Removed From Play

I'll be away until July or so on a trip to Continentals...which sadly means that there won't be articles for a number of days Q_Q

Magical Motorcycles

It's time for some Yusei Spell Cards. Most of them are really straight-forward, so this probably won't be a very nice article T_T

Let's start with Advanced Draw and Cards of Consonance:

Tribute  1 face-up  Level 8 or higher monster you control. Draw 2 cards.

Discard  1 Dragon-Type Tuner monster with 1000 or less ATK to draw 2 cards.

Both are Normal Spell Cards with a cost, and an effect that draws two Cards. Not much else can be said. Using Diamond Dude along either of them skips the cost, but that's about it.

Another equally boring Spell Card is Card Rotator:

Send 1 card from your hand  to the Graveyard. Change the battle positions of all monsters  your opponent controls. (Face-down  Defense Position monsters  are flipped  to face-up  Attack Position.)

Sending a Card to the Graveyard is a cost, which means that Card Rotator can't be activated if Macro Cosmos is active. It changes the position of your opponent's monsters. Since it affects "all" monsters, it doesn't target.

Next, we have Domino Effect:

When a monster your opponent controls  is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can send 1 monster  you control  to the Graveyard to destroy 1 monster your opponent controls.

Domino Effect has an Optional Trigger-lik effect that you can activate at the End of the Damage Step. Sending a monster to the Graveyard is a cost once again, so you can't activate the effect if Macro Cosmos is active, pay the cost with a token, etc. This effect targets.

Onto something more juicy, we have Double Summon:

You can Normal Summon 1 additional time this turn. You can only gain this effect once per turn.

Normal Summon allows you to have an additional Normal Summon this turn. This additional Normal Summon is completely optional, much like the usual Normal Summon that you get to perform during your turns. Note that Double Summon doesn't actually Summon anything by itself, unlike Ultimate Offering. The second sentence is a little bogus: You cannot gain Double Summon's effect more than once per turn, but you can still gain the effects of other similar Cards like Swap Frog or Chain Summoning. The latter actually overrides Double Summon, but that's a different story.

Back to boring Cards, we have One for One:

Send 1 Monster Card from your hand to the Graveyard. Special Summon 1 Level 1 monster from your hand or Deck.

Sending a monster to the Graveyard is a cost, which as usual is prevented by Macro. This effect doesn't target, because you can choose to Special Summon a monster from the Deck. With Diamond Dude, you simply Special Summon the monster.

Next, we have Release Restraint Wave:

Select 1 face-up Equip Spell Card you control. Destroy it and all Set Spell and Trap Cards your opponent controls.

Release Restraint Wave has no cost. It targets one Equip Card you control, and when it resolves, the equip Card and your opponent's face-down S/T Cards are destroyed simultaneously. The targeted Equip Card must remain on the Field until RRW resolves, but it doesn't need to be destroyed by this effect in order to destroy the opponent's Cards.

Let's move into Variety Comes Out:

Return 1 face-up  Synchro Monster you control to the Extra Deck to select and Special Summon a Tuner monster(s) from your Graveyard, whose total Levels  equal the Level  of that Synchro Monster. You cannot Synchro Summon the turn you activate  this card.

Variety returns a Synchro Monster as a cost, and targets a number of Tuner Monsters depending on how many you want to Special Summon. This Card cannot be used along Diamond Dude, because you won't pay its cost, so there's no reference on which Tuners you can target.

Now for the Equip Cards we have Fighting Spirit:

The equipped monster  gains 300 ATK  for each monster your opponent controls. If it would be destroyed by battle, you can destroy this card instead.

Neither effect uses the chain, and both are very simple. One is an ATK boost, and the other is the usual substitution effect we have reviewed numerous times.

Next, we have Junk Barrage:

When the equipped  monster destroys a monster  by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the destroyed  monster's ATK.

Junk Barrage has a Mandatory Trigger-like effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. The value is half of the monster's ATK in the Graveyard. Note that the equipped monster and Junk Barrage must be face-up at the End of the Damage Step in order to activate and resolve this effect.

Moving on, we have Prevention Star:

Equip only to a monster you control, if it was changed from face-up Attack Position to face-up Defense Position this turn. Select 1 monster  your opponent controls. That monster  cannot attack  or change its battle position. When the equipped monster is destroyed  and this card is sent to the Graveyard, remove from play the selected monster.

Prevention Star has some really weird effects. First of all, the opponent must control a monster, and you must control a monster that has switched positions. When you activate Prevention Star, you target your monster (as usual, Equip Cards target the equipped monster), and you also target the opponent's monster. The "prevention" in its name that stops the opponent's monster is a Continuous Effect. After that, it has an additional Mandatory Trigger-like that will only activate if the equipped monster is destroyed, and this causes Prevention Star to be sent to the Graveyard by Game Mechanics.

The last equip Card is Silver Wing:

Equip only to a Level 8 or higher Dragon-Type Synchro Monster. Up to twice per turn, if it would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed. If it would be destroyed by a card effect, you can destroy this card instead.

Silver Wing has two protective effects. As usual, these do not use the chain. Nothing too surprising.

Our last Card is the new Quick-Play Spell Card, Half Shut:

Select 1 face-up monster on the field. That monster cannot be destroyed by battle this turn, and its ATK is halved until the End Phase of this turn.

Half Shut targets a monster. After it resolves, it sets two Conditions that can't be negated. Flipping the monster face-down will get rid of them. Since it modies the ATK, it can be activated during the Damage Step, but not during Damage Calculation.

That's all for Yusei's Spell Cards. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

The Forgotten Dust

Sigh...now I forgot two Stardust Dragons. Silly me.

One is Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode:

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except with its own effect or with "Assault Mode Activate". You can Tribute this card to negate the activation of a Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect, and destroy that card. If you negate an effect this way, you can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard  during the End Phase. When this card on the field is destroyed, you can Special Summon 1 "Stardust Dragon" from your Graveyard.

