The following is a summary of Konamis articles about the Problem-Solving Card Text (PSCT).
Short notes:
- Banish: Old = “remove from play” (Article 2)
- Leaves the field: Old = “is removed from the field”. (Article 2)
- Any activation conditions (written before the colon) only have to be met when you activate the card. (Any conditions that STILL have to be true when the effect resolves will be listed separately.) (Article 4)
Conditions, Activations, and Effects (Part 3)
The basic structure is CONDITIONS : ACTIVATION ; RESOLUTION.
- Everything that is previous to an “:”: Conditions, when to activate, how often it can be activated
- Everything previous to an “;”: everything happening when activating the card, e.g. costs and targeting.
- If there is no colon or semicolon, the effect does NOT start a chain and cannot be chained to.
Targeting effects:(Article 4)
If the effect text
- refers to a ‘target’, you have to double-check that any targeting requirements are still met.
- refers to the target using any other word (like ‘it’), the targeting requirements only had to be met when the target was originally targeted.
- refers to ‘both’ (or a similar term) in the effect text, you have to be able to apply the effect to ALL of the targets. If even one of the targets is no longer eligible, then the whole effect disappears.
Special Summons (Article 5)
- Effects that Summon: Colon (:) or semicolon (;) in the Summoning text.
- Built-In Summons: No colon (:) or semicolon (;) in the Summoning text. All these cards – except Synchro & Xyz Monsters – will use (parentheses) to explain where the card is Summoned from.
- Thunder King Rai-Oh and Steelswarm Roach: These effects can ONLY negate the actual Summon (“built-in summon”) – they can’t negate an effect that Summons, or a Spell/Trap that Summons.
Conjunction – Timing & Causation (Part 7)
- THEN: Happen in sequence, not simultaneously. A is required for B, but NOT vice-versa. If A does not happen, then stop. If B cannot happen, you still do A.
- ALSO: Both happen at the same time. Neither is required for the other. Just do as much as you can!
- AND IF YOU DO: Both happen at the same time. A is required for B, but NOT vice-versa. If A does not happen, then stop. If B cannot happen, you still do A.
- AND: Both happen at the same time. If you cannot do both, then you do nothing.
Download the Printout version of the Cheat Sheet for PSCT here!