Chain Links - A Detailed Explanation

We’ve had a number of requests for an article of how to arrange your chain links – this second piece in our new article season aims to do just that.

Let’s play the game:

 SEGOC: Chain Links and other Hi-Jinks

Chains and chain links are an essential part of this game, and understanding them fully is a key part of taking yours to the next level. The intricacies in how chains are built and resolved may not be relevant a great deal, but they’re absolutely back breaking if you get them wrong when they are.

We all understand the basics of activating cards in response to our opponent’s cards/effects. A chain like the below (from the basic Rulebook) is easy to understand:

Player A: Raigeki -> Chain Link 1

Player B: Magic Jammer -> Chain Link 2

Player A: Seven Tools of the Bandit -> Chain Link 3

The Issue occurs when two or more effects try to activate simultaneously. Which effect is chain link 1? Do both effects resolve at the same time?

Questions like these are common in Mirror matches, where both players will often attempt to activate the effect of the same card simultaneously – “Mermail Abysslinde” being a prime example.

I can tell you now that no two activated effects will ever resolve at the same time during a Yu-Gi-Oh! Game, that’s just not how game mechanics work.

So how do we decide what goes first?

Fortunately, there are rules to determine the order. We call these rules SEGOC:

Simultaneous Effects Go On Chain

These rules determine the order in which simultaneous effects are put onto the chain. That order looks like this:

1. Turn Player Mandatory Effects

2. Non-Turn Player Mandatory Effects

3. Turn Player Optional Effects

4. Non-Turn Player Optional Effects

If you’re having difficulty, just remember:

Turn player before non-turn player. Mandatory before optional.

The easiest way to get the hang of this is to look at some examples:

A Fishy Problem

Conor controls a face-up ATK position “Mermail Abysslinde” and a set “Debunk”. He’s playing a Mermail mirror match against Scott, so he should be in pretty good shape. I’m not so sure though…

Scott summons his own copy of “Mermail Abysslinde” and attacks Conor’s with it. Both monsters are destroyed at the same time, so we need to use SEGOC to determine which one will resolve first.

Both players are activating “Mermail Abysslinde” – an optional effect, so Mandatory before optional isn’t much help here. We’ll have to use Turn Player before Non-Turn Player.

Scott is the turn player here, so our rules make his effect chain link 1, while Conor’s Abysslinde is forced into chain link 2.

Conor would like to activate “Debunk” here to negate Scott’s Abysslinde, but his own copy of Abysslinde is at chain link 2, and Debunk can only respond to the highest chain link (like most Counter Trap cards). In effect, Conor’s own Abysslinde has protected Scott from his Debunk!

As you can see, by manipulating chain links, you can protect your effects from your opponent’s cards. So what happens when all the effects are yours?

Big Shark, Small Pond:

Adam controls a face-up “The Grand Spellbook Tower” and a set “Spellbook Magician of Prophecy”.

His opponent Michael discards “Atlantean Heavy Infantry” and “Atlantean Marksman” to activate the effect of “Mermail Abyssmegalo”. Adam has no response, so Abyssmegalo is special summoned.

Now, in this case, 3 effects have met their triggers: “Mermail Abyssmegalo”, “Atlantean Heavy Infantry” and “Atlantean Marksman”. So let’s apply the rules and determine the order they go on the chain.

The effects all belong to Michael, so turn player before non-turn player isn’t very helpful, and we’ll have to rely on mandatory before optional.

Abyssmegalo’s effect is optional, with the effects of “Atlantean Heavy Infantry” and “Atlantean Marksman” being Mandatory. This means that Abyssmegalo MUST be link 3 (as it cannot go before either of the Mandatory effects).

What order do “Atlantean Heavy Infantry” and “Atlantean Marksman” go in though?

Well, since they’re both owned by the same player, that player may choose what order they’re placed on the chain. In this case Michael doesn’t want Adam to get the effect of his “The Grand Spellbook Tower”, so he makes “Atlantean Marksman” chain link 1 and “Atlantean Heavy Infantry” chain link 2 – our final chain looks like this:

Link 1: Atlantean Marksman

Link 2: Alantean Heavy Infantry

Link 3: Mermail Abyssmegalo

But Wait! There’s More…

There’s one more rule used to determine what order effects go on the chain, and it’s incredibly important:

“Effects that meet their triggers first go on the chain first”

That is to say that if a player has two or more effects that activate simultaneously, but one met its trigger before the other, that effect MUST become chain link 1.

Again, it’s easiest to learn by Example:

Hey, that Bee Broke my Sword!

Dean controls “Inzektor Dragonfly” equipped with “Inzektor Sword – Zektkaliber”. He activates Dragonfly’s effect and equips it with “Inzektor Hornet” from the Graveyard.

He then activates “Inzektor Hornet”’s effect, destroying Zektkaliber, and wants to activate all of his effects – 2 Dragonfly triggers and ZektKaliber.

What order do these effects go on the chain?

“Inzektor Dragonfly” is optional and “Inzektor Sword – Zektkaliber” is mandatory, so the solution is obvious, right?

Wrong. In this case the effects didn’t all meet their triggers at the same time. The first to meet its trigger was Dragonfly (when Hornet was sent to the Graveyard to pay its own cost), then the second Dragonfly trigger and Zektkaliber are simultaneous (since they were both triggered when Hornet resolved and destroyed Zektkaliber).

So since Dragonfly’s first trigger happened before anything else, chain link 1 has to be Dragonfly’s effect - in accordance with our new rule. (Note that this is true even though Zektkaliber is Mandatory, and overrides the usual SEGOC rules).

