Card Tips talk:Imperial Custom

Question 1: Well, simply put, I wonder about Trap Cards with text that states that you need to pay life points to keep it on the field, otherwise it is destroyed, (i.e. Mirror Wall) If you choose not to pay the cost and the card would get destroyed, technically the effect of Customs of the Imperial Court would activate, preventing its' destruction. The only reason this would work is due to the way the text on the card reads "if you do not, destroy this card." Thus you would be able to get away with using very good continuous Traps without having to pay for them.

I'm gonna try and make sense of this.

1. Mirror Wall's effect activates at the start of the Standby Phase, requiring the player to pay a cost to keep the card on the field.

2. The player chooses not to pay the cost, therefore Mirror Wall's effect activates, which would destroy the card.

3. Customs of the Imperial Court is active already, preventing the destruction of Trap Cards on the player's side of the field.

4. Customs of the Imperial Court activates, preventing Mirror Wall's effect of destroying itself. Mirror Wall misses the timing, so the effect to pay a cost does not activate again (or at least the time for paying a cost passes after the cost is refused).

5. This means the player does not need to pay a cost for Mirror Wall (or any other cost-necessary Traps) from this point forth due to Customs of the Imperial Court

Now then, does this work as stated above, or is the card Mirror Wall destroyed regardless?

Point 1: In either case, since Continuous Traps can't be destroyed, the obvious problem becomes the fact that your field gets flooded with Continuous Traps. They are prevented from destruction regardless of whether or not the effect targets the trap. The solution becomes cards with effects that return ANY card (particularly Traps) to the owner's hand. Giant Trunade is a good card to have in a situation like this, provided a space was left open. Most monster cards with effects such as this only target the opponent, such as Trap Eater or Nightmare Penguin (these kind of cards actually become useful against an opponent using this card). Long story short, if you are going to use this card, be careful how many zones you fill with Continuous Traps.

Nekoyuki 03:03, 11 February 2009 (UTC)