Send-to-GY Costs Under Banish-Instead Effects

You may not activate an effect whose cost or activation requirement specifically sends that same card to the GY while an active replacement effect would banish it instead.

This covers Droll & Lock Bird under Dimensional Fissure, Anubis the Last Judge under Banisher of the Radiance, and similar interactions with cards like Kashtira Arise-Heart.

The reason is that the activation cost cannot be paid: you cannot pay a cost that specifically requires the GY when a banish-instead replacement removes that destination. The game does not let you "attempt" to pay a send-to-GY cost and then count the redirected banish as a successful payment.

The relevant text

Dimensional Fissure - "Any monster sent to the Graveyard is banished instead."

Banisher of the Radiance - "Any card sent to the Graveyard is banished instead."

Droll & Lock Bird - "If a card(s) is added from the Main Deck to your opponent's hand, except during the Draw Phase (Quick Effect): You can send this card from your hand to the GY;"

Anubis the Last Judge - its hand effect requires you to send this card from your hand to the GY as part of activating the effect.

Why the activation is illegal

While Dimensional Fissure's effect is active on the field, it is impossible for Droll to be sent from the hand to the GY as Droll requires to activate its effect.

While Banisher of the Radiance's effect is active on the field, it is impossible for Anubis the Last Judge to be sent from the hand to the GY as Anubis requires to activate its effect.

This is because these replacement effects specifically state that the card "is banished instead" of being sent to the GY, meaning the required GY destination is unavailable at the moment you would pay the cost.

The same rule for a "send this card from the FIELD to the GY" cost

The required destination is the GY whether the card is sent from the hand or from the field. An effect whose cost is "send this card you control to the GY" / send itself to the GY cannot be activated while a replacement effect would banish it instead — the field to GY send cannot be performed, so the cost cannot be paid.

Void Imagination — "... You can send this card to the Graveyard; Fusion Summon 1 'Infernoid' Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck ..." (the send-to-GY is the cost, before the semicolon)

Virtual World Kyubi - Shenshen — "... cards that would be sent to the GY are banished instead ..." (a banish-instead replacement)

"Under Virtual World Kyubi - Shenshen, I activate Void Imagination by sending it from the field to the GY for the Fusion Summon. Does it resolve and just get banished, or does it fail?"

— Answer: Neither — you cannot activate Void Imagination at all. Its cost is "send this card to the GY," but Virtual World Kyubi - Shenshen would banish it instead, so the required GY destination is unavailable and the cost cannot be paid. The activation is illegal from the start; it never resolves, so it is not "resolves properly, then banished." Same rule as the hand-send cases above — the send direction (hand or field) doesn't matter, only that the cost specifically requires the GY.

Forbidden Droplet under Dimension Shifter — sending OTHER cards still names the GY

The rule is the same when the cost sends other cards (not "send this card"). Forbidden Droplet's cost is to send cards from your hand and/or field to the GY, and a "resolved" Dimension Shifter is now an applied replacement effect that banishes those cards instead — so the required GY destination is gone and the cost cannot be paid.

Forbidden Droplet — "Send any number of other cards from your hand and/or field to the GY; choose that many Effect Monsters your opponent controls ..." (the send-to-GY is the cost, before the semicolon)

Dimension Shifter — "If you have no cards in your GY (Quick Effect): You can send this card from your hand to the GY; until the end of the next turn, any card sent to the GY is banished instead."

"My opponent resolved Dimension Shifter. Can I still activate Forbidden Droplet?"

— Answer: No. Once Dimension Shifter has resolved, its replacement is applying to the game state — "resolved" in Yu-Gi-Oh! means the effect's result is now live, not pending. Forbidden Droplet's cost specifically sends cards to the GY; Dimension Shifter banishes them instead, so the cards never reach the GY and the cost cannot be paid. The activation is illegal from the start. Your opponent is right. Same verdict under Macro Cosmos, Banisher of the Radiance, or any "banish instead of GY" floodgate.

Destination-named cost vs. destination-agnostic cost (do not over-apply)

The block triggers only because the cost names the GY. A cost that just says "discard 1 card" or "send a card from the Deck" with no GY destination can still be paid under these floodgates — the card is simply banished instead, and the effect resolves normally.

• "Discard 1 card" (no destination) → payable under Dimension Shifter; the discarded card is banished. Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and similar hand traps still work.
• "Send X to the GY" / "discard X to the Graveyard" (GY named) → not payable; the floodgate removes the only legal destination.

Do not rule that every discard/send cost is blocked — read whether the cost text actually names the GY as the destination.

Implications of this ruling

There are many effects in the game that create similar gamestates as these examples detail, such as Kashtira Arise-Heart and Maxx "C", and they all behave in the same way when the activation requires the card to reach the GY.

This ruling pattern is the weakness of cards that require specific locations for activation requirements.

Judge calls to watch for

• Even though Droll's tone in "You can send this card" implies some amount of flexibility, there is none. This is a strict activation requirement.
• Banisher of the Radiance is not different from Dimensional Fissure for this purpose. Banisher applies to any card, so it also prevents monster hand traps and other cards from paying a cost that specifically sends that card to the GY.
• Do not rule that the cost is paid by "attempting" to send the card to the GY. If the replacement effect would change the destination away from the required GY destination, the cost cannot be paid and the effect cannot be activated.
• This applies to costs that send other cards too, not just "send this card." Forbidden Droplet cannot be activated under Dimension Shifter / Macro Cosmos / Banisher of the Radiance — its cost names the GY. (Its response-lock clause is a separate topic, see Forbidden Droplet priority lock.)
• "Resolved" means the replacement effect is now applying to the game state — a resolved Dimension Shifter blocks the cost going forward; it is not a one-time past event.
• Do not generalize this to destination-agnostic costs. "Discard 1 card" (no GY named) is still payable; the card is banished instead. Only block costs whose text names the GY/Graveyard as the destination.

Sources

• card text of Dimensional Fissure, Banisher of the Radiance, Droll & Lock Bird, Anubis the Last Judge, Forbidden Droplet, and Dimension Shifter
• activation-illegality principle for effects that require specific locations for activation requirements
• Forbidden Droplet + Macro Cosmos/Dimension Shifter ruling: cardmarket "Rulings to Know: Forbidden Droplet"; Yugipedia "Card Rulings:Forbidden Droplet"
• destination-agnostic discard contrast (Ash Blossom payable, Tempest "discard to the GY" not): YGOrganization Ash Blossom rulings refresher
• related: Pendulum sends redirected by banish-instead