Chaos to Order: Voiding

 I've already typed a preface in the Digivolving article which I suggest you read before reading this article (it's relevant).

 To start this article off, I'd like to refer to some Q&A from Gumby's spoilers that's relevant to the definition of 'voiding'....

According to the file DB-Bandai_Answers-Jayzhee:

*****

5. Define "void." Does a voided card go offline?

A. "Void" is to void the effect only, not send the card to Offline.

*****

And file DB-Bandai_Answers-Gumby:

*****
 
6) St-149 Effect P states the following: "Send an opponent's Power Option
card Offline." Is the effect of the Power Option card sent Offline
considered voided, despite it not being specifically mentioned on Effect P?
For example, my opponent plays Bo-104 Black Gears.  If I play Effect P on
it, does the +100 Digimon Power the Gears grant go away? What happens if I
wish to Effect P my opponent's Crest Tag or Ultra Digivolve during the
Digivolve Phase? Does the effect of those cards still go through?

A6) Basically Power Option card is only used during Attack Phase unless
stated on the card.  Sending Offline is equal to voiding.

*****

 Now this tells me that 'void' means to void the effect only and that sending a card Offline is equal to voiding it. Now we come to the definition of 'void'. From what I have figured out, 'void' basically means 'stop'. How did I come to this conclusion? Well, it'd take to long to tell you that here, but would it realy matter how I got to that conclusion as long as the definition works? I think not. In any case, voiding a card basically means to stop it's effect. Therefore, once the effect of a card is finished, it wouldn't realy matter whether it's voided or not because the effect wouldn't be active anyway. This is especially significant for cards like Digivices that have a definite time frame to their effect -from the time the Digivolution starts to the time it ends.

 Now you may be wondering, 'what actually happens to a card once it's voided?' Simply put, the effects of the card would stop. And, of course, a card is no longer effective if it's Offline. Keep this in mind for the rest of the article.

 In the last article we went through A. SET-UP and B. DIGIVOLVE; this time we're going to go through C. BATTLE:

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C. BATTLE

 Starting with the winner of the coin toss, players take turns playing POWER OPTION cards on the POWER PORT, one card per turn. Each POWER OPTION card has an EFFECT that you can use to try for an advantage over your opponent. Some Power Option cards have Use Requirements attached to their Effect. You must complete these Use Requirements as part of your turn for the effect to come into play. Keep track of how the dueling Digimon's relative strength changes with each card played, as shown by comparing DIGIMON POWER.

 Continue taking turns until a player runs out of Power Option cards to play, or decides to stop playing them, and says "Pass." The other player may continue to play Power Option cards until he or she runs out of cards or decides to stop.

 When the play stops, the player displaying the most Digimon Power wins the Duel.

 Winner scores points depending on the Digivolve Level (Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, Mega) of the defeated opponent, as shown in the SCORE section at the bottom of the winning card. Winner adds the new points to his score counter.

 Winner keeps all Digimon on the DUEL ZONE. Defeated player sends all Digimon, except the Rookie, OFFLINE. Both players send all Power Option cards Offline.

Winner goes first in the next Duel.

In the event of a tie, all Digimon remain on the Duel Zone and all Power Option cards are sent Offline. No points are scored. Winner of the previous Duel (or the coin toss) goes first in the next Duel.

The first player to score 1,000 points (or a lower number agreed apon by the players before starting) wins the game.

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 As stated in the rules: "Some Power Option cards have Use Requirements attached to their Effect. You must complete these Use Requirements as part of your turn for the effect to come into play." This confirms that there is a clear difference between Playing a card and Using a card -You can play a card without being able to use it (unless otherwise stated on the card). Also, you MUST complete any Use Requirements on the card you play as part of the turn you play it in for the effect to some into play. If you don't, then the effect won't come into play and the card would be pretty much useless. It should also be noted that if there are no Use Requirements or any circumstance required for the card to take effect, the effect of the card would come into play immediately. No, neither the rules nor Customer Support says this, but I've come to find a personal rule rather helpful: If there's nothing that says you can, then it automatically means you can't. So if there's nothing on the card that depends on a circumstance, can you choose when to activate the card? No. If you fulfill the Use Requirements on the card when you play it, do you then get to choose to use the card later on in the duel? No, the effect starts right then.

