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Yu-Gi-Oh! Article 2 on Ruling Changes/Clarifications
6.13.05, by GSAttack

This is the second week of posts from Kevin Tewart and Dan Scheidegger regarding changes to game play and card rulings. The following are clarifications of already existing game mechanics and are effective immediately.

Original ATK/DEF

The following is an important change to the original ATK and DEF of a monster, specifically those that obtain their ATK and/or DEF from their own effect.

From: Kevin Tewart (Lead Game Designer at Upper Deck)

"The "Original ATK" of a monster is normally the number printed on the card, and does not include changes because of Spell, Trap, or Monster Card effects.

However, some recent monsters modify their original ATK/DEF ("King of the Skull Servants", "Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast"), instead of just-plain-old ATK/DEF ("Shadow Ghoul"). Original ATK/DEF can also be modified by card effects that specifically say so ("Megamorph", which doubles or halves original ATK).

When combining these two, you can run into problems, and there's been some confusion as to whether "Megamorph" modifies "original" ATK/DEF, or "printed" ATK/DEF. The answer is that "printed" ATK/DEF isn't actually a term in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, and is in fact dangerous to use because it runs contrary to Konami thinking. So we will speak no more of it!

If you have a monster on the field with modified "original" ATK/DEF ("King of the Skull Servants", "Fusilier Dragon, the Dual Mode Beast", "Behemoth the King of All Animals", and various other cards with long names), and you equip it with "Megamorph", it doubles or halves the original ATK/DEF according to the card effect.

Examples:

If you have "King of the Skull Servants" with an original ATK of 2000 (2 "Skull Servant" cards in your Graveyard), and you equip it with "Megamorph", its original ATK will be 4000 when your Life Points are lower, and 1000 when your Life Points are higher.

If you have "Behemoth the King of All Animals" with an original ATK of 2000 because you Summoned or Set him with 1 Tribute, and you equip it with "Megamorph", its original ATK will be 4000 when your Life Points are lower, and 1000 when your Life Points are higher.

If you have "Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast" with original ATK of 1400
because you Summoned or Set it without Tribute, and you equip it with "Megamorph", its original ATK will be 2800 when your Life Points are lower, and 700 when your Life Points are higher.

These specific examples have been added to the FAQ under the 3 appropriate cards.

The oddball ruling, at this time, is "Inferno Fire Blast", which inflicts 2400 damage to the opponent even if the original ATK of "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" is 4800 because of "Megamorph". This is because the original intent of "Inferno Fire Blast" is to inflict 2400 damage. We're discussing with Konami the possibility of an errata to "Inferno Fire Blast" to address this problem, and we'll keep you posted."

Returning Activated Cards

The clarification here gives a detailed definition to the reason why Normal Spell and Trap Cards may not be returned to the hand or Deck once they have been activated in a chain.

From: Kevin Tewart (Lead Game Designer at Upper Deck)

"When cards are activated, and a chain is formed, the cards activated in the chain are not sent to the Graveyard until the chain is completely resolved OR they are destroyed by a card effect in the middle of the chain (see "Chains, Activation, and Resolution").

However, once a Normal Spell Card, Quick-Play Spell Card, Normal Trap Card, or Counter-Trap Card has been activated (even though it has not resolved yet), the fact that the card will be destroyed and sent to the Graveyard after the chain resolves has already been decided.

Because it has already been decided that the card will be destroyed, the card cannot be returned to the hand or Deck. This is similar to how Monster Cards that have been destroyed by damage calculation cannot be returned to the hand, even though they are not actually sent to the Graveyard until after effects are resolved.

Example 1: "Giant Trunade" is activated. Because "Giant Trunade" has been activated, it is already decided that it will be destroyed, so it does not return itself to the hand.

Example 2: "Giant Trunade" is activated, and "Jar of Greed" is chained to it. Because "Jar of Greed" has been activated, it is already decided that it will be destroyed, so it cannot be returned to the hand. (Any other cards will be returned to the hand, but "Jar of Greed" will not.)

Example 3: "Phoenix Wing Wind Blast" is activated targeting a face-down card. The card is "Jar of Greed" and the controller chains it to "Phoenix Wing Wind Blast". Because "Jar of Greed" has been activated, it is already decided that it will be destroyed, so it cannot be returned to the Deck. (The effect of "Phoenix Wing Wind Blast" disappears.)

Exception: Because "Swords of Revealing Light" is destroyed by its effect, rather than by the game mechanics, it can be returned to the hand or Deck before it is destroyed by its effect."

What's A Replay?

The following is clarification of when a replay occurs during the Duel.

