Problem-Solving Card Text, Part 1: Reading the Cards of

Tomorrow
May 20th, 2011

The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG has too many rules.

Don’t get me wrong, the basic game rules are pretty simple. Everyone’s seen how they
work from the TV series and the manga. The big problem is with rulings on specific cards.
There are so many. So why is that, anyway?

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG is a game designed to be played by everyone. Whether you’re in

elementary, junior high, or high school; college, grad school, or law school; working for a
living, playing with your kids, or playing with your nieces, nephews, or grandchildren… the
game is designed so anyone can pick up some cards and start to play.

Because of this, we’ve always avoided making the cards sound too “technical.” If we write
the cards in geekspeak so you need a user manual to decipher them, that’s not much fun.
It would feel less like a game, and more like you’re taking a test or visiting the DMV.

So as much as we can, we’ve always written cards the same way that plain folks talk. And
for a long time, it worked fine. But as we approach 10 years and almost 5,000 different
cards, we’ve run into a problem: Using plain folks’ language limits the number of ways you
can write things. There are only so many ways to say “Joey ate an apple,” after all.

But we have a lot of different apples, and eating each one needs to be described a
different way. We wind up using the same phrases to describe cards that work slightly
differently, and there isn’t enough available language to spell everything out in detail
without taking up the entire card box.

Problem-Solving Card Text

The year 2011 marks 10 years of Yu-Gi-Oh! on TV in North America. As part of our 10th
Anniversary celebrations, the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG will undergo its greatest text and rules
retrofit ever. Starting in July 2011, all cards will be written with what we call Problem-
Solving Card Text.

The new text took a while to work out, and we needed to wait until we had enough
different kinds of cards and effects to look at as examples. The new text doesn’t just have
to work for the cards we have now. It has to work for everything we make in the years
ahead.
We had 3 main goals for the Problem-Solving Card Text:

1. The text needed to be precise.

2. The text still needed to be easy to read.

3. The text can’t sound like a textbook.

In other words, we needed a way to write cards in plain English, but at the same time
inject so much exact science into the card that all the complicated rules could be fixed.

Not an easy task! But we finally managed to do it, and you’ll be seeing the results very
soon.

Your Cards & You – The Future

So what does this mean for you?

Up until now, if you ran into a complicated card situation, this is what you had to do:

First: read the card.

Second: run to the web to find out how the card works and how to resolve the situation.

Third: assuming your specific situation was covered online, continue playing. Otherwise
you need to write in and ask for an answer.

Doesn’t that seem kind of silly? Especially since the main point of the game is that each
card tells you what it does.

From now on, here’s what you’ll do, instead:

First: read the card.

Second: apply logic and figure out the answer.

Third: continue playing.

.
Rules posted online will be limited to super-complicated and really weird situations.
Imagine going down to a dozen pages of card rules, instead of a thousand. It could
happen.

That still leaves the billions of cards we’ve already got in circulation, of course. For existing
cards, as we reprint them in Decks, Turbo Packs, Duelist League, and other places, we will
update their text to the Problem-Solving Card Text. Over time, rules questions about
existing cards won’t just be answered. They will cease being questions in the first place.

What’s Next

In order to help everyone with this transition, we’ll be taking you through it one step at a
time over the next few weeks. Every few days we’ll explain another part of how the
Problem-Solving Card Text works. By the time the new cards start rolling out in July, you’ll
be up-to-speed on how everything works!

Problem-Solving Card Text, Part 2: New Words & Phrases

May 23rd, 2011

(If you haven’t read the first article in this series, be sure and read it first! Then come back
here for part 2.)

As we talk about the new Problem-Solving Card Text in the days ahead, we’re going to
give you examples from upcoming sets so that you can understand better.

Those examples are going to look pretty strange unless we go over a few wording changes
first. These are really simple, and will make the cards easier to read.

Remember, you’ll start seeing these with cards printed in July of this year, and with all the
cards printed after that.

1. ‘Remove from play’ is now ‘Banish’

The phrase ‘remove from play’ is being replaced with the single word ‘banish’:
Old:
Remove from play 1 face-up monster.
New:
Banish 1 face-up monster.
Cards that were ‘removed from play cards’ will now be called ‘banished cards’:
Old:
Both players Special Summon as many of their removed from play monsters as possible.
New:
Both players Special Summon as many of their banished monsters as possible.