After that, Zektkaliber is Mandatory and the second Dragonfly effect is optional. These were both triggered simultaneously, so they follow traditional SEGOC rules, and our final chain is:

Chain Link 1: Inzektor Dragonfly

Chain Link 2: Inzektor Sword – Zektkaliber

Chain Link 3: Inzektor Dragonfly

If we revisit our watery friends from earlier, we’ll see another situation in which this is relevant:

Fishiness Foiled!

Adam and Michael are at it again. With the situation the same, Michael devises a plan to remove “The Grand Spellbook Tower” safely once again.

He activates “Mermail Abyssmegalo”, discarding “Atlantean Heavy Infantry” and “Mermail Abyssgunde” to pay its cost.

Now all he has to do is make Heavy Infantry Chain Link 2, and…

Whoops! I’m afraid Michael’s chain isn’t going to work out as he planned this time! Can you see why?

That’s right – “Mermail Abyssgunde” is an OPTIONAL effect, meaning that only “Atlantean Heavy Infantry” is mandatory.

Since Heavy Infantry and Abyssgunde were triggered at the same time, they have to follow SEGOC rules – Heavy Infantry MUST be link 1, with Abyssgunde at link 2. Following that, Megalo (whose effect was triggered afterward) is forced into link 3 again by our new rule.

With Heavy Infantry as link 1, “The Grand Spellbook Tower” will be able to special summon a monster from Adam’s deck. If Michael’s Abyssgunde can’t find a good target then he might be in trouble!

So SEGOC and chain rules have played a pretty heavy role in the game in the past.

But these mechanics are equally as important now as they’ve ever been, though you won’t see many copies of Abysslinde in a Shaddoll deck…

Let’s have one more example to show how NECH’s “El Shaddoll Fusion” will make knowing this especially important:

Dante’s Fuse-ferno:

It’s Alex’s turn, and while his newly drawn “Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” isn’t that helpful, his face-up “Dante, Traveller of the Burning Abyss” and set “Raigeki Break” and “Different Dimension Ground” should help him hold the field.

On the other side of the Table, Richard has “White Dragon Wyverburster” and “El Shaddoll Winda” which has been cutting off Alex’s Tour Guides (he’s currently holding 2). It’s backed up by 3 sets: “Shaddoll Falco”, “El Shaddoll Fusion” and “Super Polymerization”.

Alex decides he wants Winda gone. He activates Dante’s effect, detaching his last material - “Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” - to pay it’s cost.

When Richard has no response, he chains “Different Dimension Ground”.

Richard knows that’s bad, so in response he activates “El Shaddoll Fusion”.

Alex doesn’t really want to see “El Shaddoll Construct”, so he chains “Raigeki Break”, discarding Cir, and targets Wyverburster.

Richard would quite like a Construct though, so he chains “Super Polymerization”, discarding “Shaddoll Fusion”.

When the Chain resolves, “Super Polymerisation” fuses Winda and Dante into “El Shaddoll Construct while “Raigeki Break” destroys Wyverburster.

“El Shaddoll Fusion” then fuses Falco and Construct into another Winda.

Then “Different Dimension Ground” Resolves, and Dante resolves without effect.

Following this, EIGHT new effects will activate. Can you identify them and determine how the chain is built?

So, what do we know about chains? Well, effects that trigger first always go on the chain first – so what was the first effect to trigger?

That’s right, “Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” (which was detached from Dante), followed by Cir (which was discarded for Raigeki Break’s cost). Those 2 effects met their triggers as the chain was built, so they have to be links 1 and 2.

After that comes resolution. Dante and Winda were sent to the Graveyard simultaneously by Super Polmerization and are both Optional, so Dante (who is the Turn Player’s effect) is link 3, with Winda as Link 4 (SEGOC, remember?)

Next, Construct was summoned. With nothing else happening at the same time, its “on summon” effect claims link 5.

Following that, the resolution of ”Raigeki Break” triggers Wyverburster - which occupies chain link 6.

Lastly, Falco and Construct are fused into Winda. Since both of their “Sent to the Graveyard” effects are optional and owned by a single player (Richard), that player gets to choose what order they go on the chain in.

As general best practice (to avoid summon negation), Richard puts Falco at link 7 and Construct at link 8:

Chain Link 1: Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss

Chain Link 2: Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss

Chain Link 3: Dante, Traveller of the Burning Abyss

Chain Link 4: El Shaddoll Winda

Chain Link 5: El Shaddoll Construct

Chain Link 6: White Dragon Wyverburster

Chain Link 7: Shaddoll Falco

Chain Link 8: El Shaddoll Construct

Wow, that’s a hell of a chain. Can you follow the resolution through?

I think it’s pretty clear who’s going to come out on top, since Richard will control Winda and Falco with 2 Shaddoll Spells/Traps and Collapserpent in hand (and maybe more with Construct’s effect) after it resolves, while Alex will be left with a single Burning Abyss monster (since the other summon will be prevented by Winda!)

Ouch, let’s hope Alex’s Tour Guides do some work over the next few turns!

I hope I’ve succeeded in clearing at least some of the mist surrounding chain links here (and not scared you off with the last example) as they really are important to improving as a player.

If you have any questions about this article you can reach me at yugiohbelfast@hotmail.com or via Facebook

Until next time, I’ll leave you with this question:

If I attack an Attack Position “Mathematician” with “Brotherhood of the Fire Fist– Bear” and my opponent wants to summon “Tragoedia”, what order do the chain links go in?

Happy Puzzling!

Luke