Digimon Partition and digivolution cards
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Partition can play specified digivolution cards when the Digimon carrying it would leave the battle area, except through your own effect or a battle. The stack must contain one of each required card. Partition does not keep the original Digimon in play; it produces other pieces while that Digimon leaves.
The keyword's colour and Level requirements are part of its text. A stack containing only one half of the required pair is insufficient. The current comprehensive rules, section 16-29, and official Q&A explain the trigger and processing.
Read the pair printed after Partition
A Partition ability can specify a pair such as a blue level 4 card and a green level 4 card. Before anything leaves the battle area, check the actual digivolution cards underneath the Digimon for both requirements.
You need two qualifying cards, one for each part. A single multicolour card does not become two physical cards because it includes both required colours. Conversely, a qualifying card can include additional colours; the requirement is checked against the colours it actually has.
For a more complex pair, preserve the punctuation and alternatives in the text. “Yellow or black” for one half and “green or purple” for another is different from “any two cards among these colours.” Each selected card must fit its assigned half of the pair.
The cause of leaving decides the trigger
Partition excludes leaving through one of your own effects and leaving through battle. It can address qualifying departures caused by an opponent's effect, including forms of removal beyond deletion. The exact verb and source still matter.
| Situation | Partition check |
|---|---|
| An opponent's effect would remove the Digimon | Check the specified digivolution-card pair and other conditions |
| Your own effect directly removes it | Excluded by the keyword |
| It would be deleted in battle | Excluded by the keyword |
| Only one half of the required pair is present | The trigger condition is not met |
| Rule deletion occurs because DP is 0 | Can satisfy the departure condition; check the required pair |
Do not replace “other than your own effect or a battle” with “only when deleted by an opponent.” That shortened version loses both the wider range of departure methods and the separate role of rule deletion.
The original Digimon still leaves
Partition is not a prevention effect that makes the original Digimon survive the removal. When it applies, the specified cards can be played from its digivolution cards without paying their costs. The departing Digimon remains subject to the original departure.
This difference matters when comparing Partition with Barrier or Evade. Those abilities can prevent a deletion by satisfying their conditions. Partition instead leaves you with qualifying cards played out of the stack. You should not keep the original Digimon and also take the newly played cards unless another actual effect permits that result.
Handle the remaining stack according to the departure rules. Do not move every card underneath the Digimon to the same destination simply because the top card returned to the hand, nor leave the entire stack attached to one of the played cards without an instruction.
One of each, rather than an optional favourite
Using Partition is optional. Once you use it, however, you do not freely choose to play only your favourite half when both specified cards can be played. The official Q&A Q315 requires one of each when possible.
If several cards satisfy one half, select the appropriate qualifying copy rather than playing all matching cards. Having extra blue level 4 cards does not make a blue-and-green Partition ability produce every blue card in the stack. The instruction remains one of each specified requirement.
The distinction between declining the whole optional processing and arbitrarily shortening it is important. You can choose whether to use Partition. That choice does not rewrite its output into any number of cards you prefer.
An unplayable card is a separate exception
The updated official Q&A Q314 considers a specified DUAL card or another card without a play cost that cannot be played. The presence of that card does not automatically stop Partition from triggering. When Partition is activated, the specified cards are played when possible.
This is different from voluntarily leaving behind a playable card. Check whether the game actually prevents playing that card, rather than deciding you would rather keep only one result. The updated clarification makes an absolute claim that “both must always be playable or nothing happens” inaccurate.
DP reaching 0 can trigger Partition
The official Singularity of Chaos Q&A, Q4605, confirms Partition can trigger when a relevant Digimon's DP becomes 0 and the rules delete it. The deletion is attributed to the rules, even where an inherited effect caused the DP change.
That ruling explains why copying Evade's 0 DP outcome would be wrong. Evade tries to prevent a deletion while the same 0 DP condition persists. Partition plays qualifying source cards; it does not need the original Digimon to stop being a rule-deletion target.
The newly played Digimon still face the current game state. If an ongoing effect also reduces their DP or affects whether they can remain in play, evaluate that normally. Partition is not a blanket immunity for the cards it plays.
DNA digivolution is not automatically required
DNA digivolution can create a stack containing the colours and Levels a Partition ability needs. That practical connection does not mean every Partition trigger requires proof that the Digimon was previously formed through DNA digivolution.
Read the ability's actual requirements. If it asks for particular cards in digivolution cards, their current presence is the relevant condition. A legal stack formed by another route can satisfy the text if no additional requirement says otherwise.
Likewise, using DNA earlier does not permanently guarantee Partition will work. Effects can remove digivolution cards. Check the stack at the impending departure, rather than relying on which cards were present when the Digimon first evolved.
Playing the sources creates normal follow-up questions
The specified cards are played, rather than becoming new evolutions of the departing Digimon. Their own applicable abilities and the normal rules for played Digimon then matter. “Without paying the costs” does not mean ignoring every restriction or gaining an automatic attack permission.
If a played card has a relevant On Play effect, evaluate its trigger and activation under the normal rules and any effects restricting activation. The free play from Partition supplies the play instruction; it does not remove restrictions imposed elsewhere.
Keep the resulting cards separate on the battlefield so both players can identify which Digimon were played. Do not attach the original remainder of the stack to them by habit. A clear layout makes subsequent effects and attacks easier to resolve correctly.
Check a real stack before removal
For a hypothetical blue level 4 and green level 4 pair, two blue level 4 cards and no green level 4 card do not suffice. Adding a green level 3 card still does not fix the missing requirement: its colour matches, but its Level does not. A blue-and-green level 4 card can satisfy either half as one selected card, but you still need another physical card to satisfy the other half. Writing the two requirements separately makes these checks easier than counting colours across the whole stack.
For a casual game, point out the two qualifying sources before resolving Partition. State which requirement each satisfies, especially where multicolour cards or alternatives appear in the text. This avoids the claim that two copies satisfying only one half complete the pair.
For an event dispute, give the judge the departing Digimon, the relevant source cards and the cause of departure. Include any effect preventing a specified card from being played. The phrase “I have two colours underneath” is insufficient when Levels and individual card eligibility also matter.
In deck preparation, track the cards that actually support the printed pair. A pile with many digivolution cards can still lack one essential half. Partition rewards the correct contents, rather than the stack's size alone.
Frequently asked questions
Does Partition save the original Digimon?
No. It can play specified digivolution cards while the original Digimon leaves. It does not itself prevent that departure.
Can I choose to play only one of two playable required cards?
No. Once you use Partition, play one of each when possible. An actually unplayable specified card is addressed separately by the official updated Q&A.
Does deletion at 0 DP automatically stop Partition?
No. The official Q4605 confirms rule deletion at 0 DP can meet its trigger. The required digivolution-card pair and other relevant conditions must still be checked.