You can find basic information on chaining in both the rulebook that comes with Structure Decks (which are worth buying for the rulebook alone, let alone all the cards), and online at this URL, but today I’m going to provide a little more explanation. In following weeks, I’ll focus on individual issues that can trip up veterans and novices alike. Even if you think you already know everything there is to know about chaining, you may learn something new.

Where better to begin than at the beginning?

What is Chaining?

“Chaining” is defined as adding one card effect onto another before the previous effect has a chance to resolve. Chains can be created between players when one player activates a card effect, and his or her opponent wishes to add an additional effect in response. This can continue until both players have no more effects to add. Chains also take place when one player activates an effect, and his or her opponent (if he or she has nothing to add) adds another effect onto the first one. Some chains occur as players try to thwart the actions of their opponent, while others boost the effects of cards that are already activated.

By building a chain of effects in the order in which they are activated, the effects can be resolved in the correct order, guaranteeing that the duel plays out accurately. As each effect is activated, the opponent gets a chance to respond, adding a further link to the chain. It’s important to note, however, that none of these card effects will actually resolve until both players are finished adding to the chain. Once all the effects have been added, the chain is complete, and it’s time to resolve it. Begin with the last effect added and work your way backwards, resolving each activated effect. Remember, cards involved in a chain should not be removed from the field until the chain is fully resolved (unless they have been specifically destroyed during the chain).

Why Does Chaining Exist?

I sometimes ask myself this question when I see a table covered in activated cards and both players explaining what they want to do at once. Why, oh why is there chaining?

Chaining wasn’t invented just to give judges something to do in between posting the pairings and announcing the end of the round. The ability to respond back and forth to one another’s actions brings a level of skill and strategy to the game that wouldn’t exist otherwise. It makes for a much more dynamic game than merely taking your turn, then sitting and waiting while your opponent takes his. Numerous cards and combos in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG work better when they’re used as part of a chain. For instance, Jar of Greed is much more satisfying when it’s chained to something intended to destroy it. Instead of taking a card away from you, the opponent has merely substituted it.

Chaining also gives you the chance to use cards that would otherwise be destroyed. For example, if your opponent activates Mystical Space Typhoon targeting your set Dust Tornado, you can chain your Dust Tornado to destroy his only set card, a Sakuretsu Armor. Chaining causes the fortunes of war to change constantly. Your opponent thought he was making a 1-for-1 trade, but instead he loses two cards to your one, and gives you a lower-risk shot at his field on your next turn.

This level of unpredictability depends on a player’s ability to size up his or her opponent, and predict what cards are likely to appear. Will the opponent be able to respond to a card effect by chaining another, and if so, how will that impact the game? Each activated effect has the potential to begin a chain, and to add subsequent links to it. As a result, the game can change dramatically.

How Do Spell Speeds Affect Chaining?

Before you can add a link to a chain, you need to take spell speeds into account. Specifically, you can only chain to an effect when the effect you wish to chain has the same spell speed or higher than the previous effect (with one exception, which I’ll explain in a moment).

There are three spell speeds.

Spell Speed 1: Normal spell cards, continuous spell cards, equip spell cards, field spell cards, ritual spell cards, and most monster effects (specifically, trigger, ignition, and flip effects) are all spell speed 1 effects. This is the slowest spell speed, and spell speed 1 effects can’t be chained to each other. You can’t chain Premature Burial to Nobleman of Crossout, or Graceful Charity to Exiled Force’s destruction effect. Spell speed 1 cards can only begin a chain—they can’t be added as additional links.

Spell Speed 2: Quick-play spell cards, normal and continuous trap cards, and multi-trigger monster effects are all spell speed 2 effects. These cards can be chained to other spell speed 2 effects, or to spell speed 1 effects. Most of the effects in long chains fall into this category.

