Blacklight

Going back home after my Nationals, I realized how often people had asked questions about Light and Darkness Dragon. It was probably the most complicated Card in the whole tournament. And since we are still dealing with a trace of The Shining Darkness, I guess it's worth taking a look at it:

This card cannot be Special Summoned. While this card is face-up on the field, its Attribute  is also treated as DARK. When a Spell  or Trap Card is activated, or the effect of an Effect Monster is activated, that activation is negated and this card loses 500 ATK and DEF. When this card is destroyed  and sent to the Graveyard, select 1 monster  in your Graveyard. Then destroy all cards you control, and Special Summon that monster.

Long text is long, so let's break it up a little:

This card cannot be Special Summoned.

Your everyday restriction as a Summoning Condition. Nothing too fancy.

While this card is face-up on the field, its Attribute  is also treated as DARK. 

This is a Continuous Effect. The only complication it has is that, as the text clearly explains, it is only applied while Light and Darkness Dragon is face-up. This means that you cannot use Double Coston to Tribute Summon LADD with a single tribute, and if you target it with Caius, it will count as a LIGHT monster when it is Removed from Play.

When a Spell  or Trap Card is activated, or the effect of an Effect Monster is activated, that activation is negated and this card loses 500 ATK and DEF. 

This is when the Card gets juicy, and pretty much the main use that people like about this Card. There's a barrage of rulings about it, but like most Cards with a lot of rulings, it can be summed up in something much smaller: Light and Darkness Dragon's Quick Effect will activate in response to a Spell Speed 2 or lower Card activation or Monster Effect, only once per chain, and will negate that Card or Effect activation if it succeeds in reducing both its ATK and DEF by 500. That wasn't that bad, was it? Of course, that line is very compact, so let's take a deeper look:

1) This is a Quick Effect. More specifically, it is one of the few Mandatory Quick Effects. Being mandatory, it is chained immediately to a Card as soon as possible, disrupting any other Spell Speed 2 or higher Card that wants to be chained to that Card. So, for example, if a player activates Heavy Storm, LADD's effect is chained immediately, and neither player can chain Magic Jammer to Heavy Storm. Since it negates activations, it doesn't target, and it can be activated during the Damage Step too, even during Damage Calculation. Being mandatory, it will always activate, even if LADD's ATK and DEF are too low to negate the activation, and it will still disrupt the chain like in the Heavy Storm example. And being a Quick Effect, it cannot chain itself to Counter Trap Cards.

2)This effect only negates Card activations. It does not negate effects, and it does not destroy the Card it negates. It cannot negate Ignition-like, Trigger-like, or Quick-like Effects from Spell and Trap Cards, such as Geartown's Special Summoning effect, Royal Oppression's effect, or a Spell Card's effect being activated through Diamond Dude. If an Equip, Field, or Continuous S/T Card has its activation negated, it will not remain on the Field due to Game Mechanics. Monster Effects aren't a Card activation, but Light and Darkness Dragon negates them anyway (because it says so). Of course, Light and Darkness Dragon's effect needs to be chained to what it wants to negate, so it cannot stop any effects that do not use the chain.

3) This effect only activates once per chain. This limitation is based on how otherwise, Light and Darkness Dragon will chain to its own effect over and over again. One of the most common ways to get rid of Light and Darkness Dragon is by exploiting this restriction: You activate a meaningless effect as link 1, Light and Darkness Dragon activates as link 2, and you then chain a Card that gets rid of Light and Darkness Dragon as link 3, which LADD won't be able to negate because it already activated once during this chain.

4) The ATK/DEF reduction happens during the resolution, and it is required to negate the Card's activation. If it's not possible for any reason (LADD isn't face-up, its DEF is too low, etc.), the Card's activation is not negated. The reduction lasts as long as Light and Darkness Dragon remains face-up on the Field. If flipped face-down or Removed from Play temporarily, its ATK/DEF will return to normal.


