“Haha! Yugioh GX has a dueling school! Crowler has a PHD in dueling!” ...and this video is why that’s not nearly as ridiculous as it sounds.

Nuclear physics sounds easier than these yugioh rules...

I was going to make a joke for top comment...but I missed the timing.

_Miss the timing? What's that? Is it when I'm late at locals?_ - Farfa 2018

We need a card with an effect that activates when it misses the timing.

Ohhhh, that’s why my judge at locals hates me.

MST negates -Cimo

For anyone still struggling with if and when in Optional Effects, here’s the definition that helped me. * If = In the circumstance. * When = At the moment. While you read an optional effect, it’s very useful to replace if/when with their definitions above. Remember, Effects cannot activate in the middle of a RESOLVING chain. So, if a card that says "When this card is Special Summoned: You can..." and it is Summoned in any chain-link of 2 or higher. e.g. "Back to the Front" is chained to the opponent's MST. Chain resolves backwards, you special summon, then the monster has met its requirements, but the chain is resolving so nothing yet happens. Then MST destroys a card. Now that the chain has ended, it ended on “a Spell/Trap card was destroyed” which is not the condition required to activate your monster’s effect. Hope that helps. :)

hey, dude, this is absolutely my fav video you've ever made. I never understood this rule and this was perfectly concise. thanks a lot

this is incredibly useful .... thank u man and I hope that u make more content like this explaining difficult terms and rulings

Cimo!! You should make a video explaining the Battle Phase, like, everything about the Battle Phase. I think that would make a great video!!

I wish they’d just axe this rule entirely and have optional-when effects just go off anyway. Doubt it tho.

I really wish Konami would just fix all cards that can miss timing. Its pretty bs when the card meets the conditions for its effect but because of the word “then” it misses it. Would make the game make much more sense and let cards do what they’re supposed to do It’s a total mess and terrible design by Konamis part

We don't miss timing, we have happy accidents. ... I really like that Bob Ross shirt.

i.e. almost the entire yang zing archetype 😪

Missing the timing, or how I lose 99% of my games.

This topic along with chains and inherent summons are probably the 3 most core topics for beginners to know.

Years later and this video is still relevant and always will be

*Siding 3 Soul Takers for my Paleo Frogs matches*

I kinda feel like "if" vs "when" is a little too vague and non-obvious. I feel like it should be errataed such that "When [condition]:" is replaced with "If [condition], and this is the last effect in the chain:"

Thank you so much. For years I've been trying to understand this and just watching this video 1 time helped me understand the infamous "Missing the Timing" ruling

This is part of the reason I stopped playing Yu-Gi-Oh. The fact that I can read a card and not fully understand what the card does.

