TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0 finally gives those Tetramon cards sitting on your shelves a proper purpose. Instead of simply collecting packs and selling cards to customers, you can now use your collection to play Tetramon Duel Master, the in-game trading card game.
If you’ve spent a lot of time opening Tetramon packs, you probably already have a good collection to experiment with. The actual duel system is fairly easy to understand at first, but there are some important rules around Guardian Areas, Elemental Areas, evolution, and attacking that you’ll want to know before you start.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the basics of Tetramon Duel Master, from building your deck and starting a match to evolving Tetramon and dealing damage. Once you understand how the different areas work, you’ll have a much better idea of where to place your cards and when to attack.
TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0 Tetramon Duel Master Guide
Every Tetramon Duel Master deck contains 50 cards.
There is also a four-copy limit for any single named card. So even if you’ve collected a huge number of copies of one Tetramon, you can’t fill your entire deck with it.
This means you’ll need to think about how you want your deck to work rather than simply putting every strong card you own into it.
If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend experimenting with the cards you already have and paying attention to which Tetramon can evolve into stronger forms.
Starting a Duel
At the beginning of a duel, both players shuffle their 50-card decks and draw five cards.
Didn’t like your opening hand? You get one mulligan.
You can put your entire starting hand at the bottom of your deck, draw another five cards, and then reshuffle before the duel begins.
Once both players are ready, each Tamer starts with 500 Tamer Points.
Your objective is simple: reduce your opponent’s Tamer Points to zero before they can do the same to you.
Understanding the Game Board
There are several important areas on the table, and understanding what each one does will make the rest of the game much easier.
Elemental Areas
The main battle area consists of four Elemental Areas:
- Fire
- Earth
- Water
- Wind
These are the spaces where you place your Tetramon.
The Elemental Area a Tetramon occupies matters because it contributes power to that Tetramon’s attack.
Deck
Your Deck is where all the cards you haven’t drawn yet are kept.
At the beginning of your turn, you draw a card from here.
Discard Pile
Cards that leave play go into your Discard Pile.
You won’t normally be using cards from here during the basic flow of a duel, but it serves as the game’s place for cards that have been removed from the active play areas.
Guardian Area
Your Guardian Area starts with four cards placed face-down.
These cards remain hidden until your Tamer Points take enough damage to activate them.
They effectively give you additional cards during the duel when you’re falling behind.
How a Turn Works
Your turn begins with a card draw.
After drawing, you enter the Main Phase, which is where you’ll play Tetramon and set up your board.
You can play a Tetramon into an available Elemental Area, and its Play Effect activates immediately if it has one.
This is an important part of the game because Play Effects can give you an advantage before you even reach the Attack Phase.
Playing Tetramon
When you play a Tetramon into an Elemental Area, its Play Effect triggers immediately.
For example, Burpig is a Rare Fire-type Tetramon that evolves from Pigni. When you play Burpig, its Play Effect increases its own Elemental Power by 15 for that turn.
That bonus is added to its existing Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind stats.
So don’t just look at the numbers printed on the card. Pay attention to what happens when you actually play it.
How Evolution Works
Evolution is one of the most important mechanics in Tetramon Duel Master.
An Evolution Card has to be placed directly on top of the Tetramon it evolves from. You can’t simply evolve any Tetramon into any Evolution Card you happen to have in your hand.
There is also a short delay before a newly played Basic Tetramon can evolve.
A Basic Tetramon needs to remain in play for a turn before you can evolve it. Once you’re past that restriction, however, you can continue evolving it without a limit on the number of evolutions you perform during that turn.
This means you can potentially chain several evolutions together if you’ve built your hand and deck around them.
Basic Tetramon Placement Limit
Each Elemental Area can receive only one new Basic Tetramon per turn.
Playing a new Basic Tetramon into an area also replaces whatever was previously occupying that space.
Because of this, I wouldn’t treat the four Elemental Areas as interchangeable slots. Think about where you’re putting your Tetramon and which areas you’ll want available on your following turns.
Elemental Placement Matters
One of the easiest things to overlook when first learning the game is that where you place a Tetramon affects its attack.
A Tetramon’s Attack Power is calculated by combining:
Its own Elemental Power + the power of the Elemental Area
That means choosing the right Elemental Area can make a noticeable difference to your attack.
You shouldn’t automatically place a Tetramon in the first available slot. Look at its elemental stats and the power provided by the area before committing to a position.
This becomes even more important when you’re trying to maximize damage with evolved Tetramon.
The Attack Phase
After you’ve finished your Main Phase, you can move into the Attack Phase.
There is one important exception: the player who goes first cannot attack on their first turn.
This prevents the opening player from immediately dealing damage before the other Tamer has had a chance to establish their board.
From the second turn onward, attacking becomes a major part of reducing your opponent’s 500 Tamer Points.
How Tamer Points Work
Both players begin with 500 Tamer Points.
Whenever your opponent successfully deals damage, your Tamer Points decrease.
The interesting part is that the game has a comeback mechanic tied to specific Tamer Point thresholds.
When a player’s points drop through:
- 400
- 300
- 200
- 100
that player immediately takes the top card from their Guardian Area and adds it to their hand.
Since you begin with four face-down Guardian cards, falling behind can actually give you additional resources to work with.
It’s a useful comeback system because a player who takes early damage isn’t necessarily out of the game.
How to Win
The win condition is straightforward.
Keep attacking your opponent and reduce their Tamer Points to 0.
The first Tamer to reach zero loses, giving the other player the duel victory.
Because of the Guardian Area mechanic, you shouldn’t assume that getting an early lead guarantees a win. A player who loses Tamer Points can gain additional cards from their Guardians, potentially giving them the resources needed to turn things around.
Tips for Your First Tetramon Duels
When you’re learning Tetramon Duel Master, I’d focus on understanding your cards rather than trying to build the perfect deck immediately.
Pay attention to evolution chains and make sure your deck contains enough Basic Tetramon to actually support the Evolution Cards you’re carrying.
Placement is also extremely important. Since the Elemental Area contributes to your Attack Power, putting a Tetramon in the right area can give you more damage than simply choosing the strongest-looking card.
Don’t forget about Play Effects either. A Tetramon with a useful effect can sometimes be more valuable than a card with higher printed stats.
Finally, keep the Guardian mechanic in mind. If you’re ahead, you still need to finish the duel before your opponent gets too many opportunities to recover.
Tetramon Duel Master in TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0
Tetramon Duel Master adds a completely different reason to collect cards in TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0.
Before, a big card collection was mainly about completing your collection, finding valuable pulls, and making money from your store. Now those cards can also become part of an actual playable deck.
The basic rules are easy enough to pick up: build a 50-card deck, place Tetramon into the four Elemental Areas, use Play Effects, evolve your cards, and combine your Tetramon’s power with its Elemental Area when attacking.
The deeper part comes from deciding which cards to use, when to evolve, and where to place each Tetramon. Once you’ve played a few matches, those decisions start to become much more important.
If you’re working toward the 50 Tetramon duel wins achievement, getting comfortable with these mechanics early will save you a lot of frustration later.