How it works#
- A player activates a card or effect. It becomes Chain Link 1.
- The opponent may respond with an effect of equal or higher Spell Speed. It becomes Chain Link 2.
- Players continue alternating until both decline to respond.
- The chain then resolves backwards — highest Chain Link first, Chain Link 1 last.
Responding only works because of this order. Your negate resolves before the card it is negating, because it was added to the chain later.
Worked example#
Your opponent activates Pot of Greed. It becomes Chain Link 1.
You respond with Solemn Judgment, paying half your Life Points. It becomes Chain Link 2. (Ash Blossom is no use here: it answers effects that search, mill or Special Summon from the Deck, and drawing is none of those.)
Resolution runs backwards. Chain Link 2 goes first, so Solemn Judgment negates the activation of Pot of Greed and destroys it. Chain Link 1 is then negated and your opponent draws nothing.
Note that Solemn Judgment could not have been played the other way round. It negates the activation of a card, so it needs something already on the chain to answer. No negate in the game works pre-emptively, and the resolution order is why: a negate has to sit above its target to resolve ahead of it.
Common misconceptions#
Do effects resolve in the order they were activated?#
No, the exact opposite. Chains resolve from the last link back to the first. Newcomers routinely misread a board because they read the chain top to bottom in activation order.
Can you always respond to something?#
No. You need an effect whose Spell Speed is equal to or higher than the current Chain Link, and Spell Speed 1 effects can never be added to a chain in response to anything. That is why Normal Spells cannot be used reactively.
Does each chain link resolve fully before the next one starts?#
Yes. Each link resolves completely, then the next resolves. Cards drawn or summoned by Chain Link 3 are on the field and available before Chain Link 2 resolves.
If Chain Link 1 is negated, does the rest of the chain still resolve?#
Yes. Negating one link does not unwind the others. Every remaining link still resolves in order, though some may fizzle if what they needed is gone.
Interactions and rulings#
- A chain link whose target has left the field, or whose conditions are no longer met, fizzles — it resolves without doing anything.
- Costs are paid when the effect is added to the chain, not when it resolves. A discarded card is already in the graveyard while the chain is still building.
- Effects that "cannot be responded to", such as Super Polymerization, form a chain that the opponent is barred from adding to.