Konami has released many Special Summoning techniques. These are Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum and Links. Over the years, the mechanics have evolved, giving new interaction and gameplay. Sometimes, the anime provides these evolutions in semi-official terms. Other times, they are treated as a gimmick. This article will be one of the mini-part series looking at the evolution of each summoning mechanic. Some of these evolutions haven’t appeared in the real game yet. I will also be using the terms from the anime to describe the evolutions.

Xyz Summon

Xyz Summon was the second Special Summon mechanic that wasn't part of the OG series. The introduction of Xyz like Synchro beforehand was met with fan's outcry. However, more so with Xyz as Xyz brought something brand new other than a different colour border. Many weren't happy with the concept of "ranks" as it contradicted all card effects that interact with monster levels (e.g. Gravity Bind). In addition, Synchro fans were upset that Xyz essentially replaced their favourite summoning mechanic as Konami practically ignored Synchro in the early Xyz era. It also didn't help that early Xyz monsters weren't as strong as Synchro, and Konami neutered a lot of Synchro decks so players would use Xyz. Then there are Fusion and Ritual fans who are upset that Konami chooses to invent a new mechanic rather than fixing the OG mechanic. Despite this, Xyz quickly became one of the more powerful summoning condition, and some argue that this mechanic ages the best. Let's have a look.

Rank 3 Engine (2011)

TCG Konami debuted an infamous Rank 3 engine in the final Synchro Era pack in 2011. Although this pack didn't introduce any Xyz monsters to the TCG audience, it did introduce Tour Guide From the Underworld. That card quickly became a format defining card after the introduction of Xyz Monsters. This card was a staple, especially since people were initially using it in conjunction with Sangan. The combo was to summon Tour Guide to Special Summon Sangan from the Deck. Then you Xyz Summon a Rank 3 Xyz Monster with both Sangan and Tour Guide. Detach Sangan to trigger the Xyz Monster effects, which then trigger Sangan's effect to search out another Tour Guide or any other monsters from the Deck. However, this combo was quickly rendered mute when Konami released a ruling stating that monsters attached to an Xyz Monster aren't considered "on the field."

Simple Effects (2011)

In 2011, Konami debuted Xyz Monsters. Right off the bat, they gave off the impression that Xyz Monsters are limited-time use monsters with simple ignition effects. However, there are a few exceptions. "Leviair the Sea Dragon", "Tiras, Keeper of Genesis" and "Number 17: Leviathan Dragon" saw use in many decks. Leviair was often a key card in many broken combos or OTK Loops, and it didn't help that it was straightforward to summon with no real cost or restrictions. Number 17: Leviathan Dragon saw minor early use as it was an easy and free 2500 ATK beater. Tiras, Keeper of Genesis was a Rank 5 Xyz Monster who debuted in the first Xyz pack. Tiras is unique since it doesn't have any ignition effect, and players didn't actually need to detach any materials to trigger any effects. However, it does need materials for its effect to trigger in the first place. 

Gamebreaker (2011)

Mid-2011 saw a huge boost for Xyz Monsters. Konami released Evolzar Laggia, Evolzar Dolkka, Black Ray Lancer and Wind-Up Zenmaines. Wind-Up Zenmaines was an easy to summon generic Rank 3 Xyz Monsters with a decent defence power with a strong protection and destruction effect. Evolzar Laggia, Evolzar Dolkka and Black Ray Lancer were the first Xyz Monsters to start introducing negation effects. Laggia and Dolkka were practically walking Solemns with high ATK points. However, they were tricky to summon - for now.

Detach Multiple Materials (2011)

Evolzar Laggia also saw the beginning of the Xyz Monster that detaches more than one material to trigger an effect. Since then, Konami has often reserve powerful effects for Xyz Monsters with the need to detaching multiple Xyz Materials (e.g. Number 101: Silent Honor Ark). They further evolved this mechanic with the release of Number 91: Thunder Spark Dragon, where the players need to detach 3 or 5 materials. They then further trumped that number with Tellarknight Ptolemaeus, requiring the player to detach 7 Xyz Materials. Konami also later expanded this mechanic by having to give Xyz Monsters different effects where the effects are determined based on the number of materials detached (e.g. Castel).

Monsters with similar cost include Castel, The Skybuster Musketeer and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon.

