Ruling 101 - Priority

Priority: The right of the turn player to perform certain actions before the opponent does.

Priority is a game of tennis/ping pong, where as the metaphor is comparing how mechanics of Priority with tennis/ping pong.

*When an action is made, it depends on whether or not the action starts a chain

1. If an action does start a chain, then Priority is passed to the opposing player automatically in order for them to respond with either another card or pass Priority back without an action (See the ping pong yet ??). This process is continuously repeating until either player does not wish to add anymore chains, at this point, the chains that has already been made will now start to resolve.

2. If an action does not start a chain, then the Turn-Player retains Priority to activate a Spell Speed 2+ effect or give the possession of Priority to his/her opponent, this process is repeating throughout the game even when you don’t notice it.

*Before I go any further, here are some rules regarding Priority

-One does not “Call Priority”, he/she either maintains it or not
-No monsters/spells/traps have Priority, the players do
-You do not “Activate Priority”, it is not a card

Things to notice !!
Priority does not allow the Turn-Player’s action resolve before anything else, instead, it allows the action be placed on Chain Link 1

1. Draw Phase
When one draws for his/her draw phase, the Turn-Player retains Priority to activate a Spell Speed 2+ effect in response to your own draw before your opponent does.

For example:

After you draw, you have Priority to activate Mystical Space Typhoon prior your opponent’s Trap Dustshoot.

2. Switching Phases/Sub-Steps
As both players agree to enter the next Phases/Sub-Steps, the Turn-Player has Priority to activate Spell Speed 2+ effect at the beginning of the new Phase/Sub-Step (Main Phase 1 has more variety due to it can do more than what other Phases can)

A famous example would be the Honest vs Honest scenario.

As the game proceed onto “During Damage Calculation”, the Turn-Player has Priority to activate Honest’s effect first, then the Non-Turn Player now gets Priority to activate his/her Honest in response. (Which would not be very wise)

3. Main Phase
There are a few things in Main Phase 1

*At the beginning of Main Phase, the Turn-Player has Priority to do anything appropriate basically

-Normal/Flip/Special Summoning a monster

For Example:

At the beginning of Main Phase 1, Non-Turn Player has a face-down Zoma the Spirit and desires to activate it, however, due to the Turn-Player has Priority, he/she can Normal Summon Jinzo before Zoma the Spirit can be activated.

This might be what Priority is mostly known for, as the monster is summoned successfully, the Turn-Player has Priority to activate a monster’s Ignition effect or a Spell Speed 2+ effect. It does not have to be the Ignition effect of the monster you just summoned, it can be the Spore in your grave or Dark Simorgh in your hand.

Setting cards
Setting a card face-down does not start a chain, and as mentioned earlier, if an action does not start a chain, the Turn-Player still retains Priority only to activate a Spell Speed 2+ effect in response.

Not a summon
If the last thing to happen is not a summon, for example, a Spell card has just resolved, the Turn-Player has Priority to activate a Spell Speed 2+ effect only. He/She may not summon a monster or activate a Spell Speed 1 via Priority. If the Turn-Player decides to not activate any Spell Speed 2+ effect, then Priority will be passed to opposing player which then can respond with his/her own Spell Speed 2+ effect or pass Priority back to the Turn-Player. After the Turn-Player receives his/her Priority again, now he/she can do anything appropriate in Main Phase again.

4. Battle Phase: Start Step-
The turn player retains priority to activate a spell speed 2+ effect.

Battle Phase: Battle Step-
The turn player retains priority to declare an attack with one of their monsters.

The turn player retains priority to activate a spell speed 2+ effect in response to their attack.

5. When a Chain Resolves
As Chains resolve, the Turn-Player will be the Player who gets Priority.
Example:

Lonefire Blossom resolved its effect special summoning another Lonefire Blossom, now the Turn-Player can activate the newly summoned Lonefire Blossom's effect

6. Last very important thing!! Trigger effects does not follow the Priority mechanics, it is the one thing which disrupts Priority, in any case, Trigger effects are followed by the SEGOC rule, the Spell Speed rule, along with whatever triggered first rule.

In order to build chains from Trigger effects, you look at these things

A) The Simultaneous Effect Goes On Chain rule

Chain Link 1: Turn Player's Mandatory
Chain Link 2: Non-Turn Player's Mandatory
Chain Link 3: Turn Player's Optional
Chain Link 4: Non-Turn Player's Optional

B) Whatever Triggered First:
If you tribute Sangan for Caius the Shadow Monarch, why can’t just put Sangan in Chain Link 2? Because Sangan is triggered first when it’s sent to grave as the process of tributing summoning.