Here's a bit more detail about conjunctions and what they means ( in PSCT, of course, with cards that predate it you just have to pray and hope there's rulings for the card about action timing ): ● "and," "and, if you do," and "also" are all _simultaneous_ conjunctions - that is, if the actions linked by them are the last thing to occur, "when" effects can respond to either action. ● "then" and "also, after that" are both _sequential_ conjuctions. As this video covered, "when" effects can only ever respond to the second action, as it occurs _after_ the first. Note also the simultaneous and sequential terminology; cards like Ryko and Kunai with Chain that allow activating or applying multiple effects also include these terms for much the same purpose, with simultaneous effects allowing "when" effects to respond to either while sequential ( or, specifically, "in sequence" ) effects only allowing "when" effects to respond to the final one. However, note that while there's two categories, there's actually five conjunctions. This isn't actually superfluous, as conjunctions are _also_ important for determining whether or not an effect's actions fizzle or not, namely: ● "and" requires _both_ actions to be able to resolve, otherwise both will fizzle. You can mostly see this with Union monsters, which have to both unequip _and_ Special Summon themselves to "de-unionize," but you can also see it with Gallis the Star Bird, who only burns the opponent if he Special Summons himself ( i.e. your opponent doesn't activate Vanity's in response to you revealing him as a cost ) and vice-versa. ● "and, if you do," and "then" requires the first part to resolve to resolve the second part, but not vice-versa; the Metalfoes monsters' Pendulum effects will not let you search if the monster itself doesn't pop the card ( i.e. you activate it and target your other scale, but your opponent responds with MST and pops it as Chain Link 2 ), but if every piece of Metalfoes backrow is removed from your Deck before the pop resolves, your scale will still pop the card even though you can no longer perform the search. Moving back to Gallis, note that his effect mills the top card of your Deck, _then_ burns and Special Summons him; this means that even if Vanity's gets flipped in response, you still have to mill, unlike what happens with the burn part. ● "also" and "also, after that" are the most lax; as long as the effect resolves, both parts happen to the best of their ability, no matter if the other part is possible or not. Vanity's gets flipped in response to your Goblindbergh? It'll still go into Defense Position. Can't re-Set Scrap-Iron Scarecrow because it got popped by MST after you activated it? Well, you'll still get the attack negated. As you can see, each conjunction is unique in its combination of timing and how much the two parts rely on each other. Knowing this is pretty important to judge an effect properly, as a single different word can radically swing how vulnerable an effect is to disruption as well as how strong it is to disrupt plays. And, as you'd expect from Konami, they've graciously and carefully made it so that learning this in any official manner is a _complete_ pain in the ass, so don't feel too bad if you didn't know anything about this!

I'm curious how all this "if/when" stuff started, because I doubt that it was intentional.

Big Brain Cimoooooooo sharing his information this video was actually so help full. Thanks Cimoooooooo for the info!

Captions say "hey guys, it's emo here" 😂

Thank you so much for this! I’ve been EXTREMELY confused on this term, and this cleared everything up! Thanks again!

ah, the old days when I used to play chaos dragons and had to remember that lightpulsar misses when using starlight’s effect

Cimo's child's first sentence: "Chain resolves backwards"

All when’s needs to be errata’d to if’s for simplicity and not having to worry about timing in general I know it sounds petty but it will help clear everything up

This is something that's never discussed when playing casually (specifically with friends). So I know we've been playing duels incorrectly due to not applying this rule. Really appreciate this video, cat. 👍🏾

Tbh, this is actually a really good thing for me to learn because I'm starting to get into yugioh and I'm thinking about competitive wise too. I'll be doing more research about chain links and card readings like this video. I never really knew cards can miss timing based on what occurs last 😶 Thanks for the amazing video Cimo!

I still think missing the timing is still one of the dumbest things in Yugioh. You should not be able to miss the timing if you are never given the option to activate it. The cards that are stacked as part of the chain should all resolve simultaneously.

My friends: hey I wanna learn yugioh can you teach me?? Me: um...

Love this, as a player just getting back into it this is very helpful to understand Yu-Gi-Oh! Competitively 👌

seriously I'm only 30 seconds into the video but THANK YOU! I've seriously been waiting for someone to explain this forever and I know this is gonna be so helpful

Okay I realise that it's the rulings and all, but this all just seems dumb. Let's take the Enemy Controller Dupe Frog example. In my mind, the effect chain would go. Activate Enemy Controller -> Tribute Dupe Frog -> Dupe Frog searches -> Take control of the targeted monster Because that's how the effects would go, you tribute the dupe frog and it says "when" so it should force it's effect into the middle of the Enemy Controller effect because that IS when it's going to the graveyard. Same idea with the Goblinbergh Armageddon knight example. Summons Goblinbergh -> Special Summons Armageddon Knight -> Armageddon Knight dumps -> Goblinbergh switches to defence position. Maybe it's just me, but when I read a "When" in a card text to me that means it forces itself into the chain no matter what. Honestly the current system seems to just create more confusion then it's worth. I mean with how it works Dupe Frog can't really be used for anything other then like Dark Hole fodder. Because from how you explained it, even if you tribute summon with it, it would miss timing because the last thing to happen would be the tribute summoned monster entering the field. I mean I get it can add some strategy to the game, but at the same time it just makes cards that say "when" seem almost worthless. I mean why would I play a card, or deck that can have almost all of it's effects stopped by my opponent using a throw away effect? A card should never have it's effect not go off unless another card is specifically negating that cards effect. But as I said it's the rules so what I think doesn't matter. Though my idea would likely make the game a lot less confusing.

