Collapsing Brain Cells

 Select 1 face-up  monster on the field. The original ATK of that monster  is halved until the end of this turn.

Shrink targets a monster. It can be activated during the first three Sub-Steps of the Damage Step (until Before Damage Calculation, included). From what we learnt in the last article, Shrink is an ATK modifier that sets a value, and it's non-freezing.

If there's a topic that no sober judge will ever want to address, that's Shrink's rulings. These rulings, despite being official, are so ugly and misguided that it barely seems possible for them to be taken seriously. Of course, official rulings are still official, so make sure you follow them. In this article, I'll try to explain how Shrink is supposed to work, which heavily contradicts these official rulings. Don't try reading too deep into it, as even if this article is correct, it cannot change the official ones.

I should really get a lawyer for these things. One that gets power from the Sun should work.


First things first, what is wrong and why? It's really easy to say "that is wrong" or "it doesn't make sense" by only using common sense or some obscure unofficial sources. Shrink goes beyond that for a simple reason: The use of bad examples. As you have seen in the last article, ATK/DEF modifiers aren't as simple as they look, so one has to be very careful on which Cards to use as examples. I'm sure I may have even made some mistakes, too. These poor examples create contradictions with other Cards, other rulings of Shrink itself, and in one case, even contradicting Card text. So yeah, let's look at how Shrink is meant to work, then you can enjoy comparing it to the actual rulings:

1) If you target a regular monster, like Blue-Eyes White Dragon or Jinzo, then simply halve its Original ATK and set the amount as the current ATK. So in Blue-Eyes case, half of its Original ATK is 1500. This is the new Current ATK value, not a new Original ATK. This is why using multiple copies of Shrink always set the same value.

2) A temporary addition/substraction like Rush Recklessly is not re-applied. However, the current ruling (which was posted in the Judge Forum) is to re-apply this modifier anyway. Looking at some Individual rulings, the Rocket Pilder ruling supports this, while the Dark Jeroid ruling doesn't:

• If a monster's ATK  is reduced by "Rocket Pilder" and then is affected by "Shrink," the ATK of the monster becomes half of the original ATK.

• If a monster whose ATK is reduced by "Dark Jeroid" is affected by "Shrink", first calculate half that monster's original ATK, then subtract 800 for "Dark Jeroid's" effect; this becomes the monster's current ATK.

Are you starting to feel the love already? Jeroid shouldn't re-apply.

3) A continuously applied addition/substraction is re-applied. For example, if you equip Axe of Despair to Jinzo (2400 + 1000), and use Shrink, halve the original ATK and re-apply the modifier (2400/2 + 1000 = 2200). Remember that if a monster can only affect itself with its effect (such as Card Trooper), then it is considered to be continuously applied, even if its temporary. For example, Light and Darkness Dragon has a Quick Effect, but it can only affect itself, so it is considered to be continuously applied. You would halve its Original ATK, and then substract 500 ATK as many times as needed to the new value. Some examples in the official rulings:

 •If you use "Shrink" on "Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca" its original ATK becomes 50 but it retains any ATK gained for this effect.

•If a monster affected by "Shrink" attacks while "Mirror Wall" is in play, both effects are applied and the monster's ATK becomes 1/4 its original ATK. Because "Mirror Wall" continually recalculates, the result is the same no matter which card is activated first.

•If "Exarion Universe" is targeted by "Shrink", its ATK will become half of its original ATK, even if its effect to reduce its own ATK by 400 has been used.

Of course, Exarion is at fault here.

4) If you vary the Original ATK of a monster, recalculate the current ATK and re-apply what's necessary. For example, if a monster's Original ATK is currently 2400 because of the effect of Unstable Evolution, and you use Shrink, its Current ATK will be 1200. If there's a Life Point change, the Original ATK is now 1000, so Shrink halves that value, and the Current ATK is now 500. We'll go back to this rule in a minute. For now, consider this example:

•If "Goggle Golem" has its ATK halved by "Shrink" and it is Normal Summoned again, its ATK will be half its new original ATK, or 1050. (This is the same whether "Shrink's" effect was applied before or after "Goggle Golem" was Normal Summoned again.)