 (Keep in mind that the "You must complete these Use Requirements as part of your turn for the effect to come into play." thing only applies in the Battle Phase, not the Digivolve Phase. Why? Because it says this in the Battle Phase part of the rules, which is after the Digivolve Phase has ended. Besides, there isn't any clear turn in which you get to play Option cards in the Digivolve Phase; just turns for Digivolving)

 Since you can Play a card without Using it, you may be wondering when exactly you can use a card that you played a turn, or more, ago that depends on a circumstance. Well, the card would be in use when the required circumstance happens, which could be anytime between when you play the card and the end of the Duel (or whenever the card is supposed to go Offline). But what exactly defines 'use'?....

 Most cards say "Send this card Offline at end of Duel" or "This card stays on Power Port until opponent voids by Power Option cards, you lose the Duel or Online deck is down to zero." This defines states when the card goes Offline, and, as we should all know by now, a card's effect stops when the card is Offline. However, there are a few cards that say "Send this card Offline after use." 'Use', as I have come to understand it, would be when the effect of the card is active. When the effect stops, then you would have finished using the card. This works rather well for most cards with "Send this card Offline after use." because the cards usually have a definite end to their effect; I'll discuss this more a bit further down in the article.

 How does a card's effect work? Well, for example, let's look at St-148 Offensive B. According to the card's Effect: "EFFECTS: Change your Digimon Power to Green and add 100 points to your Green Digimon Power. This doesn't change your Battle Type." Basically what this card does then is what the effect says. But how long does the effect stay for? The card says "Send this card Offline at end of Duel.", and if a card is sent Offline it's effect stops. But what happens if this card is voided? Now there's an interesting question... Let's say that you were attacking with your Red attack and then you played Offensive B. That would add 100 points to your Green Digimon Power and change your attacking power to Green. If the card gets voided, then it would stop the effects of the card and your attacking power would stop being Green and go back to being Red; you would also stop getting the extra 100 points of power on your Green attack. But if for some reason the card Stops being voided, it would once again take effect and change your attacking power to Green and give 100 extra power points to your Green Power.

 Now that we've established how an Option card works, back to the cards that say "Send this card Offline after use."...

 They are:

Bo-49 Option Eater
Bo-50 Power Freeze
Bo-51 Even Steven

Bo-205 Data Duplication
Bo-206 Platinum Sword
Bo-207 Golden Shield
Bo-209 Sacred Fruit

Bo-305 Change-Up
Bo-306 Digital Gate
Bo-307 Spiritual Crystal
Bo-309 Lightspeed Arrow
Bo-310 Trinity Attack
Bo-318 Gatling Arm

St-89 Dark Network

St-119 Secret Crush

 Option Eater, Power Freeze, Even Steven, Data Duplication, Spiritual Crystal, Lightspeed Arrow, Dark Network, and Secret Crush all have a definite ending point to their Effects, after which time you would send the card Offline. Platinum Sword, Golden Shield, Sacred Fruit, Change-Up, Digital Gate, Trinity Attack, and Gatling Arm, however, do not have a definite end to their effect and the effectiveness of the card would be determined by the Use Requirements or circumstances for the card's effect to work being fulfilled. If the Use Requirements and circumstances were no longer fulfilled, the card's effect would stop and the card would go Offline. Although the original intention of "Send this card Offline after use." may have been so that the effects of the card could not be voided after the card has been played, Customer Support already said that if a card is sent Offline it's considered 'voided'. Therefore, unless there's a special rule somewhere that I don't know of that says that that doesn't apply to cards with this sentence, either the cards or Customer Support was somewhat flawed... Since there's no proof either way, the cards would still go along with the regular rules. Therefore, the individual cards need a little explaining as to how they actually work... I'll start with the cards that have a definite end to their effect.

 Just be sure to keep in mind that if one of these cards gets voided after the effect has started, the card would immediately go Offline. Why? Because after the effect has already started, the card would be 'in use'. If the effect is voided/stopped, then the card would immediately be no longer in use. Basically, if the card was being used and then stopped being used, the card would no longer be in use: "Send this card Offline after use." If the card is voided Before it takes effect, it wouldn't go Offline (provided the card doing the voiding doesn't also say to send the card being voided to Offline) because the effect wouldn't have been used yet. Then the card would stay on your Power Port until it gets used (Yes, even if you deck out, lose the duel, or something like that. This is because there's no other clear time period as to when you send the card Offline, so it would go Offline after use (when the Use Requirements  and circumstances required for use are no longer fulfilled, the card gets voided after it starts being used, or the effect of the card comes to an end).