Stardust Assault has a Summoning Condition that restricts every possible method to Summon it, other than Assault Mode Activate or its Trigger Effect. Speaking of which, Stardust/Assault is very similar to Stardust Dragon: It has an Optional Quick effect that negates other effects, and an Optional Trigger Effect to Summon itself. Every rule on Stardust also works for Stardust/Assault Mode: The negation effect can be activated during the Damage Step, the tribute is a cost, and so on. In addition, much like the other Assault Mode monsters, Stardust/Assault has an Optional Trigger Effect that Summons its previous form. This effect targets, and will activate even if Stardust/Assault is destroyed and Removed from Play (such as with Bottomless Trap Hole). Note that the target must have been properly Synchro Summoned, so if you used Starlight Road, you cannot Special Summon a Synchro Stardust Dragon with this effect.

The other dusty dragon is the upcoming JUMP Promo, Malefic Stardust Dragon:

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play 1 "Stardust Dragon" from your Extra Deck. There can only be 1 face-up "Malefic" monster on the field. Field Spell Cards cannot be destroyed by card effects. Other monsters you control cannot attack. If there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field, destroy this card.

Malefic Stardust has the staple abilities and restrictions of Malefic monsters: A Summoning Condition that prevents its Summon except by Removing from Play the original monster, a Condition that allows you to control only one Malefic monster, a Continuous Effect that restricts your other monsters from attacking, and a Continuous Effect to explode if you don't have a Field Spell Card. Other than that, Malefic Stardust Dragon has a Continuous Effect that prevents Field Spell Cards from being destroyed by Card Effects. Note that activating a new Field Spell Card is not a Card Effect, so they can still be destroyed by this method.

So yeah, a very short article T_T If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Biker Dragons From Mars

As usual, some of the most prominent monsters in the anime are Dragon monsters, and Yusei makes use of them in the form of Stardust Dragon and a number of variations of it.

The first monster we'll look at is Debris Dragon:

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 monster  with 500 or less ATK  from your Graveyard in Attack Position. That monster's  effect(s) is negated. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a Dragon-Type Synchro Monster. The other Synchro Material Monster(s) cannot be Level  4.

Debris Dragon has an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon its successful Normal Summon. It targets a monster in the Graveyard, and it can be negated by Pulling the Rug. After the target monster is successfully Special Summoned, a Condition is set on it negating its effects. This Condition works exactly as Junk Synchron's. Other than that, Debris Dragon has two Conditions on itself, regarding its use as a Synchro Material. The first Condition restricts you to only being able to Synchro Summon Dragon-type Synchro monsters with Debris. The Synchro must be a Dragon while in the Extra Deck. The second Condition stops you from using a Level 4 monster as Synchro Material. This means that you can use a Level 1 and Level 3 monster along Debris to Summon a Level 8 Synchro, but you cannot use Debris, a Level 4 monster, and a Level 2 Dragon to Summon Trident Dragion (one of the monsters is Level 4). Both Conditions (only Dragons and no Level 4) cannot be negated.

Now, into the main dish, the ever-popular Stardust Dragon:

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
You can Tribute this card to negate the activation of a Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect that destroys a card(s) on the field, and destroy that card. If you negate an effect this way, you can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard during the End Phase.

Stardust Dragon has two effects. The first is an Optional Quick Effect. Tributing Stardust Dragon is a cost. Despite its wording, Stardust Dragon negates effects not Cards (Card activations). This means that the effect can negate the effect of already-active S/T Cards. This effect doesn't target, and must be chained immediatly to the activation of the effect. Being a Quick Effect that negates activations, it can be activated during the Damage Step, and even during Damage Calculation.

The second effect is an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate during the End Phase. This second effect depends on the first one, as you must succeed in negating an effect with the first effect. If the second effect is negated for any reason, it won't activate again, because you need to negate an effect once again. Despite its wording ("you" negate...), it doesn't matter which player controlled Stardust Dragon at the time of the negation. This means that if your opponent used Brain Control on your Stardust Dragon, and activated its negation effect, then, during the End Phase, YOU can activate its effect to Special summon itself.

In order to evolve to a next stage, there are two monsters to help Stardust. The first one is Majestic Dragon:

This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a "Majestic" monster.

Which only has a lame Condition, similar to Debris Dragon's. The other monster is Stardust Xiaolong:

When you Synchro Summon "Stardust Dragon", you can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard  in face-up  Attack Position. Once per turn, if this card would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed.

Xiaolong's first effect is an Optional Trigger Effect that you can activate upon Stardust Dragon's successful Synchro Summon. It can be negated by Swallow Flip. You can activate the effect of multiple copies of Xiaolong upon the same Summon. The second effect is a Continuous Effect, your usual protection effect.

These two monsters help Summoning Majestic Star Dragon:

"Majestic Dragon" + "Stardust Dragon" + 1 non-Tuner monster
You can Tribute this card to negate the activation of an opponent's Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect and destroy all cards your opponent controls. Once per turn, you can negate the effect(s) of 1 face-up monster your opponent controls until the End Phase. Also, if the negated effect can be activated, you can activate it once as this card's effect. During the End Phase, return this card from the field to the Extra Deck, and Special Summon 1 "Stardust Dragon" from your Graveyard.

Let's look first at the required Materials. Majestic Dragon is a Tuner by default, but Stardust Dragon can also be treated as a Tuner. Furthermore, if you have a non-Tuner monster named "Majestic Dragon", but Stardust is a Tuner, then you can still Synchro Summon this Card.

As for the effects itself, the first effect is an Optional Quick Effect that tributes Stardust as a cost. This time, the doesn't need to destroy anything. Note that it only destroys Cards in the Field, so if you negate an effect that activates in the Hand (such as Tragoedia or Battle Fader), that Card won't be destroyed. Other than that, it's very similar to the regular Stardust Dragon. 

The second effect is an Ignition Effect. It targets a monster, and it negates that monster's effects. The negation is similar to Junk Synchron's. Seriously, reviewing that guy has been convenient, huh?

The third effect can only be activated during the same turn that you negate a monster's effect with Majestic Star, and only if one of the monster's effects can be "activated". That is to say, it uses the chain, meaning its either Ignition, FLIP, Trigger or Quick. Of course, it's kinda hard to mimic a FLIP Effect, because flipping Majestic Star face-down would reset its effect, but you can mimic some others. Note that it can't copy Continuous Effects, Maintenance Costs, or Conditions. You still have to meet every cost and activation requirement to activate an effect, so if you copy something like Judgment Dragon, you have to pay 1000 Life Points to activate the effect, and if you copy Infernity Mirage, you must have zero Cards in Hand in order to activate its effect.

