Domination FAQ Cheat Sheet

Hi amigos, with Oboro making a comeback in both History Collection and soon to be Standard, Domination rulings/interactions will come up more often! Here are a bunch of rulings/interactions that you can always refer to when needed! See it as a Domination FAQ/Cheat Sheet. Enjoy! (Last update: 11-28-25)

1. Mujinlord Domination And Drive Checks By RG
2. Domination Vs Bracing Angel Ladder
3. Mukuro D Series – Greedon player has 6 Damage and Vanguard gets dominated, what happens?
4. Mukuro D Series – Can the dominated Vanguard attack the Rear-guard that was dominated within the same skill?
5. Mukuro D Series – If Dragveda is drive-checked, what happens?
6. Crest Domination vs Red Text Given Skills
7. Can A Dominated Unit X (located in either row) Attack An Opposing Rearguard Y In The Back Row?
8. When Does Domination End?
9. Can My Opponent Perform Action X While Their Vanguard Is Dominated? (includes Guarding)
10. Does My Opponent Automatically Lose If I Dominate Their Vanguard?
11. Who Pays For The Costs Of The Skills/Who Performs Drive Checks?
12. When A Unit Is Revived From The Drop Zone With An On-Place Skill, Who Gets To Use The Skill? What About End Of Battle Skills?
13. For Time Leap, If I’ve Dominated Multiple Units, Which Units Can I Pick To Time Leap, And Where Do The Cards Go?
14. New Ur-Watar Ruling (doesn’t work anymore)
15. Can I/My Opponent Boost/Intercept With Dominated Units?
16. If A Dominated Unit Becomes Locked, Is Domination Lifted?
17. Can A Dominated Unit With Lord Attack? With Tenrei on Field?
18. When is Madoi/Daruma Collapse’s Skill Resolved: During The Battle Or After The Battle?
19. Drachma/Dust Interaction With Oboro’s On Stride Dominate
20. Can I Engorge/Rest/Lock/Retire/etc A Dominated Unit in Order To Pay For The Cost Of A Skill?
21. Does The Owner Of A Card Ever Change?
22. Who Controls A Circle With A Dominated Unit On It?
23. What Happens When A Dominated Unit Is On A Circle With An Imaginary Gift?
24. Can My Opponent Call Over A Dominated Unit? How?
25. Can My Opponent Select Protect I Gift Markers And/Or Orders For Zanki/Rinne’s ability? What Happens?
26. Does Mizukaze See Prior Calls In The Same Turn?
27. Does Dominated Attacks Count For Honoly? How About Aqua Force Skills?
28. Does Jewel Knight Skills Like Sybill Activate Still?
29. Credit/Resources

Mujinlord Domination And Drive Checks By RG

Can the RG that’s dominated gain the effects of a trigger when it’s attacking and performing the drive check? Yes it can!

Example scenario:
Dominated RG attacks their VG. They guard with technically a “1 to pass“. I check a Crit trigger. You can put all effects on it, break their guard, and deal 2 damage.

Domination Vs Bracing Angel Ladder

Bracing Angel Ladder prevents most Domination skills. Currently, only 2 Strides get around it. Both Rinne and Dagoku. Rinne has the opponent choose the cards in hand. Then once they’re called to RC, Domination happens. Dagoku is similar where the cards in the G Zone are chosen. Then once they’re called to RC, Domination happens.

This is important for getting more attacks in and enabling cards like Fuurai and Sekei.

Mukuro D Series – Greedon player has 6 Damage and Vanguard gets dominated, what happens?

It is considered a defeat for the Greedon player, as a dominated Vanguard it means you lose the skill to lose at 7 damage. Defeat condition check activates and the Greedon player loses immediately as you have 6 damage.

Mukuro D Series – Can the dominated Vanguard attack the Rear-guard that was dominated within the same skill?

Yes. The domination of the Rear-guard and Vanguard are in separate sentences. Also, it’s worded where the domination of the Rear-guard ends at the end of its battle. And then the Vanguard gets dominated.

Mukuro D Series – If Dragveda is drive-checked, what happens?

Scenario 1: If the dominated Vanguard attacks and you drive-checked the Dragveda, then you can decide to restand the dominated Vanguard (you can give another unit the 100 Million power-up). If there is still another valid Rear-guard target, then the dominated Vanguard can attack again and you will perform drive checks again.

Scenario 2: If your Vanguard attacks while having Seikei and/or Fuurai on RC and the Dragveda is drive-checked then you can restand your Vanguard (you can give another unit the 100 Million power-up). Both Seikei’s and Fuurai’s skills are NOT 1/Turn. So you can attack with them (their 2nd time). Then your Vanguard attacks for the 2nd time, you can use Seikei’s and Fuurai’s skills again to restand them (assuming you have Soul to pay the costs still). As a result, you’ll get 3 more attacks (1 Vanguard and 2 Rear-guards).

