We will spend the next few weeks talking about the new Synchro monsters and the rulings surrounding their effects. Today we begin with Stardust Dragon.

Celestial Protector—Stardust Dragon

Let’s examine the text of Stardust Dragon’s effect:

This effect can be chained to any effect that would destroy any number of cards on the field. When this happens, you activate Stardust Dragon’s effect by tributing it. When the chain resolves, Stardust Dragon’s effect negates the destruction effect and destroys its source, which is certainly bad news for monster cards.

Stardust Dragon’s effect can still be activated if Dimensional Fissure is face up on the field because the cost to activate it only requires it to be tributed, not that it be sent to the graveyard. Tribute costs don’t care what happens to the monster when it is tributed. Sending Stardust Dragon to the graveyard is not a requirement, though Dimensional Fissure would pose a problem for the Dragon’s second effect. More on that later.

Stardust Dragon is free to go after an effect from any type of card, as long as the activated effect will destroy one or more cards on the field. This requires a fair amount of certainty that at least one card will be destroyed. Usually a destruction effect is a simple matter: Smashing Ground, Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, Mystical Space Typhoon, Heavy Storm, Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, Dark Armed Dragon, and other popular forms of card destruction go after their marks with a fair certainty of destruction.

The effects that tend to cause trouble are the ones that rely on the rolling of dice or tossing of coins to determine whether or not something will be destroyed. When you activate Snipe Hunter’s effect, there is no guarantee that it will destroy a card because the die roll decides the outcome. Because of that uncertainty, it is not possible to chain Stardust Dragon’s effect. You need to go against effects with certainty, not random effects like Twin-Barrel Dragon or Blowback Dragon.

Some cards have an element of this randomness to their effects, but they are still certain to destroy a card. Time Wizard uses a coin to decide which player’s monsters are destroyed, but both results end with cards being destroyed so Stardust Dragon can be used in response. Dark Master - Zorc uses a die roll to decide what cards it will destroy, and like Time Wizard every option ends in a valid condition for the activation of Stardust’s effect.

The "Virus" cards are circumstantial. If Crush Card Virus, Deck Devastation Virus, or Eradicator Epidemic Virus is activated, Stardust Dragon’s effect can only be chained if there is a face-up card on the field that is going to be destroyed. If you control Stardust Dragon and your opponent activates Crush Card Virus, the Virus is going to destroy Stardust Dragon itself, so you can activate its effect. If you are up against Deck Devastation Virus you will need a face-up monster that it will destroy, and Eradicator Epidemic Virus will need to see a face-up spell or trap card, depending on what your opponent declared.

If Stardust Dragon is the only card that would be destroyed, you can activate its effect. You might think this is obvious, but let me assure you that this is asked often. Somebody at your regional will ask this question. Maybe players think it is too good to be true: I’m not really sure. It is certainly something to keep in mind, because it is usually better to use Stardust Dragon’s effect when it would be destroyed by another effect, instead of just letting it get destroyed.

You want your Dragon back, right?

Celestial Revival

After you tribute Stardust Dragon to activate its effect, you can always special summon it from your graveyard with other cards. Your Dragon isn’t forced to remain in the graveyard, but special summoning it with another effect requires the use of additional options that won’t always make sense. That said, after you special summon Stardust Dragon with another card effect, you will be able to use its negation again during the same turn, and doing so would mean that the Dragon could then revive itself at the end of the turn. If it was sent to the graveyard for some other reason, you will not be able to special summon it with its effect.

Player A proceeds to the battle phase and attacks with Stardust Dragon. Player B responds to the attack by activating Sakuretsu Armor, to which Player A chains Stardust Dragon’s effect.

At the end of the turn, Player A can special summon the Stardust Dragon from his graveyard.

Next, Player A activates Monster Reborn and special summons Stardust. He activates Ruthless Denial, sending Stardust Dragon to his graveyard and discarding a card from Player B’s hand.

In this scenario Stardust Dragon is not special summoned by its effect during the end phase, because it is in the graveyard due to Ruthless Denial and not because it was tributed to activate its effect.

Next week, we continue examining rules for the new Synchro monsters. Until then, send all comments and questions to Curtis@Metagame.com.

—Curtis Schultz