 Bo-49 Option Eater: "EFFECT: Void opponent's Power Blast or Force FX card and send it Offline." This is a somewhat self-explanatory effect. You choose a Power Blast or Force FX card in your opponent's Power Port, void it, and send it Offline. Immediately after you have done this, Option Eater's use would have ended and it would be sent Offline too. Keep in mind that since the card doesn't have any Use Requirement(s) or circumstances other than that your opponent must have a required card available to void, the card would be immediately active as soon as you play it. Therefore you would have to choose which of your opponent's Power Blast or Force FX cards to send Offline at that time. If this card is voided before it takes effect, it would stay on your Power Port until another card or Special Effect sends it Offline, or until it stops being voided and completes it's Effect.

 Bo-50 Power Freeze: "EFFECT: Void opponent's Digivolve or Force FX card and send it Offline." This card also has a self-explanatory effect. Since the effect is so similar to the Option Eater card, I'm sure that if you read that part again you'll be able to figure out how exactly Power Freeze works. ;-) [Saves me typing]

 Bo-51 Even Steven: "EFFECT: Stop the Duel. All Digimon remain on Duel Zone and all Power Option cards go Offline. No points scored." This is another self-explanatory effect. Since there are no Use Requirements or circumstances required for this card to take effect, it would take effect immediately. When this card is played, all the Digimon would remain on the Duel Zone while all Power Option cards would go Offline (provided, of course, this card isn't being voided). This means All Digimon as in both you and your opponent's, and All Power Option cards as in both you and your opponent's. (This would include Even Steven too, although that's kinda obvious since it says to send Offline after use...)

 If this card gets voided, it stays in the Power Port until the effect is used or it gets sent Offline by another Option card or Digimon's Special Effect (this last sentence goes for any cards that say "Send this card Offline after use.", so I won't bother repeating it every time).

 Bo-205 Data Duplication: "EFFECTS: When you and your opponent's Battle type are the same. you take the same amount of his/her Digimon Power after all Option cards have been played." and "*Do not use this card with a Rookie or Champion on Duel Zone. *Send this card Offline after use." There isn't any Use Requirement for this effect, but the circumstance is that you can't use this card with a Rookie or Champion on Duel Zone. Now although is doesn't specify Which player's Duel Zone, it seams to indicate that it's the Duel Zone of the player who plays this card. Therefore, you can't use it if you have a Rookie or Champion on *your* Duel Zone, so the Digimon on your Duel Zone would have to be Ultimate or Mega (since they are the only other two levels left). And again, if this card gets voided,.... blah blah blah. Just read the sentence after the bit on Even Steven.

 Bo-307 Spiritual Crystal: "EFFECTS: Make opponent's Digimon Power down to zero for this battle when your opponent is Rookie. Champion or Ultimate Digimon." and "*Send this card Offline after use. *Do not use this card with a Rookie or Mega on Duel Zone." Because of the line "...for this battle...", the time period in which this card is used is set. After the battle, the effect would stop and this card would no longer be in use, at which time this card would go Offline. The circumstances required for this card is that the opposing Digimon must be either Rookie, Champion, or Ultimate; you can not use this card against a Mega Digimon. Also, your Digimon must be either Champion or Ultimate; you can't use this card with a Rookie or Mega on your Duel Zone. Also keep in mind that when it says '...for this battle...' it means the current duel you play the card in, not duels after that. The only way it would be used for a duel after that time is if this card is voided before it takes effect, at which time the card would stay in the Power Port, unless it gets sent Offline by either your opponent's Option card or Digimon's Special Effect, until the effect is fulfilled (which may very well be in a completely different battle/duel).

