Joey attacks Marik's Vampire Lord with Rocket Warrior. The card text states that Battle Damage to this card and this card's controller that they take from a battle involving this card becomes 0. I ruled that Rocket Warrior does not get destroyed and Vampire Lords attack decreases to 1500. Is this correct? I have two level 1 judges that do not trust my above ruling that need a written clarification.
Thanks
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Answer:
I'm not exactly sure why they have difficulty accepting your ruling, since it is indeed the correct one.
For review, here's "Rocket Warrior"'s complete text:
"This effect is only active during the Battle Phase of your turn. Battle Damage to this card and this card's controller that they take from a battle involving this card becomes 0. After damage calculation, decrease the ATK of the monster that was attacked by this card by 500 points until the end of this turn."
Pretty straight-forward, right? Anyway, let's go through it one sentence at a time, just to make sure your judges understand why your ruling was correct:
"This effect is only active during the Battle Phase of your turn."
This one is simple enough. Joey controls "Rocket Warrior", so "Rocket Warrior"'s effect is only active during Joey's Battle Phase ("your" references the card's controller in this instance).
"Battle Damage to this card and this card's controller that they take from a battle involving this card becomes 0."
Another simple one. If Joey's "Rocket Warrior" is involved in battle during Joey's Battle Phase, then "Rocket Warrior" is not destroyed, and Joey's Life Points are untouched.
This should be an easy concept to understand; if Battle Damage is not being inflicted to "Rocket Warrior", or "Rocket Warrior"'s controller, then how can "Rocket Warrior" possibly be destroyed in battle? Also, how can Joey's Life Points possibly be damaged, regardless of the opposing monster's ATK?
The answer is that "Rocket Warrior" can't be destroyed, and Joey's Life Points are not damaged if no Battle Damage is being inflicted.
"After damage calculation, decrease the ATK of the monster that was attacked by this card by 500 points until the end of this turn."
Maybe the hardest part of the effect to understand, but still pretty easy.
The monster that "Rocket Warrior" attacked will have its ATK decreased by 500 AFTER damage calculation. This decrease lasts until the end of the turn.
Now, let's piece it all together:
It is Joey's Battle Phase, and he has a "Rocket Warrior" on the field in face-up Attack Position.
Joey declares an attack with his "Rocket Warrior", against Marik's Attack Position "Vampire Lord".
Now, NORMALLY, damage would be calculated like so:
"Rocket Warrior''s 1500 ATK < "Vampire Lord"'s 2000 ATK
"Rocket Warrior" is destroyed, Joey's Life Points are decreased by 500 (2000 - 1500 = 500), and "Vampire Lord"'s effect is triggered.
HOWEVER, "Rocket Warrior"'s effect prevents that. Instead:
"Rocket Warrior" is NOT destroyed, Joey's Life Points are NOT decreased, and "Vampire Lord"'s effect does not trigger.
Now that we've finished damage calculation, "Vampire Lord"'s ATK is decreased by 500, making its new value 1500. Why did this happen? It is due to "Rocket Warrior"'s effect; the monster that "Rocket Warrior" attacked ("Vampire Lord", in this case) has its ATK decreased by 500 after damage calculation.
The end result is that both "Rocket Warrior" and "Vampire Lord" are still on the field, and neither player's Life Points are damaged at all.
Of course, if Joey has any monsters with 1500 ATK or more that haven't attacked yet, he can declare another attack on Marik's "Vampire Lord", which will destroy it this time.
So...Was that enough written clarification for you? I hope so.
If, for whatever reason, you have any further questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me at the address located in my signature.
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Steve Okegawa
UDE Netrep Rules Coordinator
Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG
steve_okegawa@netrep.net
