Article #5 [Skill Drain, Effect Veiler & More]

›› What do they do?
Skill Drain and Effect Veiler both negate Effect Monster's effects. They technically do the same thing, but you will be surprised as to how much differently they work. Other than the fact Skill Drain is a continuous trap and Effect Veiler an Effect Monster, they are also very different in another aspect: the rulings regarding both cards.

›› What rulings are you talking about?
I'm talking about the fact that Skill Drain requires the Effect Monster to remain face-up on the field in order to negate it's Effect, while Effect Veiler does not. Sounds fairly simple, until you realize it's not. As far as the similiar rulings go:

Code:

›› You CAN activate an effect and pay the cost for it even if it's being negated, and it WILL be placed on a chain.
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›› If an effect is negated on the field but activates in another place (e.g. Graveyard, Banished Zone, etc.), it will NOT be negated. I will explain more about this later.
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›› If an effect is already being negated, you cannot negate it again. That means you cannot use Effect Veiler on a monster if Skill Drain is already face-up on the field and negating it.

That's pretty much all you need to know. Of course, there might be more, but it's mostly single card rulings you might be able to figure out by yourself once you read this article.

›› Can you explain more about Skill Drain?
As I said above, Skill Drain is a continuous trap that requires the Effect Monster to be face-up on the field at the time of resolution in order for it to negate it's effect. Notice that activation and resolution are 2 different things. In cards with PSCT (Problem Solving Card Text), the things that happen immediately after the activation of a card are inbetween a colon ( : ) and a semicolon ( ; ). Notice that the card text might not have a colon: that simply means that it has no activation condition and the things that happen immediately after the activation of the card are simply placed before the semicolon. If a card with PSCT has a cost that removes it from the field (which happens before the resolution of the card), like Thunder King Rai-Oh, Skill Drain will not be able to negate it. While, if it is removed from the field during it's resolution, like Wind-Up Rabbit, Skill Drain will be able to negate it, and Wind-Up Rabbit will not be banished by it's effect.

›› What are you talking about? Can I have an example?
For example, let's take Rescue Rabbit. Rescue Rabbit is an Effect Monster that banishes itself as a cost in order to Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower Normal Monsters from your deck. I'm pretty sure most, if not all of us know that it works under Skill Drain by now. But for those who don't get it, or want to know the reason as to why this is possible, here's a little explanation:
If you summon Rescue Rabbit while Skill Drain is face-up on the field, and activate it's effect, you will be able to resolve it correctly without it being negated by Skill Drain. This happens because Skill Drain and Fiendish Chain don't just need to be face-up on the field to resolve or apply their effect(s) correctly, they also need said monster to remain face-up on the field in order to affect it. It works like this with Fiendish Chain too because Fiendish Chain needs to continuously target the monster, and for that to happen it needs to remain face-up on the field.

›› Can you explain more about Effect Veiler?
Effect Veiler is an Effect Monster. Unlike Skill Drain, it doesn't need the monster to remain face-up on the field in order to negate it's effect. Even if the card is in the graveyard or in some other place when it resolves (this is very important!!), the effect will be negated. Now, don't get me wrong. The fact that I explained that resolution and activation are 2 different things had a meaning: if, for example, you use Effect Veiler on Sangan and it is later destroyed on the same turn, Sangan will NOT be negated.

›› Why? Also, you mentioned something about effects activating in the graveyard not being negated earlier. What was that about?
Because Sangan Activates in the graveyard. Let's take Rescue Rabbit again. If the opponent normal summons Rescue Rabbit and you activate Effect Veiler in response to the summon, the other player will be able to activate Rescue Rabbit's effect, it will be banished for it's cost BUT it will be negated because even if it's removed from the field, it's effect still activates on the field, and resolves there. That's right, no matter where the card is during the resolution, the effect of said card still resolves in the place it was activated on. To recapitulate the situation: cards like Sangan, Mermail Abysslinde, etc. ACTIVATE and RESOLVE in the graveyard, so Effect Veiler will NOT be able to negate their effect. Cards like Rescue Rabbit, Thunder King Rai-Oh, etc. ACTIVATE and RESOLVE on the field, so Effect Veiler WILL negate their effect even if they are removed from the field for their cost. Basically, Effect Veiler needs the Monster Effect it's trying to negate to activate on the field in order to negate it. Remember though, if you chain Effect Veiler to cards like Rescue Rabbit and Thunder King Rai-Oh when they activate their effects, you will not be able to target either of those cards because by the time Effect Veiler activates they are already removed from the field by their cost.

It all sounds like pretty complicated stuff, but it's really not when you understand the mechanics of it.

Feel all op after reading this :C