Greetings, everyone! This is Tarou Kageyama, Development Producer of FF-TCG. For this second “From the Producer Special” column article, I was planning to write about elements, but from right after the release of Opus XI, I’ve been receiving a tremendous amount of questions regarding a certain card, so I was thinking I would need to explain about it in detail at one point. As such, I would like to write about this certain card this time around.

Some of you with good instincts probably already know which card I am talking about; it’s Gentiana [11-033R]. The text on the card is quite straightforward, and there seems to be no issues at first glance. But when certain conditions are met, it turns into a very complex card – one that’s more complex than anything we’ve seen before. Especially when both you and your opponent control Gentiana [11-033R], things tend to get complicated. In order to alleviate some of the confusion in those circumstances, I’d like to explain with actual examples. Please take a look.

■ Which one loses its abilities?

First and foremost, let’s go over the problems that could arise in the aforementioned situation in which both of the players control Gentiana [11-033R].

Example 1: When Gentiana [11-033R] uses its own action ability to dull the other Gentiana [11-033R]

Gentiana [11-033R] has an ability that is activated upon dulling itself, which reads, “Choose 1 Forward. Dull it.” I probably don’t need to explain that this is a straightforward ability that allows the player to effectively utilize its other ability – a field ability – that reads, “The dull Forwards opponent controls lose their abilities.” But if you use the action ability on a Gentiana [11-033R] that the opponent controls, things suddenly get complicated. Both cards consequently become dull, but which of the two Gentianas [11-033R] would lose its abilities? Let’s take a closer look. To make things easier, let’s call the Gentiana [11-033R] that you control Gentiana A, and your opponent’s as Gentiana B.

When Gentiana A uses its action ability to try to dull Gentiana B, Gentiana A is dulled as part of the cost. At this point, A becomes dulled, so it loses all its abilities due to the effect of B’s field ability. Then, due to the action ability effect of A, which is on your stack, B would become dulled, but since A has already lost all its abilities, B would not lose its abilities – only A would. But if A becomes active first, it would regain its abilities so it would now be B, which is dulled, that loses its abilities.

Example 2: When multiple Gentianas [11-033R] are dulled simultaneously

Next, let’s look at a situation in which multiple Gentianas [11-033R] are dulled at the same time. For example, there are cards like Cloud of Darkness [10-028L] that can dull multiple Forwards at once. For Example 1, it’s not too complicated if you think about it one step at a time, but this one is quite tricky. At first glance, it seems both cards would lose their abilities, but if so, the effect that took away their abilities would become invalid, in which case, both cards would regain their abilities. But if that happens, they will lose their abilities again from the effect of each other’s ability... and so, a never-ending loop begins. In this instance, you would need to check which Gentiana [11-033R] was placed on the field first (we refer to this as time stamps). The ability effects of the Gentiana [11-033R] that was placed on the field first are prioritized, so the other Gentiana [11-033R] loses its abilities. Players who use Gentiana [11-033R] should keep in mind which Gentiana [11-033R] was placed on the field first if their opponent uses the card as well.

As a next-level situation, let’s look at what would happen if your Gentiana [11-033R] and your opponent’s were placed on the field at the same time – in other words, a situation in which it’s not possible to select which one entered the field first. This doesn’t happen often, but it is possible for these two cards to enter the field at the same time by using abilities by such cards as Ultimecia [9-102H]. In these circumstances, the player whose turn it is when the cards enter the field (aka, the turn player), can decide which Gentiana [11-033R] and its abilities will be prioritized, and that will be effective moving forward. I’m afraid I posted an incorrect response regarding this matter on Twitter previously, but please be noted that this is the correct way to handle the situation.

■ Interactions with other cards

Up to this point, I’ve only introduced interactions between two Gentianas [11-033R], but let me resolve some of the questions that could arise in relation to other cards. First, let’s take a look at when it is paired with Ultimecia [1-152L]. Ultimecia [1-152L] enforces Forwards to be dulled when they enter the field. So, what happens when you control both Gentiana [11-033R] and Ultimecia [1-152L], and your opponent plays a Forward onto the field, specifically one that has an auto-ability that is activated when entering the field? The answer is: nothing will happen. The ability will not be activated. The Forward will be effected by Gentiana [11-033R]’s ability and will enter the field with no abilities at all.

Next, let me explain about interactions between Gentiana [11-033R] and such Monsters as Coeurl [11-029C], which have the ability to continuously be a Forward. Coeurl [11-029C] has an ability that reads, “During your turn, Coeurl also becomes a Forward with 7000 power.” When your opponent controls Gentiana [11-033R] when your Coeurl [11-029C] attacks, your Coeurl [11-029C] loses its abilities since it will be dulled. In that case, it returns to a Monster, at which point its abilities come back, thus making it a Forward again. But once it’s a Forward, it loses its abilities... and so, the cycle like the one I mentioned earlier begins again. In this case, the situation is a bit different. Gentiana [11-033R]’s ability is always prioritized, so Coeurl [11-029C] becomes a Monster who has lost its abilities. The reasoning behind this is that if there are cards with continuous abilities that affect each other, abilities that have the power to change the context of what’s written on a card will be prioritized.

I can’t say for certain that this is always the case, but in general, if there is a card whose abilities seem like they would clash with those of Gentiana [11-033R], please keep in mind that Gentiana [11-033R]’s abilities tend to be prioritized.

This ended up being a rather unique column article, but I hope it was somewhat helpful for you all. Next time, I would like to write about how we choose which element to assign to each of the cards. See you then!