Chain A Chain ( Japanese : チェーン " Chēn " ) is a that determines the order of resolution of activated cards and effect s . Cards and effects go on a Chain if and only if they activate . Chains are used when a card or effect is activate d before another activated card or effect resolve s . Each player has the opportunity to respond to each activation by activating another card or effect . Each activation is placed on the Chain as a Chain Link , with the first activation being Chain Link 1 . Players follow Fast Effect Timing rules when adding effects to the chain . If neither player responds to the most recent Chain Link , the Chain resolves , with Chain Links resolving in the opposite order to which they were activated in . Cards and effects can only be added to a Chain while it is being constructed . Once a Chain starts to resolve , cards and effects cannot be activated until the entire Chain has resolved . Starting a Chain . Usually , the turn player has the right to start any Chain at any time during his or her turn . However , this right will pass to the opponent under the following circumstances : Building a Chain . The card or effect that started the Chain ( the first card or effect to be activated ) is Chain Link 1 ( チェーン１ " Chēn Ichi " " Chain 1 " ) . The next is Chain Link 2 ( チェーン２ " Chēn Ni " " Chain 2 " ) , with each additional Chain Link being numbered incrementally , with these numbers corresponding to when it was activated relative to the other Chain Links . Cards and effects can only be activated as a Chain Link 2 or higher if they have an equal or greater Spell Speed than the previous Chain Link . Spell Speed 1 effects cannot be activated as a Chain Link 2 or higher , except for Trigger and Trigger - like effects if they triggered simultaneously ; in this case , they must be placed on the Chain first before either player has the opportunity to activate fast effect s . New Chain Links are activated in response to both the most recent activation ( the immediately previous Chain Link ) and the event which Chain Link 1 is responding to . After placing all Spell Speed 1 effects on the Chain , or after any fast effect activation , the player who did not add the last current Chain Link on the Chain has the right add a new one or pass to their opponent . If their opponent then declines to add to the Chain , the Chain is now complete . Cards and effects cannot be resolved until the Chain is complete . Resolving a Chain . Once both players have decided not to add to the Chain , the Chain is completed . At this time , the Chain is resolved , starting with the card or effect which was activated most recently ( the highest Chain Link ) . Each card in the Chain is then resolved until Chain Link 1 resolves . Cards and effects cannot be activated while the Chain is resolving . Once the entire Chain resolves , if any of the following cards have not yet been moved to another location , they will be sent to the Graveyard . ( This is considered to happen simultaneously with the last part of the resolution of the effect of the last Chain Link that resolved ) . Example . The Chain is resolved in reverse activation order , starting with the last card that was activated .