That covers the basics of the negation effect. There are some weirder scenarios:

5) LADD vs. Reverse Trap: Arbitrarily, Light and Darkness Dragon will only activate once, and it will gain 500 ATK/DEF. After that, it will no longer activate as long as Reverse Trap is active. This is probably used to avoid infinite ATK/DEF gain with the next scenario:

6) LADD vs. repeated Triggers: Some Trigger Effect monsters have really vague Triggers that can be met over and over if LADD negates their activation. In that case, a player can keep activating the Trigger Effects multiple times to reduce the ATK/DEF of LADD. Some examples are Treeborn Frog (it's still in the Graveyard, meeting all other conditions), Lightsworn Monsters (it's still the End Phase), or Spirit Monsters (it's still the End Phase, too). There are also some vague Ignition Effects, such as Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor, which also keeps meeting its requirements.

7) LADD vs. SEGOC: Sometimes, Trigger Effects form a chain immediately with each other according to the rules of SEGOC. Like we learnt in the article about it, other effects cannot walk into the middle of the SEGOC chain and try to negate one of the Trigger Effects. And so, LADD waits until SEGOC is over to activate its effect. Since its effect doesn't target, it will blindly try to negate the last effect in the SEGOC chain. If it can negate it, it will negate that effect, even if the player intended to negate an earlier chain link. If it can't negate it, it won't negate any activation and will resolve without effect (without losing ATK/DEF either). For example, if a player Normal Summons Blizzard the Far North and also wishes to activate the effect of Black Whirlwind, the player chooses which Card is link 2. If Blizzard is link 2, LADD will negate it. If Whirlwind is link 2, LADD won't negate anything , as it can't negate the effect of an active S/T, and it can't be chained to Blizzard directly.

8) On a similar note, if there are multiple copies of Light and Darkness Dragon (or Doomcalliber Knight, the other mandatory Quick Effect), the Dragons will try to negate the same Card, instead of trying to negate each other. This happens because they form a small SEGOC of their own, instead of being able to wait and realize that the first LADD has activated. In this case of multiple LADDs, the one chained directly to the effect will be able to negate it (and reduce its ATK/DEF), and the ones at higher chain links won't negate it (or reduce its ATK/DEF). This also follows the rules of SEGOC: If a player controls two Dragons, the player chooses the order. If two different players control a copy of the dragon, then the turn player's LADD is placed first on the chain.

Finally, let's look at the last effect:

When this card is destroyed  and sent to the Graveyard, select 1 monster  in your Graveyard. Then destroy all cards you control, and Special Summon that monster.

This is a Mandatory Trigger Effect that activates in the Graveyard. It targets a monster in the Graveyard. Destroying all your Cards is part of the effect, and it is not considered to be simultaneous with the Special Summon (Monsters with Optional Trigger Effects destroyed by LADD will miss the timing). Being mandatory, this effect will resolve as much as possible when activated. If you have no Cards on the Field, it will still Summon a monster, and similarly, if you cannot Special Summon a monster for any reason (no target, or an effect prevents you from doing so), then you still destroy all Cards on your side of the Field. Note that the trigger for this effect never requires LADD to be on the Field at the time of its destruction, so it will still activate if LADD is destroyed in the Hand by Crush Card Virus, if destroyed in the Deck by Chain Destruction, or if destroyed while being Normal or Flip Summoned by Horn of Heaven.


Guess that covers everything about LADD. It's simpler than it looks, really. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

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.

Tardiness Equals A Game Loss

Sorry for the long, unannounced absence. I'll get back to work with the usual schedule...

Wings Of Darkness

One of the newest Cards to date are the new Cards issued as prizes for the Yugioh Championship Series, the Darklords. While heavily inaccessible to most players, it won't hurt to take a look at them.

The first one is Darklord Edeh Arae:

If this card is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, it gains the following effect:
•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.

Edeh Arae isn't too intereasting. It has a trample effect, which we have analized a number of times already as a Continuous Effect. The only difference is that Edeh Arae has an additional requirement that demands that you Special Summon Edeh Arae from the Graveyard. Too much hassle for a mediocre 2300 ATK trampler Q_Q

Next, we have Darklord Superbia:

When this card is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 Fairy-Type monster from your Graveyard, except "Darklord Superbia".