 Bo-309 Lightspeed Arrow: "EFFECTS: Reduce 100 points from your opponent's score when the Digimon cards in opponent's hand is less than half their entire hand." and "*Send this card Offline after use. *Do not use this card with a Rookie or Champion on Duel Zone." Again, the 'do not use this card with Rookie or Champion on Duel Zone' would seem to apply to your Digimon, not your opponent's Digimon. The circumstances required here would be that the cards in your opponent's hand is less than half their entire hand, and that your Digimon on the Duel Zone is either an Ultimate or Mega level Digimon. Now for those of you wondering 'What exactly does that first circumstance mean?', it means that if your opponent's hand has less than half the cards in it you can use Lightspeed Arrow. What would be 'less than half their entire hand'? Well, the maximum amount of cards a player may have in their hand, is 10 cards. Half of that is 5 cards, so less than half would be between 0 and 4 cards. For those of you wondering, no, it doesn't mean 'less than half of the cards the opponent has in their hand when you play Lightspeed Arrow', it means exactly what the card says. And each player would have to have 10 cards in their hand at the end of Regroup, so... Once you've reduced the 100 points from your opponent's score, the effect of this card would be finished and this card would go Offline.

 St-89 Dark Network: "EFFECTS: You may take 1 card from your opponent's hand and sent it to their Offline area. Do not look at the card when sending it offline." and "*Do not use this card with a Rookie or Mega on Duel Zone. *Send this card Offline after us." The circumstance here would be that you have to have a Champion or Ultimate Digimon on your Duel Zone to use this card; you can't use it with a Rookie or Mega in your Duel Zone. The effect of this card is to send a random card from your opponent's hand to their Offline. Keep in mind that you're not supposed to look at this card when sending it Offline, so logic says you're not supposed to look at your opponent's hand when you're choosing the card or look at the card before you send it Offline either. Once you have chosen a card from your opponent's hand, you send it Offline. This would finish the effect of this card, and it would go Offline.

 St-119 Secret Crush: "EFFECTS: You may exchange and 1 card from your hand with the top card of your Online deck." and "*Do not use this card with a Rookie on Duel Zone. *Send this card Offline after use." So the circumstance here would be that you're not allowed to use this card when you have a Rookie on your duel Zone. Now to explain the card's effect... The word 'exchange' basically means to 'swap'. So you would take any card from your hand and swap it with the top card of your Online deck. Therefore, the card that used to be in your hand would now be face down on top of your Online deck, and the card that was face down on top of your Online deck would now be in your hand. Once this is done, the effect of Secret Crush would be finished, and it would go Offline.

 Those were the cards that have a definite end to their effect. The next 7 cards don't have a specific end to their effect, and so the effect would only end if the circumstance required for the effect to work is no longer fulfilled, or the card is voided after it takes effect, or the card is sent Offline by another Option card or a Digimon's Special Effect before the card takes effect.

 To back this up, here's a Q&A from file DB-Bandai_Answers-Gumby:

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7) When do Power Option cards go Offline? When the rulesheet says (at the
end of the Duel/Battle Phase and when your Online deck is exhausted)
*unless* it is specifically stated otherwise on the card, making the very
common "* Send this card Offline at the end of Duel." text just a helpful
reminder? Or is the rulesheet wrong and Power Options only go Offline when
each individual card says so? [Meaning that cards like the Digivices stick
around and can be used again on future turns. This would be *very* nasty for
cards like St-57 Downgrade...]

A7) Basically Power Option card is sent to Offline unless stated otherwise
on the card. Yes, "Send this card .....end of Duel." is the reminder.

*****

 That literally says that an Option card goes Offline at the end of the duel unless otherwise stated on the card, and these few cards say that they go Offline after use. Anyway, back to what I was saying...

 Bo-206 Platinum Sword: "EFFECTS: Add 200 points to your Digimon Power when your Digimon is Warrior Digimon. In addition. when your opponent has any Digimon card with Digimon Type "Data" in his/her hand. decrease his/her Digimon Power by 200 points." and "*Do not use this card with a Rookie or Champion on Duel Zone. *Send this card Offline after use." This card has neither a Use Requirement or a specific ending to it's effect other than sending the card Offline after use. The circumstances are that the Digimon in your duel Zone must be either Ultimate or Mega and must be of the Digimon Group 'Warrior Digimon'. When the Digimon on your Duel Zone in no longer an Ultimate or Mega 'Warrior' Digimon, the card's effect will stop and it will go Offline. However, this card would stay in use as long as the Digimon in your Duel Zone is an Ultimate or Mega 'Warrior' Digimon, unless it gets voided, which may very well be more than just a single duel. Also, the additional effect says "...when your opponent has any Digimon card with Digimon Type "Data" in his/her hand. decrease his/her Digimon Power by 200 points." This *doesn't* mean that you get to reduce your opponent's power by 200 points for every Data type Digimon in their hand; it means that if your opponent has any Digimon card, or cards, in his/her hand of type Data that you reduce the opposing Digimon's power by 200 points.