The fourth effect is a mandatory Trigger Effect that activates during the End Phase. It targets a Stardust Dragon. Even if Stardust isn't there, or if it's impossible to Summon it, Majestic Star still returns to the Extra Deck. You only Special Summon Stardust if Majestic Star returns to the Extra Deck. Even so, the actions are considered to be simultaneous.

Ugh, too much star dust for me. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

ACME Roadrunners

So apparently I did forget a few Warriors in the other article T_T

Anyway, let's review some more Yusei Cards. Let's start with Rockstone Warrior:

You take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card. When this attacking card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon 2 "Rockstone Tokens" (Rock-Type/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0). These Tokens cannot be Tributed  for a Tribute Summon.

Rockstone has two effects. The first effect is a Continuous Effect that prevents Battle Damage. The second is a Mandatory Trigger Effect that activates at the End of the Damage Step. Probably the most important thing to notice is that the first effect is applied if Rockstone attacks or is attacked, but the second effect requires Rockstone to attack a monster with equal or more attack. It doesn't work if it is attacked. As usual, remember that the tokens have no effects, and the restriction on being tributed is a Condition set on them.

The other Warrior I missed was Fortress Warrior:

You take no battle damage from battles involving this card. Once per turn, if this card would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed. (Damage calculation is applied normally.)

Both effects are Continuous. More notably, the second effect is applied automatically the first time Fortress Warrior would be destroyed in battle. You cannot choose not to apply it.

There are two more Warriors that don't fall into the Warrior theme. One is Zero Gardna:

You can Tribute  this card to activate its effect. If you do, monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle, and you take no Battle Damage, during this turn. This effect can be activated  during either player's turn.

Gardna has an Optional Quick Effect. Tributing it is a cost. The effect can be activated during most part of the turn, but not during the Damage Step.  The effect sets a Condition similar to that of Waboku. It will also protect monsters that are Summoned after the effect resolves. Note that you do not need to control any monsters in order to activate the effect.

The other remaining Warrior monster is Ghost Gardna:

When a face-up  monster you control is selected as an attack target, you can change the target to this card. When this card is destroyed  and sent to the Graveyard, 1 face-up monster  your opponent controls loses 1000 ATK, until the End Phase.

This Gardna has two effects. The first is an Optional Trigger Effect. It is activated upon Attack Declaration, and it doesn't target Gardna itself or the opponent's monster. The second effect is a mandatory Trigger Effect that activates regardless of how, when or where Gardna is destroyed. This effect does target a monster.

Moving into weirder Cards, we have Level Eater:

If this card is in the Graveyard, you can activate its effect by selecting 1 face-up Level 5 or higher monster you control. Reduce that monster's Level by 1. Special Summon this card from the Graveyard. This card cannot be Tributed except for a Tribute Summon.

Level Eater's first effect is an Ignition Effect. It targets a high Level monster on your side of the Field. The Level is reduced as part of the effect. Note that there are no restrictions on how many times you can activate this effect, so you can activate it more than once per turn if Level Eater remains in the Graveyard. The second effect is a Continuous Effect, and it can be negated by Skill Drain.

Another random monster is Hanewata:

You can discard  this card to make any effect damage you take this turn 0. This effect can be activated  during either player's turn.

Hanewata has an Optional Quick Effect. Discarding it is a cost. Hanewata sets a Condition that reduces Effect Damage. You can chain it to an effect that inflicts Effect Damage, but it's not necessary.

Speaking of weird random Cards, we have Eccentric Boy:

When using this card as a Synchro Material Monster, the other Synchro Material Monsters is 1 monster in your hand. The Synchro Monster that used this card as a Synchro Material Monster cannot activate  its effects, its effect(s) is negated, and is removed from play when removed from the field.

Eccentric Boy's strange set of rules are Conditions that cannot be negated. You must still fulfill any requirements that the Synchro Monster may have (such as a Spellcaster non-Tuner for Arcanite Magician), and you can only use 1 Non-Tuner monster, so you cannot Synchro Summon a monster like Mist Wurm. The effect prevention and negation only lasts while the Synchro Monster is face-up on the Field.

No Duelist is complete without a set of chickens. Yusei has two, and both have similar effects. One is Sonic Chick:

This card cannot be destroyed by battle with a monster  that has 1900 or more ATK.

And Shield Wing:

Up to twice per turn, if this card would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed.

Both have Continuous Effects that prevent destruction in battle. The only note to add is that for Sonic Chick, the monster must have 1900 ATK at the Damage Calculation Sub-Step.

One more monster batch to go! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Going Nuts

Other than the various Synchrons and Warrior-named Warriors, Yusei mostly uses low-Level Machine-type monsters in his Deck. Just to avoid being too obvious, he also uses some random monsters deemed "warriors" and some chickens too.

Let's start with Healing Wave Generator:

Once per turn, you can select another face-up monster  you control  to gain Life Points equal to that monster's  Level x 100.

Generator has an Ignition Effect. It targets, and its target must be face-up when it resolves. Nothing too surprising.

Then, we have Quillbolt Hedgehog:

If you control  a face-up  Tuner monster, you can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. If this card was Summoned this way, remove it from play when it is removed from the field.

Hedgehog has an Ignition Effect. In order to Special Summon it, you must control at least 1 Tuner monster when the effect resolves. When it succeeds, it will set a Condition on itself that will Remove it from Play when it leaves the Field. Flipping Hedgehog face-down removes this Condition. If Imperial Iron Wall is active, Hedgehog is sent to the Graveyard. Note that there is no limit to how many times you can activate Hedgehog, so if Light and Darkness Dragon negates the activation of this effect, you can simply activate it again. Similarly, if Iron Wall is active, you can activate its effect again, as it will be sent to the Graveyard instead of being Removed from Play.

Other Machines are the "vehiclers" monsters. Unicycular is a Normal Monster, and the other two, Bicular and Tricular, work exactly the same:

When this card is destroyed by battle, you can Special Summon 1 "Unicycular" from your hand  or Deck.

When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 "Bicular" from your hand  or Deck.

Both vehiclers are your average recruiters: Optional Trigger Effects, activated at the End of the Damage Step. The key difference between each other is the Bicular activates if destroyed in battle and Removed from Play while Tricular must go to the Graveyard.

