Lesson 1: Chaining.

Welcome to my first lesson on the game Yu-Gi-Oh! This lesson will show you a basic mechanic in the game called Chaining.

Chaining is an act when you or your opponent play a card and you have a response to it. A chain can either be used with a Spell, a Trap, or a Monster effect that is a quick. To introduce this; I need to break down the lesson into several parts.

NOTE: Chains ALWAYS resolve backwards!!!


Traps
To begin, trap cards are cards that need to be set in order to activate them. This applies to every trap; but and each have their own properties. Today, I will be discussing just about every form of trap. Normal have a spell speed of 2, similar to Normal, and Continuous. These traps are potent, and while they are spell speed 2, they can only be countered by other traps, spells (in the case of continuous), and monsters with quick effects.

Examples of:
Normal: Mirror Force
Continuous: Call of the Haunted
Counter: Solemn Judgment

Spells
Spells come in the form of Normal, Quick Play, Continuous, and Field spells. Normal, Continuous, and Field spells all are spell speed 1. Normal spells are spell speed 1. Spells are played from the hand, so they are naturally spell speed 1, but some spells can be set, and activated on your opponents turn (Quick Play) and therefore, they have a spell speed of 2.

Examples of:
Normal: Monster Reborn
Continuous: Field Barrier
Field: Magical Citadel of Endymion
Quick Play: Mystical Space Typhoon
Equip: Axe of Despair

Monster Effects
Quick monster effects are effects that can be activated during your turn, or your opponents turn. These effects are common in the game: some cards that can be activated during your turn and your opponents are Stardust Dragon, Shooting Star Dragon, and Shooting Quasar Dragon.

Continuous Monster Effects are effects that happen once they are summoned, like an attack gain, an immunity from something, or a negation of something. These are always on. These include Colossal Fighter, Elemental HERO Wildheart, and Jinzo

Trigger monster effects are monster effects that occur when a certain condition is met then the effect occurs. Trigger effects also have Optional Trigger Effects that can miss timing. Trigger effects cannot chain, but they can be chained to. Compulsory Trigger Effects are effects that must go off.
Examples of a trigger effects include the monsters: Ciaus the Shadow Monarch, and every other Monarch.
Optional Trigger effects include the monsters: Gusto Gulldo, Mystic Tomato etc.
Compulsory Trigger Effects include the monsters: Sangan, D.D. Survivor.

Summon monster effects that are effects that occur right after the summon occurs; they can include summoning, to adding to your hand, and destruction. Some examples are Black Rose Dragon, X-Saber Wayne, and Karakuri Merchant mdl 177 "Inashichi"


Spell Speeds
Spell Speeds are a reference to how fast a cards effect. However, spell speeds tell you what can chain, and what cannot be chained. When chaining, remember this:

Spell Speed 3: can negate anything, and can only be negated by Counter Traps, or other effects. Can also chain to anything.
Spell Speed 2: can negate spell speed 1's, and can chain to spell speed 2.
Spell Speed 1: can be chained to, by almost anything.

So lets list this out, by card types:
Spell Speed 3: Counter Traps, some monster cards
Spell Speed 2: Normal, Continuous Traps. Quick Monster Effects. Quick Play Spells.
Spell Speed 1: Summon, Trigger, and Continuous monster effects. Normal, Continuous, and Field spells.


Alright, lets list some examples:

Player 1: Summons Brionac, calling priority to return Player 2's back row; Player 2 chains the face down Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Player 1's field spell. So chaining works like this.
Chain 1: Brionac targets Player 2's face down Mystical Space Typhoon.
Chain 2: Mystical Space Typhoon is activated, targeting the field spell.

So it would resolve, with Mystical Space Typhoon destroying the field spell, and since the card that Brionac was targeting is gone, Brionac does not have a target. Player 1 still had to pay the cost of discarding a card.


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Player 1 summons Black Rose Dragon, then player 2 chains Solemn Warning negating the summon; then Player 1 activates Seven Tools of Bandit. Chain would resolve like this:

Chain 1: Summoning of Black Rose Dragon
Chain 2: Solemn Warning is activated, paying the cost of 2000 life points.
Chain 3: Seven Tools of Bandit is activated, paying the cost of 1000 life points to negate Solemn Warning.
So it would play out like this:
Player 1 negates Solemn Warning with Seven Tools of Bandit, paying the cost of 1000 life points: Player 2's Solemn Warning is negated, but he must pay the initial cost of 2000 life points to activate the card, then Black Rose Dragon is summoned successfully to nuke the field, calling priority to nuke the field.

More Examples to come... My fingers are tired lol