Same as Dandylion verses Black Rose Dragon

Also !!!
The new OCG ruling change is known as the Ignition effect ruling (Not Priority change), where it limits the use of Ignition effect

Second, the TCG environment is not guaranteed to get this rule change just because of Xyz monsters are coming out. For all we know, OCG might be changing it for whatever reasons they have.

Lastly, similar to #1, all of Priority still exists even if TCG does get this rule change, only the little Ignition part will be erased.

If I said anything wrong, or I should clarify more on a topic, feel free to speak up.

It is mistaken to say "Trigger Effects defy Priority." Priority is a rule system that, essentially, isn't able to BE defied.

When an event with no Spell Speed happens in the game, the Turn Player retains Priority to activate Spell Speed 2 cards and effects, Spell Speed 3 cards and effects, or Trigger Effects whose "triggers have been pulled".

Of those three groups, the Trigger Effects are the most imperative ones.

Priority itself is not defied by them; rather, it operates in a special manner for them. SEGOC in turn explains the manner in which Priority operates for Trigger Effects.

In ALL situations where a Trigger Effect may be activated, the game asks players whether or not they want to activate them before asking them whether or not they want to activate other kinds of effects.

In essence, presume an event happens in the game, an event without Spell Speed.

The Turn Player, BEFORE he has the right to activate effects in response to that event, is told by the game "you can activate - or must activate - this Trigger Effect in response to the event."

The game will also tell this to the opponent, if necessary.

Priority is passed back and forth between players in terms of who may activate what Trigger Effects, and when.

The first Trigger Effects players have the right to activate are those who have "missed their activation timing, yet must activate anyway." Essentially, a Sangan Tributed for a Tribute Summon is the quintessential example. It says "When" in its trigger text rather than "If", so it has a "timing" that can be missed - and it isn't optional, so missing that timing will only DELAY its activation to the next possible moment.

There are also cases where multiple Trigger Effects of this "Mandatory-with-a-Timing" style can be waiting to activate, with some waiting longer than others.

The result is, simply, that the ones that've waited the longest get first dibs on being placed onto the Chain.

Priority isn't defied by this process, because the Turn Player gets first dibs to activate Trigger Effects at each "amount of waiting" that those effects have done.

The game, after checking which Trigger Effects have been waiting, and how long they've been waiting, lays out how many different amounts of waiting one or several effects have done.

It then asks the Turn Player - do you have an effect that's waited this long that wants to activate? If so, they can go onto the Chain. If not, go to the opponent.


Priority isn't defied by this just because the opponent may get first activation rights. Technically, in a situation where the Turn Player doesn't activate a Trigger Effect first, it's a situation where the Turn Player HAS first activation rights, but cannot use those rights on any of the Trigger Effects present, BECAUSE of that little rule that forces us to go through them all based upon how long they've been waiting.



Coincidentally, this is why you can't have Sangan be Chain Link 2 with Thestalos, no matter what - Sangan was ALWAYS 'triggered' before Thestalos was, so it's always going on the Chain earlier.



In terms of responding to game events, Trigger Effects always take primacy over the others, such that Priority asks questions between the players about Trigger Effects before it even considers anything else.

What about the change of the ruling of Priority ? It makes Bottomless Trap Hole even more powerful than Solemn. I don't like it at all.

that goes like it's told.
you can no longer activate any ignition-effect monster, in a response of a succesfull summon. While it's true that BTH can stop your ignition effect, trigger-effect from card like trishula still untouched by them.
btw,this is a place for ruling question, I believe it's not appropriate to discuss about strategies here.

Key wrote:
4. Battle Phase: Start Step
The turn player retains priority to activate a spell speed 2+ effect.

fixed.

Coincidentally, this is why you can't have Sangan be Chain Link 2 with Thestalos, no matter what - Sangan was ALWAYS 'triggered' before Thestalos was, so it's always going on the Chain earlier.

you can... in OCG xD

Pharaoh Atem wrote:It is mistaken to say "Trigger Effects defy Priority." Priority is a rule system that, essentially, isn't able to BE defied.

Priority itself is not defied by them; rather, it operates in a special manner for them. SEGOC in turn explains the manner in which Priority operates for Trigger Effects.

I agree that I may be a little vague when I said Trigger effects have naught relationship with Priority, and that SECOC does reflect a pattern exactly the same as how Priority would play out. However, of how I did research on a few guides, I view Trigger effect as it interrupt the Mechanic of Priority. Trigger effects are indeed kicked without an option, unlike any others where the Players have to manually activate them., sure, maybe optional trigger gives you an option to activate it in the first place, but if you do not activate it, then there were no trigger in the first place, where as if you activate it, it is treated as being kicked in.

Maybe for a very broad trigger which does not form a chain with each other similar (Lightsworns, Gladiator Beasts), the Turn-Player does maintain Priority to activate all of his/her effects before he/she desires to pass the Priority.