 Something interesting to note is that Platinum Sword is the same sword that St-82 Knightmon uses, and Knightmon happens to be an Ultimate Digimon of the Digimon Group 'Warrior'.

 Bo-207 Golden Shield: "EFFECTS: Add 200 points to your Digimon Power when your Digimon Type is Virus. In addition when your opponent has any Digimon card with Digimon Type "Virus" in his/her hand. decrease his/her Digimon power by 200 points." and "*Do not use this card with a Rookie or Champion on Duel Zone. *Send this card Offline after use." This card, once again, doesn't have Use Requirements or a specific ending to the effect other than if the card is voided after it's effect has started or if the circumstances required for the effect to take place are no longer fulfilled. The circumstances are that the Digimon in your Duel Zone must be either an Ultimate or Mega Digimon and must be of the Digimon Type "Virus." Once again, the additional effect *doesn't* reduce 200 points from your opponent's power for every Virus type Digimon in your opponent's hand, but rather reduces 200 from the opponent's power if there is any Virus Digimon at all in your opponent's hand. This card, once again, would stay in use until the circumstances for the effect to work are no longer present, or if the card gets voided.

 Something else interesting to note is that this card has a picture of WarGreymon's shield on it (known as 'WarGreymon's Brave Shield', according to Digimon: Tamers), and Bo-148 WarGreymon happens to be a Mega level Virus type Digimon.

 Bo-209 Sacred Fruit: "EFFECTS: Take the highest Digimon Power on your Digimon card regardless of Battle Type. If two Digimon Powers are the same and they are highest. you may choose either." and "*Do not use this card with a Rookie or Champion on Duel Zone. "*Send this card Offline after use." Again, this card has neither use Requirements nor a specific ending to the effect. The circumstance would be that you have to have an Ultimate or Mega Digimon on the Duel Zone to use this card. The effect says that you may choose the highest Digimon Power on your card regardless of Battle Type. Now Your Digimon's Battle Type wouldn't have a thing to do with which attack you use, but your opponent's Battle Type does. As we have learned from the little example with Offensive B earlier on in this article, the effect would continue unless the card were voided, sent Offline, or the circumstances and/or Use Requirements stopped being fulfilled. That is particularly nasty for this card because you use it as long as your Digimon is Ultimate or Mega and this card doesn't get voided or sent Offline. As we no doubt know, most Ultimate and Mega Digimon have a decently strong high attack, especially the more recent cards. If you can't void this card when your opponent has played it, then your only hope would be for the opponent to deck out, in which case all their Digimon except the Rookie would go Offline. And since this card can't be used with a Rookie in the Duel Zone, it would go Offline too. There's also a strategic significance behind being able to choose between 2 attacks that are both highest; it has to do with the Device cards. ;-)

 Bo-305 Change-Up: "EFFECTS: Add 50 points to your Digimon Power. To use this card, send 2 cards Offline from your hand." and "*Send this card Offline after use." This card has only 1 Use Requirement: that you send 2 cards Offline from your hand. You do that on the turn you play this card, and then the effect is continual until the card is voided, or sent Offline, by the opponent. Why? Because there's no specific end to the effect. It adds 50 points to your Digimon Power, but that would happen continually as long as the card isn't voided or sent Offline. This may not seem like much, but having 50 extra points added to your power can make quite a difference at times, and all you have to do is Offline 2 cards from your hand. This is another somewhat nasty card.

