Home
Chat Box!
Latest images
Search
Register
Log in
![[IfD] AUGUST 2009 - You were saying again!?!: Priority and declaring actions & phases. Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
I started this article a little late, so unfortunately it's late for all of you. It's a bit 'rantish' like my last one, but I think it's a little better then the first one I put up. Here's hoping you draw something from it.
A LITTLE BACK-STORY
Let me tell you about a little incident I had back at the 2009 Nationals. It was the final round against some Lightsworn player, and the first round had already gone for 10 minutes because he kept sitting there thinking about his moves. Now he had already tried for a Lyla and effect priority to destroy my Royal oppression, but I chained Bottomless Trap Hole to destroy Lyla before it could resolve its effect (Lyla switches to Defence Position on the resolution of its effect, and it must switch by its effect to destroy a Spell or Trap). He summons another Lyla, to which I don’t Solemn. Then nothing happens. No activating of effect priority, no language to say he would pass on priority or maintain it. He then activates Lyla’s effect to try and destroy Royal Oppression, and I activate Bottomless. He argued that he had passed priority, and because I had not inquired about his priority that meant I in turn had passed it. I argued that because he provided no indication of his intent to pass or retain priority that I could activate Bottomless Trap Hole on the Mudkip that he was actually retaining priority. In the end, we called a judge over to decide between us.
After reviewing the play, he ruled in favour of me. The judge stated that regardless of an opponent’s inquiries regarding priority, it is ALWAYS the responsibility of the turn player to declare each and all instances of priority that they wish to pass or retain. Needless to say my opponent lost his second Lyla. Of course I still lost the game to a JD (what else could I expect against Lightsworn?) but this raised up an interesting issue I want to bring up with all of you.
PRIORITY
The nature of ‘priority’ first arose in 2004; when I started playing ‘priority’ as a concept was heavily debated. It first was not recognised officially in the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but rather became an adopted practice of players and tournament organisers across different regions. Eventually, ‘priority’ was adopted into the official rules. But that’s me rambling a little…
As you should know by now, ‘priority’ is a gaming concept that recognises the turn player’s precedence to initiate an action, or series of. The game recognises a player’s “right to priority”, and not a card’s – cards don’t play themselves in Yu-Gi-Oh! (except Lightsworn…). A simple example of priority is as follows:
Player A controls no monsters. Player B controls one face-down ‘Old Vindictive Magician’ and one face-down ‘Trap Hole’. Player A enters his Main Phase and summons Exiled Force. Most new players (and some experienced ones…) in Player B’s shoes would immediate try to activate Trap Hole. However, the game’s nature of ‘priority’ allows Player A to be the first person to initiate an action – in this case to activate the effect of Exiled Force and thus force Player B to chain to its effect.
In every phase of every turn the turn player will ‘hold’ priority, thus allowing them to be the first to initiate an action, and in the same respect the opposing player will always ‘receive’ priority from the turn player. In addition, the turn player can ‘receive’ priority back from the opposing player once they have passed it over –the transition of Phase events allows for their holding of priority to be recognised until an event passes their right for them, in which case that right cannot be recovered during that Phase. To further break it down, players know Yu-Gi-Oh! To have the Draw, Standby, Main 1, Battle, Main 2, and End Phases. Once we factor priority into those Phases, it becomes a little more complex to look at:
DRAW PHASE
Key Event: Player A Draws a Card – neither player hold ‘priority’ here.
1. Player A holds ‘priority’ to initiate an action, or chooses to pass to Player B.
2. Player B gets the chance to respond to Player A’s ‘priority’, or to initiate their own action. Alternatively, Player B may choose to pass ‘priority’.
Key Event: Player A ends their Draw Phase – this action automatically passes ‘priority’ to Player B.
3. Player B ‘priority’ to initiate an action, or chooses to pass. This automatically reaches the ‘end’ of the Draw Phase. ‘Priority’ does not return to Player A; instead Player A initiates a new ‘right to priority’
As a note, a “Key Event” is one that facilitates the game flow between Phases. These cannot be interrupted except by extraneous card effects like Fenrir, and the Phases themselves can be skipped by cards like Time Seal. However, once a Phase is entered these Key Events must be followed through to move the game from one Phase to the next. The Battle Phase is a good example of this, but I’ll go into that later.