Key wrote: However, of how I did research on a few guides, I view Trigger effect as it interrupt the Mechanic of Priority. Trigger effects are indeed kicked without an option, unlike any others where the Players have to manually activate them., sure, maybe optional trigger gives you an option to activate it in the first place, but if you do not activate it, then there were no trigger in the first place, where as if you activate it, it is treated as being kicked in.

The only way that the matter of "kicked without an option" can possibly relate to Priority is in the matter of activation, not the matter of triggering - just because the timing or conditions for a Trigger Effect's activation have been met and we enter the process of determining if, when, and how they'll activate, does not mean Priority is betrayed. I just explicated in the above how this doesn't betray Priority's usual behavior.

The gamestate's eternal vigilance of seeing events happening and asking "is there a Trigger that just became eligible to activate" has no interaction with Priority. This is the only "kicking without option" that pertains to all Trigger Effects - and thus I reccomend we reserve the word "kicking" for this "it just became eligible for activation" state. Otherwise, we'd use activate.

There is no interruption of Priority, man; only rules saying what you can and can't do with your right to act. Priority is inviolable, because Priority itself IS nothing more than "the right to act"; the only thing that ever changes is "are you allowed to do anything with it or not, and if you are, what can you do with it".

Essentially, in a situation where your opponent would get to place an earlier-Triggered mandatory Trigger Effect onto a Chain before your later-Triggered mandatory Trigger Effect, you get the first right to act; you just can't use it on any effects. Priority *Works As Normal* here - if only for matter of the rule being inviolable. In a practical sense, it makes for a simpler explanation than "here's an exception". Rather, Priority working-as-normal is a mere formality when we can't put it to use; but formalities and exacting details DRIVE the rule of the game.


Saying "if you don't activate an optional trigger effect, there was no trigger event in the first place" is a marked bloody contradiction. You can't be asked the question "do you want to activate this" without the trigger event happening - without the "kick" occurring. It's only after the kick happens that you get asked the question, and you get asked about each 'kick' that happened if several are waiting, in the order that they happened.



This is a matter of semantics for the purpose of making a simpler explanation - you do us a bigger favor by simply rendering Priority as an utterly inviolable back-and-forth, where any limits on what you can and can't activate rely upon other details of the gamestate. We are forced to pass Priority to the opponent sometimes, for want of not having any legal things to do with our Priority at the present time. It explains everything, man - without any exceptions to rules.

I see where this is going.
I guess it's my poor wording which started this.

I didn't mean Priority disappeared when it's time for Trigger effects to activate/kick in, rather, I meant to say that Trigger effects follows their own mechanics and will push away Priority's mechanic aside so it can apply its own mechanic, of course, Priority still applies even after it's pushed aside, thou it's not the main function going on.

That's a smidge better, but still not on point - Priority can never be "pushed aside". The only thing that changes from point to point in gameplay is
1) who has the right to act
and
2) how that person may act.

Just because Trigger Effects force a very special way of doing things doesn't mean they change Priority, or push it aside, at all.

Pharaoh Atem wrote:We are forced to pass Priority to the opponent sometimes, for want of not having any legal things to do with our Priority at the present time. It explains everything, man - without any exceptions to rules.

Not to discredit anything else that's been put into this topic (you guys have written wonders in here), but making note of what can be done at "the present time" has always been the simplest way for me to explain what Priority itself is, as everything else involved is really just lego that may or may not fit into the current block, depending on what time it is.

+rep

Of course. We're in agreement on that.

The mistake would be saying "your current priority is different from priority you'd have at a different time."

Priority is not "the rules that allow you to activate certain things at certain times." Priority is just the right to do anything at all.

Other rules govern what can and can't be activated at various times.


Coincidentally, this is why I'm so fed up with seeing folks ask if DN follows the no-Priority rule from the OCG.

There IS NO such rule.

There's only a change in the rules for Ignition Effects.


Priority is frequently misinterpreted as "the rule that decides what you can and can't activate" - and that misinterpretation leads to folks misunderstanding said rule, explaining it wrongly, and generally building a virus of misinformation.



Your way of explaining it - "Priority is your right to act, and at this time, other rules say you can/can't activate that" - is the one simple yet accurate way to explain it.

So... DOES DN follow the OCG rulings on Ignition-effects?

It is impractical to expect people to follow rulings they cannot even read.

DN's folks COULD translate parts of the OCG FAQ on demand - except for the fact that you could probably count the number of DN folks who can actually do that on one hand, NEVER WE MIND how folks might take issue with having to trust us in that regard.

Ignition Effects are to be governed as the TCG does, until further notice.

Excellent guide as always Key. Have to admire you for taking the time to type this all out and for having the patience to explain/defend it.

The best I've heard it explained is that priority is inheren't in the players themselves and not monsters as many believe.

ensane wrote:The best I've heard it explained is that priority is inheren't in the players themselves and not monsters as many believe.

