Card Rulings:Remove Brainwashing

"Remove Brainwashing":

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TCG Rulings

Mentions in Other Rulings

• Nightmare Archfiends: “Remove Brainwashing” will cause “Nightmare Archfiend Tokens” to switch to the control of the player who activated “Nightmare Archfiends”. If that player does not have enough available Monster Card Zone spaces, the extra “Nightmare Archfiend Tokens” are destroyed and the opponent takes damage accordingly.

• Shiny Black "C": If “Remove Brainwashing” is active and you Special Summon your opponent’s Synchro Monster with “Monster Reborn,” control of the monster is immediately shifted back to your opponent and the monster is treated as being Special Summoned on your opponent’s side of the field, so you can activate the effect of “Shiny Black C.” [sic]

• Vengeful Servant: If “Remove Brainwashing” is active and a monster equipped with “Vengeful Servant” switches sides, that monster immediately switches back to the original controller. The effect of “Vengeful Servant” then starts a chain (and only activates once, in this case) and the original controller of the monster takes damage.

OCG Rulings

• The owner of the "Rose Token" is the controller of the monster which was Summoned. That player chooses which Monster Card Zone to which the "Rose Token" is Special Summoned. If "Remove Brainwashing" is active, then you gain control of all "Rose Token"s on your opponent's field.

• When "Remove Brainwashing" is on the field while a monster is equipped with "Vengeful Servant", if the equipped monster changes control, it will immediately switch back before the effect of "Vengeful Servant" can activate. Afterwards, "Vengeful Servant" will activate once, and inflict damage to the equipped monster's current controller: its original owner.

• When your opponent activates "Monster Reborn" and Special Summons your Synchro Monster to his field, if "Remove Brainwashing" is on the field, then the monster is still considered to have been Special Summoned to your opponent's field, even though it is now on your side of the field. Thus, you can activate the effect of "Shiny Black "C"" to destroy the Synchro Monster, even though it is on your side of the field.

• If you gain control of a Synchro Monster by the effect of "Tuner's Scheme" and afterwards your opponent regains control of it by an effect like "Remove Brainwashing", then the Synchro Monster is still removed from play if it is destroyed. Also, the Synchro Monster has been removed from the field, so "Tuner's Scheme" is destroyed.

Mentions in Other Rulings

• Blizzard Princess: Suppose you use "Exchange" to get your opponent's "Blizzard Princess" into your hand, and then you Normal Summon it while "Remove Brainwashing" is active. Even though "Blizzard Princess" immediately returns to your opponent's control, you are still the player who Normal Summoned "Blizzard Princess", so your opponent (the original owner of "Blizzard Princess") cannot activate Spell or Trap Cards.

Previously Official Rulings

• When "Remove Brainwashing" is activated, monsters like "Lava Golem" & "Parasite Paracide" will return to their owner's side of the field, monsters revived with "Monster Reborn" return to their owner's side of the field, monsters taken with "Exchange" and played normally return to their owner's side of the field, etc.

• When "Remove Brainwashing" is already active on the field and a switching effect is activated, or "Remove Brainwashing" is chained to a switching effect and is thus active before the switching effect resolves, control switches due to the effect but then switches back to the original owner because of "Remove Brainwashing". So for "Creature Swap", control is changed but then control goes back to the original owners. This means that if you give control of "Griggle" or "Ameba" to your opponent, their effect IS activated even though "Griggle"/"Ameba" then returns to the original owner's control afterwards.

• If "Monster Reborn" is activated and "Remove Brainwashing" is chained (or was already active on the field), the monster goes to the side of the field of the player who activated "Monster Reborn", then switches back to the original owner immediately afterwards.

• If "Remove Brainwashing" is activated and a player already has 5 monsters on the field, the returning monsters are destroyed. If multiple monsters are returning to the owner due to "Remove Brainwashing", and he does not have enough room for all of them, the player who controlled the monsters chooses the ones that are destroyed and the ones that return successfully.