The old ‘remove from play’ phrase could get clunky sometimes. In normal English you
would say ‘remove 1 monster from play’. But that becomes a problem when it was
something like ‘remove 1 face-up Warrior-Type EARTH monster with 1500 or more ATK
that attacked last turn from play’. By the time you get to the words ‘from play’ at the end,
you’ve forgotten where you started.

Because of this, a few years ago we shifted to ‘remove from play’ as a sort of super-
keyword, that you would never break up. But it sometimes ran into other clunkiness
problems.

‘Banish’ as a single word is simple, short, and clean. And will make a lot of card texts easier
on the brain.

2. ‘Is removed from the field’ is now ‘Leaves the field’

Another problem with ‘remove from play’ is that people kept getting it mixed up with
‘remove from the field’, which is something totally different. So now these terms will be
‘banished’ and ‘leaves the field’, instead.

‘Banished’ (which used to be ‘removed from play’) means that the card goes off the board
into that special place not depicted on the Game Mat.

‘Leaves the field’ (which used to be ‘is removed from the field’) means that something was
on the field, then went to the Graveyard, or to the hand, or was banished. (Note that
effects that activate when a card leaves the field do NOT activate if it goes from the field
to the Deck, since it gets lost in the shuffle.)

Old:
When this card is removed from the field, Special Summon 1 “Reborn Tengu” from your
Deck.
New:
When this card leaves the field, Special Summon 1 “Reborn Tengu” from your Deck.

The only place you’ll see ‘remove’ from now on is when removing counters. Like ‘Remove
1 Spell Counter.’
As you can see, the word ‘remove’ was pulling triple duty, to mean 3 different things. This
has now been fixed.

Take a look at what this does to cards like Plaguespreader Zombie:

Old:
If you do, remove this card from play when it is removed from the field.
New:
If you do, banish this card when it leaves the field.

The new text is a lot less confusing.

3. Piercing Battle Damage

During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is
lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.

You’re probably familiar with this phrase. You won’t be seeing it any more.

This effect has been around for years, but we’re simplifying the wording to just say the
monster can do ‘piercing Battle Damage’.
Old:
During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is
lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.
New:
If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your
opponent.

Note that the piercing effect only applies to Battle Damage. Which means that you still
need to get to damage calculation so that Battle Damage actually happens. In other
words, just because the wording is changing doesn’t mean this is some magical new thing
that happens when the attack is declared.

This change will also be on cards that give piercing Battle Damage to another card.
Something like Dragon’s Rage would look like this:
Old:
During battle between an attacking Dragon-Type monster you control and a Defense
Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of the attacking monster, inflict the
difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.
New:
Dragon-Type monsters you control inflict piercing Battle Damage when they attack a
Defense Position monster.
.

4. ‘Selected as an attack target’ is now ‘targeted for an attack’

This change is pretty minor, but it makes things easier to understand, especially for new
players. Let’s take Marauding Captain as an example:
Old:
Your opponent cannot select another face-up Warrior-Type monster as an attack target.
New:
Your opponent cannot target face-up Warrior-Type monsters for attacks, except this one.

The new phrasing is more direct and to-the point.

5. Hero monsters are now (mostly!) HERO monsters

We have 3 kinds of ‘Hero’ monsters from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX right now: Elemental Heroes,
Destiny Heroes, and Evil Heroes. Coming soon we’ll be adding Masked Heroes and Vision
Heroes to that list.

Right now, on cards like Elemental Hero Stratos, we write out ‘Elemental Hero, Destiny
Hero, or Evil Hero card’ for effects that work on all 3 kinds. Instead of adding ‘or Masked
Hero, or Vision Hero’ in the future, we’re going to pull a comic book-style retcon, and just
change the names of all the GX Hero-class monsters from Hero to HERO (all-caps).

This applies to monster card names:

Elemental HERO Tempest
Destiny HERO Dasher
Evil HERO Dark Gaia

As well as effects. Elemental HERO Stratos for example would say:

Add 1 “HERO” monster from your Deck to your hand.

Spell/Trap Cards are mostly unaffected, since they have lower-case names already and are
not Hero-class monsters.

There are 3 exceptions to this rule. For monsters, Hero Kid is going to stay Hero Kid since
it’s not old enough to be a full-fledged HERO. On the other hand, Hero’s Bond will become
HERO’S Bond. But HERO Flash!! will become Hero Flash!!.

We plan to reprint most of these cards soon with the corrected names and texts. So
everyone who wants to use the revised names can play with those updated cards, to avoid
confusion.
But for now, until Masked HERO and Vision HERO cards start showing up, none of this will
affect your gameplay at all.