Rescue Rabbit/Loop (2011)

The same pack with Evolzar Laggia and Evolzar Dolkka introduced a tiny powerhouse called Rescue Rabbit. This card banishes itself to Special Summon 2 Normal Monsters from the Deck. Players using this card in conjunction with Laggia and Dolkka meant two things. One, no one was using the "Evolz" archetype, and two, you ended up with a deck that can basically curb stomp everyone without giving a chance for the opponents to fight back. In conjunction with Leviar, players were able to recycle Rescue Rabbit over and over again, continually. In combination with Konami hitting many good Tuners and Synchros, Xyz has officially taken over as the go-to mechanic. 

Attaching Materials (2011)

Xyz Reborn debuted in late 2011. It's a Trap Card that revives an Xyz Monster from the graveyard and then attaches itself to the monster as an Xyz Material. It is the first card to enable the user to attach Xyz Materials to an Xyz Monsters without actually Xyz Summoning the card. Since then, Konami has further played with this gimmick by creating monsters with the ability to attach themselves to an Xyz Monster or cards with the ability to steal the materials from other Xyz Monsters.

Example of cards with the ability to attach materials to an Xyz Monster are Overlay Eater, Heraldic Beast Twin-Headed Eagle, Xyz Agent and Overlay Capture.

Boss Monster Higher Ranks (2011)

In late 2011, Konami released the Rank 3, Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity and Wind-Up Zenmaines and the Rank 6, Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh. These three were released around the same time for the Wind-Up archetype. Previously, Wind-Up has an Xyz Monster in the form of a Rank 4 monster. However, with the introduction of Zenmaity, Zenmaines and Zenmaioh, Wind-Up now has Xyz Monsters belonging to Rank 3, 4 and 6. This sets the trend for practically every future Xyz Archetype, where many Xyz Monsters in the archetype usually have different ranks. Monsters with the higher ranks in the archetype are usually more powerful. 

As mentioned before, future Xyz Archetypes tends to have Xyz Monsters with varying ranks for the players to access. Examples of archetypes include Ninja, Constellar, Gimmick Puppet, Chronomaly, Raidraptor and Evilswarm).

Grant Effect (2011)

In 2011, Konami debuted  It's a Level 3 Spellcaster monster that boosts an effect that helps with Xyz Summoning. Gagaga Girl is the first monster to grant additional effects to the Xyz Monster if used as Xyz Materials. Since then, Konami has often created monsters with similar effects for archetypes (e.g. Heroic, Phantom Knights, Raidraptor, etc). The Digital Bug archetype plays around with this gimmick.

Other cards with similar effects include Star Drawing, Heroic Challenger - Extra Sword, Raidraptor - Skull Eagle and Bachibachibachi.

Chaos Number and Xyz Evolution (2012)

In early 2012, Konami released the Xyz Monster, Number C39: Utopia Ray. It's an Xyz Monster that the Xyz Summoning using one specific Xyz Monster. In this case, Number C39: Utopia Ray is summoned by simply using only one Number 39: Utopia. This is also the first Chaos Number monster to debut in the game. Konami has created the Digital Bug archetype that focuses on Ranking Up the Xyz Monster after fulfilling certain conditions. The Raidraptor archetypes also sport similar gameplay but with the use of Rank-Up-Magic Spell. The Zoodiac archetype took this even further.

Konami would later introduce more Chaos numbers down the road for the other Number Monsters. However, many of them lost the ability to Xyz Summon itself through the use of "Xyz Evolution". They also continued with this Xyz Evolution gimmick with other Xyz monsters. Examples include Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss and Number C1: Numeron Chaos Gate Sunya.

Cannot be used as Xyz Material (2012)

In early 2012, Constellar Siat was released to the OCG. It's a monster from the Constellar archetype that Special Summons itself to the field. It also has a clause that prevents the player from using it as an Xyz Summon other than a Constellar Xyz Monster. This is the first card to have that clause. As the game began to steer towards Xyz Summoning, Konami created many monsters to make Xyz Summoning easier. However, to avoid these monsters breaking the game, Konami usually prints clauses like this to cards to prevent them from using them in other decks. Konami has further evolved this mechanic by having these types of monster only supporting a specific Type or Attribute rather than an archetype (e.g. Vampire Duke). The Duston archetype took this even further by not allowing the player to use any of the Duston Monsters as Xyz Materials at all.

Other cards with similar clause include Vampire Duke, Super Defense Robot Elephan, Heroic Challenger - Double Lance.

