers associated with those arrows allow you to per form what is called a Pendulum Summon. If you have two Pendulum Monsters in your Pendulum Zones, you can perform a Pendulum Summon. You can Pendulum as many monsters from your Hand as you want as long as each monster has a Level that is between the two Pendulum Scales of your Pendulum cards. For example…
If you have Igknight Veteran, Pendulum Scale 7, and Igknight Cavalier, Pendulum Scale 2, you can Pendulum Summon as many monsters as you want from your Hand with a Level of 3, to 6. And, you can also Pendulum Summon one Monster from your face-up Extra Deck as well! When Pendulum Summoning from the face-up Extra Deck, you can only summon them to the Extra Monster Zone or a Zone your Link Monster points to.
Pendulum Archetypes
There are plenty of archetypes that have Pendulum Monsters sprinkled into them, like Amazoness, Superheavy Samurai, and Melodius. But, there are also many archetypes that are built around this mechanic. Check out Igknight, Solfachord, Dinomist, Performapal, Abyss Actor, Majespecter, Vaylantz, D/D, Metalfoes, Odd-Eyes, Qli, and more!