Upgrade Monster

An Upgrade Monster is a type of created by The-Psychid. The color of their card frame is dark green with a spring green circuit board pattern. They are modified versions of the Data and Reboot Monsters originally created by HelixReactor, and are created with his blessing. They take direct inspiration from the Digimon franchise, namely its short-lived Digi-Battle trading card game.

Most Upgrade Monsters are stored in the, although there is a handful of Upgrade Monsters that are stored in a new deck called the Upgrade Deck, located next to the Main Deck. In addition to normal usages, an Upgrade Monster can be injected into other Monster Cards, including appropriate Upgrade Monsters.

Alignments, Grades, and Margins
Similar to Link Monsters, Upgrade Monsters do not possess, , or values. Instead, Upgrade Monsters possess Alignments, Grades, and Margins.

The Grade determines the required Level or Grade of the monster injected with an Upgrade Monster in order to be properly Upgrade Summoned. Once that requirement has been met, the turn player can send that monster to the to Upgrade Summon the Upgrade Monster from the Upgrade Deck. An Upgrade Monster’s Grade is located next to its, in place of the traditional value.

The Margin determines the interval of the Level/Grade of the appropriate monster that can be injected with an Upgrade Monster. This particular calculation is the Upgrade Monster's own Grade and the value of its Margin, which is either Positive, Negative, or Neutral. The rulings for Margins are as followed:
 * POSITIVE: Grade of Upgrade Monster / Grade of Upgrade Monster + Compatibility of Upgrade Monster's Margin
 * EXAMPLE: An Upgrade Monster with a Grade of 1 and a Margin of +3 can only be injected into a Level/Grade 1, 2, 3, or 4 monster
 * NEGATIVE: Grade of Upgrade Monster - |Compatibility of Upgrade Monster's Margin| / Grade of Upgrade Monster
 * EXAMPLE: An Upgrade Monster with a Grade of 10 and a Margin of -4 can only be injected into a Level/Grade 10, 9, 8, 7, or 6 monster
 * NEUTRAL (0 or ±): Grade of Upgrade Monster - |Compatibility of Upgrade Monster's Margin| / Grade of Upgrade Monster / Grade of Upgrade Monster + Compatibility of Upgrade Monster's Margin
 * EXAMPLE: An Upgrade Monster with a Grade of 6 and a Margin of 0 can only be injected into a Level/Grade 6 monster. An Upgrade Monster with a Grade of 4 and a Margin of ±3 can only be injected into a Level/Grade 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 monster.

If a player uses an injected Upgrade Monster as a material for an Upgrade Summon, the turn player can either add or subtract the injected Upgrade Monster’s Grade by an amount up to the compatible Margin listed in that of the injecting Upgrade Monster.

Finally, the Alignment determines which appropriate Upgrade Monsters other Upgrade Monsters can inject to. They also determine which Upgrade Monsters can be Upgrade Summoned, based on either the Alignment of the Upgrade Monster injected into a non-Upgrade Monster, or the Alignment of the Upgrade Monster to be used as the material. In such cases, Upgrade Monsters can only be injected into other Upgrade Monsters with the same Alignment. For example, an Upgrade Monster with a Vaccine Alignment can only be injected into other Upgrade Monsters with the Vaccine Alignment. In addition to being located in a text box exclusive to Upgrade Monsters, the Alignment is located next to the Upgrade Monster’s Grade.

Mechanics
Despite most Upgrade Monsters being stored in the Main Deck, they cannot be / directly from the hand. Instead, they must first be injected into an appropriate monster. To inject means to place underneath a monster. A monster can only be injected into one monster at a time.

Similar to, Upgrade Monsters have a separate text box located above the card description box. This box lists the Upgrade Monster’s Alignment, Margin, and Upgrade Effect. While injected into a monster, that monster gains the Upgrade Effect listed in the Upgrade Monster’s text. Some Upgrade Monsters can only be injected into specific monsters; in such a case, it is written in parentheses, the same as that of a.

If an Upgrade Monster would be sent to the Graveyard while injected into a monster, it is placed face-up in the Upgrade Deck instead. An Upgrade Monster is sent to the Graveyard like normal if it is sent from any location other than the field. However, if the effect of a card like "" (which banishes cards that would be sent to the Graveyard) or "" (which shuffles monsters destroyed by battle into the Deck) is being applied, this will override the Upgrade Monster’s ability to go to the Upgrade Deck.

If an Upgrade Monster would be sent to the Graveyard while treated as a Monster Card, it is sent to the Graveyard like normal. As a result, they cannot be Upgrade Summoned until after they are injected into a monster once more.

Because they do not possess Levels or Ranks, they cannot be used as material for a, , or. Also, cards and effects that would either modify Levels/Ranks, or would affect monsters with Levels/Ranks, cannot be applied to Upgrade Monsters. And because they do not have DEF, they can only exist in face-up Attack Position and cannot be placed in or changed to Defense Position. Furthermore, they are unaffected by cards and effects that would either change them to Defense Position or flip them face-down.

X-Upgrade Monsters
As stated before, there are some Upgrade Monsters that are stored in the Upgrade Deck by default. These are called X-Upgrade Monsters, and are a sub-archetype of the Upgrade Monsters.

Similar to regular monsters, X-Upgrade Monsters cannot exist in the hand or the Main Deck, even with card effects. If an X-Upgrade Monster would be moved to the hand or Main Deck, it is returned to the Upgrade Deck instead. If a card like "" or "" is applying, the Upgrade Monster would be banished rather than returning to the Upgrade Deck.

Because they cannot exist in the hand, X-Upgrade Monsters have effects that would inject themselves into other monsters, either manually or when they are destroyed while treated as Monster Cards. Unlike regular Upgrade Monsters, however, an X-Upgrade Monster does not have the ability of going to the Upgrade Deck when injected into a monster.

Upgrade Summon
An Upgrade Summon is the act of Upgrade Summoning an Upgrade Monster from the Upgrade Deck, using an appropriate injected monster listed in the Upgrade Monster’s text. During the Main Phase, the turn player can Upgrade Summon by sending the appropriate monster from their field to the Graveyard.