5) If an effect fixes a value, and Shrink is activated, Shrink overrides that value. If Shrink resolves, and an effect sets a new value, that new value overrides Shrink. Again, we'll use this one in a minute. In the meantime:

•If this card targets a monster that is affected by "Shrink", its ATK will become half of the halved ATK, or 1/4 its original ATK. If a monster whose ATK is halved by "Riryoku" is affected by "Shrink", its ATK will become half of its original (printed) ATK.

So, these cover all of Shrink's interactions, and about half of them are wrong already. The main problem with Shrink is its interaction with 0 and "?" ATK monsters. After quickly browsing its rulings, people arrive to a conclusion that Shrink works in only one way for monsters with these values, regardless of which effect the monster may have, and this is completely false. The interactions are only individual cases of the above rules, and while the rulings are almost correct, the poor examples killed them. So let's take a second look:

6)  If a monster has 0 or "?" ATK with no other effect, then Shrink sets its ATK to zero. For example, if Skill Drain is active, a monster like Chimeratech Overdragon or Chaos Necromancer has 0 Original ATK, so using Shrink sets it to zero.

7) If a monster has 0 or "?" ATK, and it gains Current ATK with a continuously applied addition/substraction, then Shrink does nothing. For example, using Shrink on Tragoedia (This card gains 600 ATK and DEF for each card in your hand) will set its ATK to zero, then Tragoedia's effect is re-applied (because it is continuously applied), so it returns to its usual value. Some examples:

•If you activate "Shrink" targeting "Jester Lord," its original ATK of 0 will be halved then its Continuous Effect will be reapplied. (The end result is no change in ATK.)

8) If a monster has 0 or "?" ATK, and its Current ATK becomes a value with a Continuous Effect that fixes a value, then Shrink overrides that value until the End Phase. For example, if you target a Fortune Lady (This card's ATK and DEF are equal to its Level x 300), Shrink ignores the value that is currently being forced by the Fortune Lady's effect, and sets it to half of the Original ATK, which is zero. Then, during the End Phase, the Fortune Lady's Continuous Effect is applied again, since it has no restrictions and it wasn't negated.

9) If a monster has 0 or "?" ATK, and its Original ATK becomes a value with a Continuous Effect that fixes a value, then Shrink will halve that value, and if it varies, Shrink is re-calculated. For example, if you target Tyranno Infinity (The original ATK of this card becomes the number of your Dinosaur-Type monsters that are removed from play x 1000 points) while it has 3000 Original ATK because of its effect, Shrink will halve that value to 1500. If another Dinosaur is Removed from Play, the Original ATK is now 4000, so Shrink is re-calculated and halves it to 2000. Looking at the rulings:

•If “Shrink” affects a monster with ATK that varies due to its Continuous Effect, like “Gren Maju Da Eiza” or “King of the Skull Servants”, that monster’s ATK will be halved. If its ATK changes due to its own effect in the same turn, recalculate the effect of "Shrink" based on the new original ATK. When the effect of “Shrink” wears off, that monster’s ATK will be calculated as normal.

As you can see, the ruling is perfectly fine, except for using Gren Maju as an example. Gren Maju does not modify its Original ATK with its effect, but rather, it modifies its Current ATK. That means that Gren Maju belongs to rule #8, not #9.

10)  If a monster has 0 or "?" ATK, and it has an effect that fixes a Current ATK value on a certain event, then Shrink sets the Current ATK to zero and the ATK remains at zero after the End Phase is over. This, of course, happens if the event that sets the ATK at a value cannot be repeated. For example, if the ATK is set upon the monster's Summon. A monster that does this is Great Maju Garzett (The ATK of this card becomes twice the original ATK of the Tribute Monster you used to Tribute Summon this card). Since you cannot Tribute Summon GMG again, the ATK value is lost. Looking at the rulings:

•If “Shrink” affects a monster whose original ATK is set by its effect when it is Summoned, like “Maju Garzett”, “Chimeratech Overdragon” or “Megarock Dragon”, that monster’s ATK will become 0, and remain 0 even after the effect of “Shrink” wears off.

