Negate Negate ( Japanese : ( ) " Mukō ( ka ) " ) is a term that refers to stopping an action from being performed successfully or nullifying a card effect . Actions that can be negated include card and effect activation s , Summon s , and attack s . Activation . To negate the activation of a card or effect is to cause it to not resolve after being activated . An activation can only be negated by a card effect that specifically uses the term " negate " . If the activation of a Spell or Trap Card is negated , that card is sent to the Graveyard after the entire Chain it was activated in resolves if it has not already been moved somewhere , but it is not treated as being sent from the field . If the activation of a card effect is negated , that card remains in its current location unless a card effect specifies otherwise ( such as " Divine Wrath " specifying that the monster is destroy ed ) . If the activation of a card or effect is negated , because it does not resolve , the most previous Chain Link is considered the last thing to happen instead ( for the purposes of missing the timing ) . Destroy ing a card is distinct from negating its effect ; even if a card is destroyed , its activated effect can still resolve . For example , when a player activates " Dark Hole " and the other player Chain s " Mystical Space Typhoon " target ing " Dark Hole " , it will destroy " Dark Hole " , but " Dark Hole " will still resolve , so the monsters are still destroyed . If a card or effect has a restriction on how often it can be activated , the specific wording of the restriction affects affects whether negated activations count towards this limit . Effect . To negate an effect is to prevent it from being applied . A card effect can only be negated by a card effect that specifically uses the term " negate " . If Continuous Effect s or Unclassified Effect s are negated , they simply no longer apply . If an effect that makes a Chain Link is negated , it resolve s without effect . However , this does not prevent these effects from being activated . For example , even if the effect of " Cannon Soldier " is negated by " Effect Veiler " , it can still be activated by Tributing a monster , but its effect will be negated when it resolves and the opponent will take no damage . Because " Starlight Road " only negates card effects and not activations , cards and effects that would respond to the Summon of " Stardust Dragon " miss the timing , as the card or effect that " Starlight Road " negated resolves ( with its effect negated ) strictly after " Stardust Dragon " is Summoned . Summon . To negate a Summon is to prevent a monster from being successfully Summoned . A Summon can only be negated by a card effect that specifically uses the term " negate " . Only Summons that occur outside of a Chain can be negated , and even then only built - in Special Summons and Summons by game mechanics ( Normal Summon s , Flip Summon s , Synchro Summon s , Xyz Summon s , Pendulum Summon s , Link Summon s ) can be negated . Many card effects that cause a player to perform a Summon by game mechanics specify that the Summon is performed " immediately after this card / effect resolves " to clarify that the Summon occurs outside of the resolution of an effect , so if that card or effect resolves as Chain Link 1 the Summon can be negated . For example , the Normal Summon of a monster with " Ultimate Offering " cannot be negated if it was activated as Chain Link 2 or higher ( as the monster is Summoned in the middle of a Chain ) , but it can be negated if " Ultimate Offering " is activated as Chain Link 1 ( as the monster is Summoned immediately after the effect of " Ultimate Offering " resolves ) . A negated Normal Summon still counts as the one Normal Summon / Set per turn , and a negated Pendulum Summon still counts as the one Pendulum Summon per turn . If a monster can only be Summoned once per turn in a particular way , even if that Summon is negated it cannot be Summoned again in that way that turn . If the Summon of a monster ( s ) is negated , that monster ( s ) are not considered to have been on the field at the time its Summon was negated ( even if it is being Flip Summon ed or is a Gemini monster being Normal Summon ed again ) . ( For example , if a monster ' s Summon is negated by " Forced Back " while " Degenerate Circuit " is active , that monster is return ed to its owner ' s hand and not banish ed , because it was not considered to be on the field . ) If a Summon is negated , the monster was not successfully Summoned , so Special Summon - only monster s cannot be Special Summoned by effects other than their specified method . Attack . To negate an attack is to stop a battle from taking place after an attack has been declare d . An attack can only be negated by a card effect that specifically uses the term " negate " . An attack can only be negated during the Battle Step , and if it is negated , the Damage Step does not occur . Even if an attack is negated , that monster is still considered to have declared an attack that turn , so it cannot declare another attack and cannot change its battle position in Main Phase 2 . Cards such as " Mirror Force " and " Dimensional Prison " do not negate attacks ; instead , the attacking monster leaves the field during the Battle Step and the attack ends ; if the monster does not leave the field , the attack continues . For example , if " Total Defense Shogun " attacks while in Defense Position and the opponent activates " Mirror Force " , the attack continues as " Total Defense Shogun " is still on the field . Likewise , even if an attacking monster is banished by " Dimensional Prison " , " Counterforce " cannot be activated because its attack was not negated .