You may ask at this time “well, what stops me from declaring multiple actions in the Draw Phase?” The answer is simply ‘nothing’ – a player may activate as many individual card effects as can possibly be activated in the Draw Phase as they see fit. However, the nature of priority requires the turn player to be the first player to activate a card effect. From a technical standpoint, within the Draw Phase ‘priority’ is passed an infinite number of times between the turn player and the opposing player, so long as the turn player has drawn a card and does not end their Draw Phase.
If you are still lost (and that’s alright – this is getting through the technical stuff experienced players know of the back of their hands), the cards “Heart of the Underdog” and “Veil of Darkness” work on this mechanic. Once the turn player draws their card (and if it meets the requirements for doing so), they can activate the Spell Speed 1 effect of the above cards as their “right to priority”. If they do so, the opposing player has the right to respond to the activation of that effect, or pass and let the effect resolve. Provided that the effect successfully resolved and the new card drawn meets the requirements of “Heart of the Underdog” or “Veil of Darkness” the turn player may again choose to activate the above cards and repeat the process. This entire scenario can potentially continue an infinite number of times, all until the turn player chooses to end their Draw Phase. From here, priority passes once more to the opposing player, and after any actions (if any) by the opposing player, the game state automatically shifts to the Standby Phase.
DECLARATION OF EVENTS
This now brings me to my next point. Every turn the turn player holds the responsibility of declaring their Phases and actions within those Phases. Why? Again it links back to priority – the turn player holds the right to initiate the first action but that right can pass to the opponent, so it is imperative that both players are aware of who actually holds priority. Let’s take “Threatening Roar”:
Player A summons “Beastking Barbaros”, and Player B has a face-down “Threatening Roar”. Player A declares their ending the Main Phase 1 (a key event), and that is a signal that priority has passed to Player B. At this stage Player B can now activate “Threatening Roar”, thus preventing Player A from declaring an attack. The only action available to Player A in the Battle Phase at this stage is to declare the ending of their Battle Phase (another key event).
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with Player B inquiring about the state of priority at any point in the game. It should be noted that inquiries can be made, but an opposing player may NOT force priority from the player who has it, either through actions or conduct. Any behaviour to do so is treated as an attempt to force the state of play, a minor tournament infraction that can result in warnings or game losses:
Player A summons “Beastking Barbaros”. Player B asks if Player A will end their Main Phase 1, and Player A says “Yes”. Priority is acknowledged as having passed to Player B who then activates “Threatening Roar”.
Finally, let’s take the same scenario, but without declarations:
Player A summons “Beastking Barbaros” and immediately declares a Direct Attack. Player B should have been able to activate “Threatening Roar” at the end of the Main Phase 1, but because Player A did not declare their ending Main Phase 1, the game state treats priority as having passed over Player B and back to Player A. Thus, Player B never was able to take the chance and make use of their priority.
Note the problem? This leaves a bad taste in a player’s mouth, but an even worse taste in a Judge’s. The state of play is one that cannot be readily reversed, and so a great deal of confusion arises. After all, not declaring Phases clearly places a detriment on Player B, but from a moral standpoint Player A has wronged Player B, since Player is was supposed to have declared their Phases. A judge can revert the game state to one where Player B holds priority as they should have, but a judge can’t do this all the time, and because Player B cannot force priority to change it relies entirely on Player A to... you guessed it, DECLARE THEIR ACTIONS AND PHASES. Indeed, I have entered in tournaments where judges, having been frustrated with the lack of declarations and priority arguments, have ruled similarly to my backstory and against the turn player. Even worse, I have seen judges rule matches forfeit and treat both players as having lost the round (and that’s not very good for anyone).
So what can players do to avoid this? It’s really simple:
1. Declare the summons of monsters, and the activation of card effects. Summons can be negated. Whilst I don’t touch on it here (as summoning a monster relies on game Phases rather than priority) your opponent can negate the summon. If they don’t, THEN declare your card priorities as you see fit.
2. Declare Phases. Phases carry priority actions. If you declare summons and activations, then you should also declare Phases. Don’t forget your opponent acquiring priority during the end s of your Phases.
3. Don’t rely on your opponent to inquire as to your actions. Your opponent isn’t playing your deck for you.
The lesson for today: declarations are the key to a smooth, efficient, and exciting game. And as I tend to find, smooth games tend to be the enjoyable ones. A few extra words here and there aren’t going to make you look like an idiot. Rather, it’s a sign of experience in knowing what you are doing, confidence in your skills and your opponents, and a sign of respect to give your opponent the best chance they can to “show you their moves!”