Generic Evolution (2012)

In mid-2012, Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger debuted. It's a Rank 7 monster that sports 2600 ATK with the ability to inflict piercing damage. What makes this card unique is that you can summon it similar to Chaos Utopia, but unlike Chaos Utopia, the "base" Xyz Monster merely needs to be a Rank 5 or 6 monster. This makes summoning this monster a lot easier and enables the player to not waste Extra Deck space for specific Xyz Monster (e.g. Utopia for Chaos Utopia).

Konami would continue with this gimmick but made it even more generic by having the base monster either be a certain Type or Archetype Monster. Examples of Xyz Monsters with a more generic Xyz Evolution mechanic includes Full Armored Black Ray Lancer, Ebon Illusion Magician, Number 77: The Seven Sins and Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder.

Unuseable Effect (2012)

In late 2012, Number 91: Thunder Spark Dragon came to the OCG. It's a Rank 4 Xyz Monsters that has two effects. The first one requires the player to detach 3 materials to destroy all face-up monsters. The second effects involve detaching 5 materials to nuke the opponent's field. The problem is that the monster can only be Xyz Summoned using 3 materials. Therefore, players will usually never use the second effect unless the Xyz Monsters gained two extra materials from another card effect.

Unfortunately, Konami has actually continued with this gimmick of unusable effect. Thankfully, the later Xyz Monsters usually have inherent effects that allow them to gain more materials. Konami also experimented with this gimmick with Rank Up Xyz Monsters, where they only have access to certain effects if they have the required base materials.

Examples of Xyz Monsters with this gimmick include Ghostrick Angel of Mischief and Number C106: Giant Red Hand.

Skip Xyz Summoning (2012)

In July 2012, Konami released Bahamut Shark. It's a Rank 4 Water Xyz Monster with 2600 ATK. It's the first card to be able to Special Summon an Xyz Monster from the Extra Deck without properly Xyz Summoning it. Since then, Konami has played around with this gimmick, and they have evolved this mechanic even further (see "Skip Xyz, but treated as an Xyz Summon"). The whole Plunder Patroll archetype focuses on this mechanic (but the archetype isn't restricted to only Xyz Summoning). 

Cards with similar effects include Xyz Universe, Cipher Spectrum, Chain Summon and Rikka Queen Strenna. The entire Numeron archetype revolves around this gimmick. In fact, they took this gimmick up to eleven by allowing users to spam out four Xyz Monsters in one turn. 

Immediate Xyz Summon (2012)

In mid-2012, Konami released Advanced Heraldry Art. It's a spell card that revives two Heraldic Beast monsters from the graveyard and then immediately performs an Xyz Summon. It's also the first card to enable the player to perform an Xyz Summon immediately. Konami has since continued with this mechanic with Geargia Change which is almost identical to Advanced Heraldry Art. Konami has also evolved this mechanic by releasing Galaxy Tyranno, an effect monster with the same effect.

Other cards with the same effect include Artifacts Unleashed, Gazer Shark and Halfway to Forever.

Skip Xyz, but treated as an Xyz Summon (2012)

In late 2012, Konami released Number 53: Heart-eartH. It's a Rank 5 Xyz Monster with 100 ATK with the ability to gain more ATK points. It's also the first monster to Special Summon another Xyz Monster from the Extra Deck, similar to Bahamut Shark. Unlike Bahamut Shark, the Special Summoning itself is treated as an Xyz Summon. This enables the player to revive the Xyz Monster if it ever gets sent to the grave.

Other cards with similar effects include Number 27: Dreadnought Dreadnoid and Sacred Noble Knight of King Custennin. In fact, the entire Super Quant archetype was built around this gimmick of skipping the whole process of Xyz Summoning. 

Variable Xyz Materials (2012)

Hazy Flame Basiltrice debuted in late 2012. It's a Rank 6 Pyro Type Xyz monster with continuous effects depending on the numbers of materials attached to this card. This is the first Xyz Monster that allows the player to use a variable amount of Xyz Materials for the Xyz Summon, ranging from 2 to 5. Since then, Konami has played around with this gimmick. Konami even created the Lyrilusc archetype around this gimmick.

Other Xyz Monsters with similar summoning condition include Lyrilusc - Recital Starling, True King of All Calamity, Dhampir Vampire Sheridan andFirewall eXceed Dragon.