The next Machine is Turbo Booster:

If you have Normal Summoned a monster  this turn, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can Tribute  this card to destroy 1 monster  your opponent controls that battled one of your monsters  this turn.

Turbo Booster has a Summoning Condition, and an Ignition Effect. The Summoning Condition is an Inherent Special Summon that you can only perform during your Main Phases. The Ignition Effect tributes Booster as a cost, and targets 1 monster. This effect can only be activated during your Main Phase 2 (in order to be able to determine which monsters have battled this turn). Remember that in order to "battle", monsters have to go through Damage Calculation, so the opponent's monster must have battled with yours and survived this Sub-Step.

There are still more Machines. Let's look at Tuningware:

If this card is used for a Synchro Summon, you can treat it as a Level 2 monster. If this card is sent to the Graveyard  for a Synchro Summon, draw 1 card.

Tuningware has two effects. The first effect is a Continuous Effect that you can apply while Tuningware is face-up on the Field. If Tuningware has its effects negated, such as if it was Summoned by Junk Synchron, this effect cannot be applied. The second effect is a Mandatory Trigger Effect that you activate upon the successful Synchro Summon of the Synchro Monster. Being mandatory, it will cause you to lose the Duel if you have no Cards in your Deck.

The last Machine-type monster is a very small Synchro: Armory Arm:

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn, you can equip this card to a monster OR unequip it to Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster by this effect, that monster gains 1000 ATK. When the equipped monster destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster's ATK.

The first thing to notice is that, despite having similar effects to a Union Monster, Armory Arm is not a Union, so you can't target it with Formation Union, but you can equip it to a monster that already has a Union. The first effect is an Ignition Effect that targets, and unequipping is an Ignition-like effect of a Spell Card, much like Unions. The ATK bonus is a Continuous effect, of the Equip Spell Card, of course. The last effect is a Mandatory Trigger-like effect (Spell Card) that activates at the End of the Damage Step. Armory Arm and its target must be face-up in order for the effect to resolve properly. Regardless of who owns the equipped monster, Armory Arm inflicts damage to whoever is the opponent of Armory Arm. That is to say, the player that doesn't have Armory Arm in his/her S/T Zone.

That covers some more Yusei monsters, but there are still a few more. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Road Rash

Since we are dealing with Cards used by Yusei (and mostly because it's a cheap excuse to review the new 5DS3 Cards). This time we'll look at other random "Warrior" monsters that aren't Synchro Monsters.

The first one is the infamous Speed Warrior:

During the Battle Phase of the turn you Normal Summon this card, you can double its original ATK until the end of the Battle Phase.

Speed Warrior has an Ignition Effect. Oddly enough, this effect is activated during the Battle Phase instead of the Main Phases. It's a very strange exception. Other than that, the effect itself is very simple. It takes the Original ATK of Speed Warrior, doubles that value, and sets that value as the Current ATK. In other words, it works much like Shrink (*thunder*), only that it doubles the value instead of halving it.

Then, we have Max Warrior:

When this card attacks an opponent's monster, it gains 400 ATK  during damage calculation only. If this card destroys  an opponent's monster by battle, this card's Level becomes 2 and its original ATK and DEF are halved until your next Standby Phase.

Gaining ATK is a Continuous Effect. The effect that weakens Max Warrior, on the other hand, is a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It activates at the End of the Damage Step. Max Warrior actually does modify its Original ATK/DEF, instead of setting a new Current ATK value. If multiple monsters are destroyed by Max Warrior, then the ATK/DEF is halved once again for each monster destroyed.

Moving on, we have Shield Warrior:

During damage calculation, you can remove from play this card from your Graveyard  to prevent monsters you control from being destroyed by this battle.

Shield Warrior has an Optional Quick Effect that you activate at the "Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. Removing it from Play is a cost. Probably the most common question about its effect is how long it lasts, as its wording is somewhat ambiguous. The key term here is the end of the sentence: "by this battle". This means that Shield Warrior only prevents the destruction of your monsters in battle from this single attack.

Another member of the Warriors is Turret Warrior:

You can Tribute  1 Warrior-Type monster to Special Summon this card from your hand. If you do, it gains ATK  equal to the Tributed monster's original ATK.

Turret Warrior only has a Summoning Condition. Note that it's not restrictive in any way: You can still Normal Summon it, Set it, or Special Summon it with other Card Effects. The Inherent Special Summon itself is self-explanatory. If Turret Warrior has its effects negated (Skill Drain), the gained ATK disappears.

Speaking of Inherent Special Summons, we have Level Warrior:

If there are no monsters on the field, you can Normal Summon this card from your hand as a Level 2 monster. If your opponent controls  a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand as a  Level 4 monster.

Both abilities are Summoning Conditions. However, Level Warrior's Level is modified in the Hand, not on the Field. This means that it will not reset to Level 3 if Level Warrior has its effects negated. Not much can be said, other than the Level 4 Summoning Condition is an Inherent Special Summon.

One more Warrior is Gaunlet Warrior:

 

You can Tribute  this card to have all face-up Warrior-Type monsters you control  gain 500 ATK  and DEF until the end of the next Damage Step they battle. This effect can be activated  during either player's turn.

 

Gaunlet Warrior has an optional Quick Effect. It can be activated during the Damage Step, but not at the "Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. Tributing Gaunlet Warrior is a cost, and this affect boots the ATK of the Warriors that are face-up when the effect resolves (not those Summoned afterwards). The effect lasts until the End of the Damage Step in which monster battles, meaning it entered the Battle Step.

And finally, we have the new Warrior monster: Rapid Warrior:

During your Main Phase 1, you can activate  this card's effect. If you do, it can attack your opponent directly this turn. Other monsters cannot attack during the turn your activate  this effect.

Rapid Warrior has an Ignition Effect. It allows it to attack directly. Even if Skill Drain is activated later, it's still allowed to attack directly. Other than that, the effect is very simple.

That covers another share of Yusei's Cards. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Synchronized swimmers (ON MOTORCYCLES) Part 2

Let's take a look at the remaining Synchron monsters. The first one is Drill Synchron:

While you control this face-up card, during each battle between a Warrior-Type attacking 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. Once per turn, when you inflict battle damage to your opponent with this effect, you can draw 1 card.