Keep these changes in mind as we go over the other, bigger changes you’ll be seeing on
your cards very soon.

Problem-Solving Card Text, Part 3: Conditions, Activations,

and Effects
June 1st, 2011

(If you haven’t read the first two articles in this series, be sure and read the Introduction
and New Terminology articles! Then come back here for part 3.)

Put on your thinking caps! I’m about to explain the most important part of the new
Problem-Solving Card Text.

As far as rules go, the most important info on a card are its Timing, Targeting, and
Conditions. These are also the things that cause the most questions. For example:

 Timing – If we make a chain, do I do things when I activate my card or when the

card resolves?

 Targeting – Does this card target something? If it has more than 1 target, what
happens if one target goes away?

 Conditions – What if something changes between the moment I play the card and
the moment it finishes up and goes to the Graveyard?

The problem-solving card text fixes all of these problems, completely and forever. The
trick was how to do it but still have the cards read the same way if you’re not interested in
these kinds of details.

Starting in July, any card that hits on any of these key areas will have its text rewritten to
answer all of your questions.

Here’s how it works…

Monster Text
I’m going to explain this all using colors, since our brains understand things better with
colors. During this article:

 Anything that explains CONDITIONS to activate a card, or limits WHEN or HOW

OFTEN you can activate a card, will be written in green and called ‘green text’.
Green text limits when you can do things.
 Anything that happens WHEN YOU ACTIVATE a card will be written in red and
called ‘red text’. This includes things like costs and targeting.
 Anything that happens when you resolve a card will be written in blue and called
‘blue text’. This is what happens when the card effect actually happens.

Remember that your actual cards will still be printed in black! The colors are just training
wheels to help us explain.

On your cards, instead of using colors, punctuation will let you tell what kind of text
everything is.

Conditions (green text) are now always followed by a colon (:).

Activation text (red) is separated from the card effects (blue) by a semicolon (;).
The basic structure is CONDITIONS : ACTIVATION ; RESOLUTION.

Let’s take the new Sangan as a simple example:

When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: Add 1 monster with 1500 or less
ATK from your Deck to your hand.
Everything in green (before the colon) describes WHEN and under what conditions the
effect happens. Everything in blue (after the colon) describes what happens when the
effect resolves.

If there’s a semicolon, then everything after the conditions is divided between what
happens when you activate the card (red text, before the semicolon) and what happens
when the card resolves (blue text, after the semicolon):
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can target 2 Level 2
monsters in your Graveyard; Special Summon them, but their effects are negated.

When you activate a card or effect:

1. Make sure the green part (before the colon) is being followed.
2. Do the part in red (before the semicolon) if there is any.
3. After that, other cards and effects can be chained in response. If there’s a chain,
you don’t do your card’s effects (blue, after the colon / semicolon) until the chain
resolves, in backwards order, like this:
Let’s take an example of a 3-card Chain.
Player #1 Summons Trident Warrior and chooses to activate its effect. This starts a chain:
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3 monster from
your hand.

Player #2 chains Raigeki Break, targeting Player #1’s monster:

Discard 1 card to target 1 card on the field; destroy it.

But the card Player #2 targeted was a Gemini monster, so Player #1 responds with Gemini
Spark:
Tribute 1 face-up Level 4 Gemini monster you control to target 1 card on the field; destroy
it and draw 1 card.

Using the colons and semicolons, you can build the chain like this:

1. Player #1’s Trident Warrior: (it has no red text, but it still goes on the chain
structure even though nothing happens yet)
2. Player #2’s Raigeki Break: Discard 1 card to target 1 card on the field; (at this point,
Player #2 discards 1 card, and targets Player #1’s monster)
3. Player #1’s Gemini Spark: Tribute 1 face-up Level 4 Gemini monster you control to
target 1 card on the field; (at this point, Player #1 Tributes his monster and targets
one of Player #2’s cards)
4. Player #1’s Gemini Spark resolves: destroy it and draw 1 card. (Player #1 does
these things)
5. Player #2’s Raigeki Break resolves: destroy it. (The monster isn’t on the field
anymore so nothing happens)
6. Player #1’s Trident Warrior resolves: Special Summon 1 Level 3 monster from your
hand. (Player #1 does this)
Red goes on top, Blue on the bottom. In other words: everything before the semicolons
happens first (all piled together in order), then everything after the semicolons (again, all
piled up in order).