Yang Zing's mortal enemy!

This helped more when missing the timing. So many other videos just feels like they drag the video. You got to the point and gave some examples. I want to give some examples. Thank you for the help.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also found this quote from yugipedia that seems like an important note. "When a player takes an action that does not start a chain, that action is the last thing to happen. For example, setting a Spell/Trap Card, summoning a monster, or declaring an attack."

When, You Can: The bane of every player's existence since the 1990s. Fun fact. You can auto-win against a Psy-Frame deck by not activating your mandatory effects. Normal Summon and smash face vanilla beatdown style. That deck's Achilles heel is nothing happening. It's a satisfying punishment for a deck that exists solely to not let your opponent play the game.

its pretty much my least favorite feature of this game and I just cant see an upside too it.

This cleared up everything about timing for me. Thanks man, you’re the best

New yugioh player here! Crusadia being my first deck, so I was wondering about the "whens" and "ifs", Reclusia's wording made me wonder about this. This video was so helpful! Thank you! Subscribed!

Lightpulsar Dragon would be so broken with REDMD if it wouldn't miss timing. Eternal loops for Link spam, lol.

I don't know if you really did it justice though. Good for a basic idea of how it works. You missing sequential effects with the conjunction "also, after that" as well as effects with "also" and "and if you do" Should also cover how timing works works with SEGOC and building chains. For instance, the very issue that Robert Jackson has in these comments with confusion about how Torrential Tribute works if you can activate MST before TT or not.

Thanks. That was one of the few rules I was still having trouble with. You really helped me

Finally I get this mechanic! Thank you Cimooo I only just have gotten back into Yu-Gi-Oh and your videos have been SOO Helpful!

Finally one of these videos. Really needed the help. ^-^)/

Literally the whole damn Yang Zing archetype misses timing 😂 I know I play them

this is the only video I've ever watched that actually explains this properly. Most people just say "look for if and when" without explaining WHY something misses timing.

My fav video till now CIMO, probably an examples of meta decks and missing time would be nice too.

Wait a sec, you can chain MST in response to Suanni's summon and still activate TT? TT has "When" in its text, so shouldn't the last thing to occur be Suanni's summoning so it can activate? Or is it because MST hasn't resolved yet, so it's still legal to activate TT? Sorry if it's a stupid question, just trying to understand.

Gotta stop them light pulsars from going off

I can't tell you how many times the wording on cards for this issue has confused me and screwed me over in a game. This video helped so much! Thanks Cimo!! ^_^

I have watched you for a while and I quite liked your content but never was convinced enough to actually sub. This video convinced me :D I have never seen such a good explanation of this topic and since I just start my adventure with yu-gi-oh it was a great help for me :) Great work!

So what you’re telling me is MST negates the effects.

This is a very stupid and confusing rule in yugioh. Konami please remove it.

A bit late to the party but I have to say this was very helpful. In duel links I was constantly confused when some how my Yubel would miss it's timing and would really feel like I was cheated out of a win. But this .. very helpful stuff. Keep up the good work.

Awesome video Cimooo, make more videos about ygo rules like this, really helps a lot!

i mean timing in yu gi oh is very uhm weird, comign from someone who played yu gi oh then went ot magic, magics stack is far easier to understand

If I'd been given a penny for every player that said "Crooked Cook + Geartown is an OP combo"...

Thank you cimooooo you made something that is harder than the under standing of the universe seem soo easy I understood everything it was all so clear thank you again

Great guide man, you explained that in a very good way. Thanks for teaching me how this works :) That deserves a like i'd say

Gonna keep this in mind for Duel Links because any Anki hate is much appreciated. I can't stand the fact that he's able to float into himself mid-Battle-Phase and OTK out of nowhere.