Drill Synchron has two effects. The first is a trample effect, and as usual, its a Continuous Effect. Note that it provides trampling for all your Warrior-type monsters, but Drill Synchron is a Machine-type monster (unlike Enraged Battle Ox). The second effect is an Optional Trigger Effect. Be careful that it almost looks as an Ignition Effect by its wording. This Trigger Effect is activated at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, and you can only activate it if a Warrior-Type monster tramples using Drill Synchron's effect. If there are multiple trampling effects, you can still activate it.

Drill Synchron gives you access to the infamous Drill Warrior:

"Drill Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters.
Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can halve this card's ATK (permanently). If you do, it can attack your opponent directly this turn. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can discard 1 card and remove this card from play. During your next Standby Phase, Special Summon this card, if removed by this effect. Then, add 1 Monster Card from your Graveyard to your hand.

Drill Warrior is probably the most popular of the "Warrior" Synchro Monsters right now. Of course, with great popularity comes great confusion about its rulings. Drill Warrior has three effects. The first effect is an Ignition Effect. It halves the current ATK of Drill Warrior when it resolves, and sets a Condition that allows it to attack directly. If Drill Warrior later has its effects negated, it's still allowed to attack directly for this turn, and its ATK returns to normal. The second effect is an Ignition Effect to Remove it from Play. Discarding a Card is not a cost. If Drill Warrior is flipped face-down in a chain to this effect, you will still Remove it from Play (face-up). If Drill Warrior is Removed from the Field in a chain, you will still discard a Card. If Imperial Iron Wall is chained to Drill Warrior's effect, you also discard. Discarding and Removing Drill Warrior from Play are considered to be simultaneous, so it doesn't cause timing issues. Neither effect targets Drill Warrior.

The most misunderstood effect is the last one. It's a single Mandatory Trigger Effect that you activate during your Standby Phase, while Drill Warrior is still Removed from Play. It Special Summons Drill Warrior, and then adds a Monster Card to your Hand. The Special Summon and the retrieval of the Card are not considered to be simultaneous, so neither player can respond to the Summon with Cards like Torrential Tribute. HOWEVER, the effect itself CAN be chained to, and once the retrieval is performed, either player CAN respond to this retrieval with a Spell Speed 2 or higher effect. The timing disruption that this effect causes on Cards like Torrential Tribute is often misunderstood as being completely unable to respond to this effect before or after it resolves, and that's not true. A player can negate this effect's activation (while Drill Warrior is Removed from Play) by activating Gladiator Beast War Chariot or Divine Wrath, and a player can also respond to the retrieval with Cards like Mind Crush or Drastic Drop Off. The retrieval does not target, which also is confusing, as players are often receive answers like "Crow doesn't work", which doesn't explain anything on why that happens. You can definately chain D.D. Crow to Drill Warrior's effect, but you don't know which monster it will add to the Hand, so the player can simply choose a different monster. Once the effect has resolved, the Card has already been added to the Hand.

Ugh >_>

Anyway, the last Synchron associated to a Synchro is Road Synchron:

If this card is used for the Synchro Summon of a monster other than "Road Warrior", its Level is decreased by 2. If this card attacks, at the end of the Damage Step, increase its Level by 1 until the End Phase.

The first effect is Continuous, which means it can be negated by Skill Drain, and let you use the actual Level of Road Warrior. The second effect is a Mandatory Trigger Effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. Nothing too amazing, only some Level gambling.

Its associated Synchro is Road Warrior:

"Road Synchron" + 2 or more non-Tuner Monsters.
Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Warrior or Machine-Type monster from your Deck.

A very simple Ignition Effect. The only thing that can be said is that it doesn't target.

There are a few more Synchron Monsters, but these no longer have a specific have a specific Synchro Monster associated to them, at least, so far. The first one is Hyper Synchron:

If this card is sent to the Graveyard  for the Synchro Summon of a Dragon-Type Synchro Monster, that monster gains 800 ATK. Remove it from play during the End Phase.

Hyper Synchron has a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It is activated if the Synchro Summon is successful, and if the Synchro Monster is a Dragon-type monster at that time. The effect itself sets a Condition that gives the Synchro monster an ATK boost and dooms it at every End Phase. Removing the Synchro from Play doesn't use the chain. Flipping the monster face-down or Removing it from the Field will get rid of this Condition.

The next Synchron is Quickdraw Synchron:

You can send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard  and Special Summon this card from your hand. You can substitute this card for any 1 "Synchron" Tuner for a Synchro Summon. 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 monster.

Quickdraw has a Summoning Condition, and two further Conditions. The Summoning Condition requires you to send a Monster Card to the Graveyard. If Macro Cosmos is active, you cannot perform it. The two Conditions cannot be negated, and are always active. If Quickdraw Synchron is having its effects negated, you can still treat it as any Synchron, and you are still restricted to Synchron-based Synchro Monsters.

And finally, the last Synchron is a new Card. It's Synchron Explorer:

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can select 1 "Synchron" monster in your Graveyard  and Special Summon it. Its effects are negated.

Explorer works exactly as Junk Synchron. It has an Optional Trigger Effect activated upon its Normal Summon, meaning you can negate it with Pulling the Rug. It targets a monster in the Graveyard, and the negation affects any effects that apply on the Field or are activated on the Field, regardless of the location of the monster.

That covers the Synchrons. Stay tuned for more Yusei Cards (ON MOTORCYCLES!). If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Synchronized swimmers (ON MOTORCYCLES) Part 1

Over the course of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yusei has been using a number of Synchron monsters as Tuners to Summon his famous Synchro Monsters. And as expected of the main character, most of them have been released as actual Cards one way or another. Despite being weak monsters, they are really useful as Tuners, which also have the ability to Summon some powerful Synchro Monsters which are restricted to these Tuners. We already reviewed Change Synchron in a TSHD article, but let's take a look at the rest:

The most famous Tuner used by Yusei is Junk Synchron:

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower monster from your Graveyard  in face-up  Defense Position. That monster's effect(s) is negated.

Junk Synchron has an Optional Trigger Effect activated upon its Normal Summon, so it can be negated by Pulling the Rug. It targets a low Level monster in your Graveyard. The negation is a Condition set on the Summoned monster, which is not related to Junk Synchron in any way. Even if Junk Synchron stops being face-up, the negation remains. This negation affects any effects that apply on the Field, or activate on the Field, regardless of the location of the monster Card. So, for example, a Card like Cyber Valley would have all of its effects negated (since they all activate on the Field), even if the first effect Removes it from Play as a cost. On the other hand, a monster like Cross Porter, which activates its effect in the Graveyard, won't be negated. As usual, flipping the affected monster face-down would remove this condition.