BIG TIP: If there’s a colon or semicolon in the text, that always means an effect that starts
a chain. If there is no colon or semicolon, the effect does NOT start a chain and cannot be
chained to.

Sangan starts a chain. You will know this because it uses a colon:
When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: Add 1 monster with 1500 or less
ATK from your Deck to your hand.

Cyber Dragon does NOT start a chain. You will know this because it does not use a colon:
If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon
this card (from your hand).

Spell and Trap Text

Spells and Traps always start a chain at some point, because activating the Spell/Trap
starts a chain all by itself.

Some Spells & Traps won’t have a colon or a semicolon. But they still start a chain when
you activate the Spell or Trap. (Summoning a monster doesn’t start a chain, so that’s why
they’re different).

Creature Swap, for example, has no colon or semicolon. In fact, its text is exactly the same
as before because everything on Creature Swap happens when the effect resolves:
Each player chooses 1 monster they control and switches control of those monsters with
each other. Those monsters cannot change their battle positions for the rest of this turn.

Many Trap Cards have Conditions, so they will have a colon in the text. This doesn’t make
them play any differently from a Spell/Trap without a colon, though. The new Seven Tools
of the Bandit looks like this, for example:
When a Trap Card is activated: Pay 1000 Life Points; negate the activation and destroy it.

The colon is there to show that this card has specific conditions to activate it. The
semicolon is there to separate what you do when you activate this card, vs. what you do
when the card resolves.

.
Now that we’ve covered the basics on how the cards are written, stay tuned for Chapter 4
to find out some more benefits and details about how to read your new cards!

Problem-Solving Card Text, Part 4: The Clues on Your Cards

June 1st, 2011

(Important! This article goes with today’s other article on Conditions, Activation, and
Effects. If you haven’t read it yet, do that now and then come back to this one. You’ll also
want to read the first two articles, about the New Card Text and New Words & Phrases.)

We’ve covered how new text will be written using a colon and semicolon to clearly
separate activation conditions from activation timing from effects.

Now I’m going to show you some advantages of the new text.

Looking for Clues

The new text reads a lot like the old text. But if you know what to look for, there are
valuable clues to help you figure stuff out. Here are some clues to look for:

 Costs are always paid at activation. If the card tells you to pay, discard, Tribute, or
destroy in the activation text (before the semicolon), it’s a cost.
 Any activation conditions (written before the colon) only have to be met when you
activate the card. If something changes before the card resolves, and the
conditions aren’t met anymore, it doesn’t matter. (Any conditions that STILL have
to be true when the effect resolves will be listed separately.)
 A colon or semicolon on a monster, or on a Continuous Spell/Trap, means a chain
starts. (Remember that activating a Spell or Trap Card starts a chain, too.)
 For any card that targets, if the effect text (after the semicolon) still refers to a
‘target’, you have to double-check that any targeting requirements are still met.
 Otherwise, if the card refers to the target using any other word (like ‘it’) in the
effect text, the targeting requirements only had to be met when the target was
originally targeted.
 For any card that targets, if the effect text refers to ‘both’ (or a similar term) in the
effect text, you have to be able to apply the effect to ALL of the targets. If even one
of the targets is no longer eligible, then the whole effect disappears.

Using Your Clues

It’s time to play detective! Let’s see what clues we can deduce from the new card text on
some cards. The important parts will be underlined. (In many cases, what’s most
important are the colon and the semicolon!)

New Zombie Master:

Once per turn: You can send 1 Monster Card from your hand to the Graveyard, then target
1 Level 4 or lower Zombie-Type monster in either player’s Graveyard; Special Summon that
target. This card must remain face-up on the field to activate and to resolve this effect.

 Clues:
 You send a card to the Graveyard first, ‘then’ pick a target after that.
 You Special Summon ‘that target’, so if it isn’t a Level 4 or lower Zombie-Type
monster in the Graveyard anymore, it is not Summoned. (Zombie World got blown
up by MST = no Summon!)
 The last sentence points out that Zombie Master has to still be face-up on the field
when the effect resolves, or else the effect disappears.

New Magical Dimension:

If you control a face-up Spellcaster-Type monster: Target 1 monster; Tribute it, then
Special Summon 1 Spellcaster-Type monster from your hand, then you can destroy 1
monster on the field.

