How to become better at rulings with one easy step

All you have to do is click this text, accept, then read everything you see. You will probably ignore this and that is sad. Even the SA members of this site need to read this. It will help everyone and yes. I've read it. Actually I just went back over it. However I know most of you will ignore me so I'll post a few things out of it here as well.

DAMAGE STEP

During the Damage Step, you can only activate Counter Trap Cards,or cards with effects that directly change a monster’s ATK or DEF.
Also, these cards can only be activated up until the start of damage calculation.

PRIO

Chains are a way to order the resolution of multiple card effects.
They are used when the effects of more than 1 card are activated
at once (see page 43), or when a player wants to use an effect after
a card has been played, but BEFORE that card has an effect on the
game.
If a card’s effect is activated, the opponent is always given a chance
to respond with a card effect of their own, creating a Chain. If your
opponent responds with an effect, then you can choose to respond
and add another effect to the Chain. If your opponent does not
respond, you may activate a second effect and create a Chain to
your own card’s activation. Both players continue to add effects to
the Chain until they both wish to add nothing else, then you resolve
the outcome in reverse order – starting with the last card that was
activated.
You must always be careful not to resolve the effects of your cards
before asking your opponent if they wish to make a Chain.

The turn player always starts with Priority, or the choice to
activate a card first, in each phase or step of their turn. As long as
the turn player has Priority, the opponent cannot activate cards or
effects, except for effects that activate automatically, like Trigger
or Flip effects.

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE

The number of cards in a player’s hand and Decks, the cards in
their Graveyards, and each player’s current Life Points are all
public knowledge and both players can verify these things at any
time. If asked, you must answer these things to your opponent
truthfully. You are allowed to pick up and verify the cards in your
opponent’s Graveyard but you must ask their permission first.
Also, you may not change the order of the cards when verifying
their Graveyard.

CARDS THAT AFFECT BOTH PLAYERS

For cases like “Each Player selects 1 monster," where both players
resolve an effect simultaneously, the turn player resolves the
effect first. In this example, after the turn player makes their
selection, the other player makes theirs.

In other words, cards like morphing jar, dark world dealing et cetera. The turn player resolves his side of the effect first. This does not mean SEGOC.

THINGS YOU CANNOT CHAIN TOO

You can only create a Chain by responding to the activation
of a card or effect. Summoning a monster, Tributing, changing
a monster’s Battle Position and paying costs are not effect
activations and therefore you cannot respond to those actions
using a Chain.

CARDS YOU CONTROL

A card you control is a card on your side of the field. You are
the player that gets to make decisions regarding that card. Your
opponent can take control of a card away from you with a card
effect. In that case the card is moved to your opponent’s side of
the field. However, if your card that is controlled by your opponent
is sent to the Graveyard, or returned to the hand or Deck, it is
always returned to the hand or Deck of the card’s owner.

CARDS THAT TARGET

Effects that require you to select 1 or more specific cards when
activated “target” the selected cards. Players can then decide if
they want to respond once they know the target of the effect. A
card that affects all cards or all of one kind of card does not target.
An effect that requires players to make a selection when the effect
is resolving also does not target.

COSTS

To pay a cost is an action required in order to activate a card, an
effect, or to Summon a monster. Tributing to Tribute Summon a
Level 5 monster is an example of a cost. Other common costs are
discarding, paying Life Points, or removing cards from play. You
have to pay any costs before you declare the activation of the
card. Even if the activation of the card is negated, you cannot get
a refund of the cost that you have paid.

http://www.yugioh-card.com/en/rulebook/YGO_BegGuide_Ver7-1.pdf

Very insightful article. Quick question though

Quote :: CARDS THAT TARGET

Effects that require you to select 1 or more specific cards when
activated “target” the selected cards. Players can then decide if
they want to respond once they know the target of the effect. A
card that affects all cards or all of one kind of card does not target.
An effect that requires players to make a selection when the effect
is resolving also does not target.

So... does Dimensional Prison target?

Yes, Dimensional Prison does in fact target. I'm annoyed by the fact that some people till this very date believe that discarding Dark Worlds as a cost allows you to use their effects. Thanks for posting, Mina.
The last line in the Target section, however, confuses me.

Article wrote:: An effect that requires players to make a selection when the effect
is resolving also does not target.

Is it referring to cards such as Dark Master - Zorc and Snipe Hunter?

@Kimo I think that he means effects like trishula, which effect activates and resolves when properly summoned, and does not target. Sry for misleading if I'm wrong.

silly minako you should leave the rulings to Al he reads the books o.o

Yes, trishula selects at it's resolution, magical dimension selects at resolution. Those cards do not target. Dimensional prison targets.

Some quick things after going through this.

damage step
you can also activate quick effects of monsters that negate and cards with specific activation timing in the damage step (as well as bkss cases like snyfus, I dont remember others)

things you cannot chain to
You can create a chain at any time you have priority and an appropriate effect to activate, that includes in response to the summon of a monster, or even in the start of a turn. You cannot chain to the summon of a monster, but you can respond to it by starting a chain with an effect of your own. The summon of the monster does not start a chain, the bth you will use will, so you start one. Of course when you start a chain you use the chain.

Cards that target
@Asian, Dimensional Prison's japanese text asks you to select that one monster. Many times with targetting you dont have a choice as to what you will target but you are still selecting and targetting it.
@Kimo, snipe hunter makes no selection when resolving though, you select once and that is when you activate the effect where you pick your target, the rest is luck. I'd guess mina is talking about cards like trishula where you select at resolution.
Well, it's still true it's not entirelly clear, I mean Hero Blasts selects the monster to destroy at resolution but it still targets the monster in the graveyard and its all in the same effect, but you get what he means.

Costs
Actually summons dont have costs, its part of the summon precedure, I make this one too since I am too lazy to say "part of the summon precedure" instead of cost but I have been jumped about it in pojo q&a so...

Yeah, that's quite what I had in mind, but with non-luck based cards. Thanks though.

Al-Bhed wrote:: Costs
Actually summons dont have costs, its part of the summon precedure, I make this one too since I am too lazy to say "part of the summon precedure" instead of cost but I have been jumped about it in pojo q&a so...

You've said that before. However all of these things came straight out of the official rulebook.

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