Crest Domination vs Red Text Given Skills

When a player dominates a unit with additional skills given to it, those are also lost. The key word is “all”.

From Weekly Bites: https://en.cf-vanguard.com/information/weekly-bites-ep136

Ex: The Shiranui player dominates a Plant Token that has gotten the red text skill from Rorowa. The Plant Token also loses that skill.

Can A Dominated Unit X (located in either row) Attack An Opposing Rearguard Y In The Back Row?

So long as the dominating unit’s stated attack targets are valid, yes it may.

Ex1: Oboro states “stand and dominate, and it attacks your opponent’s other unit.” ALL Vanguards and rear-guards are units, so all of the opponent’s non-dominated rearguards are valid targets for the dominated unit to attack.

Ex2: Mujinlord states “stand all of your opponent’s rear-guards that were chosen and dominate them, and each attacks your opponent’s vanguard one at a time.” The effect specifies “Vanguard” for the attack target as opposed to “unit”, so that is the only valid target for the attack.

When Does Domination End?

Domination ends when there are no more units capable of attacking a valid target, and no effects are left to resolve. If a dominated unit stands due to its own effect or the effect of another dominated unit, then that unit attacks another valid target.

EX: You have Tenrei on the field, Oboro as your Vanguard, and your opponent is playing Tidal Assault. You Stride into Maguntenbu, and dominate Tidal Assault using Oboro’s skill. Tidal Assault’s first target is the Vanguard. Since Tenrei gives Oboro the “Aqua Force” clan from its effect, Tidal Assault’s effect goes off, causing it to lose 5000 power and stand back up. Dominate is still in effect since Tidal Assault is still standing and there is a valid target (either their Vanguard or one of the opponent’s other rearguards), so it attacks again. After this battle, since Tidal Assault cannot stand again, the domination is released.

Can My Opponent Perform Action X While Their Vanguard Is Dominated? (includes Guarding)

Any action that requires a reference to the opponent’s Vanguard is not able to be performed.

Ex1: Normal Calling Guardians from hand to Guardian Circle
This is a valid action, as Normal Calling Guardians from hand do NOT require a reference to your Vanguard as of the removal of grade restrictions on the action. (Reference: JPN Mukuro Q&A #4132, updated 03/31/2022)

Ex2: Calling a G Guardian to Guardian Circle
This is NOT a valid action, as this directly references your Vanguard’s grade. As the Vanguard is currently dominated, you do not have a Vanguard to reference, making this action invalid.

Does My Opponent Automatically Lose If I Dominate Their Vanguard?

No. There is still a card on their Vanguard Circle, which means that Automatic Loss conditions related to the Vanguard Circle are not met.

Automatic Loss is triggered when the number of cards on the Vanguard Circle equals zero, meaning no Vanguard card and no Soul. Since Dominating the Vanguard doesn’t remove it from the field, but instead changes its controller, the opponent does not receive an automatic loss.

Who Pays For The Costs Of The Skills/Who Performs Drive Checks?

The dominating player pays the costs for all usable skills/abilities of the dominated unit(s), and performs Drive checks from their own deck (in the event it’s a Vanguard being dominated).

Ex1: The dominating player can pay CB1 to use Nightrose’s skill to revive a column from their Drop zone onto their RC.

Ex2: If the Dragveda OT is drove checked, you can restand the dominated Vanguard and attack again still as long as there is a valid Rear-guard target. Or the dominating player can choose their own Vanguard as a valid target still (perhaps against MC matchup usefulness).

When A Unit Is Revived From The Drop Zone With An On-Place Skill, Who Gets To Use The Skill? What About End Of Battle Skills?

Ex1: Oboro revives the unit with its first skill. The opponent gets to choose whether or not the on-place skill is used. They also pay whatever costs come with that ability. There are no current skills in Nubatama’s arsenal that revive a unit in the dominated state.

Ex2: If a dominated Ghost Ship attacks, the dominating player can use its skill to gain power, retire itself, and draw one card for the dominating player. Similar to other skills that are on-attack/end-of-battle.

For Time Leap, If I’ve Dominated Multiple Units, Which Units Can I Pick To Time Leap, And Where Do The Cards Go?

You can choose to Time Leap using dominated units such as Melem and Tick Tock Worker. The units called through Time Leap get called from your deck, and the units bound through Time Leap are put into your opponent’s Bind Zone.

Ex: Melem goes back to the opponent’s deck and the dominating player calls a Grade 0 from their deck as Rest. Tick Tock Worker goes into the opponent’s Soul, binds the other dominated unit (which goes to the opponent’s bind zone), and the dominating player can call a Grade+1 card from their deck to RC.