- ItemfinderDeluxe
A LITTLE BACK-STORY
Let me tell you about a little incident I had back at the 2009 Nationals. It was the final round against some Lightsworn player, and the first round had already gone for 10 minutes because he kept sitting there thinking about his moves. Now he had already tried for a Lyla and effect priority to destroy my Royal oppression, but I chained Bottomless Trap Hole to destroy Lyla before it could resolve its effect (Lyla switches to Defence Position on the resolution of its effect, and it must switch by its effect to destroy a Spell or Trap). He summons another Lyla, to which I don’t Solemn. Then nothing happens. No activating of effect priority, no language to say he would pass on priority or maintain it. He then activates Lyla’s effect to try and destroy Royal Oppression, and I activate Bottomless. He argued that he had passed priority, and because I had not inquired about his priority that meant I in turn had passed it. I argued that because he provided no indication of his intent to pass or retain priority that I could activate Bottomless Trap Hole on the Mudkip that he was actually retaining priority. In the end, we called a judge over to decide between us.
After reviewing the play, he ruled in favour of me. The judge stated that regardless of an opponent’s inquiries regarding priority, it is ALWAYS the responsibility of the turn player to declare each and all instances of priority that they wish to pass or retain. Needless to say my opponent lost his second Lyla. Of course I still lost the game to a JD (what else could I expect against Lightsworn?) but this raised up an interesting issue I want to bring up with all of you.
PRIORITY
The nature of ‘priority’ first arose in 2004; when I started playing ‘priority’ as a concept was heavily debated. It first was not recognised officially in the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but rather became an adopted practice of players and tournament organisers across different regions. Eventually, ‘priority’ was adopted into the official rules. But that’s me rambling a little…
As you should know by now, ‘priority’ is a gaming concept that recognises the turn player’s precedence to initiate an action, or series of. The game recognises a player’s “right to priority”, and not a card’s – cards don’t play themselves in Yu-Gi-Oh! (except Lightsworn…). A simple example of priority is as follows:
Player A controls no monsters. Player B controls one face-down ‘Old Vindictive Magician’ and one face-down ‘Trap Hole’. Player A enters his Main Phase and summons Exiled Force. Most new players (and some experienced ones…) in Player B’s shoes would immediate try to activate Trap Hole. However, the game’s nature of ‘priority’ allows Player A to be the first person to initiate an action – in this case to activate the effect of Exiled Force and thus force Player B to chain to its effect.
In every phase of every turn the turn player will ‘hold’ priority, thus allowing them to be the first to initiate an action, and in the same respect the opposing player will always ‘receive’ priority from the turn player. In addition, the turn player can ‘receive’ priority back from the opposing player once they have passed it over –the transition of Phase events allows for their holding of priority to be recognised until an event passes their right for them, in which case that right cannot be recovered during that Phase. To further break it down, players know Yu-Gi-Oh! To have the Draw, Standby, Main 1, Battle, Main 2, and End Phases. Once we factor priority into those Phases, it becomes a little more complex to look at:
DRAW PHASE
Key Event: Player A Draws a Card – neither player hold ‘priority’ here.
1. Player A holds ‘priority’ to initiate an action, or chooses to pass to Player B.
2. Player B gets the chance to respond to Player A’s ‘priority’, or to initiate their own action. Alternatively, Player B may choose to pass ‘priority’.
Key Event: Player A ends their Draw Phase – this action automatically passes ‘priority’ to Player B.
3. Player B ‘priority’ to initiate an action, or chooses to pass. This automatically reaches the ‘end’ of the Draw Phase. ‘Priority’ does not return to Player A; instead Player A initiates a new ‘right to priority’
As a note, a “Key Event” is one that facilitates the game flow between Phases. These cannot be interrupted except by extraneous card effects like Fenrir, and the Phases themselves can be skipped by cards like Time Seal. However, once a Phase is entered these Key Events must be followed through to move the game from one Phase to the next. The Battle Phase is a good example of this, but I’ll go into that later.
You may ask at this time “well, what stops me from declaring multiple actions in the Draw Phase?” The answer is simply ‘nothing’ – a player may activate as many individual card effects as can possibly be activated in the Draw Phase as they see fit. However, the nature of priority requires the turn player to be the first player to activate a card effect. From a technical standpoint, within the Draw Phase ‘priority’ is passed an infinite number of times between the turn player and the opposing player, so long as the turn player has drawn a card and does not end their Draw Phase.