Junk Synchron is one of the most versatile Synchron Monsters, allowing you to Summon 3 otherwise exclusive Synchros. The first being the always popular Junk Warrior:

"Junk Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned, it gains ATK equal to the total ATK of all Level 2 and lower monsters you control.

Junk Warrior has a mandatory Trigger Effect activated upon its Synchro Summon. It can be negated by Swallow Flip. The ATK of the monsters is counted at its resolution, and it is counted only once. The ATK boost remains fixed even if the ATK of the low Level monsters varies (or if they appear or disappear). This is worth noting, as the anime treats this effect as a Continuous Effect. Don't pay too much attention to it.

The next Synchro for Junk Synchron is Junk Archer:

"Junk Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn you can remove 1 monster your opponent controls from play. During the End Phase, the removed monster returns to the opponent's side of the field, in the same Battle Position.

Junk Archer has an Ignition Effect. It targets an opponent's monster, and this effect Removes that from Play temporarily. It sets a Condition on the affected monster to return it to the Field afterwards. Since the Condition is set on the monster, the return of the monster does not depend on Junk Archer's existence. It will still return even if Junk Archer is no longer face-up.

The last Synchro Monster associated to Junk Synchron is the recently released Junk Destroyer:

"Junk Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can select and destroy cards on the field, up to the number of non-Tuner monsters used as Synchro Material Monsters for this card.

Destroyer has an Optional Trigger Effect that targets a number of Cards up to a certain number. It can be negated by Swallow Flip, and if you choose more than 2 targets, it can be negated by Starlight Road too.

The next Synchron Monster is Nitro Synchron:

If this card is sent to the Graveyard  for the Synchro Summon of a "Nitro" Synchro Monster, draw 1 card.

Nitro Synchron has a Mandatory Trigger Effect activated upon the successful Synchro Summon of a monster. It can be negated by Swallow Flip. Note that being mandatory, you must draw a Card, so if you don't have any Cards left, you lose the Duel.

Nitro Synchron enables you to use Nitro Warrior:

"Nitro Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner Monsters
Once during each of your turns, if you activated a Spell Card(s), this card gains 1000 ATK during its next attack, for damage calculation only. Once per turn, if this attacking card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can change 1 face-up Defense Position monster your opponent controls to Attack Position, and attack it with this card.

Finally something juicy, rulings wise. Nitro Warrior has two effects. The first effect is Continuous, or rather, it doesn't use the chain. In order for Nitro Warrior to gain ATK, it must be face-up when the Spell Card is activated and when it resolves, and also, it must remain on the same side of the Field during that process. For example, if my opponent uses Brain Control on my Nitro Warrior, then Nitro is face-up when Brain Control is activated and when it resolves, but it did not remain on the same side of the Field during the process. And so, my opponent cannot apply the ATK gain. This effect is applied immediately at Damage Calculation during the first attack performed by Nitro.

The second effect is a little turbulent. Its an Optional Trigger Effect. Currently, you activate it at the End of the Damage Step. When you activate it, it targets an opponent's monster, and then changes it to Attack Position. This Card then attacks that monster. This attack is treated like any normal attack, with steps like Attack Declaration and the Damage Step. However, note that the only legal Attack Target for this attack is the monster that you had targeted. If a replay occurs for any reason, Nitro Warrior cannot choose any other attack targets (or attack directly).

Moving on, we have Turbo Synchron:

When this card declares an attack, you can change the attack target to Defense Position. When you take Battle Damage while this card is attacking, you can Special Summon 1 monster  from your hand  with ATK equal to or less than the Battle Damage you took.

Turbo Synchron has two Optional Trigger Effects. The first one is activated it upon attack declaration. It doesn't target. The second effect is activated at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. It doesn't target either (the monster is in the Hand). You must take Battle Damage in order to activate the effect. In other words, you cannot activate it if you had activated Waboku earlier in the turn, in order to Special Summon a 0 ATK monster.

Turbo Synchron enables Turbo Warrior:

"Turbo Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card attacks a Level 6 or higher Synchro Monster, halve the monster's ATK until the end of the Damage Step. This card cannot be targeted by the effects of Level 6 or lower monsters.

Turbo Warrior has two effects. The first effect is a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It's activated upon Attack Declaration, and it doesn't target. The Synchro Monster must be face-up when this Card attacks in order for the effect to activate. Since the effect doesn't target, if the attack target changes, then the new attack target has its ATK halved, even if it's not a proper Synchro Monster. The second effect is Continuous, and it's simply a protection effect.

Stay tuned for the second part of the Synchron monsters! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Route 66

Starlight Road has become a very popular Card lately. Not only its effect is pretty powerful, but more importantly, people are having a really hard time understanding its rulings. The Card does have some strange bonus against certain Cards, but it's nowhere as difficult as people are making it out to be.

Activate  only when an effect is activated that would destroy 2 or more cards you control. Negate the effect and destroy that card. Then, you can Special Summon 1 "Stardust Dragon" from your Extra Deck.

This Normal Trap Card responds to an effect that would destroy at least 2 Cards on your side on your side of the Field (more about this in a minute). It cannot be activated during the Damage Step. It negates the destructive effect and destroys the Card that performs it, and additionally, if it succeeds in destroying that Card, you can Special Summon a Stardust Dragon. Since its an effect that may perform a Special Summon, Royal Oppression's effect can be chained to Starlight Road (even if it is impossible to Special Summon for any reason). Starlight Road must be chained directly to the effect that you want to negate.

The first thing people get mixed up is what it means that an effect would destroy 2 or more Cards on a side of the Field. Here, you need a principle of certainty. That is to say, how sure are you (or rather, the Game State) that 2 Cards on that side of the Field are going to be destroyed? This is not as hard as the examples suggest. The easiest way to do this is to ignore every other Card that you may think of, and assume that Starlight Road will resolve properly. If it were to resolve properly, how many Cards would be destroyed and where? The answer lies there. Here are some examples for you to get the idea:

1) My opponent activates Torrential Tribute, while he has 3 set S/T Cards, and I control 2 monsters. I wish to activate Starlight Road. I ignore that my opponent has an Enemy Controller to take control of one of my monsters, or a Bottomless Trap Hole to get rid of my second monster. If none of those possiblities existed, how many monsters would Torrential Tribute destroy? My two monsters. And so, I can activate Starlight Road.