 Clues:
 The Spellcaster requirement is before the colon. So you only need a Spellcaster-
Type monster when you activate this card, not when it resolves.
 The semicolon tells us the only thing you do at activation is target a monster.
 You Tribute the monster at resolution, ‘then’ do the other effects. If the monster
wasn’t around for you to Tribute at resolution, then you don’t get any effects.
 You Tribute, then Summon, then destroy (if you want), in order. The last thing that
happens is that you destroy. If you don’t destroy, then the last thing that happens
is that you Summon.

New Blade Knight:

While you have 1 or fewer cards in your hand, this card gains 400 ATK. If this is the only
monster you control, negate the effects of Flip Effect Monsters it destroys by battle.

 Clues:
  No colon, no semicolon = no chain.
 Both of these effects are Continuous, so Blade Knight never starts a Chain. Which
means, among other things, that you cannot use something like Divine Wrath on
him.

New Kinetic Soldier:

During damage calculation, if this card battles a Warrior-Type monster: This card gains
2000 ATK and DEF during damage calculation only.

 Clues:
 Aha! I see a colon. This effect starts a chain. (Divine Wrath incoming!)

New Trap Hole:

When your opponent Normal Summons or Flip Summons 1 monster with 1000 or more
ATK: Target that monster; destroy that target.

 Clues:
 This card destroys ‘that target’. So if the target’s ATK is no longer 1000 or more,
the effect disappears.

Compare that to Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon (from Generation Force):

Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up card your
opponent controls; destroy it.

 Clues:
 This card destroys ‘it’. So even if the target was flipped face-down, or shifted to
your side of the field, it’s still destroyed. (If it’s not on the field at all when the
effect resolves, it’s not destroyed, of course.)

New Fusion Gate:

While this card is on the field: Either player can Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster without
using “Polymerization”, but the Fusion Material Monsters are banished instead of being
sent to the Graveyard.
  Clues:
 There’s a colon there, so we know this effect starts a chain. Continuous
Spells/Traps with ignition-like effects will have a colon or semicolon to let you
know this.

New Black Garden:

When a monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned, except by the effect of “Black

Garden”: Halve its ATK, and you Special Summon 1 “Rose Token” (Plant-Type/DARK/Level
2/ATK 800/DEF 800) to its controller’s opponent’s side of the field, in Attack Position. You
can target 1 monster in your Graveyard with ATK equal to the total ATK of all face-up Plant
Type monsters on the field; destroy this card and all face-up Plant-Type monsters, then
Special Summon that target.

 Clues:
 First effect has a colon, so we know it starts a chain.
 Second effect has a semicolon, so we know it also starts a chain.
 The ATK halving and the Rose Token Summon happen at the same time.
 The second effect targets.
 The last effect refers to ‘that target’ after the semicolon, so the conditions before
the semicolon have to still be true at resolution. (Specifically, it must be in your
Graveyard and still have exactly the same ATK as all face-up Plants on the field.)
 “Destroy this card” is after the semicolon, so you destroy “Black Garden” when the
last effect resolves, not when it’s activated.

New Bountiful Artemis:

Each time a Counter Trap Card resolves, immediately draw 1 card (during the Chain).

 Clues:
 No colon, no semicolon = no chain.

It shouldn’t take long for you to get used to the new text, and be able to figure out all
these clues on your own. As we reprint more and more older cards with the new text, the
first thing you’ll want to do whenever you have a question is to just read the card.

Check back in a few days and we’ll talk about changes to monsters’ Summoning text!
Problem-Solving Card Text, Part 5: Special Summons
July 27th, 2011

(Important! This article is part of a series. You can find the other articles in the series by
clicking here.)

Special Summons are one of the most important and exciting parts of the Yu-Gi-Oh!
TRADING CARD GAME. But sometimes the sheer number of ways to Summon can get a
little confusing.

The good news is that the new Problem-Solving Card Text makes Special Summons a lot
easier to understand.

Special Summons fall into 2 groups:

1. Effects that Summon. This includes monsters that Special Summon using a Flip,
Ignition, Quick, or Trigger Effect (like Mystic Tomato). It also includes Spells and
Traps that Summon a monster (like Monster Reborn). All of these effects and cards
start a Chain.
.
2. Built-In Summons. These are monsters that can Special Summon themselves in a
special way that doesn’t start a Chain. This includes cards like Cyber Dragon. Xyz
Summons, Synchro Summons, and Contact Fusions are also part of this group.

The key difference between the two groups is whether the Summon starts a Chain or not.
The new text on your cards makes it easy to tell. Just look for a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in
the Summoning text. If you see either of these, then the effect starts a Chain, and goes in
the first group. All Spells and Traps start a Chain when activated, so they all go in the first
group, too.