If you are still lost (and that’s alright – this is getting through the technical stuff experienced players know of the back of their hands), the cards “Heart of the Underdog” and “Veil of Darkness” work on this mechanic. Once the turn player draws their card (and if it meets the requirements for doing so), they can activate the Spell Speed 1 effect of the above cards as their “right to priority”. If they do so, the opposing player has the right to respond to the activation of that effect, or pass and let the effect resolve. Provided that the effect successfully resolved and the new card drawn meets the requirements of “Heart of the Underdog” or “Veil of Darkness” the turn player may again choose to activate the above cards and repeat the process. This entire scenario can potentially continue an infinite number of times, all until the turn player chooses to end their Draw Phase. From here, priority passes once more to the opposing player, and after any actions (if any) by the opposing player, the game state automatically shifts to the Standby Phase.
DECLARATION OF EVENTS
This now brings me to my next point. Every turn the turn player holds the responsibility of declaring their Phases and actions within those Phases. Why? Again it links back to priority – the turn player holds the right to initiate the first action but that right can pass to the opponent, so it is imperative that both players are aware of who actually holds priority. Let’s take “Threatening Roar”:
Player A summons “Beastking Barbaros”, and Player B has a face-down “Threatening Roar”. Player A declares their ending the Main Phase 1 (a key event), and that is a signal that priority has passed to Player B. At this stage Player B can now activate “Threatening Roar”, thus preventing Player A from declaring an attack. The only action available to Player A in the Battle Phase at this stage is to declare the ending of their Battle Phase (another key event).
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with Player B inquiring about the state of priority at any point in the game. It should be noted that inquiries can be made, but an opposing player may NOT force priority from the player who has it, either through actions or conduct. Any behaviour to do so is treated as an attempt to force the state of play, a minor tournament infraction that can result in warnings or game losses:
Player A summons “Beastking Barbaros”. Player B asks if Player A will end their Main Phase 1, and Player A says “Yes”. Priority is acknowledged as having passed to Player B who then activates “Threatening Roar”.
Finally, let’s take the same scenario, but without declarations:
Player A summons “Beastking Barbaros” and immediately declares a Direct Attack. Player B should have been able to activate “Threatening Roar” at the end of the Main Phase 1, but because Player A did not declare their ending Main Phase 1, the game state treats priority as having passed over Player B and back to Player A. Thus, Player B never was able to take the chance and make use of their priority.
Note the problem? This leaves a bad taste in a player’s mouth, but an even worse taste in a Judge’s. The state of play is one that cannot be readily reversed, and so a great deal of confusion arises. After all, not declaring Phases clearly places a detriment on Player B, but from a moral standpoint Player A has wronged Player B, since Player is was supposed to have declared their Phases. A judge can revert the game state to one where Player B holds priority as they should have, but a judge can’t do this all the time, and because Player B cannot force priority to change it relies entirely on Player A to... you guessed it, DECLARE THEIR ACTIONS AND PHASES. Indeed, I have entered in tournaments where judges, having been frustrated with the lack of declarations and priority arguments, have ruled similarly to my backstory and against the turn player. Even worse, I have seen judges rule matches forfeit and treat both players as having lost the round (and that’s not very good for anyone).
So what can players do to avoid this? It’s really simple:
1. Declare the summons of monsters, and the activation of card effects. Summons can be negated. Whilst I don’t touch on it here (as summoning a monster relies on game Phases rather than priority) your opponent can negate the summon. If they don’t, THEN declare your card priorities as you see fit.
2. Declare Phases. Phases carry priority actions. If you declare summons and activations, then you should also declare Phases. Don’t forget your opponent acquiring priority during the end s of your Phases.
3. Don’t rely on your opponent to inquire as to your actions. Your opponent isn’t playing your deck for you.
The lesson for today: declarations are the key to a smooth, efficient, and exciting game. And as I tend to find, smooth games tend to be the enjoyable ones. A few extra words here and there aren’t going to make you look like an idiot. Rather, it’s a sign of experience in knowing what you are doing, confidence in your skills and your opponents, and a sign of respect to give your opponent the best chance they can to “show you their moves!”
- ItemfinderDeluxe
