Talk:Double Loss/@comment-26078124-20170312182302/@comment-26290163-20170312202830

Devil's lawyer is right. You wouldn't be able to use it on monsters without soul if it had “conditional” language like "if you do". The key is whether they use wording like “and”

A card that shows this limitation well would be Secret Sword, Starlight



"[Counter] Destroy a size 2 or less monster, or an item on your opponent's field. If you do, deal 2 damage to your opponent!!"

In this case, in order to deal 2 damage to your opponent, you must meet the “condition” of destroying a size 2 or less monster or an item. Note the: "If you do".



However, "If you do" does not always disqualify you from using only one of the abilities of a card. For instance, with Execute Sword, Tragedy, it says:

"During your turn, destroy a monster on your field. If you do, [Stand] this card. You may only use this ability once per turn."



A friend of mine was planning on using this in an Ein deck for Regionals a year ago to destroy Azi on his turn if needed, but with the wording, wasn't sure if he'd be allowed to "destroy a monster", since his weapon would already be standing in the Main Phase.



Just to make sure he could add it to the deck, I asked someone I'd befriended at Bushiroad, and they gave the typical answer, which is to "resolve the ability to the furthest point you can." So, he destroyed Azi, but since his weapon was already standing, it resolved there, regardless of the "If you do."



Chances are, if they use the word “then”, they’ve probably said “if you do” as well. Basically, it’s all in the wording. Hope I didn’t confuse matters more. I wrote extensively about this at one point, using email correspondence from Bushiroad, but can’t remember where just now.