Hand

For the archetype, see Hand (archetype).

A hand of cards in the second series anime.

Hand (手札（てふだ） Tefuda) refers to the cards each player holds that have not yet been played, but that they have drawn during the Draw Phase or via card effects. It's called so since the cards are generally held in the physical hands of a player. From your hand, you are able to Normal Summon or Set Monster Cards, Set Trap Cards and Set or activate Spell Cards.

During your Draw Phase after you draw a card it is added to your hand. The hand size limit is six, so during your End Phase if you have more than six cards in your hand, you must discard cards until you have six cards left. "Hieroglyph Lithograph" extends the hand limit to seven cards, while "Infinite Cards" removes this limit for both players. There is also no minimum hand size limit, and a hand of zero is still considered a hand.

Certain cards can interact with cards in either yours, your opponent's, or both sets of hands. For example, "Spirit Reaper" can discard 1 card from your hand as part of its effect, and "Exchange" allows you to swap one card from your hand with one card in your opponent's hand. Some cards such as "Raigeki Break" require you to have at least one card in your hand to pay the cost of activation.

See also

• Hand size limit