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The Problem with PSCT

 

As I'm sure you're aware, cards have changed to have what is intended to be a more clearly written way to explain how each card works. The irony is that over the years, this has actually become more and more problematic. Effects are now so long that PSCT is basically irrelevant now, and don't get me started on changing Graveyard to GY. It's gotten to the point where the text itself is scunched sideways just to make all 10+ lines of text fit, and half of those are side-effects. This is especially an issue with Pendulum Monsters, which already have two separate boxes for multiple effects each and their side-effects. Plus, they generally have a minimum of 4 total Monster Types. If you've been living under a rock during this time, let me share an example from "Legendary Duelists: Soulburning Volcano" (LD10-EN035 specifically):

3 Level 5 monsters
Gains 200 ATK for each material attached to it. Once per turn, when your opponent would Special Summon a monster(s) (Quick Effect): You can detach 2 materials from this card, and if you do, negate the Summon, and if you do that, destroy that monster(s). If this card has "Number 79: Battlin' Boxer Nova Kaiser" as material, it gains this effect.
● Once per turn, when an attack is declared involving your "Battlin' Boxer" monster and an opponent's monster: You can send 1 "Battlin' Boxer" monster from your hand or Deck to the GY, and if you do, attach that opponent's monster to this card as material.


Granted, there's a bulleted effect mixed in, but it's not changing much at all. There's still about 7 lines of text that offers pretty much nothing useful. Dark World monsters used to be clear and concise back when they were first released. Now they say along the lines of "if this card is discarded by an effect, if this card is discarded by an opponent's effect", which is clunky and confusing.

Fixing PSCT
1. Reduce the number of side-effects. The biggest offenders of the side-effects are "You can only use this/each effect of "(card name)" once per turn.", which is pretty much used on every card these days.
2. Change GY to Grave. It may be 3 times longer, but it's much clearer, especially for kids and a term that was already applied in the anime. No explanation would've been needed. Heck, you wouldn't have even needed to put "Graveyard" in parenthesis on game mats either. Plus, it's still short enough that you won't have to bump the word down a line in the effects.