Starter Deck: Dawn of the Xyz contained the first Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards to have the new Problem-Solving Card Text. Now that Generation Force and Turbo Pack 6 are out, you’ll be seeing a lot more cards with this newer text.

You can get a LOT of useful information out of what’s written on these cards, so I wanted to go through a few more examples and point out some helpful tidbits. I’ll underline the important part of each card’s text.

(If you haven’t read them yet, be sure to read my previous 5 articles about how to read your new card text!)

Let’s start with Turbo Pack 6. The most important change here is to Stardust Dragon:

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Stardust Dragon

When a Spell, Trap, Spell/Trap effect, or Effect Monster’s effect is activated that destroys a card(s) on the field: You can Tribute this card; negate the activation and destroy it. During the End Phase, if this card negated an effect this way during this turn: You can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard.

Stardust now specifies that he works against Spells and Traps, AND against Spell/Trap effects.

What’s the difference, you ask? Well, when you activate a Spell or Trap, it means activating the card itself by playing it to the field or flipping it face-up. Like Dark Hole, or Mirror Force.

When you activate a Spell/Trap effect, you’re activating the effect of a card already on the field, usually a Continuous Spell or Continuous Trap. A good example is Skull Lair. When you activate Skull Lair, you flip it face up. When you activate the effect of Skull Lair, you’re banishing monsters to destroy a monster on the field.

Stardust Dragon can be used against both: activation of a card, and activation of a card’s effect. As long as it meets Stardust’s other criteria.

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Compare this to Vylon Filament from Generation Force:

If the equipped monster attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step.

In this case, your opponent cannot activate Book of Moon or Mirror Force, but could activate the effect of a card that is already face-up.

We’ve been phasing in this language on cards like Obelisk the Tormentor and the Watt monsters. But from now on, you’ll see it consistently applied.

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Quickdraw Synchron

You can send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard and Special Summon this card (from your hand). For a Synchro Summon, you can substitute this card for any 1 “Synchron” Tuner monster. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a monster that lists a “Synchron” monster as a Tuner.

Note the structure of the first effect. It tells you two things.

First, it’s not an effect that starts a Chain. This means it’s vulnerable to Rai-Oh and similar cards.

Second, because it uses “and Special Summon” instead of “then Special Summon”, it also means that pitching a card and Summoning Quickdraw happen simultaneously. This means that you will not miss the timing for any “when… you can” optional effects of the card you sent to the Graveyard, like Archfiend of Gilfer or Jinzo – Returner.

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Armory Arm

Once per turn, you can either: Target 1 monster on the field; equip this card to that target, OR: Unequip this card and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. While equipped by this effect, that target gains 1000 ATK. When that target destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster in the Graveyard.

We’ve added “in the Graveyard” to the text, to show that the monster has to still be in the Graveyard when you check its ATK to inflict damage. This means if something takes it out of the Graveyard as a Chained effect (like Colossal Fighter), no damage is inflicted. Because you no longer have a reference point.

You’ll see this phrase again on lots of cards in Legendary Collection 2: The Duel Academy Years, including Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, Elemental HERO Steam Healer, and Neos Force. As well as Stygian Street Patrol from the Number 17: Leviathan Dragon Tin.

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Bountiful Artemis

Each time a Counter Trap Card resolves, immediately draw 1 card (during the Chain).

Artemis has been confusing players for years, but now it’s clearly a Continuous Effect (hint: no colon or semicolon). It even points out that you draw during the middle of the Chain.

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Gemini Spark

Tribute 1 face-up Level 4 Gemini monster you control to target 1 card on the field; destroy it anddraw 1 card.

Another card where the use of “and” instead of “then” is critical. Because destroying and drawing are considered simultaneous, your opponent can do something like Summon a Meklord Emperor in response to this card’s resolution.

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Now let’s take a look at a few cards from Generation Force.

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Vision HERO Trinity.

During the turn this card was Fusion Summoned, its ATK is double its original ATK. This Fusion Summoned card can attack 3 times during each Battle Phase. This card cannot attack your opponent directly.

These effects are all Continuous! Among other things, that means Trinity is immune to cards like Divine Wrath.

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Vision HERO Adoration

Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls and 1 face-up “HERO” monster you control, except this card; the opponent’s targeted monster loses ATK and DEF equal to the ATK of your targeted monster, until the End Phase.

Note the re-use of the word “targeted” during the resolution text. This means that all targeting conditions (from the activation timing) must still be true at resolution.

For example, what if your opponent Chains TG1-EM1 to this effect, and flips control of the monsters. In that case, the effect of Adoration disappears. Because you don’t control your HERO anymore, and your opponent doesn’t control his monster anymore.

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Pain Painter

While this card is face-up on the field, its name is treated as “Plaguespreader Zombie”. Once per turn: You can target up to 2 face-up Zombie-Type monsters you control, except this card; theybecome Level 2 until the End Phase. They cannot be used as Synchro Material Monsters, except for the Synchro Summon of a Zombie-Type monster.

Pain Painter’s resolution text refers to the targets as “they” instead of “those targets”.

This means that Pain Painter doesn’t really care what’s happened to its targets. Suppose you had Zombie World in play and targeted 2 Fluff Tokens. Then your opponent Chains Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Zombie World, so your Fluff Tokens aren’t Zombies anymore. That’s fine, Pain Painter doesn’t care. “They” still become Level 2. If Pain Painter said “those targets” instead, then the effect would disappear, because he’d be picky about his targets. (But he’s an artist, so he just goes with the flow.)

Pain Painter also doesn’t use the word “both”. That means that even if one of the targets is gone, the other still gets changed to Level 2.

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Check back later and we’ll poke through some more card text. Once you figure out how to get the info you need off the new cards, you’ll never have a rules argument ever again!