Card Rulings 2; Forbidden Dress VS Cards that target

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Until now there is still misconception about this card, its sound good but there is a loophole and rulings about it. The major problem is known as Chain Link.

Forbidden Dress
Target 1 face-up monster on the field; until the End Phase, that target loses 600 ATK, but it cannot be targeted or destroyed by other card effects.

This is correct.
You summon Monster A, Opponent activates Torrential Tribute, You chain Forbidden Dress

Lets look at it in Chaining Order
Chain Link 1; Opponent activates Torrential Tribute
Chain Link 2; You chain Forbidden Dress

Result; Forbidden Dress resolves first, your Monster cannot be Destroyed by Card effect, Opponent's Torrential Tribute wasted.


However, this is one situation where Forbidden Dress is totally useless.

You summon Monster A, Opponent activates Compulsory Evacuation Device , You chain Forbidden Dress

Lets look at it in Chaining Order
Chain Link 1; Opponent activates Compulsory Evacuation Device
Chain Link 2; You chain Forbidden Dress
Your Monster still return to your hand.

First thing First; let's look at the effect of Compulsory Evacuation Device

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Target 1 monster on the field; return that target to the hand.

Notice that I bolded the " ; ", this colon. This means that for Compulsory Evacuation Device to activate it must target a monster first before activating. The "targeting" is not part of the effect, it is a requirement. This is somehow similiar to "paying cost" to activate a card effect.

Using this rule of thumb, the monster is already "targeted", but the effect of "return that target to the hand" has not resolved as the Chian link 2 of Forbidden Dress needs to resolve first.

However, the monster is already "targeted" by Compulsory Evacuation Device so even if Forbidden Dress resolves its effect of " until the End Phase, that target loses 600 ATK, but it cannot be targeted or destroyed by other card effects."
It is already a fultile task.

How can you so-called "cannot target" something that is already "Targeted"?

Cheers

yupp! Thats why lance is much better then dress. Though dress can dodge bottomless torrential and dark hole.
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Lance FTW!

Can't another card be chained to the activation of Forbidden Lance? Using that, won't the situation resolve, probably still destroying the monster that was Lanced? Assuming that Lance was used against another card that was designated to destroy/banish the monster in question, then a counter is played against Lance, or another card to target the monster, will it be a 2 for 2, exchanging lance for the first card used against the monster?

And how about damage step? If Lance was used then (Maybe reduce opponent's attack, negate a harmful/annoying effect etc), is it possible to counter it?

If lance is used during the damage step? Only counter trap cards can be activated during damage step to stop lance. Yes if you chain a trap that would destroy the monster as chain link 3, it would resolve first, destroying the monster before the resolution of lance at chain link 2.