Group 1 Examples

Here are some examples of effects that Special Summon. All of these go in the first group
because a Chain is involved.

Hero Kid:

When this card is Special Summoned: You can Special Summon any number of “Hero
Kid”(s) from your Deck.
(This is a Trigger Effect that activates when this card is Special Summoned. It starts a Chain
when it’s activated.)

Destiny HERO – Malicious:

You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Special Summon 1 “Destiny HERO –
Malicious” from your Deck.

(This is an Ignition Effect you can use during your Main Phase. It starts a Chain when you
activate it.)

Fake Hero:

Special Summon 1 “Elemental HERO” monster from your hand. This turn, that monster
cannot attack, and returns to the hand during the End Phase.

(This is a Spell Card. Even though you don’t see a colon or semicolon in the text, activating
a Spell Card always starts a Chain. So this effect goes in the first group.)

Reinforce Truth:

Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Warrior-Type monster from your Deck. You cannot
conduct your Battle Phase the turn you activate this card.

(Just like with Fake Hero, this Trap Card starts a Chain, because activating a Trap Card
always starts a Chain.)

Group 2 Examples

Group 2 examples have a lot of variations for how to Summon them. But your newer cards
will have very clear details on how these work.

TIP: All Group 2 cards – except Synchro & Xyz Monsters – will use (parentheses) to explain
where the card is Summoned from. This is another way to spot these cards.

Here are some examples:

Cyber Dragon:

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon
this card (from your hand).

(This is a basic example of a built-in Special Summon ability. You know it doesn’t start a
Chain, because there is no colon or semicolon. You can also Normal Summon this
monster, since it doesn’t say that you can’t.)

Ghost Ship (from Generation Force):

Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by
banishing 1 LIGHT monster from your Graveyard.

(Like the card says, you can’t Normal Summon this card. The method written on this card
is the first way to Summon it. After that, if it goes to the Graveyard, you can Special
Summon it again with anything, like Monster Reborn, etc.)

Elemental HERO Marine Neos:

“Elemental HERO Neos” + “Neo-Spacian Marine Dolphin”

Must first be Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by returning the above cards you
control to the Deck. (You do not use “Polymerization”.) Once per turn: You can destroy 1
random card in your opponent’s hand.

(This is an example of a Contact Fusion. You have to Summon it using the method written
on the card first. But after that you can re-Summon it from the Graveyard, since it doesn’t
say you can’t.)

Destiny HERO – Dogma:

Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by
Tributing 3 monsters, including at least 1 “Destiny HERO” monster, and cannot be Special
Summoned by other ways. If you still control this face-up card during your opponent’s next
Standby Phase after you Special Summoned it: Halve your opponent’s Life Points.

(This is a very powerful monster with very specific requirements to Summon it. The only
way to play this monster is by using the written method to Summon it from your hand.
Even if you do this, it cannot be Special Summoned by other ways like Monster Reborn.)
.

Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes:

Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must first be Special Summoned with “Rise of the
Snake Deity” and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways except by its own effect. This
card gains 500 ATK for each Reptile-Type monster in your Graveyard. This card cannot be
targeted by, and is unaffected by, Spell/Trap effects and other Effect Monsters’ effects.
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can banish 1 other
Reptile-Type monster from your Graveyard; Special Summon this card. When this card
inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent: Place 1 Hyper-Venom Counter on it. When 3
Hyper-Venom Counters are on this card, you win the Duel.

(Here’s an example of a much more complicated card. Just read the card carefully and
you’ll see the most important parts:

1. You can’t Normal Summon this card.

2. The first way to Summon it is with the Rise of the Snake Deity card.
3. After that, it can’t be Summoned by other ways, except by its own effect.
4. Its own effect is explained later in the text. It has a Trigger Effect that it can use to
Summon itself from the Graveyard. This is allowed because the text specifically
says it can be Summoned “by its own effect” after first being Summoned with Rise
of the Snake Deity.
5. Since the text also says you can’t use any other methods to Summon it, you can’t
use Monster Reborn, etc.

Note that even though the built-in Summon doesn’t start a Chain, the Trigger Effect does.)

Dragon Queen of Tragic Endings:

Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand)
while you control 3 or more face-up Continuous Spell Cards. When this attacking card
inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent: Your opponent sends 1 card from their hand to
the Graveyard, then you draw 1 card. During your Standby Phase, if this card is in your
Graveyard and was sent there from the field: You can send 1 face-up Continuous Spell Card
you control to the Graveyard; Special Summon this card from the Graveyard.

