Conditional Clauses vs. Activation Conditions

A common misread is treating a descriptive conditional sentence or a tiered effect list as a gate that must be satisfied before the card can be activated. Use PSCT structure to tell them apart.

What an activation condition actually is

• For a Trap or Quick-Play Spell, the activation timing is whatever the card's own trigger text states (and a Set Trap can normally be activated once Set). If there is no trigger clause before a colon, there is no extra "you may only activate when…" gate to invent.
• The activation condition is the text before the colon ( `:` ). A cost/target is the text before the first semicolon ( `;` ). See PSCT — Colons and Semicolons.
• A sentence with no colon and no semicolon is not an activation condition and not a cost. It is a descriptive, continuous, or conditional property of the card.

"During the turn in which X, [some rule]" is not a gate

A leading sentence of the form "During the turn in which your opponent has done X, [the card gains some property]" describes when a property applies, not whether you may activate. The property (often immunity to responses) simply does nothing on turns where X is not met; it does not forbid activation.

Example — King's Resonance (Normal Trap), verbatim:

"During the turn in which your opponent has Special Summoned 10 or more monsters, neither player can activate cards or effects in response to this card's activation.

Apply the following effects in sequence, based on the number of monsters your opponent Special Summoned this turn:

● 1+: Special Summon 1 DARK Synchro Monster from your GY or banishment.

● 3+: Every "Red Dragon Archfiend" in your Monster Zone is unaffected by your opponent's activated effects, until the end of your next turn.

● 5+: Change all your opponent's monsters to face-down Defense Position.

You can only activate 1 "King's Resonance" per turn."

Reading:

• The "10 or more" sentence is not an activation requirement. It has no colon and no semicolon; it is a standalone clause granting unresponsive activation only on turns where the opponent already Special Summoned 10+. Think of it as a built-in mini-Solemn that switches on at 10+, not a cost to pay or a minimum to reach.
• You can activate the card after only 1 opponent Special Summon. With 3 opponent Special Summons you meet the 1+ and 3+ tiers and apply both, but the activation itself can still be responded to (because the 10+ immunity clause is not active).

Tiered "based on the number…" effects: the floor is the lowest tier

"Apply the following effects in sequence, based on the number of monsters… ● 1+ / ● 3+ / ● 5+" means the card resolves every tier whose threshold is met, starting from the lowest. The largest listed number is not a minimum to activate — it is just the threshold for the strongest tier. The minimum to get any listed effect is the lowest bullet (here, 1+).

General rule for the Judge

• Do not promote a descriptive/continuous/conditional sentence to an activation requirement just because it states a number or condition.
• Only the colon-gated trigger (or an explicit "you can only activate this card if…" clause) restricts activation timing.
• Never fabricate verbatim card text to justify a gate. Quote only text actually present in evidence.

Source: card text per YGOPRODeck and Yugipedia.