Continuous Effect Based on Number of Materials (2012)

With Hazy Flame Basiltrice, Konami introduced a new gimmick where an Xyz Monster gains continuous effect based on the number of Xyz Materials attached to the card. They have done something similar to CXyz or Number C monsters where monsters gain certain effects based on specific Xyz Materials attached to the card.

Since then, Konami has released cards with a similar gimmick, such as Melffy Mommy and Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad.

Attaching itself to Xyz Monster (2013)

In 2013, Xyz released Xyz Agent. It's a Level 2 Spellcaster that has the ability to attach itself to an Xyz Monster while it's in the graveyard. We have seen many trap/spell cards in the past that attach themselves to an Xyz Monster. We've also seen monsters with effects that attach other materials to an Xyz Monster (e.g. Heraldic Beast Twin-Headed Eagle). However, this is actually the first time where a monster actually attaches itself to an Xyz Monster with its own effect. 

Since then, Konami has continued with this gimmick. The recent support for Lyrilusc has this effect in the form of Lyrilusc - Celeste Wagtail. The entire Springans archetype runs on this gimmick. Konami would also eventually gives effect to Extra Deck Monsters with this same ability (e.g. Sacred Noble Knight of King Custennin and Infinitrack Goliath")

CXyz (2013)

CXyz Dark Fairy Cheer Girl debuted in early 2013. It's a Chaos Version of Fairy Cheer Girl. It's also the first Chaos Xyz Monster that isn't part of the Number series. Like the Number C series, the player needs to rank up the Chaos monster's base form to summon the CXyz form. Interestingly, Konami has completely abandoned the Chaos Xyz series quite early. The last CXyz monster is CXyz Barian Hope, which debuted in 2014, and that doesn't even have a base form.

Other CXyz monsters include CXyz Barian Hope, CXyz Battleship Cherry Blossom, CXyz Coach Lord Ultimatrainer, CXyz Comics Hero Legend Arthur, CXyz Mechquipped Djinn Angeneral, CXyz Simon the Great Moral Leader, CXyz Skypalace Babylon and CXyz Zubaba Saikyo General (Manga)

Rank Up Magic (2013)

In 2013, they released Rank-Up-Magic Barian's Force. It's a spell card that targets an Xyz Monster on the field and ranks it up to Number C or CXyz monster with the same type. This card is the first Rank-Up-Magic in the game and starts the many Rank-Up-Magic cards in the game. Unlike the previous rank-up mechanic we have (Xyz Evolution), this ranking up mechanic requires the player to use a Rank-Up-Magic card to rank up the monster.

Konami eventually evolved this mechanic by making it more generic by creating Rank-Up-Magic Limited Barian's Force, enabling the player to access any Number C or CXyz monsters from the Extra Deck. They even further evolved this gimmick by turning the Rank-Up-Magic spells into Quick-Play spell cards in the form of Rank-Up-Magic Quick Chaos. Konami then evolved this mechanic again by enabling the player to rank up more than one rank (Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force). The Archetype, Raidraptor, was built around the Rank-Up-Magic gimmick with Rank-Up-Magic specific to the Archetype's monsters.

Examples of Rank-Up-Magic cards include Rank-Up-Magic Doom Double Force, Rank-Up-Magic Cipher Ascension and Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force.

Chaos with No Additional Effects (2013)

In late 2013, Konami released Number C101: Silent Honor DARK. It's a Rank 5 Chaos Number with the ability to attach the opponent's monster to itself. This is the first Chaos Number that does not have any specific effect if the base form is attached. During this period, Konami has dabbled with this gimmick but quickly ditched it afterwards with the last one being Number C40: Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings.

Other Number C monsters that don't have additional effects when the base form is attached are Number C15: Gimmick Puppet Giant Hunter and Number C40: Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings.

Rank-Down-Magic (2013)

Rank-Down-Magic Numeron Fall debuted in late 2013. Like Rank-Up-Magic spell card, instead of ranking up the monster, it Special Summon an Xyz Monster that is one rank lower. Unfortunately, Rank-Down-Magic hasn't really gotten any attention from Konami since Rank-Down-Magic Numeron Fall. There hasn't been any other Rank-Down-Magic spell card. Purge Ray is a Trap Card that works similarly to Rank-Down-Magic spell card but requires the player to tribute the monster.