(In this case, the first way to Summon this card is from your hand, by controlling 3
Continuous Spell Cards. After that, you can use Monster Reborn on it, since it doesn’t say
you can’t. Also, it has a Trigger Effect that can also be used to Summon it.
Just like Vennominaga, the built-in Summon doesn’t start a Chain. But the Trigger Effect
does.)

Negating a Summon

So you’re probably thinking this is all very interesting, but does it really matter?

Answer: Yes.

Some cards, like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Steelswarm Roach, can negate the Summon of a
monster. But there’s one VERY IMPORTANT THING you need to know: These effects can
ONLY negate the actual Summon – they can’t negate an effect that Summons, or a
Spell/Trap that Summons.

In other words, they can ONLY negate a “built-in” Summon. Meaning Summons from
Group 2.

This is easy to remember. Just look for the parentheses () showing (from where) the
monster is Summoned. If it has parentheses, then its Summon can be negated. Otherwise,
it can’t.

Let’s use Cyber Dragon as an example. Just pretend it’s written like this:

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon
this card (from your hand… oh no, I got Rai-Oh’d!).

Remember that even though you can’t negate the Summon from Monster Reborn, Call of
the Haunted, or Mystic Tomato, you can still negate those cards/effects themselves, like
with Magic Jammer, Seven Tools of the Bandit, or Divine Wrath. You just can’t use cards
whose sole purpose is to negate a Summon.

IMPORTANT: For any monster that “must first” be Special Summoned in a certain way,
you have to do that successfully if you ever want to revive the monster afterwards. If the
Summon of your Ghost Ship, or Marine Neos, or Dragon Queen, or any similar monster
gets negated, the monster is placed in the Graveyard. Since you didn’t successfully
perform the Summon, you CANNOT revive them using Monster Reborn, etc. Since you did
not “first” Summon it properly. This also applies to Xyz Summons, Synchro Summons, and
Contact Fusions.
For monsters like Cyber Dragon, this doesn’t apply. Since Cyber Dragon doesn’t have a
“must first…” restriction on its Summoning.

Things to Remember

1. Read your cards carefully and follow what they say.

2. Anything that says (where it’s Summoned from) in parentheses can be negated by
cards that “negate the Summon”, like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Horn of Heaven.
3. Xyz, Synchro, and Contact Fusion Summons can also be negated.
4. Spell & Trap Cards that Summon, as well as Trigger/Flip/Ignition/Quick Effects that
Summon, cannot be negated by cards that “negate the Summon”. Because they
aren’t Summons – they’re effects.

Problem-Solving Card Text, Part 6: Finding Clues in TU6 &

GENF
August 8th, 2011

Starter Deck: Dawn of the Xyz contained the first Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards to have the new
Problem-Solving Card Text. Now that Generation Force and Turbo Pack 6 are out, you’ll be
seeing a lot more cards with this newer text.

You can get a LOT of useful information out of what’s written on these cards, so I wanted
to go through a few more examples and point out some helpful tidbits. I’ll underline the
important part of each card’s text.

(If you haven’t read them yet, be sure to read my previous 5 articles about how to read
your new card text!)

Let’s start with Turbo Pack 6. The most important change here is to Stardust Dragon:

Stardust Dragon

When a Spell, Trap, Spell/Trap effect, or Effect Monster’s effect is activated that destroys a
card(s) on the field: You can Tribute this card; negate the activation and destroy it. During
the End Phase, if this card negated an effect this way during this turn: You can Special
Summon this card from your Graveyard.
Stardust now specifies that he works against Spells and Traps, AND against Spell/Trap
effects.

What’s the difference, you ask? Well, when you activate a Spell or Trap, it means
activating the card itself by playing it to the field or flipping it face-up. Like Dark Hole, or
Mirror Force.

When you activate a Spell/Trap effect, you’re activating the effect of a card already on the
field, usually a Continuous Spell or Continuous Trap. A good example is Skull Lair. When
you activate Skull Lair, you flip it face up. When you activate the effect of Skull Lair, you’re
banishing monsters to destroy a monster on the field.

Stardust Dragon can be used against both: activation of a card, and activation of a card’s
effect. As long as it meets Stardust’s other criteria.

Compare this to Vylon Filament from Generation Force:

If the equipped monster attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell/Trap Cards until
the end of the Damage Step.