 Bo-306 Digital Gate: "EFFECTS: Add 50 points to your Digimon Power. To use this card, send 2 cards Offline from your hand. Send your opponent's Rookie Digimon Offline if there are 2 or more Digimons in opponent's Duel Zone." and "*Send this card Offline after use." Now this is somewhat conflicting... The first effect is to add 50 points to your Digimon Power, which is continual. The second effect is to send your opponent's Rookie Digimon Offline if there are 2 or more Digimons in the opponent's Duel Zone. Although the second effect seams as though it's a 'one time thing', the first effect is continual and would only stop if this card is voided or sent Offline. However, because of that, the second effect on the card would stay as long as the card is in use (you can't Offline the card until the first effect ends, so the second effect becomes a circumstantial effect). As long as that card's effect is in effect, the opponent's Rookie would go Offline if there are 2 or more Digimons in the opponent's Duel Zone. But what happens if you lose the duel without a Rookie? Wouldn't you then have no Digimon at all in the Duel Zone? The answer to that question is 'yes', and will be further discussed when I get to D. REGROUP. Because of that, this card is extremely nasty.

 Bo-310 Trinity Attack: "EFFECTS: Triple your Digimon Power when you have WarGrowlmon, Taomon & Rapidmon cards in your hand." and "*Send this card Offline after use." The only requirement for this card is a circumstantial one; as long as this card's effect is in effect, and you have a WarGrowlmon card, Taomon card, and Rapidmon card in your hand, your Digimon Power will be tripled. The moment you no longer have 1 or more of these cards in your hand, the circumstantial requirement would no longer be fulfilled and this card would go Offline. This is yet another nasty card, but it's one that can be beaten....

 Bo-318 Gatling Arm: "EFFECTS: Add 50 points to your Digimon's Power when it has the Special Ability "Fire". and "*Send this card Offline after use." This is another card with just a circumstantial requirement -the Special Ability "Fire." No Digimon in Digi-Battle naturally have the Special Ability 'Fire'; it's only given by Option cards; 3 to be exact. They are Bo-315 Fire Crystal, Bo-319 Giga Claws, and Bo-324 Beelze Motorcycle. Fortunately, all three of those cards sanely state: 'This card stays on Power Port until opponent voids by Power Option Cards, you lose the Duel or Online deck is down to zero.' Thus, getting rid of Gatling Arm isn't exactly hard. Besides that, it's the only card in the whole game that needs the Special Ability "Fire" for it to be used.

 'You must be kidding me!! Some of those cards are way to powerful! How can they be legal for gameplay?!?' you say? Well, the cards go Offline at the end of the duel unless otherwise stated on the card, and these cards say to send them Offline after use. We've already established what 'use' is, and that's what we're left with. Blame whoever-made-the-game if the cards are too powerful; its their fault, not mine. Anyway, we've still got alot to cover, so moving on...

 There's also something on other cards: "*Effect applies until voided by opponent or sent Offline by you." It was virtually an established fact that this lets a player choose when to send the card Offline, although that is incorrect. All that line says is that the effect of the card stays until the card is sent Offline by you or voided by your opponent, not that you get to choose when to send the card Offline. The rules apply then where it says that the card goes Offline at the end of the duel. Since it would be your card, you would be the one to send it Offline, and then the effect of the card goes away. 'But why bother putting a special line there then instead of just Send this card Offline at end of duel? What's the point?' you ask? Well, I think part of the point has to do with a Digimon's Special Ability and Special Effects that void a Special Ability. Three of the cards with that line, Bo-45 Aquatic Attack, Bo-46 Fly Away, and Bo-47 Iron Drill, all give a Special Ability. Say there is a Digimon, like Mo-05 Rapidmon for example, that your Digimon is facing. Let's say your Digimon has the Special Ability "Swim" and you want to use Bo-54 Depth Charge (That halves the opponent's power when the opponent's Battle type Red and your Digimon has "Swim") against Rapidmon. Since Rapidmon would void your Special Ability, you wouldn't have "Swim" to be able to use Depth Charge. Now that's where Bo-45 Aquatic Attack would come in -It gives the Special Ability "Swim" but that can't be voided unless the card itself is voided because of that line at the top of this paragraph. Therefore, you would be able to use Depth Charge against Rapidmon even though it voids your Special Ability because Rapidmon doesn't void the Power Option card giving the Special Ability, which it would need to do for Aquatic Attack to stop giving your Digimon "Swim."