New Ur-Watar Ruling (doesn’t work anymore)

(Updated 9-15-23)

EX: This is a new clarified ruling. Ur-Watar’s skill no longer works for the Dominating player. The skill is activated but it’s in the Bind Zone which changes the Master status back to the Owner. Because of this, the cost of “put this card” cannot be paid. So it doesn’t work anymore.

This new clarified ruling has been backed by the 11.7.1 section in the Comprehensive Rules.

Can I/My Opponent Boost/Intercept With Dominated Units?

No. Dominated units are incapable of Boosting or Intercepting. They are only capable of attacking. Your opponent must wait until all Dominated units are no longer dominated before they can intercept/boost with them. See 2nd ruling for the answer in regards to how long domination lasts.

If A Dominated Unit Becomes Locked, Is Domination Lifted?

Yes. A locked card is no longer a unit, so dominate will be released for that card only.

Ex1: A dominated rear-guard attacks Freezeray and hits. The opponent can choose any of the dominated rear-guards and lock one of them. That locked card has its domination lifted.

Can A Dominated Unit With Lord Attack? With Tenrei on Field?

If the dominated unit with Lord does not have Nubatama as a clan, then it cannot attack. Tenrei’s presence does NOT change this, as it only grants the attributes to your Shiranui Vanguard.

When is Madoi/Daruma Collapse’s Skill Resolved: During The Battle Or After The Battle?

During the battle. A Dominated Attack is an attack from an opponent’s unit declared by you, the Dominator. You are not interrupting the Dominate skill for the purposes of Madoi or Daruma Collapse, or any unit similar to those two.

Drachma/Dust Interaction With Oboro’s On Stride Dominate

As mentioned prior with Madoi/Durama Collapse interaction, there’s an advantageous way to use domination with Zeroth Dragons such as Drachma and Dust.

When you Ultimate Stride, both Drachma and Oboro’s skills activate at the same time. Start with Oboro’s dominate skill. The dominated unit will attack the Vanguard, during this time any stand-by skills or “on attack” skills will have a check timing. You resolve Drachma’s skill to retire and bind their Vanguard and non-dominated rear-guards. After its resolution, the dominated unit will continue its attack onto their newly ridden Vanguard.

Dust can be included in your G Zone if you have Neon Gyze in your deck list. Then by having Tenrei on field, you can Ultimate Stride into any Zeroth that matches your opponent’s nation. So if you’re facing a Dark States opponent, then you can Ultimate Stride into Dust.

Dust will resolve the same way as the Drachma ruling.

Can I Engorge/Rest/Lock/Retire/etc A Dominated Unit in Order To Pay For The Cost Of A Skill?

Yes. Dominated units are considered your units, so dominating multiple units will allow you to use those units in any costs that involve other rearguards (as long as you fulfill the condition for the cost to be paid to begin with).

Ex: Gaia can use its Engorge and eat one of your rear-guards (Nubatama ones or other currently dominated units).

In addition, if you do happen to Engorge a dominated Bluesprint with any equip gauges, then both the Bluesprint and its equip gauges are sent to the opponent’s Drop zone. Neither you nor your opponent can activate the calling skill. Due to the gauge zone being a private zone, as such a player can only view the contents of their own gauge zone. Even if a fighter dominates a unit with a gauge, that card’s gauge will still be in the opposing player’s gauge zone as such cannot be viewed.

More on how it works with Gauges here: https://cardfight.fandom.com/wiki/Gauge

Does The Owner Of A Card Ever Change?

No. The controller of a card can change at any point, but the owner of a card remains the same. Zones never change owners or controllers.

Ex: Dominating Iguanogorg with Maguntenbu, then paying the cost to revive Iguanogorg will cause the card to be revived on the opponent’s side of the field as they are the owner of the card.

(Side Note: This isn’t necessarily frequently asked, but it’s important enough to place here for skill purposes.)

Who Controls A Circle With A Dominated Unit On It?

Opponent does. You control the dominated unit, not the circle itself. When attacking with a Dominated unit, the circle’s referencing system changes so skills that require being in a given column can activate. Skills that require being a specific row, however, are not possible to activate, as the ability to reference Front Row and Back Row is lost.

What Happens When A Dominated Unit Is On A Circle With An Imaginary Gift?

Doesn’t work. In 7.39.8, if the circle a dominated unit is on was specified for any imaginary gift process, the modifications applied to that circle are NOT applied.

Can My Opponent Call Over A Dominated Unit? How?

Yes, your opponent can Superior Call over a dominated unit as long as the following are true:

• The skill of doing the calling is not targeting the Dominated unit for referential purposes
• The skill of doing the calling does not specify having to call to an OPEN rear-guard circle

Ex: The stride Shiranui “Rinne” calls 2 cards from the opponent’s hand to RC. They are dominated and attack the opponent’s Vanguard one by one. When the opponent guards, they can use Negrolily to retire one of their non-dominated rear-guards. Call Beatrice to an OPEN RC. Then Beatrice can call a unit onto RC with a dominated unit. Which retires the dominated unit immediately (canceling the attack). In addition, if the card called was Colombard V, you can then call another unit to the 2nd RC that has the 2nd dominated unit for the same result.

