Return of the Dragon Lords and Torrential Tribute

Question

This just happened to me while dueling with a friend. I activated Return of the Dragon Lords and revived Red-Eyes B. Dragon from the graveyard. My opponent responded to the summon with Torrential Tribute. I then used the effect of Return of the Dragon Lords that allows me to banish it instead of destroying my monsters (when they would be destroyed).

My question is: Was this right? Should Return of the Dragon Lords had been in the graveyard by the time my opponent activated Torrential Tribute?

Thanks

Answer 1

Should Return of the Dragon Lords had been in the graveyard by the time my opponent activated Torrential Tribute?

Yes your ROTDL was already in the GY before your opponent had chance to activate TT.

This is true because to activate TT the summon has to resolve, and that only happens when ROTDL is already in the GY as the final link in the stack chain.

Putting it in sequence:

1. You activate ROTDL, target Red-eyes, opponent passes chance to chain and so do you. Thus, the stack starts to resolve.

2. ROTDL brings Red-eyes back, then you put it in the GY. The chain resolution ends and the summon is successful.

3. Given there was a summon, your opponent is able to activate Torrential Tribute. As you can see, ROTDL is in the GY by now...

Answer 2

To build off of the previous answer from DarkCygnus, and hopefully provide more insight into the game's mechanics, for future situations:

When you play Return of the Dragon Lords, your monster is not immediately Summoned. Your opponent has an opportunity to respond to the activation of your card and chain a card or effect before it resolves.

When your Spell resolves, that's when the effect of any card actually happens.

Cards like Bottomless Trap Hole and Torrential Tribute don't negate Summons before they happen. They can be activated during what is known colloquially as the 'summon response window'-- the period immediately following a Summon.

During the summon response window, since the monster(s) in question have already been successfully summoned, their effects are now applied to the field.

This is not the case for cards that negate Summons, such as Solemn Warning, Solemn Strike, and a few others, since cards that negate Summons prevent the monster from ever reaching the field in the first place. In a case like this, even if RotDL was in your GY, it could not stop a card like Solemn Warning.

RotDL is also a rather weird card in some regards: its protection effect does not activate, since there is no ':' in its protection effect. Applying it does not count as activating a card effect, and does not start a chain. Even in a situation where your opponent can prevent you from activating cards or effects, you can still apply it without worry.

I'm sorry this doesn't necessarily answer your question, since it was already answered. I just hope what knowledge I've shared with you comes in handy at some point!