2) My opponent controls Yubel - Terror Incarnate, while I control 2 monsters and an active Skill Drain. Terror Incarnate's mandatory effect activates, and I wish to activate Starlight Road. I proceed to ignore Skill Drain. If it didn't exist, would Terror Incarnate destroy my two monsters? The answer is yes, so I can activate Starlight Road, even if Skill Drain would actually negate Terror Incarnate's effect and my monsters would remain intact anyway.

3) My opponent activates Saber Slash while he controls 3 X-Saber monsters, and I control 3 face-up monsters. I wish to activate Starlight Road. Even if I ignored every other Card, I cannot be certain that Saber Slash will destroy 2 Cards on my side of the Field, because my opponent has the possibility of destroying his own X-Saber monsters. I can suppose it will destroy 3 Cards, but I cannot know which three Cards. Note that this is true even while ignoring outside Cards. You never consider "what ifs" other than the effect itself that you want to negate. Otherwise, reffer to example #1.

4) My opponent activates Detonate. Ignoring every outside Card, I can determine that my opponent is allowed to destroy a number of my Cards. Let's say, my opponent has 3 Kuribohs, so he can destroy 3 Cards on my side of the Field. However, my opponent can choose a number up to 3, and so, I cannot determine if my opponent will choose to destroy a single Card I control. Not even if I ignored outside Cards. And so, I cnanot activate Starlight Road.

5) My opponent Tribute Summons Mobius the Frost Monarch and targets 2 Cards in my S/T Zone. I can activate Starlight Road, because ignoring outside Cards, Mobius has targeted 2 Cards on my side of the Field and aims to destroy it. This  shows that the term "up to" doesn't equal a failed Starlight Road.

Once you grasp that concept, any scenario is much simplier than merely guessing. It's all reduced to interpretating which Cards can the effect destroy, how many, and where.

Other than that, there's the Special Summoning effect. The first thing to notice is that you must succeed in destroying the Card that generates the destructive effect. If something like Mystical Space Typhoon is chained to destroy that very Card, you are not allowed to Special Summon Stardust Dragon. Another important note is that this Special Summon is NOT a Synchro Summon, so the Stardust Dragon cannot be Special Summoned from the Graveyard or Removed from Play Zone by Card Effects (not even its own). This improper Special Summon cannot be "ignored" by flipping Stardust Dragon face-down or other shenanigans.

Finally, notice how Starlight Road does not negate activations. This means that the destructive effect still takes up a chain link in the chain, which is actually empty. This empty chain link causes some timing issues, which stop both players from responding to the destruction of the Card or the Special Summon of Stardust Dragon. If Terror Incarnate has its effect negated, you would miss the timing to activate its effect. If Stardust Dragon is Special Summoned, you cannot respond to its Summon (with Torrential Tribute and so on).

As a side note, a really common question is if you are able to activate Starlight Road when you activate Heavy Storm and your only other S/T Card is Starlight Road. The answer is that you can't. Heavy Storm is not considered to be destroyed by its own effect (it's sent to the Graveyard by Game Mechanics, like all Normal Spell Cards), so it would only be trying to destroy a single Card you control. Starlight Road does count itself while considering that 2 or more Cards would be destroyed.

Hopefully that clears up most questions about Road. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Axel F.dek

The once despised Frog monsters are now one of the hottest Decks around. With their flexibility to perform FTKs, protective loops, tribute fodder, and Graveyard fueling, they have definitely become popular among Duelists. Despite the first Frogs being quite simple, the newer ones arrived with around 3 effects each, and lots of ruling questions raised with them. We have already reviewed Ronintoadin in a TSHD article, but there are still many other Cards on the theme.

Probably the most prominent question is what is and what isn't a Frog monster. As redundant as it sounds, a "Frog" monster is a monster that has the word "Frog" in its name. Simple as that. Some of the Frog support Cards are actually toads, and even if most people can't tell the difference between these amphibious animals, one can certainly tell that "Toad" is not the same word as "Frog". This means that Substitoad and Ronintoadin are NOT Frog monsters. Some people have also wondered why the Normal Monster Frog the Jam is always excluded in the support. This is because Jam's Japanese name does not include "Frog" in it, and in fact, it is a toad.

Let's start with the very beginning, T.A.D.P.O.L.E.:

When this card you control is destroyed by battle and sent to your Graveyard, you can add any "T.A.D.P.O.L.E."(s) from your Deck  to your hand.

This tadpole has an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. It's your usual recruiter. Not much to say about it.

Next, there's Beelze Frog:

Increase the ATK  of this card by 300 points for each "T.A.D.P.O.L.E." in your Graveyard.

A very simple ATK gain, performed by a Continuous Effect. Again, nothing too fancy.

The only high-Level Frog monster was also one of the first one, being Des Frog:

When this card is Tribute Summoned, you can Special Summon "Des Frog"(s) from your hand or Deck  up to the number of "T.A.D.P.O.L.E."(s) in your Graveyard.

Des Frog has an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon its successful Normal Summon. It can be negated by Pulling the Rug. It doesn't target, since it affects Cards in the Hand and Deck. The T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s are counted at resolution, so their number can vary before Des Frog resolves.

One of the first support Cards for Frogs revolved around Des Frog, being Des Croaking:

You can only activate this card when there are 3 face-up "Des Frog" on your side of the field. Destroy  all cards on your opponent's side of the field.

This Normal Spell Card has an activation requirement of controlling 3 Des Frog. If one or more are Removed from the Field or flipped face-down before it resolves, it still resolves properly. If you control more than 3 copies of Des Frog, you can still activate it. This wasn't as likely back in the day as it is now.

Another of the first Frogs, the most popular of that batch, was Treeborn Frog:

If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and you control no Spell  or Trap Cards, you can Special Summon it. This effect cannot be activated  if you control  a face-up  "Treeborn Frog".

