Trigger

Lozenge Magus is a [Heal] trigger unit

Trigger (トリガー Torigā) is the defining characteristic of trigger cards. Triggers are a type of card with a yellow card frame, and are all grade 0 (with some exceptions). Each trigger card has a trigger icon located at the top right of the card.

During deck construction, a deck must contain exactly 16 trigger cards, with a maximum of four [Heal] triggers (regardless of their card names) and a maximum of one [Over] trigger. Within the Standard rules only, a deck may contain a maximun of 8 [Critical], [Draw] or [Front] triggers.

How it Works

• A trigger effect activates in the trigger zone upon being revealed by a trigger check. A trigger check is performed by putting the top card of the player's deck into his or her trigger zone, and if that card has a trigger effect, it activates immediately. After resolving all effects activated, regardless of whether the card has a trigger effect or not, if the card is still in the trigger zone, it is immediately moved to another zone depending on the type of trigger check:
  • Damage Check: Put the card face up into your damage zone.
  • Drive Check: Put the card into your hand (this is not considered "drawing a card").
• When a player must check for multiple trigger checks at once, they perform each check one at the time. For example, if a player must perform two trigger checks and their first check reveals a [Draw] trigger, that player must draw a card and decide which unit to apply the [Power] increase to before performing the second check.
• A Trigger effect that activated is mandatory to perform, if possible. Therefore, if a [Heal] trigger was activated, you must heal one damage if you meet the condition, even if it causes an effect to disappear, such as a [CONT] Limit Break.
• A trigger effect can also activate outside a trigger check by a card's ability that has it specified. Also, if said ability causes the trigger effect to activate multiple times, you must completely resolve the entire effect of one before proceeding with the next.

Trigger Effects

A trigger icon represents two effects. The primary effect is "Choose one of your units, and that unit gets [Power] +X until end of turn", where "X" is the value printed on the trigger icon itself: 5000 for triggers released prior to  Series; 10000 for triggers released in Series onwards; and 100 Million for [Over] triggers.

The secondary effect depends on the type of trigger icon. The two effects are considered separate, so the [Power]  increase and the trigger's other effect may be applied to two different units if the player wants to, and in any order the player wants. The different secondary trigger effects are:

Name	Symbol	Icon	Effect
Critical			Choose one of your units, and that unit gets [Critical] +1 until end of turn.
Draw			Draw a card.
Front			No secondary effect, but the [Power] +X boost from the trigger is applied to all units in your front row until end of turn. Unlike other triggers, this effect is a replacement for the trigger's primary effect, which also means you do not choose any units for this trigger's effect.
Heal			If you have equal or more cards in your damage zone than your opponent, choose a card in your damage zone, and heal it (put it into your drop zone). Limit 4 heal triggers per deck, as stated in card texts.
Stand			Choose one of your units, and if it is a rear-guard, [Stand]  it. From the next battle onward, that unit cannot perform drive checks during that turn. (The remaining drive checks for the battle the Stand trigger was checked for still happen.)
Over			Remove this card in the trigger zone from the game, and draw a card. If revealed for a drive check, apply the additional effect described in this card's text. Limit 1 over trigger per deck. Because it is removed from the game, it won't end up in your hand or damage zone if checked. This means that it effectively cancels 1 damage if revealed from a damage check.

In Cardfight!! Vanguard ZERO

In Cardfight!! Vanguard ZERO a trigger icon must be assigned to the grade 3 and 4 normal units in a deck during deck construction.

• A player may have up to four [Heal] triggers and up to nine of each other trigger types ([Critical], [Draw], [Stand]), to an overall total of 13 triggers.
• Grade 0 trigger units cannot have their trigger icon changed.
• When a trigger effect is activated by a drive check, the card is put into the drop zone instead of the player's hand after resolving its effects. Cards without triggers are put on the bottom of the deck after being revealed.
• When a trigger effect is activated by a damage check, the [Power]  is automatically given to the player's vanguard.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Question: If I reveal a heal trigger for a damage check while I have one damage and my opponent has two damage, can I heal?
   Answer: No, since the heal trigger is in your trigger zone while its effect is being resolved.
2. Question: If an effect causes a card to be put into a player's damage zone, is it a damage check?
   Answer: Unless otherwise specified in that effect, it is not a damage check.

[Over] Triggers

• Trigger/Over

Keywords Involving Trigger Checks

• Rescue

List of Anti-Support

Grade 4

Card Name	Clan	Race	Type
Wandering Starhulk Deity, Brandt Ringer	Link Joker	Alien

Trivia

• Originally, a trigger effect could only activate under the condition of having a vanguard or rear-guard of the same clan as that trigger unit. This became mostly redundant upon the introduction of Clan Fight regulations, as now all units in a deck are required to be of the same clan or nation. The rule was ultimately removed with the introduction of the Standard format.
• With the introduction of Booster Set 11: Seal Dragons Unleashed, there are triggers that you can have up to sixteen copies in a deck, bypassing the usual rule of up to four copies in the deck. Currently, the only cards than can do this are "Mass Production Sailor" and "Machining Cicada".
• In the first series anime season 1, episode 2, it is shown that Aichi's "Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine" has 6000 [Power], while in the physical game, Elaine has 5000 [Power]. This was likely an accident, or it could have been possible that Bushiroad was still considering whether a trigger unit should have the same [Power] as normal grade 0 units. It is also possible that the mistake was intentional, as Elaine's boost allowed Gallatin to reach 16000 [Power], enough to force a 10000 [Shield] by Kai when his "Dragonic Overlord" was attacked.
• Starting with Booster Set 6: Breaker of Limits and Extra Booster 8: Champions of the Cosmos, every booster pack is guaranteed to contain one common-rarity trigger unit.
• In the manga, when the card revealed by a check is not a trigger, it is called "blank trigger".
• The block that the trigger icon is depicted as resting on was black in the original Cardfight!! Vanguard series. It was changed to silver with Series, and back to black with Series. In Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days, the animation played when a trigger is revealed uses the silver block for triggers other than the [Over] trigger.

Other

Critical Mark (BIG)