It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, it just occurred to me that there's so much information about Chains in Yu-Gi-Oh! that is not well-understood by a decent majority of the player base. Or even if you have a decent understanding of how they work, there may be some advanced aspects of it that still leave you uncertain. This guide is intended for everyone, from newbies to veterans of Yu-Gi-Oh! alike. Here's what you can expect:
What are they, and how do they work? At a basic level, a Chain is a sequence of effects that is built when both players activate effects (that meet their requirements), usually in response to each other, adding Chain Links to the Chain. Before we proceed, let's get some fundamentals out of the way, though. First off, cards will say "When . . . " vs. "If . . . " in their card text. In many cases it doesn't matter, unless it is a "You can . . . " effect, but we will get to that later. Let's take an example of Synchro Summoning Stardust Charge Warrior using Psychic Tracker and Psychic Wheeleder as the Synchro materials. The Charge Warrior has a "When . . . you can" effect (triggering on summon), and you have the option to use Wheeleder's "If . . . you can" effect (triggering on summon as well). So, it could look like the following. (Duel Links does Chains automatically, and it chose Charge Warrior to be Chain Link 1, but in real life you could swap the order.) Secondly, note that there are optional and mandatory effects. This is important because mandatory effect(s) that all satisfy the same requirement(s) at the same time have priority to trigger first.
After the mandatory effect(s) jump onto the Chain Link, optional effect(s) are then allowed to jump on.
Lastly, Chains resolve backwards. The last card to activate resolves first, and the first card to activate resolves last. When the last card resolves, cards that are not Continuous Spells/Traps, Field Spells, etc. will be sent to the GY and the Chain concludes. Turn Player Priority, and Passing Priority Keep in mind that Yu-Gi-Oh! is a turn-based game. You aren't always just chaining to yourself, so after you've considered all of your effects that all trigger at the same time, you need to ask your opponent, "do you have a response?". If they do, then they can add onto the Chain, and then when they add 1 to the Chain, they need to ask you back, "do you have a response?". Then you repeat until both of you are done. Now that we know that, what is Turn Player Priority? That just means that, assuming both players could trigger an optional effect at the same time, the turn player gets to do that first. Let's take for example, the interaction between Elemental HERO Brave Neos, and Fire King Avatar Yaksha on your turn when you attack into Yaksha and you destroy it by battle, sending it to the GY. Brave Neos belongs to the turn player, so you get to go on Chain Link 1, while their Yaksha, being an "If . . . you can" effect, can go on Chain Link 2 just fine. However, because their Yaksha is on Chain Link 2, if it destroys something in their hand that could "miss timing" (like Yubel), it will. On the other hand, if we flip it around and the opposing Yaksha attacks into your Brave Neos, it won't make Yubel "miss timing", because Yaksha will then go on Chain Link 1, and Brave Neos on Chain Link 2. When you can miss the timing It's kind of in the title, but uh... yeah. From the earlier discussion, now you might ask, "what do you mean by missing the timing?" Well, I wrote a whole article on that here. But in short, the easiest way to describe it is as follows: If the last thing to occur is NOT what is written on the card text, and the card says "When . . . you can", it will miss the timing. When a card misses the timing, you lost your opportunity to activate its effect. I'm not going to say much more on this here, other than that it is an intentional design by Konami to balance the game, and if it frustrates you, I'm sorry, that's how the game works. Just be careful on your sequences of events, and make sure whatever optional "When" effect you want to use has met its condition as the last thing to occur. Spell Speeds Keeping it simple here: Spell Speeds are levels of how capable cards are of responding to each other. There are 3 official levels, Spell Speed 1, 2, and 3.
Let's build a Chain here to see how this works. Let's say you activate Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage! (Spell Speed 1) to search for a Sky Striker Spell card, and your opponent discards an Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (Spell Speed 2) to negate that. You respond with Called by the Grave (Spell Speed 2) to negate that, and your opponent flips Imperial Order (Spell Speed 2) to negate your Spells. You respond with Wiretap (Spell Speed 3) to negate the Imperial Order. Your opponent has no Counter Traps, so they cannot respond any further. Let's take a look at how this works out!
That was a doozy! But hopefully that gives you some insight on Spell Speeds. Simultaneous Effects Go On Chain (SEGOC) Alright, and now for the last topic, we go over Simultaneous Effects Go On Chain (SEGOC). That's just a complicated way of saying that more than one card's activation conditions are satisfied at the same time. Let's take a modern example, using Salamangreats. Suppose you Special Summon Salamangreat Gazelle from your hand, in front of Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf. Both will be able to activate simultaneously, because Gazelle triggers on-Summon, and Sunlight Wolf triggers on summoning something in front of it. You can build your Chain and put Gazelle first and Sunlight Wolf second, or the other way around, because both are optional "If" effects. So how can you decide? As mentioned earlier, "When" effects can only respond to the previous card in the Chain if it meets the requirements. Usually this doesn't matter, but let's say your opponent has an Ash Blossom, who has an optional "When" effect. Then, you want to put Sunlight Wolf (who recovers a FIRE Effect Monster into your hand) second, because Gazelle (who sends from the deck) is the only valid choice to negate with Ash Blossom. So you can say that Sunlight Wolf blocks Ash Blossom from negating Gazelle in the chain. Some people call this Chain Blocking. This doesn't often come up, but can be a very smart way to play around your opponent's negates! Alright, this should have covered a vast majority of material that most people would be confused about. I hope this helps you guys with understanding Chains! See you next time!
