A shallow card with grave consequences

[Gateway]

I know you cannot activate book of life if your opponant has no monsters in their grave yard, but can shallow grave be activated if your opponant has no monsters in their graveyard? What is the rule regarding the activation of such cards?

 

[DaGuyWitBluGlasses]

No it may not be activated. The Shallow Grave needs an elligible monster in both graveyards for it to be activated.

 

[Duelmaster]

If you haven't a monster in the graveyard you can't active it. Like with other cards you can't active Raigeki if your oppent hasn't got any monster. For cards like that you need at least 1 legal thing (monster/spel/trap)

 

[chaosruler]

just to clarify, however, you can use The Shallow Grave and Serisl Spell to get 2 monsters, even if they have only 1, because conditions were correct at activation.

-chaosruler

 

[Digital Jedi]

And correct me if I'm wrong on this, Book of Life and The Shallow Grave will still resolve their effects as long as there was a monster in both player's Graveyards at the time of activation, but not on resolution. So if you activate either card and your opponent chains Call of the Haunted targeting the only monster in his Graveyard, you still get to Specail Summon a monster because the requirments to play Book or Shallow were correct at activation.

 

[Manta]

That's true with 'Book of Life' beacuse its the controller who targets both. but in the case of shallow grave, both players need to select a monster, which rings more like the non-targeting 'Creature Swap' if you ask me. So if we extrapolate from Creature Swap, the conditions must be met at acitvation AND resolution for its effect to work at all.

 

[DaGuyWitBluGlasses]

Answer:

In order to activate "The Shallow Grave" each player must have a monster in
their Graveyard that they can legally Special Summon.

And

Answer:

The Shallow Grave --> Scapegoat

"Scapegoat" resolves first and the opponent Special Summons their 4 Sheep Tokens.

After this, "The Shallow Grave" tries to resolve as much as it can. The turn player
Special Summons their monster, but the opponent does not. (Thanks to their Scapegoat)

Shallow grave does target.

 

[novastar]

This seems to be the case when Special Summoning from the Graveyard. (or course in most cases)

When either player or both together Special Summon from the Graveyard, it is a targeted effect.

In addition, Spear Cretin is also a targeted effect.

This is contradictory to the Creature Swap logic.