In this case, your opponent cannot activate Book of Moon or Mirror Force, but could
activate the effect of a card that is already face-up.

We’ve been phasing in this language on cards like Obelisk the Tormentor and the Watt
monsters. But from now on, you’ll see it consistently applied.

Quickdraw Synchron

You can send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard and Special Summon this card
(from your hand). For a Synchro Summon, you can substitute this card for any 1
“Synchron” Tuner monster. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster,
except for the Synchro Summon of a monster that lists a “Synchron” monster as a Tuner.

Note the structure of the first effect. It tells you two things.

First, it’s not an effect that starts a Chain. This means it’s vulnerable to Rai-Oh and similar
cards.

Second, because it uses “and Special Summon” instead of “then Special Summon”, it also
means that pitching a card and Summoning Quickdraw happen simultaneously. This
means that you will not miss the timing for any “when… you can” optional effects of the
card you sent to the Graveyard, like Archfiend of Gilfer or Jinzo – Returner.

Armory Arm

Once per turn, you can either: Target 1 monster on the field; equip this card to that target,
OR: Unequip this card and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. While equipped by
this effect, that target gains 1000 ATK. When that target destroys a monster by battle and
sends it to the Graveyard: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the
destroyed monster in the Graveyard.

We’ve added “in the Graveyard” to the text, to show that the monster has to still be in the
Graveyard when you check its ATK to inflict damage. This means if something takes it out
of the Graveyard as a Chained effect (like Colossal Fighter), no damage is inflicted.
Because you no longer have a reference point.

You’ll see this phrase again on lots of cards in Legendary Collection 2: The Duel Academy
Years, including Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, Elemental HERO Steam Healer, and
Neos Force. As well as Stygian Street Patrol from the Number 17: Leviathan Dragon Tin.

Bountiful Artemis

Each time a Counter Trap Card resolves, immediately draw 1 card (during the Chain).

Artemis has been confusing players for years, but now it’s clearly a Continuous Effect
(hint: no colon or semicolon). It even points out that you draw during the middle of the
Chain.

Gemini Spark

Tribute 1 face-up Level 4 Gemini monster you control to target 1 card on the field; destroy
it and draw 1 card.

Another card where the use of “and” instead of “then” is critical. Because destroying and
drawing are considered simultaneous, your opponent can do something like Summon a
Meklord Emperor in response to this card’s resolution.

.
Now let’s take a look at a few cards from Generation Force.

Vision HERO Trinity.

During the turn this card was Fusion Summoned, its ATK is double its original ATK. This
Fusion Summoned card can attack 3 times during each Battle Phase. This card cannot
attack your opponent directly.

These effects are all Continuous! Among other things, that means Trinity is immune to
cards like Divine Wrath.

Vision HERO Adoration

Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls and 1 face-up
“HERO” monster you control, except this card; the opponent’s targeted monster loses ATK
and DEF equal to the ATK of your targeted monster, until the End Phase.

Note the re-use of the word “targeted” during the resolution text. This means that all
targeting conditions (from the activation timing) must still be true at resolution.

For example, what if your opponent Chains TG1-EM1 to this effect, and flips control of the
monsters. In that case, the effect of Adoration disappears. Because you don’t control your
HERO anymore, and your opponent doesn’t control his monster anymore.

Pain Painter

While this card is face-up on the field, its name is treated as “Plaguespreader Zombie”.
Once per turn: You can target up to 2 face-up Zombie-Type monsters you control, except
this card; they become Level 2 until the End Phase. They cannot be used as Synchro
Material Monsters, except for the Synchro Summon of a Zombie-Type monster.

Pain Painter’s resolution text refers to the targets as “they” instead of “those targets”.

This means that Pain Painter doesn’t really care what’s happened to its targets. Suppose
you had Zombie World in play and targeted 2 Fluff Tokens. Then your opponent Chains
Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Zombie World, so your Fluff Tokens aren’t
Zombies anymore. That’s fine, Pain Painter doesn’t care. “They” still become Level 2. If
Pain Painter said “those targets” instead, then the effect would disappear, because he’d
be picky about his targets. (But he’s an artist, so he just goes with the flow.)
Pain Painter also doesn’t use the word “both”. That means that even if one of the targets
is gone, the other still gets changed to Level 2.

Check back later and we’ll poke through some more card text. Once you figure out how to
get the info you need off the new cards, you’ll never have a rules argument ever again!