The reason this is possible is during under domination, the unit is still on its owner’s RC under the dominating player’s control. As mentioned in the prior point.

Can My Opponent Select Protect I Gift Markers And/Or Orders For Zanki/Rinne’s ability? What Happens?

(Updated 9-6-23)

Yes. Protect Gift Markers and Orders are considered cards while in the hand. As such, they are valid targets to be chosen by the ability of “Blazing Demonic Stealth Dragon, Shiranui ‘Zanki’ ” and “Evil-eye Vidya Emperor, Shiranui ‘Rinne’ “.

What’s the end result?

• Protect Markers -> Fizzle
• Ticket Shield -> Fizzle
• 20k Ticket Shield -> Fizzle
• Forbidoll (Regalis G3 Order) -> Straight to Drop
• Sanctitude (Blitz Order) -> Straight to Drop

The Protect Marker will be technically sent to Drop, and then immediately be removed from play, per Comprehensive Rules 15.3.6. When Order cards are chosen, they will immediately go to the Drop zone as a rule action, per Comprehensive Rules 13.11. Tickets will be removed from play afterward immediately.

For the Rinne call scenarios when an Protect/Order cards are chosen, the Grades of those are NOT counted for Mizukaze’s guard restriction since they’re NOT technically called.

When it comes to guarding in the Guard step, things can be a bit tricky with what counts for Mizukaze.

In the scenario for the Protect I Gift marker is used to Guard, it is technically called to Guardian Circle. Which will count towards Mizukaze’s guard restriction. It has a Grade of “Protect”. So moving forward, the opponent cannot call a 2nd Protect I Gift marker to Guardian Circle from hand.

For the scenario of using a Blitz Order to guard with, those cards are NOT called to a Zone. They are simply placed in the Order Area. So Mizukaze, does NOT count the Grades for those.

The Order Area is where Orders are played. The Order Zone is where Set Orders go after being played.

But wait, aren’t placing and calling the same thing? Mostly yes, but there are exceptions. Calling is always placing, placing is not always calling. When the card is placing but not calling:

• When the card is being placed isn’t a Unit
• The Zone isn’t a Circle
• Or both

Does Mizukaze See Prior Calls In The Same Turn?

Yes!

Ex1: If cards were called to GC or RC prior to a Mizukaze being superior called by a stride like Jakumesso. It will see and count those Grades too.

Ex2: Oboro’s Ride phase skill to call a unit from the opponent’s Drop zone onto their RC. This forces them to call a unit which can also help you dictate which Grade you’d want Mizukaze to restrict.

Ex3: The calls from Rinne, also count, so you’re opponent has to be cautious of what they call and how they can guard. Otherwise, those Crit 2 dominated attacks can just win due to guard restriction.

Does Dominated Attacks Count For Honoly? How About Aqua Force Skills?

Yes!

Ex1: The dominating player uses both Oboro’s on stride dominate skill and Rinne’s skill. 3 dominated attacks occur. So the attack count is 3. The Nubatama player starts their Battle phase and will start off as the 4th battle when one of their units attacks, and increases. So when the 5th+ battle a rear-guard would attack a Vanguard, then CB1 must be paid.

Ex2: The dominating player can use Aqua Force skills that reference a specific battle. If a dominated Ruler Thavas is the 1st battle, the dominating player can use its restand skill.

Does Jewel Knight Skills Like Sybill Activate Still?

Yes!

Ex1: When Rinne’s skill calls a unit from the opponent’s hand onto a Jewel Knight then dominates the called card, the unit called is still in the Jewel Knight player’s control before the domination happens. So thus the Sybill that was called over does activate its skill. The reason is that the sentences of calling and domination are separate. (Even though it’s within the same skill)

Credit/Resources

Original Source FB Post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1323970417662728/posts/1498320076894427/

Nubatama FB Group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1323970417662728

Credit to:

• Rob Casale (contributor)
• zero2pass (contributor)
• Solleh (update regarding Mukuro Guard rules)
• Dustin (pointing out the Iguanogorg interaction)
• Dravoth (another pair of eyes from a offical judge)

Extra Resources:

Shihai = Dominate

Bushiroad FAQ: https://cf-vanguard.com/information/shihai_nubatama/?fbclid=IwAR3GXWoOoP7ZYrJNNJzS20Gw-k3DHhtN-I9JysrDSk-xbASoDFm77w3eLno

Commander Jaime’s Social Media/Links/Etc:

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