Priorities
Priorities is the easy way to decide which order card effects happen and what happens when a monster is summoned. The following is an explanation of how priorities are used in summoning:
Step 1 – Summon: A player summons or flip summons a monster to the field.
Step 2 – Summon negation: Priority goes to the opponent. He has the opportunity to counter the summon with Horn of Heaven or Solemn Judgment.
Step 3 – Effect activation and application of continuous and field effects: If he passes up that opportunity, priority returns to the summoning player. The monster is then considered summoned or flip summoned. If the monster has a continuous effect, it comes into play immediately, but the effect is not considered to be activated. In the case of Jinzo, no trap cards may be activated from this point on. You cannot chain to a continuous effect. If the monster has a trigger or cost effect (an effect you choose to activate or is activated when the monster is summoned), the summoning player then has the option of using the summoned monster's effect. In the case of the flip summoned monster with a flip effect, that flip effect is activated here. Any trigger, cost, or flip effect activated here becomes chain link 1, and can be chained to.
Step 4 – Respond or Chain: At this point, it doesn't matter if the summoning player chose to use the monster's effect, or if he chose not to. Priority goes back to the opposing player, and he can now activate a magic or trap card. He can activate a spell speed 2 card, providing that the trigger is met. Cards such as Trap Hole can be activated at this time. If a monster effect was activated in the previous step, Trap Hole etc. would become chain link 2. If not, it would become chain link 1.
Step 5 – Complete Chain: Both players can then activate quickplay magic and traps cards in turn. If one player chooses not to activate a card, the other player may still activate one. If one player chooses not to activate a card, and the other player also chooses not to activate a card, the chain then ends and resolves (see chaining essay)
That's summoning priorities in a nutshell, here are a couple of examples:
Example
1:
Its Jill's turn. Jack has a Mystical Knight of Jackal in
attack mode, a face-down Torrential Tribute, and a face-down Trap Hole.
Jill
has an Exiled Force in her hand.
Jill: Summons the Exiled Force to the field –
priority goes
to Jack.
Jack: Cannot negate the summon - priority returns to Jill.
Jill: Chooses to use Exiled Force's effect to destroy Jackal
(Chain link 1). Exiled Force's effect has a cost (see costs), so that
is paid
immediately, and Exiled Force is sent to the Graveyard.
Jack: Attempts to use Trap Hole – he cannot because Exiled
Force is no longer on the field.
Attempts to chain Torrential
Tribute to Exiled
Force's effect (Chain link 2).
- check: a monster was just summoned, it is legal to activate
Torrential Tribute
Jill: Chooses not to chain – priority returns to Jack
Jack: Chooses not to chain – chain resolves.
Link 2: Torrential Tribute destroys all monsters
on the
field.
Link 1: Exiled Force attempts destroy Mystical Knight of Jackal,
but it's no longer on the field. The effect disappears.
Example
2:
Jill has 3 face-down Trap Cards. Jack has 3 face-down
monsters on the field. It's Jack's turn.
Jill: Cannot negate summon – priority returns to Jack
Jack: Moisture Creature's effect is activated (Chain Link 1).
Jill: Chains *Trap Hole to the effect of Moisture Creature
(Chain Link 2).
Jack: Chooses not to chain - priority returns to Jill
Jill: Chooses not to chain – chain resolves.
Link 2: Trap Hole destroys Moisture Creature
Link 1: Moisture Creature destroys Jill's remaining Trap
Cards. (The effect of moisture creature is an activated effect, so the
effect
still happens even if the monster leaves the field. Continuous monster
effects
end the moment the monster leaves the field.)
* Moisture Creature's summon is still considered a
Normal Summon even if 3 monsters were offered as Tribute.
Standby
Phase/Draw Phase/End Phase Priorities
When multiple effects have to happen during a Standby Phase or other Phase, those effects have to happen in some order. The turn player's effects activate first, in any order he or she chooses. After that, the opponent's effects happen in any order the opponent chooses.
Example
1: Sinister Serpent vs Mirage of Nightmare.
You are the turn player. You have Sinister Serpent in the
graveyard and Mirage of Nightmare on the field. Because it is your
Standby
Phase, and you control both cards, you get to choose which effect to
activate
first. Let's say you choose to return the Sinister Serpent to your hand
from
the Graveyard. Afterwards, you choose to resolve the Mirage of
Nightmare and
discard from your hand. You discard the Sinister Serpent. Because it is
still
your Standby Phase, and you still have priority, you can return
Sinister
Serpent to your hand a second time.
Example
2: Imperial Order vs Snatch Steal
Your opponent has your Summoned Skull equipped with Snatch
Steal, but the Summoned Skull is under your control because you have
Imperial
Order out. It's your Standby Phase, and you want to know if you'll
still gain
the 1000 Life Points if you send Imperial Order to the Graveyard. The
answer is
yes. It's your turn, so you have priority. Imperial Order is sent to
the
Graveyard, and Summoned Skull returns to your opponent's control.
Because you
have no more effects to resolve, your opponent begins resolving his/her
effects. Your opponent's only card with a Standby Phase effect is the
Snatch
Steal, so it resolves, and you gain the 1000 Life Points.
Example
3: Infinite Dismissal vs. Yata-Garasu
Infinite Dismissal is active on your opponent's side of the field. You
summoned Yata-Garasu this turn.
Because it's your turn, you choose to return the Yata-Garasu to your
hand during your End Phase, and it's not destroyed by Infinite
Dismissal.