Shield Trigger

“

Let's put more than 8 triggers in the deck!
If you do that, the shield trigger rate will skyrocket!

”

Template:Infobox Keyword Shield Trigger is an evergreen keyword shared among each of the 5 monocolored civilizations and Zero.

Details

While the ability was originally featured only on spells, it was later introduced on creatures in DM-04. It enables a spell to be cast or a creature to be summoned for no cost if they are returned to your hand while previously a shield in your shield zone. This enables a game to easily be reversed with a card, such as a DNA Spark disabling any more of your opponent's creatures from attacking and also disabling the opponent's creatures from the battle zone from blocking your next attack, or a Terror Pit removing your opponent's major threat, such as a fatty creature. Triggering Shield Triggers is one of the reversal and risk factors in Duel Masters, as it enables the opponent to act in a turn where he usually cannot do anything at all.

Cards with the shield trigger ability tend to be more expensive in mana cost than their regular counterparts (Such as a creature having a power to cost ratio of 5 to 1000 or a spell costing 6 or 7). Due to this factor, Quasi-Vanilla creatures with Shield Trigger are often considered among one of the worst creatures in the entire game due to them having an heavily imbalanced cost to power ratio as well as bringing no direct advantage other than potentially being summoned for no cost.

As creatures with Shield Trigger are being summoned into the battle zone instead of being "put", if a creature with a ”When you summon this creature” effect is put into the battle zone via Shield Trigger, the effect will trigger.

A creature such as Heavy Death Metal, End of the Century which can only be summoned can be put into the battle zone like normal this way. Vice Versa, if an ability prevents you from summoning a creature or casting a spell, you can't use the shield trigger abilities of those respective card types.

The Cross Gear card type has a variant known as Shield Trigger Cross which allows the Cross Gear can be Generated into the battle zone and crossed for no cost.

Probability Table

The below table illustrates the chance of seeing a card that has "Shield Trigger" as one of your 5 shields when they are broken, based on the number of cards with the ability in your deck.

	5:	4:	3:	2:	1:	0:	Ratio:
40	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	5.0
39	87.5%	12.5%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	4.9
38	76.3%	22.4%	1.3%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	4.8
37	66.2%	30.1%	3.5%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%	4.6
36	57.3%	35.8%	6.5%	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%	4.5
35	49.3%	39.8%	9.9%	0.9%	0.0%	0.0%	4.4
34	42.3%	42.3%	13.6%	1.7%	0.1%	0.0%	4.3
33	36.1%	43.5%	17.4%	2.8%	0.2%	0.0%	4.1
32	30.6%	43.7%	21.1%	4.2%	0.3%	0.0%	4.0
31	25.8%	43.0%	24.6%	5.9%	0.6%	0.0%	3.9
30	21.7%	41.6%	27.8%	7.9%	1.0%	0.0%	3.8
29	18.0%	39.7%	30.5%	10.2%	1.5%	0.1%	3.6
28	14.9%	37.3%	32.9%	12.6%	2.1%	0.1%	3.5
27	12.3%	34.7%	34.7%	15.3%	2.9%	0.2%	3.4
26	10.0%	31.8%	36.0%	18.0%	4.0%	0.3%	3.3
25	8.1%	28.8%	36.7%	20.7%	5.2%	0.5%	3.1
24	6.5%	25.8%	36.9%	23.5%	6.6%	0.7%	3.0
23	5.1%	22.9%	36.6%	26.1%	8.3%	0.9%	2.9
22	4.0%	20.0%	35.8%	28.6%	10.2%	1.3%	2.8
21	3.1%	17.3%	34.6%	30.9%	12.4%	1.8%	2.6
20	2.4%	14.7%	32.9%	32.9%	14.7%	2.4%	2.5
19	1.8%	12.4%	30.9%	34.6%	34.6%	3.1%	2.4
18	1.3%	10.2%	28.6%	35.8%	20.0%	4.0%	2.3
17	0.9%	8.3%	26.1%	36.6%	22.9%	5.1%	2.1
16	0.7%	6.6%	23.5%	36.9%	25.8%	6.5%	2.0
15	0.5%	5.2%	20.7%	36.7%	28.8%	8.1%	1.9
14	0.3%	4.0%	18.0%	36.0%	31.8%	10.0%	1.8
13	0.2%	2.9%	15.3%	34.7%	34.7%	12.3%	1.6
12	0.1%	2.1%	12.6%	32.9%	37.3%	14.9%	1.5
11	0.1%	1.5%	10.2%	30.5%	39.7%	18.0%	1.4
10	0.0%	1.0%	7.9%	27.8%	41.6%	21.7%	1.3
9	0.0%	0.6%	5.9%	24.6%	43.0%	25.8%	1.1
8	0.0%	0.3%	4.2%	21.1%	43.7%	30.6%	1.0
7	0.0%	0.2%	2.8%	17.4%	43.5%	36.1%	0.9
6	0.0%	0.1%	1.7%	13.6%	42.3%	42.3%	0.8
5	0.0%	0.0%	0.9%	9.9%	39.8%	49.3%	0.6
4	0.0%	0.0%	0.4%	6.5%	35.8%	57.3%	0.5
3	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%	3.5%	30.1%	66.2%	0.4
2	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	1.3%	22.4%	76.3%	0.3
1	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	12.5%	87.5%	0.1
0	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%	0

Reminder Text

The latest reminder text for creatures that have Shield Trigger reads; Template:Keyword Reminder The latest reminder text for spells that have Shield Trigger reads; Template:Keyword Reminder

Example

6 Holy Awe
File:HolyAwe.jpg
/ Spell
Shield trigger (When this spell is put into your hand from your shield zone, you may cast it immediately for no cost.) ■ Tap all your opponent's creatures in the battle zone.

Cards with the Shield Trigger ability

Creatures

Evolution Creatures

Spells

D2 Fields

Cards that give creatures the Shield Trigger ability

Support

Support Creature:	Card Effect:
El Dorado, Spirit of Taiga	■ Whenever a creature is attacking you and isn't blocked, draw a card. Then, you may cast a spell that has shield trigger for no cost or summon a creature that has shield trigger for no cost.
Elsar Baltis, Emperor of Spirits	■ Whenever your opponent uses one of his shields shield trigger abilities, search your deck. You may take a spell that has shield trigger from it, then shuffle your deck. You may cast that spell for no cost.
Marianna, Light Weapon	■ Accelerator—Whenever this creature attacks, search your deck. You may take a spell that has shield trigger from your deck and after you shuffle your deck, you may cast that spell for no cost.
Ulpheus, Dragonic Spirit	■ When you put this creature into the battle zone, if you have at least one Dragon or Angel Command in your graveyard, you may cast a spell that has shield trigger from your hand for no cost.
Ultimus, Spirit of Divine Law	■ When this creature is destroyed, search your deck. You may take a spell that has shield trigger from your deck, show it to your opponent, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your deck.

Rulings

Q: If I summon a creature with Shield Trigger that also has File:Blockericon.jpg Blocker, can that creature block on that turn?
- A: Yes. The game action of Blocking isn't affected by Summoning Sickness.
Q: If a creature can attack untapped creatures, can it attack a creature that is summoned by Shield Trigger?
- A: Yes, a creature summoned by Shield Trigger is just like any other creature.

Related Categories

For cards that give your shields the Shield Trigger ability, see here.

Template:Keywords