Superbia has an Optional Trigger Effect, that targets a Fairy-Type monster. It can be activated during the Damage Step. As usual, it can miss the timing, so be careful when you Summon it. Other than that, its effect is pretty simple.

And the final guy from the trio is Darklord Asmodeus:

This card cannot be Special Summoned from the Deck or Graveyard. Once per turn, you can send 1 Fairy-Type monster from your Deck to the Graveyard. when this card you control is destroyed and sent to your Graveyard, Special Summon 1 "Asmo Token" (Fairy-Type/DARK/Level 5/ATK 1800/DEF 1800) and 1 "Deus Token" (Fairy-Type/DARK/Level 3/ATK 1200/DEF 1200). "Asmo Token" cannot be destroyed by card effects. "Deus Token" cannot be destroyed by battle.

Finally, a decent wall of text to look at. The first line on Asmodeus' text is a Summoning Condition that prevents you from Summoning it from the Deck or Graveyard, but it does not restrict you in any way from Special Summoning it from the Removed from Play Zone. Then, Asmodeus has two effects. The first one is an Ignition Effect, with no cost whatsoever. If Macro Cosmos is active, the Fairy Monster is simply Removed from Play. The second effect is a mandatory Trigger Effect. It will only activate if you control Asmodeus at the time it is destroyed, so if your opponent takes control of it, make sure not to blow it up without taking it back first. The tokens themselves, as usual, have no effects of their own. The protection is a condition set by Asmodeus on the Tokens, which are Normal Monsters, which means that they protection cannot be taken away.

As a bonus track, let's take a look at a completely random and much cheaper Darklord. Otherwise, the article would be quite short T_T Here's Darklord Zerato:

If there are 4 or more DARK monsters  with different names in your Graveyard, you can Tribute Summon this monster  by Tributing  1 DARK monster. You can send  1 DARK monster  from your hand  to the Graveyard to destroy all monsters your opponent controls. If you activate  this effect, destroy this card during the End Phase of this turn.

Zerato has a Summoning Condition that allows you to Tribute Summon it by using  a single monster as a tribute. Note that this condition is not the only way you can Summon Zerato: You can still use Valhalla, Call of the Haunted, and so on. Zerato then has an Ignition Effect. It sends a monster to the Graveyard in order to produce the overdone Raigeki effect. Seriously, guys, leave Raigeki alone, it's awesome by itself. If Macro Cosmos is active, this effect can't be activated. If you do activate this effect, Zerato produces a mandatory Trigger Effect that will destroy it during the End Phase. This can be prevented by flipping Zerato face-down or Removing it from the Field.

Hope you liked your Dark Fairies. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

ABC-Saber

It sure is easy to make jokes about X-Sabers >_>

Another article I've been delaying is about XYZ monsters and Unions in general.

Union monsters are identified by the text [.../Union], next to their Type. Despite taking up the space where it explains whether these monsters are Effect Monsters or not, one can tell by being an Orange-colored Card. Some monsters have similar effects to Union Monsters, like Armory Arm, but these monsters won't have the support that Union monsters have like Frontline Base. This is similar to the whole FLIP Effect vs. Snowman Eater example we looked at some time ago.

Union Monsters have an Ignition Effect to treat themselves as an Equip Spell Card. This effect is activated while the Union Monster is face-up on the Field, and it targets a face-up monster you control. Once equipped, the Union Monster has at least two effects, which are considered to be effects from an Equip Spell Card (not Monster Effects), so Skill Drain cannot negate them. The first effect is "Unequipping", which is an Ignition-like effect that you can activate during your Main Phases. Unequipping is considered a Special Summon, so it can be negated by Royal Oppression. The second effect is a substitution effect, which as you should know by now, is a Continuous Effect, and so on. The substitution effect varies according to the Union monster, as some protect the monster from being destroyed in battle, while others protect it from battle AND effects. Other than these, the Union monster may have more effects of their own, as a Monster Card (Machina Gearframe's search effect) or as a Spell Card (Metalizing Parasite Lunatite). The Union Monster must be properly equipped to its target in order to apply its effects, so if you equip it to your Relinquished, you cannot apply any of its effects. Cards like Roll Out!! or Formation Union are considered to equip them properly, though. Finally, equipping a Union Monster removes any conditions set to it as a monster, so if it is affected by an effect like Gale the Whirlwind's, the ATK/DEF reduction is erased.

