Gundam Card Game: Pilots and Link Units
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In Gundam Card Game, pairing a Pilot with a Unit adds its bonuses, but only creates a Link Unit if it meets the Link condition of that Unit. The distinction matters because a Link Unit can attack on the turn it is deployed. Not every pairing grants such permission or incorporates the traits of the Pilot into the Unit.
Pairing and Linking are different steps
A Pilot is placed under a Unit when played by the allowed procedure. The pairing can receive the contributions of AP and HP indicated by the Pilot even if the Link condition is not met. Then you must check the written condition in the Unit to decide if the pairing is considered a Link Unit.
Suppose you have a unit whose condition calls for a specific name and a pilot who doesn't have it. The Pilot can provide its statistics by a legal pairing, but that doesn't show that Link has been made. If you purchase a copy to enable the immediate attack, identify the Unit's condition before deciding that any Pilot in the same series will serve.
Where the Link condition is
The condition belongs to the Unit and may refer to a name or traits of the Pilot. See the full text, including alternatives and bracketed formulations. The rules provide conditions that seek a portion of the name, so you should not always require that the entire line of the name be identical to the fragment indicated.
To compare cards, write the Unit condition first and then the Pilot data you're trying to use. A pairing by thematic affinity is not enough. That both characters appear together in the story or in an illustration does not grant a game condition that is not written. The construction must be based on the identifiers and texts of the cards.
What a Pilot Adds
The Pilot AP and HP contributions are added to the Unit while they are paired. Keep separate the base number of the Unit and the contribution of the Pilot to recalculate when an effect changes something. Don't read the plus sign as an independent attack value of your own: Pilot is contributing to the pair's statistics.
A Unit with AP three and a Pilot with an AP one contribution will have four before other relevant modifiers. If HP's contribution is also one, count that part separately. This arithmetic example does not state that all cards provide one or that any effect accumulates the same. Each card can add conditions or abilities that you need to review.
Permission to attack the turn it is deployed
As a general rule, a newly deployed unit cannot attack during that turn. Link Units can do it. This allows a Link compliant Unit to be of immediate utility, but must still meet the other requirements of the attack and any relevant restrictions. Link does not eliminate the state of exhaustion or all effects that may prevent attack.
Imagine that you deploy a unit and pair it with a Pilot that satisfies its condition. Link's exception may allow the attack that turn if the Unit is in a legal state to declare it. If Pilot does not meet the condition, its additional statistics do not grant that exception on their own. Numerical benefit and temporary permission are different results.
Pilot's traits don't pass to the Unit
The rules indicate that the traits of a Pilot are not added to those of the paired Unit. You can use a Pilot trait to meet a Link condition that asks for it, but not conclude that the Unit has acquired that trait for any other effect. See which object each ability refers to: Unit, Pilot or pair.
If a card benefits Units with a certain trait, having under a Pilot with that trait does not prove that the benefit corresponds. Look for the trait on the Unit or an effect that really grants it. This check avoids building a synergy that seemed to work by reading all the visible words in the stack as if they belonged to a single card.
Colours, requirements and selection
Distinguish the requirements to play one card from the traits that the pairing gives to another. Placing a Pilot under a Unit does not permit indiscriminate processing of all its printed information as characteristics of the Unit. The conditions for selecting an effect should be checked on the object to which that effect relates.
When studying a combination, create a brief reference sheet with three sections: cost and play requirements, Link condition and contributions once paired. That separation solves different questions. If you put everything together under "compatibility", you can confuse whether a card can be played with Link, or whether it produces Link with a selection based on another feature.
One Pilot per Unit and changing Pilots
The general rule allows you to match at most one Pilot with each Unit. You cannot freely withdraw a Pilot or trade it with another to change a bonus mid-turn. You need a procedure or effect that authorizes movement. The physical ability to pull a bottom card out of the stack is not an action available by itself.
That's why it's best to choose the destination before you play Pilot. If you have two Units that could take advantage of it, compare which one needs statistics, which Link would meet, and which one can perform a useful action now. Placing it in the first by inertia can prevent the plan you wanted to make with the second. Do not count on a free reassignment to correct that decision later.
When the Unit leaves the battle area
The rules state that, if the paired Unit is destroyed, returned to hand or moved to another location from the battle area, the paired Pilot moves to the same location. Do not leave it floating like an independent Pilot in the battle area. The paired state requires a Unit and movements have consequences for both cards.
To resolve an exit, first announce the Unit's destination and then move the cards that must accompany it. Returning to hand and destruction do not represent the same possibility of later reuse. If a specific ability modifies the movement, read its full text before applying a general explanation. The written destination decides which options you will retain later.
Evaluate a pairing before buying
Check the exact Unit and Pilot cards, their identification numbers, requirements and Link condition. The versions of the same character can change what they allow. Decide whether you need pairing for your immediate attack, for statistics, or for a specific ability. That intention helps to distinguish a functional piece from a variant that only interests you for collecting.
Also try a hand in which you draw only half of the pair. A useful combination should not be evaluated only with all its parts in the perfect order. Ask yourself if the Unit can continue to contribute anything without that Pilot and if the Pilot has other legal destinations. This exercise reveals how many cards in the deck depend on a condition that you may not have available in time.
Separate statistics, Link and abilities when buying
Compare two hypothetical Pilots for the same Unit. Both can legally pair and contribute their indicated values, but only one meets the Unit's Link condition. If your plan requires attacking on the deployment turn through that exception, they are not equivalent replacements even if the other Pilot offers an attractive statistical bonus. Compare the timing permission you need alongside AP and HP.
Next, read each Pilot's abilities and conditions. Sharing a series or traits with the Unit does not create a benefit absent from the text. Nor does it transfer the Pilot's traits to the Unit for another card's requirement. If an interaction checks a Unit trait, inspect the object the rule actually refers to.
Record the Link condition beside the pairing in your test list. During play, verify the pair before announcing an early attack and confirm that the Unit can attack in its current state. Repeat the check when replacing the Pilot between deck versions. Keeping the same Unit name does not automatically preserve every option supplied by the previous pair.
Frequently asked questions
Does any Pilot turn the Unit into Link Unit?
No. You must satisfy the Link condition written in the Unit. Matching can provide statistics without meeting that requirement.
Can a Link Unit attack on its deployment turn?
Link can allow it during the same turn. You must also comply with the state and other requirements of the attack; it is not a general removal of restrictions.
Can I move a Pilot to another Unit anytime?
Not freely. The rules limit reassignment and you need a rule or effect that authorizes change.