Mist Valley Thunderbird Ruling

An update to the ruling page of Mist Valley Thunderbird in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Database.

Source: 遊戯王 カードデータベース (Wayback Machine)

• When a face-up “Mist Valley Thunderbird” in the Monster Zone returns to the hand is a mandatory effect. (This effect does not target. It will also activate during the Damage Step.)

Source: 遊戯王 カードデータベース

• When a face-up “Mist Valley Thunderbird” on the field returns to the hand is a mandatory effect. (This effect does not target. It will also activate during the Damage Step.)

The release of Union Carrier and Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty in LINK VRAINS Pack 3 enabled an easy method to bring out both Mist Valley Thunderbird and Mist Valley Apex Avian.

Union Carrier ① effect will target Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty and then equip Mist Valley Thunderbird from deck or hand to it. Then during the End Phase, Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty ③ effect will Special Summon Mist Valley Apex Avian from deck or hand.

However, there was still an air of doubt over whether Mist Valley Thunderbird‘s Trigger Effect would activate when returned to hand from the Spell/Trap Zone.

In the official Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Database, the original ruling dated 2 November 2017 specified that Mist Valley Thunderbird has to be face-up in the Monster Zone.

This entry was changed on 28 November 2019 to state that Mist Valley Thunderbird just has to be face-up on the field for its Trigger Effect to activate.

This update confirmed that using Union Carrier is a legit method to setup the Mist Valley Apex Avian and Mist Valley Thunderbird loop.

Lunalight has the ability to bring out Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty with the help of Raidraptor and Blackwing, thus they could include Mist Valley Apex Avian and Mist Valley Thunderbird in their opening setup. While the infinite negate is enticing, this setup requires running 2 Mist Valley cards in the deck which are potential opening bricks.

Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds, on the other hand, might be a might safer choice since it is only 1 card, and has the ability to stop all Kaiju except Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju.

But no matter the Mist Valley setup or the Barrier Statue setup, Dark Ruler No More will simply negate all their effects. Dark Ruler No More might be worth a consideration in the Side Deck if Lunalight becomes a threat.