But in this article we'll look at the XYZ monsters. These were part of the first batch of Union Monsters, in a really unfortunate enviroment were Cards like Harpie's Feather Duster and Raigeki were legal, making it really hard to maintain such strategy. We won't look at V or X, as they are Normal Monsters.

So, let's start with Y - Dragon Head:

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to your "X-Head Cannon" as an Equip Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster  by this card's effect, increase the ATK/DEF of the equipped monster  by 400 points. (1 monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster  is destroyed as a result of battle, destroy this card instead.)

Other than the red effect, everything else has already been explained. Y provides an ATK/DEF boost without using the chain.

With the same ease, we move into Z - Metal Tank:

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip  it to your "X-Head Cannon" or "Y-Dragon Head" as an Equip Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster  by this card's effect, increase the ATK/DEF of the equipped monster  by 600 points. (1 monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster  is destroyed  as a result of battle, destroy this card instead.).

Z is extremely similar to Y, only that it has one more target to equip to, and its ATK/DEF boost is better.

And one again, we can easily look at W- Wing Catapult:

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to your "V-Tiger Jet" as an Equip Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster  by this card's effect, increase the ATK and DEF of the equipped monster by 400 points. (1 monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster is destroyed as a result of battle, destroy this card instead.)

Much like the other parts, it provides an ATK/DEF boost, only that for a different target.

So far, these monsters have been really boring, so let's move into their Fusion Monsters. All of their Fusion Monsters are Summoned through an Inherent Special Summon, and they cannot be Fusion Summoned. This means that you cannot choose to Summon them with Future Fusion (to dump the various XYZ monsters to the Graveyard), and that in order to properly Special Summon them, you must fulfill their requirements. They all require you to Remove from Play certain monsters, which can be face-down on your side of the Field, or even be treated as Equip Spell Cards (that you control).

Let's start with XY - Dragon Cannon:

"X-Head Cannon" + "Y-Dragon Head"
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by removing from play the above cards on your side of the field. (You do not use "Polymerization"). Discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 face-up Spell or Trap Card on your opponent's side of the field.

XY is a Special Summon-only monster. It has an Ignition Effect, which discards 1 Card as a cost, and targets a face-up S/T Card.

As for YZ - Tank Dragon:

"Y-Dragon Head" + "Z-Metal Tank"
This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play the above monsters on your side of the field; then you can Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck (You do not use "Polymerization"). Discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 face-down Monster Card on your opponent's side of the field.

YZ is also a Special Summon-only monster, with a similar Ignition Effect to XY. This one targets a face-down Monster Card. If the target is not face-down when the effect resolves, it won't destroy it.

Next, we have XZ - Tank Cannon:

"X-Head Cannon" + "Z-Metal Tank"
This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play the above monsters on your side of the field; then you can Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck. (You do not use "Polymerization"). Discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 face-down Spell or Trap Card on your opponent's side of the field.

Another Special Summon-only monster. Similar to the other two monsters, this one has an Ignition Effect that targets a face-down S/T Card. Once again, if it's not face-down when this effect resolves, it won't destroy it.

As for the last two-letter combination, we have VW - Tiger Catapult:

"V-Tiger Jet" + "W-Wing Catapult"
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by removing from play the above cards on your side of the field. (You do not use "Polymerization"). By discarding 1 card from your hand, change the battle position of 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field. (Flip Effects are not activated at this time.)

Yet again another Special Summon-only monster. It has the same old Ignition Effect, which now targets any monster your opponent controls in order to switch its Battle Position. At least this one brings a bonus addition to the effect, preventing FLIP Effects from being activated.

At last, we arrive to the three-monster beast that is XYZ - Dragon Cannon:

"X-Head Cannon" + "Y-Dragon Head" + "Z-Metal Tank"
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by removing from play the above cards you control. (You do not use "Polymerization".) This card cannot be Special Summoned from the Graveyard. You can discard 1 card to destroy 1 card your opponent controls.

