Fred leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, hoping to regain his balance. Even though this Regional tournament was running smoothly, he was simply overwhelmed by the sheer number of rulings he’d made and questions he’d answered within the last three hours. He’d answered lots of questions about the spell speed of counter traps and why Spirit Reaper doesn’t get destroyed when it’s targeted by Book of Moon. Fred was starting to wish that these duelists would take the time to research the cards they were playing. However, his private musings were interrupted when he heard someone at a nearby table call for a judge. When Fred arrived, the duelist who called him asked, “Excuse me, sir, but I would like to make sure that when I summon my Slifer the Sky Dragon it still gets priority.” Willing himself to keep a calm, professional demeanor, Fred began to answer the question, while making a mental note to speak with his colleagues about the importance of checking decklists.
One of the most frustrating parts of judging is answering the same question over and over again. However, when judges take a step back, we realize that many players don’t know about the rulings that we take for granted. Because of that, judges should look at a question as an opportunity to educate a player about how the cards and the game work. Judges will always have the urge to laugh when someone asks if he or she can special summon two copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon when Giant Germ is destroyed. However, judges should be polite, professional, and above all, patient. All players started out as clueless novices, and the best thing a judge can do is help new players understand the game and its mechanics.
“Before my opponent draws a card, can I use this . . . ?”
For players who run Time Seal, please remember that you can’t activate it before your opponent draws a card in the draw phase on his or her turn. You can’t wedge in an effect before your opponent draws a card, because drawing a card is the first action in any turn. There’s no problem if you want to activate Time Seal after an opponent’s draw phase. If you do that, your opponent will miss the draw phase on his or her next turn. Just keep in mind that no effects can be activated or played until the turn player has drawn a card for the turn!
“My opponent says he’s removing one Light and one Dark monster from the graveyard to special summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. Can I activate Call of the Haunted and bring back Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer to stop the summon?”
At least eight players asked me this question at the last Regional tournament I judged. To make a long story short, whenever a player declares that he or she is going to summon a monster, an opponent can’t chain with a card effect. This rule applies to flip summoning, normal (both tribute and non-tribute) summoning, and special summoning. This prevents a player from activating Waboku when an opponent tributes a monster to bring out Jinzo. If you want to stop the summoning of a monster, you’d better have Horn of Heaven or Solemn Judgment set on the field, because these are the only two cards that can negate the summoning of a monster. In addition, you can use Royal Oppression to negate the special summoning of a monster.
“Why can’t I use Book of Moon on my opponent’s Sheep token so I can play Nobleman of Crossout on it?”
Let’s face it, everyone loves Scapegoat. Those sheep tokens laugh at Jinzo and cry at Airknight Parshath, and they’re forcing duelists to come up with ways to deal with them. Even though tokens are monsters, they can’t be flipped face down, either manually or by a card effect. Playing Just Desserts can badly hurt the sheep token player because tokens are normal monsters, but you can’t flip sheep tokens face down. Maybe it’s because they’re too round.
“Why doesn’t Spirit Reaper get destroyed when Creature Swap targets it?”
I hate to burst some people’s bubbles, but Creature Swap doesn’t have a targeted effect. A card has a targeted effect when, upon activating that card, you name the target of the card’s effect. With Creature Swap, each player decides what he or she is going to give an opponent when the card resolves, not when it activates.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Let’s say I have a set Scapegoat in my spell and trap zone and Airknight Parshath on the field. My opponent, John, has a face-up, defense-position Spirit Reaper. On John’s turn, he activates Creature Swap. It looks like I’m in trouble, because John will get Airknight Parshath and I’ll wind up with Spirit Reaper. Being the sneaky judge that I am, I activate Scapegoat and chain it to Creature Swap. As the chain resolves backwards, my cuddly tokens of doom are summoned first. Now it’s time for Creature Swap to resolve, and we pick what we’re going to swap. I give a sheep token to John, and he gives me Spirit Reaper.
When playing Creature Swap, try not to jump the gun and start taking or giving monsters. You should wait for the whole chain to resolve and then choose what’s going to get swapped.
“Why can’t I immediately use the spell counter on Breaker the Magical Warrior when it gets hit by Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute, Ring of Destruction, or Book of Moon?”
This ruling always gives me a headache, because every time it comes up, I’m usually dealing with a player who doesn’t believe me. I can’t blame the player, because he or she probably doesn’t know what game mechanics are in play.
Breaker’s ability is a triggered effect. The Spellcaster gets a counter when it’s successfully normal summoned onto the field. When Breaker is normal summoned, the card’s ability is put onto the chain as the first link. The ability I’m talking about is getting the counter, not using the counter. Breaker needs to get the counter before the Spellcaster can use it. Because this effect is the first link on the chain, if an opponent wishes to add to the chain, he or she may do so. Let’s pretend that an opponent decides to chain to the normal summoning of Breaker with Ring of Destruction. In this case, Ring of Destruction resolves first, deals 1600 points of damage to both players, and destroys Breaker the Magical Warrior. When Breaker’s effect resolves, the spell counter lands on nothing, so it disappears.
That’s it for my first installment of questions that drive judges bonkers. In the next few weeks, Metagame will give you a sneak peek at some of the cards in the highly anticipated Flaming Eternity set. Don’t forget to attend a Flaming Eternity Sneak Preview near you!
As always, if you have comments or questions, feel free to contact me at sangpukdee_simon@yahoo.com. Thanks again for reading, and please, be nice to your judges!