"How to miss timing featuring the Yang Zings. How do you guys feel about you guys always missing the timing?" "It's BULLS***" "well there you guys go, coming up next, When is the next banlist coming?"

Ive been trying to permanently learn this ruling for YEARS thanks Cimoooooo

Holy crap! Thank God I watched this video because I didn´t know that "When" condition. You definitely get a thumbs up from me for this video.

Why am I watching this? I know it.

What a unnecessarily complex and needless mechanic. I hope other TCGs don't ever have anything this ridiculous.

ty Cimoooooooo, been waiting for such a video for a long time :D

Good video cimooo, cuz I had no idea about these so thank you for helping me out 👍

i imagine you made a follow up video on missing the timing, because the definition of missing the timing you put in the previous video was quite atrocious when considering the mindset of a new player

You need to hire a lawyer to help you play Yugioh now a days

Awesome video! I already knew some things about missing the timing, but didn't know about the "then" interaction. Like someone already suggested, it would be great to see something regarding battles, like Damage step and all those obscure sub-phases. Also, thanks KZfaq for the five (Goddamn, FIVE) ads you gave me in this video. If it wasn't for good youtubers like Cimoooooooo I would have already uninstalled the app.

Yes! This is something I could not understand for years. I've played the game casually for ages now, playing all kinds of video games mostly, and I kept seeing the phrase "Missed Timing!" pop up now and again and...it was kinda frustrating since I could never find any source that gave good examples or made it easy to understand. Even after reading the wiki page on missed timing, I thought I would put it into practice, but then cards I thought would miss timing didn't. But this made it so much easier to understand. The examples helped big time. Thanks~

as someone who enjoys yugioh content but doesn't actually play the game, this was extremely helpful in understanding some things I didn't understand before.

Please more vids explaining more mechanics like this, i mean i already had a grip on missing timing but a good refresh is always nice especially when explained so well, also for the poeple who disnt quitw get it i think it helped them out to as i mentioned this was explained so well

This is something I didn't know. Thank you a lot Cimo!!

Ah yes, the golden days of _Cimoooooooo..._ R.I.P.

This makes things soo much easier to understand... thank you!

Can't believe how much I needed this video. Thanks :D

thanks for the helpful video cimooooooooooooooo ive always struggled with this and this helped alot

Finally someone talks about this, kudos to you man great channel!

Let me make this easy for you all. The only wording that can miss timing is "When, you can" everything else doesnt miss timing. I appreciate the in-depth breakdown as someone who likes longer and more broken down videos that get into the nuances of things.

Thank you soooooooooooooooo much

Wow, I totally get it. It’s amazing imagining how much missing the timing can drastically impact gameplay.

Great video on time missing. Would love to see more of these easy to understand Videos for actions on yugioh. I, for example, would like to see a video on costs.

This is fantastic; thank you for clarifying this!

I love this video bro, totally helped me out alot.

Wow you explained it in a way that doesn't hurt my brain. Thank you

Great video. This is the best video on this topic I've seen.

Videos like these help alot, thank you Cimo

This video was well needed! Kinda now see Soul Taker as a potential problem solver especially against Altergeist

Ok, this is the first time I’m grateful I took took classical logic one semester in uni lmao. Thanks for the great explanation, makes so much sense now.

Thank you soooooo much for this video, cimo. It’s so frustrating explaining to frog players why tributing dupe frog for toadally awesome will make dupe frog miss timing

This always confused me, thanks for the clear explanation! I remember playing Naturias way back when they just came out and I never understood why Naturia Cliff doesn't trigger when I use it for synchro summon xD

Thank you so much for this video, Cimo! I've been playing this game since I was 9, and timing with effects is still something that confuses me.

I was playing Legacy of the Duelist link evolution and this prompt had come up with my Armageddon Knight. In 20 years I have never seen this ruling come up, either digitally or in real life (mind you I'm not a pro or competitive, just a casual). Thank you for making this easy to understand. 👍

Informational, I didn't know some of this stuff. Good breakdown.