There is a small trap in XYZ's text. Despite being a Special Summon-only monster, it cannot be Special Summoned from the Graveyard. Does this mean that it is a Nomi Monster? Not really. You can still Special Summon it if you Summon it properly from one place: The Removed from Play Zone. As for its actual effect, its the usual Ignition Effect, which now is able to target any Card.

And we finally arrive to the ultimate Fusion of all these letter monsters: VWXYZ - Dragon Catapult Cannon:

"VW-Tiger Catapult" + "XYZ-Dragon Cannon"
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by removing from play the above cards you control (You do not use "Polymerization"). Once per turn, remove from play 1 card your opponent controls. When this card attacks, you can change the battle position of the attack target. (Flip Effects are not activated at this time.)

We are back to the usual Special Summon-only monster, without any traps this time.  VWXYZ has two effects. The first effect is an Ignition Effect with no cost whatsoever, that targets one of your opponent's Cards to Remove it from Play. The other effect is an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon Attack Declaration, which also targets. And much like VW's effect, it prevents FLIP Effects.

That covers the alphabet monsters and other Union Monsters. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

Honest numbers

Guess it's time to start with some of the articles I've been delaying...

Honest and Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow have very similar effects. They both have a Quick Effect that you can activate during the Damage Step in order to increase the ATK of your battling monster. In general, they should be very simple to understand, but their interaction with mutiple copies of themselves, or interactions between the two aren't that simple. Like all common disputes, they occur due to poor communication between the players, as you will see in a minute that they aren't as hard as most people make them to be.

Both Cards can be activated since the Start of the Damage Step until Damage Calculation inclusive. The first three Sub-Steps ("Start of the Damage Step", "Flip the monster Face-up", and "Before Damage Calculation")  aren't as problematic as the last one ("Damage Calculation"). Remember that During Damage Calculation, only one manual chain can be started, so you and your opponent can only build one chain with your copies of Honest or Kalut at that Sub-Step, and then, you would have both monsters battle each other. However, during the previous Sub-Steps, there is always one more chance to start a new chain, as the "Before Damage Calculation" Sub-Step allows any number of manual chains.

The above paragraph covers most of the problems that you will find between multiples copies of Honest, or multiple copies of Kalut. The problem is that it's a little abstract, so let's look at some examples:

1) Player A declares an attack with Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame onto Player B's Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North. During Damage Calculation, Player B activates his Kalut (Kalut #1). Player A chains a Kalut of his own (Kalut #2), to which Player B chains Divine Wrath. Resolving this chain backwards, Kalut #2 has its effect's activation negated, and Kalut #1 increases the ATK of Blizzard the Far North. Now, Shura has 1800 ATK, and Blizzard has 2700 ATK. Since only one chain can be manually started at the Damage Calculation Sub-Step, Player A cannot activate another copy of Kalut. The monsters will then battle, and Player A will lose 900 Life Points and his Shura in battle.

2) Player A declares an attack with Cyber Dragon onto Player B's Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. During Damage Calculation, Player A activates his Honest. Player B activates Gladiator Beast War Chariot. Resolving this chain, Honest has its activation negated. Since only one chain can be manually started at the Damage Calculation Sub-Step, player A cannot activate another copy of Honest. The monsters will then battle, and Player A wil lose 900 Life Points and his Cyber Dragon in battle.

Wow, 900 again? What a coincidence Q_Q

3) Player A declares an attack with Cyber Dragon onto Player B's Gladiator Beast Heraklinos. During the "Before Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, Player A activates his Honest (Honest #1). Player B activates Gladiator Beast War Chariot. Resolving this chain, Honest #1 has its activation negated. Since this Sub-Step allows any number of manual chains, Player A can now activate a second copy of Honest. After Honest resolves, Cyber Dragon will have 5100 ATK.

