Forum:Effects

If you cannot compleat the whole effect can you use the effect at all? this would include monsters, magic, traps. Sorry im having a hard time remambering what card it was. KirklandDC 18:56, March 18, 2010 (UTC)

if your new to the game

read the rulz newbie--Sartorias 19:12, March 18, 2010 (UTC)

It depends on which effect you're referring to, but in most cases if you can't fulfill a part of an effect, then you can't use the effect at all. --Blue (Talk) 19:16, March 18, 2010 (UTC)

Some cards have optional effects, such as Magical Dimension (after tributing and special summoning a monster, you May destroy another monster on the field). These effects are, as I said, "optional." so if there is no monster you can destroy after activation, or you just don't want to destroy anything, you can still use the first part of the effect.

Many cards have conditions for activation. They say things like "activate only when a monster is special summoned." In this case, if a monster is not summoned, you can't activate the card or apply the effect. Or they will have a "cost" you must pay in order to activate them, such as paying lifepoints or discarding cards. If you can not meet these requirements, again, you can not activate the card or it's effect.

If the wording is vague, there are times when you can active the effect but not be effected by it.

Two good examples for this are Card Destruction and Hand Destruction. Card destuction says both players discard their entire hands and draw the same number of cards. If the only card in your hand was the Card Destruction you just activated, you don't discard anything, nor do you draw any cards, but your opponent does both. If neither of you have a card in your hands, the effect resolves, but neither of you get to discard or draw. However, with Hand destruction, both players Must send two cards to the graveyard and they must draw two cards. If you or your opponent do not have at least 2 other cards in your respective hands at the time of activation, you Can Not activate the card.

Chains, are a real killer though. If you activate a card, and the requirement are met at the time of activation (i.e. a monster was summoned, ect.), but your opponent chains a card which would change conditions, or remove something that was targeted, their effect is applied first. For Example: if you chain Trap Hole to an opponent's normal summon, which would destroy the summoned monster, but they play Compulsory Evacuation Device on that same monster and return it back to their hand, your trap hole was activated correctly, so it does still get to use it's effect, however, it's target is no longer on the field (since Compulsory's effect resolved before Trap hole's), so it's effect fizzles and does nothing. Since it was activated though, it goes to the graveyard whether it's effect was able to do anything or not.

For cards that have multiple effects, that are not optional, you MUST be able to fulfill both effects in order to activate the card, because they are part of the same effect. Take Magical Dimension again, you must have a spellcaster on the field to activate it. Then when the effect resolves, you must be able to tribute a monster in order to summon another monster. If you are prohibited from tributing, by another cards effect, or by having your monsters destroyed earlier in the chain, under no condition will you be allowed to summon a monster. If you have no monster in your hand to summon, you can not, under any condition, tribute a monster.

Hope that helps, sorry for the long text wall. 70.247.169.204 20:35, March 18, 2010 (UTC)

Um, it may help if you had a specific card in mind. --Deus Ex Machina (Talk) 01:46, March 19, 2010 (UTC)