LimitedSolemn Judgment
Counter Trap
Card text
When a monster(s) would be Summoned, OR a Spell/Trap Card is activated: Pay half your LP; negate the Summon or activation, and if you do, destroy that card.
- Property
- Counter
Explained
A Counter Trap. When a monster would be Summoned, or a Spell/Trap Card is activated, pay half your LP to negate it and destroy that card.
Against the one summon or Spell/Trap your opponent's turn depends on, when half your Life Points is worth stopping it.
- Chaining it to a Spell/Trap effect that isn't a card activation, like a Continuous Spell's effect. It only answers card activations.
- Trying to stop a summon that starts a chain, like a monster summoning itself with its own effect. It answers summons that don't use a chain.
- Playing more than one. It's Limited as of October 2026.
How it works
Solemn Judgment is a Counter Trap. When a monster would be Summoned, or a Spell/Trap Card is activated, pay half your LP as the cost, negate the Summon or activation, and destroy that card.
When to use it
It’s one of the original power Traps, released in the TCG in 2002, and it answers almost anything that isn’t a monster effect. As a Counter Trap (Spell Speed 3), only another Counter Trap can respond to it. The cost gets steeper the more LP you have, so timing matters.
Rulings in plain English
Can I use it in the Damage Step? Yes.
Which Spell/Trap activations? Chained directly to the activation of a Spell or Trap Card. Not to effects of Spells/Traps already on the field that don’t activate the card.
Which summons? Normal Summons, Flip Summons, and Special Summons that don’t start a chain, such as Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum and Link Summons.
Is paying LP the cost? Yes, paid on activation.
