Yugioh Tcg - Blog Posts

Now this is my DM and GX deck Aces. Been having a fun time with the early Yugioh and quite frankly I'm just going to share what my ace's would be if I was a duelist in the show

Dark Magician

Did someone say RANT ABOUT THE BEST MECHANIC IN YU-GI-OH!?

If one really wants to practice weaponising game mechanics - chain beat is the way to go, even if Black Garden might not be the optimal variant for it. But if you want to start small (with a chain burn), you should make a point to count Chain Links in chat/out loud anytime you do anything. This will force your opponent to keep explictly passing over their priority (right to activate stuff). Either they'll do that every single time (against chain burn it should intimidate too, as there are only two things they count up to ;D), or they'll just state for everyone to see that they'll giving you a free reign to do whatever the hell you want. Outside of chain-dependent decks, try not to use it on people who aren't trying to be cute. Once we're done with you, you should be able to out-ruleshark them. So pay attention. There will be a test later. One could argue that it's actually continuous effects that are the fastest, since they can apply in the middle of a chain (Counter Fairies are made of this and so is placing Spell Counters) For example:

P1 activates Reinforcement of the Army, thus creating Chain Link 1.

P2 (in response to Rota's activation) chains Call of the Haunted, targeting Thunder King Rai-Oh.

P1 does not chain anything.

P2 does not chain anything.

Because both players passed, chain closes and proceeds to resolve backwards (codeheads may recognise it as a LIFO stack).

First, Rai Oh is summoned.

Then, RotA 'resolves', but due to Rai Oh being on the field, the effect fizzles without doing anything. This can stop more than a single part of an effect, if the rest of it involved the word "then")

If an effect fizzles without doing anything, it's still considered to have been activated. If one attempts to make a Grand Unifying Rulebook, a trigger effect can be chained if the last thing that happened was the activation condition. And there are plenty of them so get ready to see that phrase a billion times.

Simplified example, ie. what happens in practice:

P1 tributes Treeborn Frog, summons Caius the Shadow Monarch and activates his effect, targeting Blaze Accelerator Magazine.

P2 chains BAM's effect. If P1 doesn't do anything, P2 will proceed to discard Volcanic Scattershot and draw a card

both players do the following roughly in this order:

banish BAM

mill two Scattershots

destroy Caius

subtract 1500 points from P1's LP

If they know what they are doing, this is not a problem. If they don't, it becomes a complete Clusterfuck.

Same example, once more with clarity:

Open game state: P1's MP1

it doesn't matter for the following details, but keeping track of it is makes rulesharkers knock themselves out on your SUPERIOR RULE-FU

this means that Turn player has priority

P1 tributes Treeborn Frog to tribute summon Caius the Shadow Monarch. The last thing that happened was an attempt to summon a monster (because this window of opportunity is limited pretty much exclusively to negating summons that do not start a chain, like Horn of Heaven or Koa'ki Meiru Overdose, they are usually lumped together with summon responses)

Since P2 doesn't respond, P1's Caius arrives to the field. The last thing that happened was Caius' tribute (=normal) summon. Tributing Treeborn Frog is a cost and thus promptly ignored.

Due to the fact that his effect is a trigger (responding to his own summon) and the one declaring it's activation is the turn player, it is a Chain Link 1 (CL1 for short - this notation is incredibly useful) targeting Blaze Accelerator Magazine. The last thing that happened was:

Caius was tribute=normal summoned

Caius' effect was activated, targeting Blaze Accelerator Magazine.

yes, both are consiedered "things you can respond to".

P2 activates the effect of Blaze Accelerator Magazine, thus creating CL2: BAM. The last thing that happened was:

Caius was tribute=normal summoned

BAM's effect is activated.

P1 in retalliation chains... nothing at all.

P2 passes right to chain as well, thus both players move into resolving the chain that formed.

2nd Chain Link is resolved (R2 for short): Volcanic Scattershot is discarded (at resolution, since it's not a cost), P2 draws a card.

R1: Caius banishes Blaze Accelerator Magazine.

You'd think that the turn moves back to an open state, but NOT SO FAST! In the middle of resolving that chain, Scattershot's effect trigger happened. Since you can't shove another Chain Link in the middle of an ongoing chain, trigger effects patiently wait for the current chain to finish to either politely ask if it can activate (In case it "If~, you can~" and "When~, you can~") or rudely do the thing at the first opportunity (in this example, this happens with the -500lp effect). As a result, after Caius-BAM chain resolves, a second chain is immediately created, bypassing turn players priority. Thus the example continues with a rather tame case of SEGOC, just so you'll have a taste of what's to come.

CL1: Scattershot -500LP effect activates.

CL2: Scattershot mill themselves as a cost with the intention to nuke the field.

Now that trigger effects stated their business, players can meddle some more. The last thing that happened was:

Blaze Accelerator Magazine was banished.

Volcanic Scattershot's mill'n'nuke effect was activated.

P1 doesn't chain anything.

P2 doesn't chain anything.

R2: field is nuked.

R1: 500lp worth of effect damage is dealt.

Since two other Scattershots were sent to the graveyard, yet another chain is formed.

CL1: Scattershot-A -500LP effect activates.

CL2: Scattershot-B -500LP effect activates.

P1 doesn't chain anything.

P2 doesn't chain anything.

R2: 500 points of damage are dealt.

R1: 500 points of damage are dealt.

and finally - FINALLY - the game moves to an open state (It's still P1′s MP1. If you forgot - this is why explictly asking for responses to specific things is important ;D)

...i can already tell you're internally whining "but why should caaareee?", glad you asked, buster ;> This is where a lot of hidden power/weaknesses of a lot of cards come into play.

