Scapegoat

by tbones9119

    There’s been some debate lately concerning certain cards that prohibit you from playing other cards that turn, especially Scapegoat.  Scapegoat specifically says that you can’t summon any other monsters on the turn in which you activate it.  It’s fairly simple, yet a lot of people are having misunderstandings, which I hope to clear up with this essay.

    First of all, you CANNOT summon another monster BEFORE OR AFTER playing Scapegoat in the same turn.  Period.  This includes ALL types of summons, including Normal, Flip, and Special Summons (including monsters that are summoned face-down by Cyber Jar, etc.).  You absolutely cannot summon a Cannon Soldier, then play a Scapegoat and launch them all.  You have summoned a monster on that same turn, therefore you can’t play Scapegoat.  It doesn’t matter that you summoned before you played Scapegoat; it was still that same turn.  It’s like Last Will.  It doesn’t matter if the monster was destroyed before or after you play Last Will – all that matters is that it was done in the same turn.  You can, however, Set a monster on the same turn you play Scapegoat, since a Set monster is not considered summoned at all.

    The next thing that should be noted is that the tokens placed on the field are considered Special Summoned.  This means that you HAVE summoned a monster that turn, and you therefore cannot play any other Scapegoats on that same turn.  This also means that your opponent can activate Torrential Tribute when you play Scapegoat, because the tokens are considered summoned.

    When a monster is summoned by Cyber Jar, Morphing Jar #2, etc., Scapegoat cannot be activated on that same turn.  If the effect of a Cyber Jar or Morphing Jar #2 is activated, but you don’t summon any monsters by them (you don’t pick up any level 4 or less monsters), you CAN still play a Scapegoat because no monsters were summoned.  If a Scapegoat was activated prior to a Cyber Jar or Morphing Jar #2’s effect in the same turn, any monsters that would be summoned by a Jar are sent to the Graveyard (they still count for the monster count on Morphing Jar #2, however).

    What happens if Scapegoat is negated?  Well, the card says you can’t summon another monster on the turn it was activated.  So, if the activation of Scapegoat was negated (by Magic Jammer, Magic Drain, etc.), you CAN summon another monster that turn (including playing another Scapegoat), because it’s as though Scapegoat was never activated.  However, a card such as Imperial Order which negates the card effect only, and NOT the activation of it, works differently.  If your opponent uses Imperial Order to negate your Scapegoat, your Scapegoat card was still activated, so therefore you cannot summon again that turn, including activating more Scapegoat cards.  Any card that negates the activation of a card will specifically say that it negates the activation, so if it doesn’t say anything about negating the activation, the card WAS still activated.

    Scapegoat says that you cannot use the tokens as tributes for Tribute Summons.  That does not mean that they can’t be used for tributes for other things.  Ritual Summons, for example, are NOT Tribute Summons, and you therefore can tribute goat tokens for a Ritual Summon.  You can also tribute them for effects such as Cannon Soldier, Catapult Turtle, Amazon Archer, Share the Pain, Horn of Heaven, etc., because those are tributes for effects, not Tribute Summons.  Also, because the summon of a Toon monster is considered a Special Summon, you CAN use goat tokens as tributes to summon a level 5+ Toon monster (this IS an official ruling).  You cannot use goat tokens as tributes to Set a high-level monster.

    Whether you agree with everything I have said or not, these ARE ALL official rulings made by Upperdeck in the United States and by Konami of Japan.  You can debate them until you’re blue in the face, but they’re official, and they are correct.

    If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail them to me at tbones9119@yahoo.com.  

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