Once again, the ruling is fine and everything, but Chimeratech Overdragon (The original ATK and DEF of this card are each 800 x the number of Fusion Material Monsters used for its Fusion Summon.) and Megarock Dragon (The original ATK and DEF of this card become the number of Rock-Type monsters you removed from play when you Special Summoned this card x 700 points.) actually modify their Original ATK. If Chimeratech or Megarock Dragon have 5600 ATK because of their effects, Shrink halves that value, instead of setting it to zero for no reason.

And as a final example:

11) The Wicked Avatar and Gradius' Option can be targeted by Shrink, but the effects of these monsters will ignore Shrink and keep their current value. They are arbitrarily ruled to ignore every ATK modifier, even non-sensical ones.

Sigh...now this was lame enough. Let's hope the next article doesn't turn people into serial killers. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Looking For A Shrink

ATK/DEF modifiers are usually left behind for more powerful effects like destruction or Removing Cards from Play, but lately, modifiers with a few modern additions have been created. For example, Gale the Whirlwind not only provides an ATK/DEF halving, but it is also a Tuner monster that can be easily Special Summoned, and there's also new age Equip Cards that recycle themselves to compensate the loss of losing their target. No matter the reason why you use ATK/DEF modifiers, there's a certain complexity behind how they work.

Before we start, this article will be about general guidelines about ATK/DEF modifiers. There are some really, really awful official rulings about modifiers that should have been reversed a long time ago. For example, half of Shrink's rulings. Explaining some guidelines here won't change what is written, but at least it will help fixing some inconsistencies that may float around. As a final note, it should be obvious that whatever applies to "ATK" also applies to "DEF", so I won't be using both terms all the timing. It sure is exhausting to type 3 characters.

The first concept that one needs to understand is the difference between Original and Current ATK. A long time ago, the Original ATK of a Card could only be the value written on the Card itself, but later, some Original ATK modifiers appeared. Still, the Original ATK of a Card is either the value printed there, or the value set by some rare effects like Unstable Evolution. The Original ATK of a "?" ATK monster is zero while face-up on the Field by default, but some effects may modify this. The current ATK of a monster is the ATK value defined by every modifier. For example, Blue-Eyes White Dragon has 3000 Original ATK, and equipping Axe of Despair would make it have a Current ATK of 4000, while its Original ATK is still 3000 (because Axe doesn't modify the Original ATK). Now, Tragoedia has an Original ATK of "?", that is to say, zero. Its effect causes a modification on its Current ATK, so that it has 600, 1200, 1800, etc. as its Current ATK, but its Original ATK is still zero. Equipping Axe of Despair only increases these multiples of 600, but zero remains as the Original ATK. Only equipping something like Unstable Evolution can change this value.

Once we separate Original ATK from Current ATK, there's another division to keep in mind. Modifiers work in two ways: Either, they add or substract some ATK/DEF, or they set a completely new value. The first type of modifier is pretty simple. Much like we saw at the Kalut vs. Kalut example in a previous article, you simply add (or substract) all modifiers until you reach a new value. For example, if you equip a copy of Axe of Despair, you add 1000 ATK to the current ATK. If you equip two copies, you add 2000, etc.. If Burden of the Mighty is played, then you substract some of the ATK you added, and so on. This first type of modifier is identified by terms like "gains 100 ATK", "loses 500 ATK", "increase the ATK by 500", "reduce the ATK by 1000".

The type of modifier that becomes problematic are those that set a value. Basically, you ignore the current ATK and say "now your ATK is this". If two modifiers that set a value try to be applied to the same monster, then the last one to resolve takes precedence. For example, if Blue-Eyes White Dragon is affected by Black Garden (halving its ATK to 1500 permanently), and is later affected by Shrink (halving its Original ATK value to 1500, without affecting the Original ATK, until the End Phase ), then Blue-Eyes will have its ATK restored to 3000 at the End Phase, since Shrink takes over Black Garden's effect. The ATK is the same, but the duration isn't.

