How it works#
When several trigger effects meet their timing simultaneously, they do not go on the chain in whatever order players fancy. They are placed in this order:
- Turn player's mandatory effects
- Non-turn player's mandatory effects
- Turn player's optional effects
- Non-turn player's optional effects
Within each of those four groups, the owner of the effects chooses the internal order. Once the starting chain is built this way, players may then respond to it normally.
Remember that the chain resolves backwards. An effect placed later in the SEGOC order resolves earlier.
Worked example#
A board wipe destroys monsters belonging to both players at once. The turn player has a mandatory "if this card is destroyed" trigger; the non-turn player has an optional "you can" trigger.
The turn player's mandatory effect becomes Chain Link 1. The non-turn player's optional effect becomes Chain Link 2.
Resolution runs backwards: the non-turn player's optional effect resolves first, and the turn player's mandatory effect — placed at the bottom — resolves last.
Common misconceptions#
Doesn't the turn player get to go first?#
They go first in building the chain, which means they resolve last. Because chains resolve in reverse, being placed at Chain Link 1 is usually the worse position. Priority in chain building is not priority in resolution.
Do optional effects ever beat mandatory ones onto the chain?#
No. All mandatory effects are placed before any optional ones, regardless of who controls them. A non-turn player's mandatory effect goes on the chain before the turn player's optional effect.
Does SEGOC apply to every chain?#
No. SEGOC only governs how the initial chain is assembled when multiple triggers meet timing at once. Everything after that follows ordinary chain rules.
Are effects that missed the timing included?#
No. An optional effect that missed its timing never gets onto the chain at all, so SEGOC never considers it.
Interactions and rulings#
- If a player has several effects in the same SEGOC group, they choose the order among their own effects only.
- SEGOC is why simultaneous destruction so often favours the non-turn player: their triggers resolve before the turn player's.
- A trigger that meets its condition one instant later is not simultaneous and forms its own chain afterwards.