From: Kevin Tewart (Lead Game Designer at Upper Deck)

"A replay is triggered when an attack has been declared, and then during the attack a potential attack target appears or disappears.

A replay causes the attack to "rewind" to the beginning of the Battle Step, with the attacking player starting over with "Select an attacking monster". (see page 27 of your rulebook)

A replay does not rewind to the beginning of the Battle Phase. It rewinds to the beginning of the Battle Step. So attacks by other monsters that turn which have been completed are totally unaffected by a replay.

When a replay happens, the monster that was attacking can still attack again later in the Battle Phase. (Either immediately or after another monster attacks.)

Example #1 of a replay:
Player A attacks with "Battle Ox". His opponent has no monsters on the field, so Player A thinks he will get to attack his opponent's life points directly. But Player B activates "Call of the Haunted" and Special Summons "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from the Graveyard. This triggers a replay because a potential attack target has appeared. Player A goes back to the beginning of the Battle Step, the "Select an attacking monster" stage, and can decide NOT to attack.

Example #2 of a replay:
Player A attacks with "Blue-Eyes White Dragon". Player B's only monster is "Beaver Warrior", in attack position, equipped with "United We Stand" (current ATK: 2000). Player B activates a Set Quick-Play Spell Card: "Scapegoat", which Special Summons 4 new "Sheep Token" monsters on his side of the field. The Sheep contribute to the power of "United We Stand", and "Beaver Warrior"'s ATK is now 5200. But because 4 new potential attack targets have appeared, this triggers a replay. Player A decides to attack a "Sheep Token" instead, and destroys it (ATK 3000 vs DEF 0).

Example #3 of a replay:
Player B controls only 2 cards: "The Legendary Fisherman" and "Umi". Player A controls "Battle Ox" and "Summoned Skull". Player A attacks with "Battle Ox", and attacks directly because of the effect of "The Legendary Fisherman". Player B responds to the attack by destroying "Umi" with "Mystical Space Typhoon". A potential new attack target appears: "The Legendary Fisherman", which can now be attacked by "Battle Ox". So a replay occurs. Player A can attack "The Legendary Fisherman" with "Summoned Skull" and destroy it, then attack directly with "Battle Ox".

Example #4 of a replay:
Player A controls "Injection Fairy Lily" equipped with "Shooting Star Bow - Ceal", which allows it to attack directly. "Injection Fairy Lily" declares an attack against the opponent's Life Points, but the opponent responds with "Dust Tornado" and destroys the "Shooting Star Bow - Ceal". Because "Injection Fairy Lily" can no longer attack directly, a potential attack target (the opponent) disappears, and a replay occurs.

Example #1 of a situation that is NOT a replay:
Player A attacks with "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", attacking Player B's "Dark Magician". Player B activates "Reinforcements", increasing "Dark Magician"'s ATK to 3000. This does not trigger a replay, as no potential attack targets have appeared or disappeared, and the attack proceeds as normal.

Example #2 of a situation that is NOT a replay:
Player A attacks with "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", attacking Player B's "Dark Magician". Player B activates "Mirror Wall" in the Battle Step, cutting "Blue-Eyes White Dragon"'s ATK in half. This does not trigger a replay. Even if the attacking player activates "Scapegoat" or "Call of the Haunted" to increase his number of monsters, this does not trigger a replay as no new potential attack targets are appearing. However, if the attacking player activates "Ojama Trio" to give the opponent 3 new monsters, then a replay occurs because new potential attack targets have appeared: the "Ojama Tokens".

Example #3 of a situation that is NOT a replay:
The turn player attacks with a monster, and the opponent activates "Gravity Bind" to stop the attack, or flips the attacking monster face-down with "Book of Moon". Even though the attack has stopped, this is not a replay, and the monster cannot attack again later in the Battle Phase. Even if the "Gravity Bind" is destroyed, or a card flips the monster back into face-up attack position during the Battle Phase, the monster cannot attack again."

Specific Card Rulings

From: Dan Scheidegger (Jr. Game Designer at Upper Deck)

Desert Sunlight
[Ruling Modification]

If you have a face-up Flip Effect monster, you can activate "Book of Moon" targeting your monster, and chain "Desert Sunlight", another "Book of Moon", and another "Desert Sunlight". When the chain resolves, you will flip the monster down, then up, then down, then back up. The Flip Effect activates twice, and they wait to create a new chain after the current one resolves. For example, if the Flip Effect monster is "Morphing Jar", its effect will activate twice in a chain, as Chain Link 1 and Chain Link 2, they resolve in reverse order, and both players will discard and draw 5 cards, then discard and draw 5 cards again.