With Power of the Duelist, a newer “simple” form of text is being used to make our cards easier to read. Anyone who participated in the Sneak Preview event received a booklet that included a section showcasing these changes.

This week, we examine this new effect form and compare it to previous cards that use the older forms of text. I am quite fond of these new forms and I think that you will be too.

A Gain or a Loss

In the past, increases to a monster’s ATK would be explained using the following method:

“Increase the ATK of this card by XXX points.”

This text is reasonable and expresses itself well, but what do you think of this text?

“This card gains XXX ATK.”

Most players, regardless of age, can understand the word “gain” with relative ease. To see it written on their card won’t be hard to figure out, and by using it, we’ve managed to take the previous expression and compress it down into something shorter and still easy to apply in the duel.

Taking lengthy and sometimes overly complicated text and compressing it into shorter, more direct text is the main goal of the new effect text forms. Consider the card Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab. Using the older form of text, it would say something like this:

“Increase the ATK of this card by 400 points for each Spell and Trap Card on your opponent’s side of the field.”

Compare that form of text to the current form, printed on the actual card:

“This card gains 400 ATK for each Spell and Trap Card on your opponent’s side of the field.”

“Increase the ATK of this card by 400 points” can now be shortened to, “This card gains 400 ATK.” That’s quite a reduction and certainly makes the effect much clearer.

How will some of our older cards look if we apply this newer form of text? Consider the quick-play spell card Rush Recklessly. Its current text says

“Increase 1 face-up monster’s ATK by 700 points until the end of this turn.”

Using the newer form of text, we can alter it to say

“Select 1 face-up monster. It gains 700 ATK until the end of this turn.”

By using this form, we actually accomplish two things. First, we isolate the selection of a target and make it clear that this is a targeting effect. Then we can replace the entire “increase the ATK” expression with, “It gains 700 ATK.” By separating these two actions, it becomes clearer that they are not performed at the same time. The selection is performed first, and the ATK gain is performed afterwards.

The new text format is quite useful, isn’t it?

Demonstrating a loss of ATK or DEF is just as easy. Instead of saying, “Decrease the ATK of the selected monster by 700 points,” like we do on Shadow Spell, we can instead say, “It loses 700 ATK.” Do we really need all that extra text for such a simple action?

We can also use “gains” and “loses” for changes in life point totals. With this idea in mind, the card Poison of the Old Man can say, “You gain 1200 Life Points.” Now, we can’t use the word “loses” in relation to damage, because damage is very specific and needs to be referenced properly. Instead of saying, “Your opponent loses 800 Life Points,” we will actually say, “Inflict 800 damage to your opponent.” This reflects the fact that we are inflicting damage, so cards that work with or against this sort of action won’t be lost in confusion.

Also notice that I didn’t say, “to your opponent’s Life Points.” When you inflict damage to your opponent with a card effect, there is only one thing you can possibly damage, and that is the opponent’s life points. We also know that there is no way to “inflict 800 damage” to an opponent’s monster. The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG just doesn’t work that way.

This form of text is also being used on cards in Power of the Duelist. The card Crop Circles says, “If you fail to find a monster to Special Summon, you take 2000 damage.” When you take 2000 damage, there is only one thing that could possibly refer to: your life points. Most players understand this and won’t have any difficulty with it at all.

A Hero by any Other Name?

When referring to cards that feature a specific term in their card name, we often read something similar to the following text excerpted from Hero Heart.

“Select 1 face-up monster on your side of the field that includes ‘Elemental Hero’ in its card name to activate this card.”

Duelists have grown accustomed to this form of text and they understand what it means. With Power of the Duelist, a simpler form is being used, but with the same meaning. Examine the following text excerpted from Fake Hero:

“Special Summon 1 ‘Elemental Hero’ monster from your hand.”

Both cards ask you for the same thing: a monster that is an “Elemental Hero.” We know what an “Elemental Hero” monster is because it has “Elemental Hero” written in the card name. It isn’t asking us for an “Elemental Hero” type monster, because if there were such a thing, it would say “Elemental Hero-Type monster.” If a card text requests a specific type of monster, it will specify this by use of the type’s name, followed by “-Type.” The card Limiter Removal uses this when it says  “Double the ATK of all face-up Machine-Type monsters . . .”

Someone might ask, “Is Wroughtweiler an Elemental Hero?” He may be an Elemental Hero’s best friend, but he is most certainly not an Elemental Hero. If his name were “Elemental Hero Wroughtweiler,” he would be fair game, but that is not his name. He is simply Wroughtweiler, a robotic canine no hero should leave home without.

I Tribute What is Mine

In the past, when we used an effect that required us to tribute a monster, the text would normally say something like, “Tribute 1 monster on your side of the field.” This text is fine, but something about it is quite unnecessary. Can you spot what that is?

Think about the words “on your side of the field.” When you tribute a monster, where does that monster normally come from? In most situations, the monster you tribute comes from your side of the field. If we want to tribute an opponent’s monster, we have to use a powerful card effect like Soul Exchange to allow us to do so. Soul Exchange specifically tells us that we are allowed to tribute the opponent’s monster. Without it, we would have no way to do so.

Lava Golem is another card that allows us to tribute two of our opponent’s monsters for one reason only: to special summon that Lava Golem. Other cards like Share the Pain result in one of our opponent’s monsters being tributed, but we do not decide who that monster will be, nor can we control it in any way.

Share the Pain uses the wording, “Tribute 1 monster on your side of the field.” Using our new text formatting, we can instead say simply, “Tribute 1 monster.” It is understood that we cannot tribute our opponent’s monster to satisfy this, because that is against the rules.

You will also see that cards telling you to special summon a monster in Power of the Duelist will not say “on your side of the field.” When we special summon a monster, that monster is always special summoned onto our side of the field. The only time this changes is when the card we are using specifically tells us to do something different, as Lava Golem and Ojama Trio do. These cards make a direct statement telling us that the monster(s) goes onto our opponent’s side of the field.

I hope that everyone enjoys these new forms of text as much as I have. Anything that makes the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG easier to understand is a great step forward.

Until next time, send all comments and questions to Curtis@metagame.com.