The main problem comes from the interaction between the modifiers that add ATK, and those that set a value. That's why we need even more divisions Q_Q The modifiers that add or substract ATK can be divided between those that are continuously applied, like Botanical Lion or Black Pendant. An important note that is there are Monster Effects that are not Continuous, but still count as continuously applied. These are monster effects that can ONLY affect the monster that generates it. For example, Card Trooper has an Ignition Effect to increase its own ATK only, so it counts as continuously applied. However, Sirocco the Dawn has an Ignition Effect that increases the ATK of any Blackwing monster, so even if it targets itself, it will not count as continuously applied.

The other division we need is among modifiers that set a value. These are divided between those that "freeze" the current ATK value and modify it, and those that don't. The ones that "freeze" a value are pretty rare, but they are also the newer ones, which means that they are more powerful and popular. Just keep the names in mind, and I'll explain their interaction in a second. Now that we know what I hopefully think it's all we need, let's look at the examples:

#1) Temporary addition/substraction vs. non-freezing value, affecting Current ATK: Do NOT re-apply the temporary modifier. For example, if you target Plague Wolf (1000) with Rush Recklessly (1700), and activate Wolf's effect (2000), do not re-apply Rush Recklessly's effect at any point. This may be clearer with another example: If you target Clear Vice Dragon (0) with Rush Recklessly (700), and apply Clear Vice Dragon's effect attacking Jinzo (2400 * 2 = 4800, ignoring the 700 ATK bonus), you never re-apply Rush Recklessly. Not after the new Current ATK is determined, and not after Damage Calculation is over. If the other is reversed (set a value -> use temporary addition), then there are no problems. For example, if you use Wolf's effect (2000) you can target it with Rush Recklessly and simply add 700 ATK (2700).

#2) Temporary addition/substraction vs. freezing value, affecting Current ATK: Same as above, only that the interaction is harder to see. For example, if Jinzo (2400) is targeted by Rush Recklessly (3100), and then, Limiter Removal is activated (6200), Rush is no longer applied. It's not as evident as the Plague Wolf example, because it seems that Removal is taking into account the 700 ATK bonus. This will be clearer in example #4.

#3) Continuously applied addition/substraction vs. non-freezing value, affecting Current ATK: Re-apply the continuous modifier. For example, if you equip Plague Wolf (1000) with Axe of Despair (2000) and activate Wolf's effect (2000), you DO re-apply Axe of Despair now, and add 1000 ATK (3000). Of course, if the Card that sustains the addition or substraction is no longer there, you no longer apply it, so if Axe is destroyed, Wolf's ATK goes back to being 2000.

#4) Continuously applied addition/substraction vs. freezing value, affecting Current ATK: Do NOT re-apply the temporary modifier. Once again, this isn't as obvious as example #3, as the freezing value takes into account the previous modifier. For example, if you equip Jinzo (2400) with Axe of Despair (3400) and activate Limiter Removal (6800), the Axe bonus is actually no longer applied. How can one tell? Because of a very simple fact: If you destroy Axe of Despair, Jinzo's ATK will remain at 6800. This is much clearer than using Rush Recklessly, because Axe can be destroyed, negated, and other forms of stopping its effect. For example, using Imperial Order and getting rid of it (turning Axe off and on) will still keep the ATK at 6800.

#5) Modifier vs. changing the Original ATK: This heavily depends on which values each modifier refers to. For example, Shrink has to look at a new Original ATK, and then you re-apply it. However, Limiter Removal only cared about the Current ATK value that the monster had at the time it was doubled, so you do not need to recalculate anything. In short, only recalculate if the modifiers need to check the new Original ATK value, and if they can be re-applied, following the examples above. For example, if I activate Rush Recklessly and target Plague Wolf, then activate Wolf's effect (which ignores Rush and sets the ATK at 2000), and later activate Unstable Evolution, I won't need to re-apply Rush Recklessly because of example #1. However, since Wolf's effect does involve Original ATK, and it has been modified, I will have to double the value set by Unstable Evolution (1000 -> 2000, or 2400 -> 4800).


I think that covers every possible interaction. All it takes now is some reading on each peculiar Card to figure out which type does it belong to. With all of this info, it is much easier to explain what's wrong with Shrink, but I'll leave that for the next article, so that you can digest this without anti-acids. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.