 Cards with "*Effect applies until voided by opponent or sent Offline by you" are:

Bo-43 Fly Trap
Bo-44 Coral Rip
Bo-45 Aquatic Attack
Bo-46 Fly Away
Bo-47 Iron Drill
Bo-48 Organic Enhancer

Bo-105 Flood
Bo-106 Meat

St-90 Digidote

 'Hold on just a minute, only 3 of those cards give a Special Ability! Are you Absolutely sure that it Doesn't mean you get to choose when to send the card Offline?' you ask? Well, I've taken the rules and the wording on the cards literally, and that's what I'm left with. Although it may very well Have been the intention of whoever-made-the-game for that sentence to mean that you get to choose when to send the card Offline, the wording on the card(s) could have been printed as 'Effect applies until voided by opponent or you choose to send card Offline'. There's enough space, and then some, for that sentence to fit on the card, so space wasn't an issue (either that, or whoever-made-the-game just didn't care, which wouldn't suprise me).

 Then there are the Power Bean cards; St-86 Red Power Bean, St-87 Green Power Bean, and St-116 Yellow Power Bean. All the Power Bean cards say the same thing, except for the different Battle type you can use the card against (Red Power Bean gets used against a Red Battle type, Green Power Bean against a Green Battle type ect.). St-86 Red Power Bean: "EFFECTS: When your opponent's Battle Type is Red. add an additional 50 points to your Digimon Power. You may also take 1 card from your opponent's hand and send it to their Offline area. Do not look at the card when sending it Offline." And according to the file DB-Bandai_Answers-Jayzhee:

*****

10. St 86, 87, 116 Red, Green, and Yellow Power Beans-- Must your opponent's
digimon be the chosen color for the second effect (discarding a card) to
occur?

A. Yes. These 3 cards can be used against each color.

[I'm not sure what this means...]

*****

 If you read the card carefully, you'll notice "When your opponent's Battle Type is Red..." which means that the opposing Digimon Has to have a Red Battle type for any of the effects on this card to work. Since the other 2 Power Beans say the same thing with the difference being their respective Battle type colours, the opposing Digimon Has to have a Green Battle type for any of the effects on Green Power Bean to work, and the opponent Has to have a Yellow Battle type for any of the effects on Yellow Power Bean to work. As to the Offlining of an opponent's card from their hand, this is done as random discarding (Like Dark Network). At no time do you get to see your opponent's hand or the card you're sending Offline from it. In case anyone is wondering, the Power Beans say "*Send this card Offline at end of Duel."

 Another card I'd like to mention that's unrelated to voiding is Bo-263 Collapsed Control Spire: "EFFECTS: Use this card to place a Virus Digimon regardless of Digimon Level and Digivolve Requirements. This card can be used when you have 4 cards in your hand right after the Control Spire card has been sent Offline." and "*Send this card Offline at the end of Duel." According to the rules, players take turns playing Option cards in the Battle Phase. How then can it be used "...right after the Control Spire card has been sent Offline."? Well, considering it doesn't specify who's Control Spire card needs to be sent Offline, it could mean either yours or your opponent's. Also, it seams that if you Do use a card to send your opponent's Control Spire card Offline you would be bale to play Collapsed Control Spire right then, which means you would have played 2 cards, one right after the other. This is the only instance that I've come across in the entire game that a player may play 2 cards right after each other. If you're wondering 'How is that right, or even fair?!', It's right because the card says so, although I'm not sure about 'fair'... In any case, that's how it works. For players that don't think playing one card right after the other is fair, notice that the Effect says "This card can be used when..." meaning you can play the card before you use it. The card doesn't have a Use Requirement, but rather requires a circumstance. Remember that to use this card you also have to have 4 cards in your hand. Also, since this isn't used in the Digivolve Phase (see next few paragraphs), the effect of placing any level Virus Digimon is correct -it doesn't need to go to the Digivolve Zone first but is placed directly into the Duel Zone. Also, because you don't Digivolve to the card, it can't be downgraded (little loophole I picked up). ;-)

 Now I'd like to come to one of the last, and most strategy-breaking topics: The voiding cards themselves and when they may be used. You already saw what I had to write about Power Freeze and Option Eater (near the top of the article), and here's what "EFFECT: Send an opponent's Power Option card Offline." and "*Send this card Offline at end of Duel." According to file DB-Bandai_Answers-Jayzhee:

*****

11. Bo-50 Power Freeze-- Can it be used during the digivolve phase? If so,
can it be voided with Option Eater?

A. Yes both cases are allowed.

*****

and according to the file DB-Bandai_Answers-Gumby:

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6) St-149 Effect P states the following: "Send an opponent's Power Option
card Offline." Is the effect of the Power Option card sent Offline
considered voided, despite it not being specifically mentioned on Effect P?
For example, my opponent plays Bo-104 Black Gears.  If I play Effect P on
it, does the +100 Digimon Power the Gears grant go away? What happens if I
wish to Effect P my opponent's Crest Tag or Ultra Digivolve during the
Digivolve Phase? Does the effect of those cards still go through?

A6) Basically Power Option card is only used during Attack Phase unless
stated on the card.  Sending Offline is equal to voiding.

*****

 What I get out of this is that Customer Support said Power Freeze can be used during the Digivolve Phase (to void a Digivolve card before it takes effect, I assume) and that Option Eater can be used to void Power Freeze before it takes effect, which may very well also be in the Digivolve Phase. Effect P can be used to void a card before it takes effect, but according to the question and the answer given, it doesn't seam like Effect P can be used in the Digivolve Phase... (or at least not to void a Digivolve card. Almost all other Option cards played in the Digivolve Phase don't take effect until the next Digivolve Phase anyway, like Control Spire, which means they can be voided in the Battle Phase in-between.) Then you also have Bo-270 Special Bandage that seams to only exist for the purpose of stopping a Power Freeze card from voiding a Digivolve card: "EFFECTS: Void the effects of Bo-50 Power Freeze card and score 100 points." and "*Send this card Offline at the end of Duel. *Do not use this card at your Attack Phase." Remember that a card can be voided before it takes effect. 'But what happens if my opponent's Special Bandage voids my Power Freeze, and then I void the opponent's Special Bandage later on in the duel? Does my Power Freeze take effect again and void the opponent's digivolve card?' you ask? Well, the simple answer would be yes, your Power Freeze would take effect again, but since it was voided Before it took effect, you can choose a different card for it to void and send Offline. Voiding the Digivolve card you were planning on voiding wouldn't help since the Digivolution would have already taken place by the time the Battle Phase starts.

 According to the rules:

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"Keep track of how the dueling Digimon's relative strength changes with each card played, as shown by comparing DIGIMON POWER."

===

 This seems simple enough, right? Well, what about when power is being added, reduced, multiplied, and divided left, right, and center? Gets a little confusing if it happens enough. Something to keep in mind, though, is that any power that gets added, reduced, multiplied, or divided, gets transferred to whichever attack you're currently using (unless specified on the cards). For example, Offensive B adds 100 points to your Green Digimon Power. If you play Yellow Offensive, the 100 points isn't going to transfer to your Yellow attack because the card giving the power specifically states that it adds it to your Green power. If a card doesn't specify which attack it adds power to, it automatically means the power is transferred to the current attack you're using.

 But what about if you play a card to add power, and then a card to multiply power, and then another card to add power? Does the last power added get multiplied too? I used to think so, but then it just gets to complicated when it comes time to reduce power. Since there's nothing official to go by, I suggest the adding, multiplying, subtracting, dividing, and whatever else of power gets done in the order the cards or Special Effects are used in. E.g. If you add power, then multiply power, then add power again, the last power added doesn't get multiplied but merely added because the multiplying has already happened. If you add power, then add more power, and *then* multiply, both the added powers get multiplied because they were added before the multiplication took place. You get the picture, right?

  OK, that about sums things up as far as Power Option cards go. All the rest should be self-explanatory enough. One thing to note would be that sometimes a card says something, like it goes Offline when you lose, deck out, or it gets voided, which is against the rules that state the card goes Offline at end of duel. In a case like this, you go with what the card says (it overrules the rules). I have just put this article in to explain how and why it does what it does so you don't use the cards incorrectly. :-)

 This doesn't realy finish the C. BATTLE section off, but I'm going to do that in the next article when I explain things about a Digimon's Special Effects. I hope you found this article at least a little helpful, and as always, feel free to check and see if I'm right. The first article says where you can find a copy of the rules and Gumby's E-mail address, or on my site here. :-)

 -CyberDramon