4) Player A declares an attack with Blackwing - Bora the Spear onto Player B's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. During the "Before Damage Calculation", Player A activates his Kalut (Kalut #1). Player B activates Divine Wrath. Resolving this chain, Kalut #1 has its activation negated. Since this Sub-Step allows any number of manual chains, Player A can now activate a second copy of Kalut (Kalut #2). Player B then chain Forbidden chalice, targeting his own Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Resolving this chain, Blue-Eyes has 3400 ATK, while Bora has 3100 ATK.


As you can see, most scenarios come down to whether you are in the "Before Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, or the "Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. Activating these Cards during the "Damage Calculation" Sub-Step gives you more safety, as very little Cards can be activated at that time (for example, Forbidden Chalice cannot be activated). However, if your Kalut or Honest is negated, then you will have to battle with your monster's usual ATK, which probably sucks for this situation. On the other hand, activating your effect at the "Before Damage Calculation" Sub-Step gives you room for a second Kalut or Honest, but at the same time, it opens the floodgates for a number of other ATK/DEF modifiers to be chained. Specially, a wise opponent that will wait until the "Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, as we will see in a minute.


The interaction between multiple copies of each Card can also be troublesome. Multiple Kaluts aren't problematic, as Kalut always adds the same amount of ATK. It's basic algebra, and even a hardcore hater of algebra like me knows that this is simple. If you have two Blackwings battling each other, no matter the number of Kaluts that each player uses, it all comes down to adding 1400 ATK a number of times. Even if a player activated 152 Kaluts and the other chained 547 Kaluts of his own, one can still figure out the final ATK for each monster. The actually troublesome guy is Honest. Honest's ATK boost is not a fixed number, and actually chaining it among other modifiers can become a nightmare. Let's look at some examples:

1) Player A's Cyber Dragon attacks Player B's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. During "Damage Calculation", Player A activates Honest (Honest #1), and Player B chains Honest (Honest #2). Resolving backwards, Honest #2 checks for Cyber Dragon's ATK, and adds that value to BEWD's ATK (3000+2100 = 5100). Now, Honest #1 resolves, and checks BEWD'S ATK, to add that value to Cyber Dragon's ATK (2100 + 5100 = 7200). In the end, Blue-Eyes White Dragon is destroyed and Player B takes 2100 points of damage. The lesson here: Do not chain ATK bonuses to Honest. Ever.

2) Player A's Cyber Dragon attacks Player B's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. During the "Before Damage Calculation", Player A activates Honest (Honest #1). Player B does not respond. Cyber Dragon's ATK is now 5100. Then, gameplay proceeds to the "Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, and Player B wishes to activate Honest (Honest #2) now. Honest #2 resolves, providing Cyber Dragon's ATK to BEWD. Blue-Eyes ends up with 8100 ATK. Cyber Dragon is destroyed in battle, and Player A takes 3000 points of damage.

So what happened here? Honest #2 was not chained  to Honest #1. Therefore, the ATK bonus for BEWD was composed of Cyber Dragon's Original ATK AND the bonus that Honest #1 provided. In the previous scenario, Player B did not have this opportunity, because the scenario happened at the "Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, and once this chain is over, the monsters will battle without another opportunity to activate more copies of Honest. These two scenarios once again show a key difference on why it is important to choose between both Sub-Steps.


Leaving the math aside, the problem comes down to how to determine the order, and the Sub-Step you are currently at. Scenarios like this show why it is crucial that both players clearly communicate their moves. You won't believe how helpful it is to explain that you are moving into the Damage Step, and through which Sub-Steps. You don't need to memorize the whole chart, just explain that you are moving into the "Before Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, and then into the "Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. Remember that most battles involve moving through the Damage Step, so you are not giving away any information by announcing that you will enter a certain Sub-Step. As if it wasn't suspicious enough to attack a monster with twice the ATK of your monster. So go ahead and spill some saliva explaining what on earth you wish to do.

The order of the effects is chosen by priority. Upon entering a Sub-Step, the turn player has priority to activate his/her effects, or to pass priority to the opponent. To avoid more mathematical annoyances, the pro-tip is that if you are attacking and you wish to use Honest or Kalut, the most convenient action to take is to use your priority to activate these Cards upon entering Damage Calculation. Kalut is more likely to fail if one considers every scenario, but that's more of a tactical thing.


Ugh...what a dense topic. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.