• When "Snatch Steal" is active, the +1000 Life Points effect is applied even if "Remove Brainwashing" has returned control of the monster to the original owner.

• "Remove Brainwashing" has no effect on a Monster Card equipped to "Relinquished" or "Thousand-Eyes Restrict", and the Monster Card remains where it is, because it is an Equip Spell Card.

• If "Remove Brainwashing" is destroyed, control does not revert again, so if I activate "Change of Heart" and my opponent chains "Remove Brainwashing", control of the monster comes to me and then reverts to my opponent. Then, later in the turn, if "Remove Brainwashing" is destroyed with "Heavy Storm", control does not revert back to me and remains with the original owner. (The same for "Creature Swap", etc.)

• If your opponent takes control of your monster with "Snatch Steal", etc., and you activate "Relinquished"'s effect on your next turn to equip the monster to "Relinquished", and your opponent chains "Remove Brainwashing" to "Relinquished"'s effect, control of the monster returns to you before "Relinquished"'s effect resolves and, since you cannot use "Relinquished"'s effect on monsters on your side of the field, "Relinquished"'s effect disappears.

• Control of "Blindly Loyal Goblin" cannot change even because of "Remove Brainwashing", so if "Blindly Loyal Goblin" is Summoned due to "Monster Reborn" or using "Exchange", the original owner will not control "Blindly Loyal Goblin".

Mentions in Other Rulings

• Amazoness Chain Master: If you acquired your opponent’s monster with “Amazoness Chain Master”, and “Remove Brainwashing” is activated, the monster returns to the original owner if it is on the field. However, if it’s still in your hand then it is not returned.

• B.E.S. Crystal Core: If you target the opponent's monster with the effect of "B.E.S. Crystal Core", and an effect is chained that causes it to no longer be on your opponent's side of the field (such as "Remove Brainwashing"...), the effect of "B.E.S. Crystal Core" is not applied.

• Blindly Loyal Goblin: If you Special Summon your opponent's "Blindly Loyal Goblin" with "Monster Reborn", and "Remove Brainwashing" is activated, control of "Blindly Loyal Goblin" does not return to your opponent.

• Creature Swap: Monsters affected by "Creature Swap" do not return to their owner's control at the end of the turn, they stay under the opponent's control until removed from the field or a card effect such as "Remove Brainwashing" says otherwise.

• Kunoichi: If you give control of your face-up "Kunoichi" to your opponent while "Remove Brainwashing" is active, it is immediately returned to your control and when its effect resolves you will discard 1 card.

• Mataza the Zapper: If you use "Monster Reborn" on "Mataza the Zapper" while "Remove Brainwashing" is active, control of "Mataza the Zapper" does not return to the original owner.

• Nitro Unit: If your opponent controls your monster, and you target it with "Nitro Unit", but your opponent chains "Remove Brainwashing", "Nitro Unit" is destroyed because its target is no longer on your opponent's side of the field when "Nitro Unit" resolves.

• Ojama Trio: If there are Ojama Tokens on your opponent's side of the field, and "Remove Brainwashing" is activated, the Ojama Tokens are switched to your side of the field. If you don't have enough Monster Zones for them, some of the Ojama Tokens are destroyed and the damage is inflicted to the opponent.

• Spatial Collapse: When you have 4 cards on the field and you activate "Remove Brainwashing", you select cards to destroy to make the number of cards you control 5.

• Treeborn Frog: If an effect is chained to "Treeborn Frog" that puts a Spell or Trap Card on your side of field, then "Treeborn Frog's" effect will not resolve. Example: The opponent controls your "Embodiment of Apophis" and activates "Remove Brainwashing".

• Volcanic Queen: If "Volcanic Queen's" effect activates during the End Phase and "Remove Brainwashing" is chained, the player that controlled "Volcanic Queen" when its effect activated will Tribute 1 monster or take 1000 damage.

• Wall of Ivy: If "Remove Brainwashing" or "Owner's Seal" is activated, control of the "Ivy Token" is shifted to the player that activated "Wall of Ivy's" effect.