In a Duel where you’re unfamiliar with your opponent’s cards, especially if they’re recently released cards, things can go a little wrong. And when things go a little wrong and you find out later that you lost because of it, you get mad and post angry diatribes on the internet. And when you get mad and post angry diatribes on the internet, you look like a fool. Don’t look like a fool. And don’t let your opponent get away with any of the following things that players didn’t catch from this past weekend.

The Situation:

Round 1, Duel 2 between Cordero Spencer and Morgan Adams. Cordero won Duel 1 with his Prophecy Deck, but was getting pushed around in Duel 2 with only 900 Life Points remaining.

The Play:

Spencer drew High Priestess of Prophecy. He revealed 3 Spellbooks to Special Summon High Priestess, and Adams negated the effect with Solemn Warning. Spencer played Spellbook of Life next, banishing Temperance to revive High Priestess. He played Foolish Burial next, sending Stoic of Prophecy to the Graveyard. Stoic added a [Temperance of Prophecy] to his hand. He Normal Summoned it, then Tributed it to Special Summon another High Priestess from his Deck.

The Problem:

From Temperance of Prophecy, “You cannot Special Summon another Level 5 or higher monster during the turn you activate this effect.” Did Cordero violate this clause? Absolutely. The Priestess whose effect was negated doesn’t count because she was never Summoned, but when Cordero used Spellbook of Life to bring her back, he locked himself out of using Temperance’s effect for the turn. It didn’t stop him from doing it anyways.

Fortunately, this didn’t turn out to be a Duel-changing error. Cordero lost on the next turn anyways, but he should have known better considering it was his own card and he had no excuse not to read it properly before, during, and after building his Deck. Morgan Adams should have read the card and noted it’s similarity to Pot of Duality instead of allowing the play to go, or at least called a judge to confirm or deny the legality of the play.

The Lesson:

If a card says you can’t do something during the turn you  activate it, then you cannot do that thing and then use that card. Just like you can’t Special Summon before using Pot of Duality, you can’t Special Summon a Level 5 or higher monster before using Temperance of Prophecy’s effect.

*Bonus Lesson*: Watch out for cards like Bahamut Shark that say you can’t do something “for the rest of this turn”. It’s not the same as cards that prohibit you from doing something “during the turn you activate this card/effect” and you can do the prohibited thing before activating the effect. Read your cards very carefully!

And that’s not all from the first three rounds…

The Situation:

Round 2, Duel 1 between Alexander Thomas and Andrew Foley, opening turns of the Duel.

The Play:

Thomas Normal Summoned Magileine, and Foley negated it with Effect Veiler. Thomas stacked his Magileines for Madolche Queen Tiaramisu! He used Tiaramisu’s effect, detaching Magileine and targeting it. It returned to the hand thanks to Chateau, and Tiaramisu’s effect returned Foley’s Maxx “C” to the Deck. Tiaramisu attacked, and Thomas Set another back row.

The Problem:

You can’t use a targeting Ignition Effect if there aren’t any targets for it – even if paying the cost of the effect could create one! That means that Alexander’s activation of Madolche Queen Tiaramisu’s effect was illegal. Here’s the kicker though, if there was at least 1 “Madolche” card in his Graveyard at the time, the move would have been legal. It’s difficult to tell what effect this had on the Duel, though it should be noted that Alexander won the Duel a few turns after.

The Lesson:

When you’re questioning the legality of play, you have to make sure you’re challenging the right thing. Tiaramisu detaches, then targets (like Zombie Master and Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner), so that isn’t the problem. So if you were to call a judge and say “Hey, he can’t target that card he detached!” it’s an easy call for the judge to make: “Of course he can, the card says he can.” You need to explain that there were no targets to begin with so that the judge knows the whole situation.

*Bonus Lesson*: Many Duelists have a difficult time expressing themselves to judges. If you’re a judge, do your part to help out by making sure you’re looking and acting professional and approachable to make it easier on the players. Try not to interrupt while they’re explaining their situation if possible (but make notes of any questions you have!), and don’t let the opponent interrupt if it’s not his or her turn to speak.

But wait, there’s more! Moving on to round 3…

The Situation:

Duel 3 of an unlikely father/son matchup in Round 3. Jim Martz is preparing to finish off his son, Byron.

The Play:

Jim flipped Abyss-sphere to Special Summon Abyssmegalo from his Deck. Next, he Normal Summoned Deep Sea Diva to Special Summon Marksman. He Tributed Diva for Abyssmegalo’s effect. Marksman attacked directly, and it Special Summoned Dragoons. Dragoons attacked, and Abyssmegalo attacked twice to seal the Duel!

The Problem:

Jim got a bit ahead of himself and forgot that Abyss-sphere negates the on-field effects of the monster it Summons. That means Abyssmegalo could not have attacked twice. The tragic thing is that there was a perfectly legal move that could have been made that would have had the same result – Jim just needed to Summon Mermail Abysslinde during Byron’s End Phase with the Abyss-sphere. Then he could have used its effect to Summon Mermail Abyssmegalo and win the Duel.

The Lesson:

One of the most common ways that play errors occur is when both players know what the end result of a play sequence is, but forget that there are intermediate steps that have to be carried out to get there. Jim and Byron were playing the same Deck and probably practiced for the tournament together. So they definitely knew what the play was supposed to be. They just both forgot at the same time what actually needed to happen to get there and when it needed to happen!

The strategies created and/or strengthened by Abyss Rising are quite powerful, but also very complex. You need to read all your cards carefully as you build your Prophecy, Mermail, and Madolche Decks, and stay alert during your Duels not just so that you don’t commit any of these errors, but also to make sure you don’t let your opponent make them either!