“Brrrr! The Ice Age . . . the Ice Age is here.”
– Rex Raptor

This week, we’re going to continue our discussion of cards that effectively lock down spells and traps. Last week, I highlighted Anti-Spell Fragrance and Forced Ceasefire, two cards that are capable of preventing either spells or traps from activating. This week’s article will focus on Cold Wave, an old-school lockdown card that affects both spells and traps.

The Ice Age

Cold Wave was released in the Pharaoh’s Servant expansion. Over the past two years, the card has seen some play in weekend tournaments, but it has never been popular. However, that changed a bit after the start of the new Advanced format. Because Burn decks are starting to emerge as threats, duelists are looking for ways to combat them.

Some players have discovered this old, unassuming spell card. It might hurt your turn a bit, but it will hurt an opponent just as much if not more so. The card quickly found its way into many side decks and has remained there ever since.

However, Cold Wave can be a source of problems for judges, because the card’s text is somewhat vague. For judges, this is never a good combination.

Cold Wave

This card can only be activated at the start of Main Phase 1. Until your next turn, neither player can play or Set any Spell or Trap Cards.

The first thing you should notice is the limitation on when you can play this card. If you want to play Cold Wave, it has to be the first card you activate during your first main phase of a turn. If you think that you can go into main phase 1, play Lightning Vortex, and then follow it up with Cold Wave, you’re mistaken.

That being said, there are ways around this restriction, and we’ll explore them later. For now, let’s move on to the difficult part.

Preventing a player from setting a spell or trap is an easy concept to understand, but what does the word “play” mean in this context? “Play” appears on older card texts, but its use has been phased out for quite some time. The word’s meaning is often vague, and you can’t safely assume that it means the same thing in all circumstances. Fortunately for us, Konami has provided rulings that clarify the intentions of the text.

For Cold Wave, “play” refers not only to the activation of spells and traps, but also to the activation of a continuous spell or trap card’s effect. Does that sound a bit confusing? It’s okay to admit it.

Let’s take a look at an example.

Example: One Choice

Let’s say that Hal has two cards, Cold Wave and Pot of Greed, in his hand. His opponent, Sarah, has four set cards in her spell and trap card zone. Hal has two options:

He can use Pot of Greed and hopefully draw into a removal card like Heavy Storm, or he can use Cold Wave to ensure Sarah’s set cards will be unlikely to stop him during that turn. Thanks to Cold Wave’s effect, he can’t do both, so he has to choose between Cold Wave and Pot of Greed.

If Hal is going to use Cold Wave, it must be the first card he activates in his first main phase of the turn. It’s not an option for him to start the main phase with Pot of Greed and then use Cold Wave afterward. When Cold Wave resolves, it will lock down all spells and traps, so Hal won’t be able to use Pot of Greed that turn.

It’s easy to explain why players can’t activate a spell or trap card after Cold Wave’s effect is active, but what about continuous spells and traps with ignition-like effects? Cards like Ultimate Offering, Skull Lair, Lighten the Load, and Call of the Mummy are also affected by Cold Wave. If a player has this type of continuous spell or trap face up on his or her side of the field, Cold Wave won’t allow that player to activate the effect.

What about continuous spells and traps with trigger effects? Cards like Card of Safe Return, Mokey Mokey Smackdown, Robbin’ Goblin, and Coffin Seller activate when specific events occur in a duel. Will Cold Wave stop these cards as well?

If you said “yes,” then you’re correct. Cold Wave will prevent cards like these from activating their effects when they would normally be triggered. If your opponent has Mokey Mokey Smackdown and two copies of Mokey Mokey on his or her side of the field, using Cold Wave will allow you to destroy Mokey Mokey without activating the effect of Mokey Mokey Smackdown. Plus, your opponent’s other copy of Mokey Mokey won’t receive that nice 3000 ATK.

What about continuous spells and traps that actually have continuous effects? Cards like Level Limit – Area B, Messenger of Peace, Gravity Bind, and Spatial Collapse will not be affected by Cold Wave if they are face up before Cold Wave resolves. This is because continuous effects don’t use the chain. Cold Wave can’t negate the effect of a spell or trap, so it has no way of stopping a continuous effect from doing its job.

The same is true for the continuous effects of equip spell cards and field spell cards. The ATK increase from Axe of Despair, the level-lowering effect of A Legendary Ocean, and the battle damage protection of The Sanctuary in the Sky won’t be stopped by Cold Wave.

Example: A Metalmorph Divided

Metalmorph has two separate, unique effects. Metalmorph’s first effect increases an equipped monster’s ATK by 300 points. This is a continuous effect. Its second effect increases the equipped monster’s ATK when attacking an opponent’s monster. This is a trigger-like effect. With these two effects combined in one card, how would Cold Wave handle them?

Cold Wave will have no impact on Metalmorph’s first, continuous effect. However, when the equipped monster attacks an opponent’s monster, Metalmorph’s trigger effect won’t activate if Cold Wave is active.

Shelter from the Cold

Now that you understand how Cold Wave works, we can look at how it can be used in duels.

Remember how Cold Wave can only be activated at the start of your first main phase? That doesn’t mean it has to be the first card you activate on your turn—it just needs to be the first in your main phase. You can still activate cards during your draw and standby phases. For example, if you have a quick-play spell you want to use during your draw or standby phases, you should feel free to do so.

Cold Wave shares a weakness with Anti-Spell Fragrance and Forced Ceasefire, as an opponent can chain to all three cards. While that’s a bit of a disadvantage, you can still get around it. If an opponent chains a card like Magic Jammer in response to your Cold Wave, you can activate Seven Tools of the Bandit to negate Magic Jammer and save your Cold Wave.

After Cold Wave successfully resolves, spells and traps will be out of luck. They’ll just have to wait until things “thaw out.”

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