20 Comments
Lolo
6/20/2021 05:03:28 am
Can i build a Chain with Just normal spellcards Like black Hole ember etc? So Lets das i activate black Hole und ember after does IT Count as Chain? Ibam going for a burn DMG Deck and there ist a Card thats Burns more the longer the Chain is and i was thinking about using IT but id have to build Up a Chain with nearly only spellcards at spellsleed 1 is that possible?
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timaeus222
6/20/2021 12:43:27 pm
You can start a chain link wtih a Normal Spell, but you can't build any further until you let your opponent respond to your first card. Normal Spells are "Spell Speed 1" and cannot go on Chain Link 2 or higher, so you'll have to observe Quick-Play Spells, Traps, or Monster Quick Effects responding in order to see a further chain link get built.
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Hops
2/19/2022 05:18:59 pm
If a monster has 2 effects can it use both effects on the same chain link
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timaeus222
2/19/2022 05:58:31 pm
Like what? This is not specific enough for me to tell. If a monster has a Quick Effect and an Ignition Effect, then it can only place itself on Chain Link 2+ if it activates the Quick Effect. Ignition is manual and can only start a Chain.
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Chris
3/29/2022 05:59:34 am
Yes. An example is Red Eyes Dark Dragoon. You can activate it's spell speed 1 effect to target and destroy an opponent monster. They chain forbidden droplet sending a spell from hand, you can chain Red Eyes Dark Dragoon's negatiok Quick Effect.
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timaeus222
3/29/2022 03:55:06 pm
I was kind of hoping for that guy to respond back with more clarity... so I doubt he even sees this sadly because you left a new comment that isn't a direct reply to him.
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timaeus222
3/29/2022 03:56:12 pm
Thanks for trying though.
Jon
7/8/2022 04:16:09 am
Great article thanks.. quick question about mandatory effects in a chain… so say I activated halq quick effect to special summon a monster as chain link 2 in response to turn player activation of a card, does the special summoned monster still get its on summoned effect?? I’m thinking of formula which draws a card or wonder magician who pops a spell/trap.. some say it does some say it doesn’t so bit confused if you could help clear it up would be great…
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timaeus222
7/8/2022 02:27:42 pm
Formula Synchron's on-Summon effect is a "When... You can" Trigger Effect, which misses the timing since Halq was on Chain Link 2, which is not triggering Formula Synchron as the last thing to occur (the last thing to occur was your opponent's action on Chain Link 1). So, Formula Synchron won't get to activate.
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timaeus222
7/8/2022 02:53:06 pm
I also quickly updated the article to fix a minor terminology issue, nothing much. A Chain (not a Chain Link) is the entire sequence of Chain Links, and "When" effects do NOT have to go on Chain Link 1.
Jon
7/17/2022 05:52:20 pm
That makes much more sense.. thanks again for the explanation.. appreciate the help 6/23/2023 12:20:52 am
Very informative blog. Simple, effective, and useful too. Continue to enlighten us with your knowledge. Thanks for sharing.
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timaeus222
6/23/2023 12:55:48 am
I appreciate it! Thanks!
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10/15/2023 11:53:37 pm
This is a very informative and helpful blog I have read in a very long time. It gives all the right information a person needs to know. I recommend you read this blog.
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10/15/2023 11:55:07 pm
The blog is fantastic! A lot of great information can be helpful about the benefits of developing a website. Keep updating the blogs.
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10/16/2023 01:45:48 am
I appreciate it! I will definitely write more in the future!
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seanmatrai
3/30/2024 07:42:13 am
Amazing Guide bro!
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timaeus222
3/30/2024 12:28:26 pm
Thanks sean! xD
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Miguel Hernandez
4/5/2024 10:33:01 pm
Can your opponent chain consecutively???
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4/5/2024 10:52:39 pm
It depends.
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Truong-Son N.I am often known as timaeus222, or simply Timaeus, on the internet.
Currently, I'm pursuing a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, and frequent OverClocked ReMix, a site for video game music appreciation through remixing and re-arrangement. I am also an avid Yu-Gi-Oh! gamer, so I like to have fun playing the online card game. Archives
May 2019
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