Trigger Effect
| Trigger Effect
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese |
誘発効果 | ||
| Japanese (romanized) |
Yūhatsu Kōka | ||
| English |
Trigger Effect | ||
| |||
Trigger Effects (Japanese: 誘発効果 Yūhatsu Kōka) are a type of card effect for Monster Cards that activate when a certain condition is met. Trigger-like Effects are the parallel type of card effect for Spell/Trap Cards.
Trigger Effects are Spell Speed 1 effects that make a Chain Link when activated. In general, Trigger Effects can be activated during any phase, although many individual Trigger Effects have restrictions on the phases in which they can be activated as part of their activation timing. Trigger Effects can be mandatory or optional.
Trigger Effects activate only once each time their condition is met. For example, if you control "Solemn Wishes" and draw 2 cards at once, you will only gain 500 LP because you performed only one act of drawing cards; and if you control "Aromage Jasmine" and gain 1000 LP, you will draw 1 card (not 1000).
Contents
Identifying Trigger Effects
For cards with Problem-Solving Card Text, Trigger Effects can be identified by looking for a timing or event-related condition, followed by a colon. For example, the text "During the Standby Phase: You can..." or "If this card is destroyed by battle: You can..." indicates that the effect is a Trigger Effect, as they identify a specific phase or event during which the effect activates.
Optional effects with the activation timing "Once per turn: You can..." or "During your Main Phase: You can..." are Ignition Effects rather than Trigger Effects. Trigger Effects may use the phrase "once per turn" in their activation timing, but not on its own.
Effects with the phrase "during either player's turn" in their activation timing are Quick Effects rather than Trigger Effects.
Mechanics
Missing the timing
Optional Trigger Effects that use the word "when" in their activation timing can miss the timing. This occurs when a optional Trigger Effect that uses "when" meets its activation timing, but another action is performed before it has a chance to activate.
If an optional Trigger Effect that does not miss the timing or a mandatory Trigger Effect meets its activation timing at an instant that Spell Speed 1 effects cannot be activated, such as when a Chain already exists, then it will start a Chain at the next possible opportunity. "If" and "during" are commonly used in place of "when" for effects that cannot miss the timing.
For example, "Peten the Dark Clown" has a "when" optional Trigger Effect. When a monster is Tribute Summoned using "Peten the Dark Clown" as Tribute, first the Tribute "Peten the Dark Clown" is sent to the Graveyard, then a monster is Tribute Summoned. The effect of "Peten the Dark Clown" would have met its activation timing when it was sent to the Graveyard, but because a new monster was Summoned before its effect had a chance to activate, its effect cannot activate.
In contrast, "Mermail Abysshilde" has an "if" optional Trigger Effect and "Flowerbot" has a mandatory Trigger Effect. If "Mermail Abysshilde" or "Flowerbot" is Tributed for a Tribute Summon, its Trigger Effect can be activated.
Simultaneous Effects Go On Chain
If multiple Trigger or Trigger-like Effects would activate at the same time, they are all be placed on the same Chain without any of them missing the timing.
The order these effects are added to the Chain depends on whether the effect is mandatory or optional, whether it is activated by the turn player or non-turn player, and (in the TCG only) the order in which they met their activation timing.
Example
The effect of "Zaborg the Thunder Monarch" is a mandatory Trigger Effect that activates when it is Tribute Summoned. This effect targets 1 monster on the field, then destroys that target when it resolves.