Discarding Rank-Up-Magic (2014)

2014 saw the release of Number 99: Utopic Dragon. It's a Rank 10 Xyz Monster that has an effect that is very similar to both Rank-Up-Magic and Xyz Evolution. It involves the player discarding a Rank-Up-Magic spell card from the hand to Xyz Summon this card. Since then, Konami has released two other Xyz Monsters with similar effects. They are Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL and Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Air Raid.

Xyz Summoning with Ranks and Rank 0 (2014)

Number F0: Utopic Future debuted in 2014. It's the first Rank 0 monster to debut in the game. Eventually, Konami would release another Rank 0 monster known as Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL. It's also the first monster that requires the player to use ranks rather than levels to perform an Xyz Summon.

Since then, Konami has released a few other cards with similar summoning condition. This included the already mentioned Number S0: Utopic Zexal and Number 93: Utopia Kaiser.

Xyz Monster as Fusion Materials (2015)

In 2015, Elder Entity Norden debuted in Korea. It's a Level 4 Water monster with the beneficial ability to revive a Level 4 or lower monster from the graveyard. This effect and the ease of summoning it (Instant Fusion) would eventually land this card onto the ban list. Besides being a forbidden card, it's also the first Fusion Monster that lists Xyz Monster as fusion materials.

Eventually, Konami would release more fusion that uses Xyz Monsters as materials. These include Elder Entity N'tss, Supreme King Z-ARC, Lyrilusc - Independent Nightingale and Coordius the Triphasic Dealmon.

Xyz/Pendulum Hybrid (2015)

2015 saw the debut of Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon. Unlike a standard Xyz Monster, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon is an Xyz/Pendulum hybrid. It can turn itself into a Pendulum Scale if it gets destroyed. Being a Pendulum Monster, the player can Pendulum Summon this card if it's Face-up in the Extra Deck. This card is the first Xyz Pendulum Hybrid. Since the end of the pendulum era, we haven't seen many more Xyz/Pendulum hybrid from Konami.

The other Pendulum Xyz Monsters include Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon, D/D/D Super Doom King Dark Armageddon, Magician of Hope and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon - Overload.

Treating Ranks as Levels (2015)

Xiangke Magician was released in 2015. It's a Pendulum Monster with a pendulum effect that treats an Xyz Monster's ranks as levels for an Xyz Summon. However, it doesn't actually give the Xyz Monsters levels. Merely treats the ranks as levels for an Xyz Summon.

So far, Xiangke Magician is the only card with this ability. The anime card, Cross Xyz, also has a similar effect.

Giving Xyz Levels (2015)

Xiangsheng Magician was also debuted in 2015. Unlike Xiangke Magician, Xiangsheng Magician actually gives Xyz Monsters levels. Like Xiangke Magician, Xiangsheng Magician is the only monster with the ability to turn an Xyz Monster's ranks into actual levels. However, there are several anime cards with similar effects that debuted long before Xiangsheng Magician.

Pendulum as Materials (2015)

Konami released Majester Paladin, the Ascending Dracoslayer in 2015. It's an Xyz Monster that supports the Pendulum Summoning Mechanic. It's also the first Xyz Monster to specify the use of Pendulum Monsters as the materials. Konami has since abandoned this mechanic. The last Xyz Monster that requires Pendulum Monster as Xyz Materials is the Supreme King Dragon Dark Rebellion.

Other Xyz Monsters with this summoning condition are Supreme King Dragon Dark Rebellion and Timestar Magician.

Attaching Link Monster to Xyz Monster (2018)

In 2018, Konami released the Link Monster, Wind-Up Zenmaintenance. It's a Link Monster that supports Xyz Summoning. It does so by attaching itself to Wind-Up Xyz Monster. It's the first Link to have that ability. Since then, Konami has released another Link Monster with a similar effect in the form of Infinitrack Goliath.

Link Materials Additional Effects (2018)

In 018, Konami debuted Salamangreat Miragestallio. It's the first Xyz Monster for the Salamangreat archetype. It also has a unique effect where it grants extra abilities for the Link Monster that uses this card as an Xyz Material. To this day, Konami hasn't released another Xyz Monster where it gives the Link Monster extra effects if it was used as an Xyz Material.

Effects based on Types of Materials (2019)

In 2019, Konami released Time Thief Redoer. It's a Rank 4 Xyz Monster who can attach the opponent's deck's top card to itself. It then triggers effects based on the Type (Monster, Trap and Spell) of materials detached from the card. This gimmick is so far unique to the Time Thief archetype.