Treeborn has an Optional Trigger Effect, with a lot of requirements, but very simple ones. It doesn't have any complicated rulings either. Like we saw at the Trigger Effects article, you can manipulate the order of the Trigger Effects that activate during the Standby Phase, so you can activate Treeborn's effect before or after another Trigger Effect as you please. Treeborn can also be activated multiple times if it remains in the Graveyard during the Standby Phase and you meet the other conditions. If you have two Treeborn Frogs, you activate them one by one, so you can only Special Summon one of them.

The strongest Frog monster was also included in the first batch, being D.3.S. Frog:

"Des Frog" + "Des Frog" + "Des Frog"
A Fusion Summon of this card can only be conducted with the above Fusion Material Monsters. Increase the ATK of this card by 500 points for every "Treeborn Frog" in your Graveyard.

Keeping it simple as its partners, D.3.S. Frog only has a Summoning Condition, and a Continuous Effect. The Summoning Condition only stops you from using Fusion Substitutes in its Fusion Summon, but it can still be Special Summoned by any other means that you can use on a Fusion Monster. The ATK gain is nothing too fancy.

The last Card of the first batch bares no relationship to other Frogs, but it's still a Frog. Let's look at Poison Draw Frog:

When this face-up  card on the field is sent to the Graveyard  (unless it was attacked while face-down  and destroyed by battle), you can draw 1 card.

This Card has an Optional Trigger Effect, and much like Peten the Dark Clown, it's one of the emblems of missing the timing. And even worse: The safest way to ensure Peten would activate would be to destroy it in battle while face-down, but Poison Draw Frog explicitly forbids you to use that as its trigger! Ever since its release, it has brought nightmares to anyone who tried to use it just because of its timing issues, and it's pretty much one of the key arguments of those who don't like the missed timing mechanic. Oh well, that's how it works Q_Q

After a long absence from Shadow of Infinity to Phantom Darkness, Frogs returned once again in Light of Destruction, with some interesting Cards. The first one being Substitoad:

You can Tribute  1 monster to Special Summon 1 "Frog" monster  from your Deck, except "Frog the Jam". "Frog" monsters, except "Frog the Jam", cannot be destroyed by battle.

Substitoad has an Ignition Effect, and a Continuous Effect. The Ignition Effect tributes any monster you control as a cost, and it Special Summons a Frog Monster. You can Special Summon Des Frog, of course. This Ignition Effect has no restriction on how many times you can activate it per turn, which is the base of the Substitoad engine that so many Decks are currently using. The Continuous Effect is your usual immunity to battle destruction. By now, you should remember that toads are not frogs, so Substitoad doesn't protect itself from destruction.

The next Frog Card is Unifrog:

This card can attack your opponent directly. When this card successfully attacks directly, if you control a "Frog" monster  other than "Frog the Jam" or "Unifrog", you can destroy 1 Spell  or Trap Card your opponent controls.

Unifrog has a Continuous Effect that allows it to attack directly. If this effect is negated before the Damage Step, a replay occurs. The destruction effect is an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. It targets a S/T Card. In order for Unifrog to attack "successfully", it must inflict Battle Damage to the opponent.

LODT also brings a Trap Card as support, being Froggy Forcefield:

Activate  only when a face-up "Frog" monster  you control, except "Frog the Jam", is selected as an attack target. Destroy all Attack Position monsters  your opponent controls.

Your average Mirror Force clone. You activate it upon attack declaration. Controlling a Frog Monster is merely an activation requirement, so you don't need to keep controlling it before it resolves.

The next Frogs come from Crimson Crisis, the first being Dupe Frog:

This card's name is treated as "Des Frog" while it is face-up on the field. Your opponent cannot select another monster as an attack target. When this card is sent from the field  to the Graveyard, you can add 1 "Frog" monster  except "Dupe Frog" or "Frog the Jam" from your Deck or Graveyard  to your hand.

Dupe has 3 effects. The first effect is Continuous, and merely provides a name change. As the text suggests, it only applies while Dupe is face-up, so you can certainly have 3 Dupe Frogs and 3 Des Frog in the same Deck. The second effect stops the opponent from attacking other monsters other than this Dupe Frog. If you control two Dupe Frogs, the opponent cannot attack any monster, but if a monster can attack directly by itself (such as Unifrog), it can still attack directly. The third effect is an optional Trigger Effect, that much like Poison Draw Frog, misses the timing a lot. It does not target the monster you search.

The second Frog is Flip Flop Frog:

Once per turn, you can flip  this card into face-down Defense Position. When this card is flipped face-up, you can return monsters your opponent controls  to their owners' hand up to the number of face-up "Frog" monsters  you control, except "Frog the Jam".

Flip Flop has two effects. The first one is an Ignition Effect to flip it face-down. It doesn't target itself to do so. The second effect is an Optional Trigger Effect that you can activate even if Flip Flop is attacked while face-down. It counts the Frogs at resolution, so it does not target. If Flip Flop Frog is attacked while face-down and destroyed in battle, it is still face-up on the Field at the time it activates (the "Resolve Effects" Sub-Step), so it will still count itself.

The last Frog from this set is Submarine Frog:

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.

Which only has an average trampling effect. Nothing too awesome.

The last from is from Stardust Overdrive, and it's the most confusing Frog of all. It's Swap Frog:

You can discard  1 WATER monster to Special Summon this card from your hand. When this card is Summoned, you can select and send 1 Level 2 or lower Aqua-Type WATER monster from your Deck or your side of the field to the Graveyard. Once per turn, you can return 1 monster you control to your hand to Normal Summon 1 "Frog" monster, except "Swap Frog" or "Frog the Jam", in addition to your Normal Summon or Set  this turn.

The first sentence is a Summoning Condition. It's completely optional, as you can just Normal Summon Swap Frog like any other monster. The next sentence is an Optional Trigger Effect that activates upon Swap Frog's successful Summon. It can be negated by Pulling the Rug or Swallow Flip accordingly. It does not target, as it can send monsters from the Deck too. If you send a face-up Poison Draw Frog from the Field to the Graveyard, it won't miss the timing. The third effect returns a monster to the Hand as a cost, and it gives you an additional Normal Summon during this turn. You don't need to perform it during the resolution, or even immediately. In fact, you don't need to perform it at all if you don't want to. You can only gain one additional Normal Summon this way. Note that despite the ambiguity of the text, you can only perform a Normal Summon, not a Set. And probably the most common question, also due to ambiguous wording, is that the monster you return goes to the OWNER's Hand.

That covers the Frogs and all around them. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.