Useful Rulings and Game Mechanics #1: Effects Vs. Costs, Chains and SEGOC

I said in the other post, rule n.7 to be precise, the importance of rulings. Well, I'm now going to explain some useful rulings, I applied them in a lot of duels. Let's start.

Effects Vs. Costs, How are they different one from the other?
Basically effects are applied during the resolution of a card, while costs are paid at the activation of the card, reason why a negated Solemn Judgment will make you pay half of your life points no matter.
I said this first because this will be helpful in pretty much every ruling or to understand some game mechanics, like the one that will follow.

Chains, What are they? How do they work?
A chain is formed when 2 or more effects are chained one at the other, so when one is activated following another one. When a card is activated in a chain, it is considered a Chain Link, they are numbered and they resolve backward. Some things happens while resolving a card effect, so while resolving the chain, others happens while paying the cost, so while activating the card.
Example: I activate Enemy Controller, for his cost I tribute my Treeborn Frog and select my opponent's Inzektor Centipede, then my opponent activates Call of the Haunted. Now Chain Link 1 is Enemy Controller, Chain Link 2 is Call of the Haunted. Resolving backwards your will first SS his selected monster and then your E-Con will take control of your opponent's centipede.
You can't absolutely take control of the monster reborned with Cal of the Haunted because you selected the monster you wanted to take during the activation of your card.
In the meta before this there was a combo used by pretty much everyone, Trap Dustshoot+Mind Crush, it basically let you watch your opponent's hand, send back a card and then discard one or more of them (if they had multiple copies of a card in their hand. There was a question that a lot of newbies asked, "Is it possible to chain one to the other to let the combo work?". The answer obviously is no. Why? Mind Crush asks you what card you want to check during the activation of the card, while Trap Dustshoot's show effect works during resolution, not lettin' you never watching opponent's hand before saying what card to discard.

SEGOC, What does it stands for? What is it?
SEGOC, Simultaneous Effects Go On Chain. You could have guessed by the name what it is, basically, if 2 or more effects activates at the same time they form a chain and no one lose timing, they go on chain following some rules and the others are choosed in which order they should activate.
The rule that rules the order is: (taken from Yugioh Wikia)

1. Turn Player's Mandatory Effects
2. Non-Turn Player's Mandatory Effects
3. Turn Player's Optional Effects
4. Non-Turn Player's Optional Effects

What happens if a player has 2 or more effects of the same type? Simple, that player choose the order they activate. You're thinking (if you're new to this rule) "how could this help me? It won't help me, of course". Well, you're wrong. Let's examine 2 cards and an Archetype:

Activate only when your opponent Summons a monster(s) with 1500 or more ATK. Destroy and remove from play the monster(s).

When a monster would be Summoned, OR when a Spell Card, Trap Card or Effect Monster's effect is activated that includes an effect that Special Summons a monster(s): Pay 2000 Life Points; negate the Summon OR activation, and destroy that card.

What does these 2 cards have to do with us right now? Well, let's examine some rulings that we are interested in, first.

BTH's effect says clearly that you can activate that card when a monster is succesfully summoned, this means that you need to activate this card right after the chain ends, and only if the monster you want to remove was Chain Link 1.

Being Solemn Warning a counter trap, it needs to be activated directly after the card you want to stop, meaning that if the card you want to stop is chain link 2, this card must be chain link 3, no more, no less.

Well, the archetype that helps explaining this the best is Dark World. They have Optional effect but no one of them can lose the timing because of che "If...You can" part. Let's take in consideration a lucky hand:

Card Destruction, Sillva, Goldd, Grapha, Broww and Snow. Opponent's has 2 face down cards, let's assume they are a Solemn Warning and a Bottomless Trap Hole, and we know that for some reason. What would you do now? We'll activate Card Destruction and blow-up our own ad our opponent's hand to draw. Then all of your monster's effect activate, and, following SEGOC, you can choose in which order they can activate. Possibilities are 24 (if I'm not wrong), and they may seem all the same at your eyes, but that isn't true. Let's take in consideration 2 facts:

-We need to search with snow first and then to draw with broww, no matter when they activate, important thing is that they do that in this order;

-We need to avoid those two set cards.

Let's think. First point isn't hard to achieve, we just need to put Snow in an higher Chain Link than Broww, so that reslving backward we'll first search and then draw, but for the second one? Simple, we just need not to put any of the monster that summon themself in chain link 1 or 5 and we are done.

Possibilities are lower right now, they are 6 and no one of them will affect your game at all.

I would apply this: 

CL1 Broww

CL2 Grapha

CL3 Goldd

CL4 Sillva

CL5 Snow

Well, this was a wall of text, hope I lightened it with these 2 images. I liked this post, it helps me remember some rules that I usually forget but that could have helped me a lot sometimes, so I think I'll continue doing things like this.