The other Xyz Monster with a similar effect is Time Thief Doublebarrel.

Link to Xyz (2019)

Konami debuted Dingirsu, the Orcust of the Evening Star in 2019. Interestingly, when this card was first announced, many people thought it was a Link 5 monster. Dingirsu, the Orcust of the Evening Star can be Xyz Summoned by using one Orcust Link monster as a material. So far, this monster is the only Xyz Monster that can be summoned through this method. The Infinitrack archetype has something similar, but instead, the player revives the Xyz Monster from the graveyard by tributing a Link monster.

Link Rating Support (2019)

In 2019, the counterpart to the ridiculously broken Firewall Dragon, Firewall eXceed Dragon, was released. It's so far the first and only Xyz Monster with an effect that benefits itself depending on the total Link Rating of Link Monsters linked to it. So far, Konami has yet to experiment more with this gimmick.

Reincarnation Xyz Summon (2019)

2019 saw the release of Salamangreat Blaze Dragon. It's a 4 Xyz Monster with 2300 ATK. It has the unique ability where if it doesn't have any materials left, the player can resummon another one using itself as Xyz Material. This process grants the monster additional effects of destroying one card on the field.

This gimmick is very similar to ranking up. However, unlike ranking up, the player can only summon the same Xyz Monster. So far, Salamangreat Blaze Dragon is the only Xyz Monster with this ability.

Equipping rather than Overlaying (2020)

Konami debuted the TCG exclusive archetype, Plunder Patrol, in early 2020. It's an archetype that focuses on skipping summoning their extra deck monsters in normal ways similar to Bahamut Shark. However, they have a unique gimmick. Instead of attaching themselves to the Extra Deck monster, they merely equip themselves with it. However, the equipping really doesn't grant any additional effects to the Xyz Monster (or the other Extra Deck monsters) at all.

Since then, Konami hasn't really created any more archetypes where the user Xyz Summons monster by equipping themselves to the summoned Xyz Monster. 

Effects that trigger when Tributed (2020)

In 2020, Konami debuted Rikka Queen Strenna. It's a Rank 4 Water Plant monster with the effect that Special Summons another Plant Xyz Monster from the Extra Deck or Graveyard if it's tributed. We have seen other summoning types with effects that trigger when tributed (E.g. Rituals). However, this is the first and only card where an Xyz Monster effect trigger condition is based on being tributed.

Treated as Two Different Archetypes (2020)

Konami released Raider's Knight in 2020 to support both Raidraptor and Phantom Knight archetypes. It has a unique clause that enables itself to belong to two different archetypes (Raidraptor and Phantom Knight). We have had cards that belonged to two different archetypes in the past. However, that's usually because of the name (e.g. Magical Android is part of the Roid archetype) or cards with effects that support two archetypes (e.g. Crystal Rose for Melodious and Gemknight). Raider's Knight is the first and only Xyz Monster in the entire game with a unique clause of being treated as two different archetype families.

Tributing Xyz Material for Ritual Summon (2021)

In 2021, Konami debuted Drytron Mu Beta Fafnir, an Xyz Monster for a Ritual Archetype. It has the ability to Foolish Burial a Drytron Monster. It can also negate Spell/Trap cards if there's a Machine Ritual Monster on the field. However, what makes this monster unique is that players can tribute its Xyz Materials to perform a Ritual Summon. This is a relatively new card, and so far, it's the only Xyz Monster that can do this.

Differences between Extra Deck (2021)

Konami debuted Pendransaction in 2021. It's a Rank 4 Xyz Monster that sports 2000 ATK. It has an interesting effect where its effects vary depending on the differences between the number of cards in your Extra Deck and your opponent's. As this is a new card, Konami has yet to evolve this gimmick.

Treated as multiple Xyz Materials (ANIME 2012)

    In episode 43 of Zexal, the anime version of Photon Caesar debuted. It's a Level 8 Light Warrior monster that treats itself as two materials for an Xyz Summon. This allowed the player to cheese out an Xyz Monster with only one monster simply. This is similar but different to Zoodiac, as the Zoodiac archetype cheeses out their Xyz Monsters based on the Xyz Monster effects and essentially acts as a Rank-Up.

Most anime monsters with similar effects have their effects altered in real life. For example, Caesar was given an effect to Special Summon another monster instead.