People usually gloss over the fact that 1500 comes in three hits, so to speak. This means that Dark Room of Nightmare will deal 900 points of damage and Gorz will retalliate with whooping... -500LP.

Since Caius always activates before BAM, in a void BAM's effect will always go through.

Because BAM can destroy Caius post-mortem, it becomes sort of a mind game - especially if you throw a stray MST into the mix.

If you aim Caius at BAM, they WILL activate it (if they don't it means they do not have Volcanic Shell and that they most likely don't have Volcanic Scattershot - enjoy the free knowledge)

Say you suspect to the point of acting on it that they DO have a Scattershot. You could do the above to pave the way for something nastier. If you have a MST and they have another card, you could aim the Monarch Spite Cannon at that, instead.

If they chain BAM, you can chain MST to destroy it. That way, Scattershot stays in their hand, Caius prevails AND they do not get to draw a card. Oh, and BAM both was activated and destroyed (which means that although this turn they are completely locked out of BAM-shenanigans, they will be able to both retrieve it with volcanic Rocket and use it's 3rd effect next turn).

If they don't, you went +1 in card advantage and still can do the abovementioned later.

No trying to use Solemn Warning after your Bottomless Trap Hole spectatularly failed (or is slated to fail). This also means that summon negation stops the continuous effects of monsters-that-would-have-been (and if you gloss things over, one could even joke that they do so retroactively.)

Costs cannot be chained to. EVER. This is also the reason why Lonefire Blossom works under Skill Drain (by the time it's effect resolves, Skill Drain has already stopped applying to it.)

Volcanic player is perfectly capable of drawing into a Scattershot, which they'll have to discard.

If you want to save Caius with Forbidden Lance/etc, chain it to the second chain. If you do it do it too early, your opponent might troll you by yarding a Shell. If you do it too late you won't even have a target anymore. This also means that if you are using The Monarchs Awaken, you can both have your cake and eat it.

No matter what, doing shenanigans with Escalation of the Monarchs will end with you losing that monster to Scattershots. Whether or not you really needed that Raiza to go off is another matter.

Both players can chain Call of the Haunted to the 3rd chain - and it will ensure that the summoned monster will not fall into a BTH (since the only window of opportunity after that chain opens up only for "dealt/took damage" and "monster effect resolved")

If you are willing into "what are you doing STAHP" territory: if you can read that their only valid discard is a Scattershot - you could chain Torrential Tribute to BAM. Because they activated it, they would have to discard the little guy (as you can't activate cards if you don't have valid targets). However, they wouldn't be able to mill two others, which would be rendered mostly useless, ticking time bombs as you have to discard/mill all of them to get the nuke effect.

As a collorary, every effect that negates an activation, has to be chained directly to what it wants to stop. Negated chain links still exist for the purpose of reading the potential triggers left by the resolution of a chain. There is also a SECRET RULE-FU TECHNIQUE that never ceases to blow my mind. I've mentioned effect fizzling, i've mentioned activating fun things at fun times for fun results. Effect Veiler-Fiendish Chain interaction is what combines those two aspects. Say you have a monster with an ignition effect that tributes it as a cost. For this example, let's take Cardcar D for a joyride. But before that, a few things to keep in mind before we jump in:

Monster effects that tribute themselves for cost activate on the field.

Effect Veiler can and will negate abovementioned effect.

Fiendish Chain only negates things that activate and resolve on the field, just like Skill Drain.

The only window of opportunity to activate Effect Veiler to negate CCD is when it's summoned. Once that moment passes, it'll vroom away.

Do you see where this is going? You have CCD and a Fiendish Chain, your ornery opponent has Effect Veiler. What can happen? Go on, try to figure it out yourself.

The answer is: In response to CCD's summon a chain is formed: CL1: Effect Veiler, targeting CCD. If the turn player adds CL2: Fiendish Chain (targeting CCD), durning resolution Fiendish will negate CCD. As a result Veiler's effect will not affect CCD. After that, you can activate CCD'e effect and it will go through, because Fiendish affects only face-up monsters!

If something is done by the players 'at the same time', like with Dark World Dealings

Rule- trigger-wise, it's resolution opens up trigger conditions:

"a (normal) spell card was resolved"

"you added a card from your deck by drawing it"

"your opponent added a card from your deck by drawing it"

Physically, opponent of the person who activated it is the one to do it 1st (tho i do not have a sauce. It should be either a single-card ruling or in one of the posts of tcgplayer's resident judge).

See also: "events that do not start a chain" (=that do not form a chain link) in the rulebook. The thing that screws over sharks and what i strongly insist on doing: if you activate something in a window of opportunity for triggers as a CL1 (like activating Bottomless Trap Hole because a monster was normal summoned), you are RESPONDING TO *AN ACTION* (here, to the normal summon of a monster). If you are activating something as a CL2 or higher - you are CHAINING TO THE ACTIVATION OF *A CARD (EFFECT)*. And continuous effects APPLY. If you have aaaaaaaall this knowledge nicely sorted out in your head, the only way they could bend the rules would be to confuse you first by muddling what is really happening. Insistent, rigid terminology also point to what they don't know. Even corrected by a judge, they might operate under their old assumptions. Enjoy free knowledge=power ;>

Hey guys, I’m back with a new post!

Today’s article is pretty hard to understand; it’s usually one of those things that new and average players don’t understand or apply in the wrong way. And it’s probably one of the most important things to know to play the game. So, today I’m gonna write about...

“Reading David Sirlin's writing on an actual issue affecting Yugioh is honestly one of the most special experiences I've had with this game“

And they were both galaxy-eyes dragons