Which is why I said Turn-Player is the one who has Priority

Key wrote:

ensane wrote:The best I've heard it explained is that priority is inheren't in the players themselves and not monsters as many believe.

Which is why I said Turn-Player is the one who has Priority

Sorry for being stupid then.

A nice little debate here and it will do wonders fr clearing up the whole ocg confusion debacle.

Yay! Thanks for the topic guys. For an Admin, this will make it a lot easier for me to clear up rulings for players. Ill be sure to forward the players who don't understand prio to this page!

hi i'm new At thiS game this while reading the rules for the game it make's me confuse even more can you summarize the rules For new player'S ???

mranya wrote:hi i'm new At thiS game this while reading the rules for the game it make's me confuse even more can you summarize the rules For new player'S ???

In that case, you must read the rulebook first, this is a mechanic a bit deeper for beginners

isn't the Prioity rule changing when the Dawn of the Xyz's starter is released?

Key wrote:

mranya wrote:hi i'm new At thiS game this while reading the rules for the game it make's me confuse even more can you summarize the rules For new player'S ???

In that case, you must read the rulebook first, this is a mechanic a bit deeper for beginners

well the rule book is not very clear For new user's like me

xyz??? starter!!!!!

mranya wrote:well the rule book is not very clear For new user's like me

the rulebook isn't that hard to understand its quite simple.
What Key is saying here I think anyways is before you try to wrap your head around all this is best to have a good understanding on how the game is played.

mranya wrote:xyz??? starter!!!!!

yes on July 12th 2011 (AUS date) a new starter deck is being released called "Dawn of the Xyz" and with that a change to the Prioity rule is also happening according to Shriek TCG news.

i know the basics its just the effect's and special summons its making me confused

G-Mac wrote:isn't the Prioity rule changing when the Dawn of the Xyz's starter is released?

Congratulations, you have official inspired me to put the real issue of what everyone wants to see in the OP.

Go ahead and read it again after my edit

mranya wrote:i know the basics its just the effect's and special summons its making me confused

It takes time, you just need to get into it a bit longer

The priority rule was announced to be removed at 31 May as far as I remember. This means that cards such as Dark Armed Dragon and Chaos Sorcerer will no longer have the chance to activate effects before opponent chains BTH or anything else.

3NGiN3-Z wrote:The priority rule was announced to be removed at 31 May as far as I remember. This means that cards such as Dark Armed Dragon and Chaos Sorcerer will no longer have the chance to activate effects before opponent chains BTH or anything else.

From that post, I can tell you that you did not read the OP

There's no reason for this to be unpinned.

So apparently, I had to erase the Black Rose Dragon vs Cloak and Dagger scenario because I was informed with the wrong information.

If anyone cares that is ....

Ok, I've read all the posts and there seems to be a little conflict between what people are saying.
Essentially, I have a fairly simple question to ask.
Does DN allow priority for ignition effects when a monster is summoned, OR does it follow the march 19 priority ruling which prevents the turn player from activating ignition effects upon summon?
(Ex. Turn player summons lonefire, opponenet uses effect veiler upon the summon of lonefire, can turn player chain lonefires effect?)

Camisnoob wrote:Ok, I've read all the posts and there seems to be a little conflict between what people are saying.
Essentially, I have a fairly simple question to ask.
Does DN allow priority for ignition effects when a monster is summoned, OR does it follow the march 19 priority ruling which prevents the turn player from activating ignition effects upon summon?
(Ex. Turn player summons lonefire, opponenet uses effect veiler upon the summon of lonefire, can turn player chain lonefires effect?)

yes priority is still on effect on DN until the they change the rules

https://i.imgur.com/fLbri.jpg

Opp summon D-Hero plasma and said I cann't chain to his effect because priority

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Edit:

Phantom Falcon: special plasma
Phantom Falcon: eff
Phantom Falcon: take controll
kangtuji: chain
kangtuji: send both to grave
Phantom Falcon: priority
kangtuji: doesn't beat chain
Phantom Falcon: you cant chain
kangtuji: lol - screenshoted
Phantom Falcon: except with somthing that can negate the summon
Phantom Falcon: what ever
kangtuji: http://forum.duelingnetwork.com/t660p25-ruling-101-priority#150139
Phantom Falcon: you cant activate that effect on my turn
kangtuji: lol - screenshote again, now with copy the chat log

https://i.imgur.com/Whqj1.jpg

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Question

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Is priority beat chain ? and makes me cann't use effect on his turn ?

You can chain to a priority move.

Priority really needs to go. Not because of how it's unfair or whatever, but because so many people screw it up and try to bs their way with it.

Priority can't "go". It's the very thing that lets you play cards in the first place.