Mika
Conjunctions
When resolving complex effects, conjunctions are used to convey the order in which these effects apply. There are five conjunctions, tabulated below.
Conjunction | Required | Timing |
and | Both | Simultaneous |
also | Neither | Simultaneous |
and if you do | First part | Simultaneous |
then | First part | Sequential |
also, after that, | Neither | Sequential |
Requirements
Some effects require certain parts of the effect to happen, in order for other parts to happen. EG 1: Drill Warrior's effect reads: Discard 1 card, and if you do, banish this card.
Using the table above, we see that this is an "and if you do" effect. "and if you do" requires the first part of the effect to happen, else the 2nd won't apply. In this case, if you don't discard a card, you don't banish Drill Warrior.
EG 1: Book of Life's effect reads: Special Summon the first target, also banish the second target.
Using the table above, we see that this is an "also" effect. "also" doesn't require either part to happen for the other part to apply. In this case, even if the 1st target can't be summoned, the 2nd is still banished (& vice versa)
Timing
These conjunctions also tell us the timing of these effects.
EG 3: The same Drill effect reads: Discard 1 card, and if you do, banish this card.
Using the table above, we see that this is a "and if you do" effect. "and if you do" is marked as being "simultaneous". This means that the entire effect is the last thing to happen.
This means that nothing can miss its timing - if you discard "Peten the Dark Clown" this way, Peten's effect can be activated.
EG 4: Drill's next effect reads: Special Summon this card, then add 1 monster from your GY to your hand.
Using the table above, we see that this is a "then" effect. "then" is marked as being "sequential". This means that "add 1 monster from your GY to your hand" is the last thing to happen.
This will cause cards like "Bottomless Trap Hole" to miss their timing.