Spell Speed 3: There’s only one kind of card effect that has a spell speed of 3: a counter trap. You can recognize counter traps by the arrow symbol next to the words “Trap Card.” While spell speed 3 effects can be used against any other spell speed, you can only chain them to the effect that they’re intended to counter. So if your opponent activates Bottomless Trap Hole and you want to use Seven Tools of the Bandit to negate it, you must chain Seven Tools of the Bandit to the activation of Bottomless Trap Hole. You can’t chain something else in between. This is why if you activate Ring of Destruction and intend to follow it up with Barrel Behind the Door to protect your own life points, but your opponent decides to chain something to the Ring instead, you won’t get a chance to activate the Barrel.

Only spell speed 3 cards can be chained to other spell speed 3 cards. You can’t activate Royal Decree in response to Solemn Judgment, because Royal Decree is a continuous trap with a spell speed of 2. (A lot of players make that mistake because counter traps aren’t commonly played nowadays.)

Other actions that occur in a duel, such as summoning and attacking, do not have a spell speed, so they cannot become part of a chain. You don’t chain to them, you begin a chain in response to them. This is important to remember.

When Can I Add a Card to a Chain?

The turn player always gets the first chance to activate an effect when each of his or her game phases begins, or when he or she summons a monster. Once the turn player has had the chance to activate an effect, the opponent gets the chance to respond with his or her card effect. It then goes back to the turn player, and so on until both players are done adding cards to the chain.

If a player activates an effect, and the opponent does not wish to chain anything, then the player may chain to his or her own card. Players must always give their opponent the chance to add a link before chaining additional cards. Any number of cards can be chained together in this way, provided that the conditions for chaining are met. The opponent can add to the chain later on if he or she wishes. Giving up the opportunity to chain a card at an earlier stage doesn’t mean that he or she can no longer add to the chain.

If a player wants to add a card to a chain, he or she needs to make sure that it’s legal. The spell speed of the effect a player wishes to add must be equal to or higher than the effect that precedes it (with the exception of spell speed 1 effects, which cannot be chained to each other). The activation requirements must also be met, which often trips players up.

If an effect can only be activated in response to a certain trigger, then that trigger must be the last “fact” to resolve in the game. For example, let’s say that a player activates Heavy Storm. The opponent has two set spell or trap cards, and doesn’t want to lose them. She chains the first card, Call of the Haunted, asks if the opponent has a response, and then chains Torrential Tribute. Obviously she’s hoping to wipe out all of her opponent’s monsters, but there’s a problem here. While Torrential Tribute has the same spell speed as Call of the Haunted, and it’s true that the opponent didn’t wish to respond, Call of the Haunted hasn’t resolved yet. No monster has been summoned, so there’s no “trigger” for Torrential Tribute. So it cannot be activated as part of this chain.

This also means that even if cards are added in between steps of a chain, the chain will still resolve as long as the trigger is the last “fact” to resolve. For example, a player summons Exiled Force, and declares that she will not use its effect. Her opponent responds by activating Trap Hole. Not wanting to lose the monster, she chains Interdimensional Matter Transporter. The opponent decides to expend another card, and activates a second Trap Hole. Neither player wants to add any additional effects, so the chain resolves.

Now, since the last actual “fact” to resolve in the game was the summoning of Exiled Force to the field, it makes no difference that another card was chained in between the first Trap Hole and the second. The last link in the chain, the second Trap Hole, resolves first. The correct trigger, a summon, was the last thing to happen in the game, so the Trap Hole resolves and destroys Exiled Force. The remaining cards in the chain no longer have a target, so their effects disappear.

That’s a basic look at how chaining works. It’s a complex mechanic, and there’s a lot more to it than what I’ve covered here. In upcoming weeks, I’ll take a more detailed look at some of the more complex and misunderstood aspects of chaining. Once you really understand how the mechanic works, you’ll know the answers to a lot of rulings questions, and will do a much better job of building and playing your deck. I’ve only scratched the surface, so don’t miss the articles that will follow this one. You’ll hear more about chaining than you ever knew existed! Together, we will eliminate one of the biggest impediments to correct gameplay as we explore and master the mysteries of chaining!

If there’s any aspect of chaining that has you particularly boggled, tell me about it at MetagameJulia@gmail.com, and I’ll cover it in an upcoming article. The whole point of this series is to get us all chaining like pros, so let me know what will help you out!