Bait Doll

[Hefeca]

Sorry for the simple question but I could use some clarification.

Reading bait doll I thought that it would force your opponent to activate the trap if it targets a trap (i.e. you target a face down Magic Jammer, your opponent is forced to activate it on bait doll.)

Reading the official rulings there is this paragraph

If "Bait Doll" is activated and targets "Magic Jammer", "Magic Drain", etc. the opponent may chain the Trap Card to negate and destroy "Bait Doll". If he / she does not, the Trap Card will be destroyed since the activation timing is incorrect, and "Bait Doll" will be shuffled into your Deck.

Also a section of another paragraph in Bait Doll Rulings states:

If you use this card and activate a Trap Card with a cost, and that Trap Card's activation timing is correct, its owner must pay all possible costs. If they cannot pay the costs, the Trap Card is negated and destroyed.

I may be over thinking this but by the way it makes it sound is that if you choose Magic Jammer or Solemn Judgment and they choose not to activate it, they would also not need to pay the cost (i.e. discard a card or pay half their life points.)

Pretty much what I need clarification is, if the timing is incorrect, do they still pay any possible costs?

[ThaibaCo]

Originally Posted by Hefeca

If you use this card and activate a Trap Card with a cost, and that Trap Card's activation timing is correct, its owner must pay all possible costs.

Pretty much what I need clarification is, if the timing is incorrect, do they still pay any possible costs?

costs are paid when the trap is activated.
if the timing is incorrect, the trap is not activated.
should be clear enough.

[John Danker]

The best reasoning and the best way I've seen it explained (forgive me for not quoting the reference as I don't remember who it was, though it was indeed here on Pojo) is that Bait Doll forces the activation at the resolution of Bait Doll. So, if you activate Bait Doll and target, for instance, Solemn Judgment, the timing is not correct because Solemn Judgment needs to be activated directly to what it is trying to negate. In this case Bait Doll is already resolving and thus Solemn Judgment's effect (unless chained to Bait Doll's activation) misses it's timing.

On the other hand, if Bait Doll targets Gravity Bind for example, the timing is still correct at the resolution of Bait Doll for Gravity Bind to be activated as it's the last thing to happen. The same situation would apply to Return From the Different Dimension so long as the player indeed has monster removed from play, thus, the owner of RfDD would be forced to pay the cost of activation of the card.

[Hefeca]

Ok thank you.
The way it was interpreted at my local, people believed that it forces the opponent to chain.

[Merovingian]

can you use bait doll on your own cards?

will bait doll successfully resolve if stardust is on the field?

[ness00]

Originally Posted by Merovingian

can you use bait doll on your own cards?

will bait doll successfully resolve if stardust is on the field?

1) Yes, you can. However, you can't force your Trap Cards to activate in the turn you set them. The timing would be incorrect and they would be destroyed.

2) Yes. It is not certain that Bait Doll will destroy the Card or not.

[NERDstarXD]

Originally Posted by Hefeca

Ok thank you.
The way it was interpreted at my local, people believed that it forces the opponent to chain.

Lol, someone had the same problem with Bait Doll at my local yesterday too.

[John Danker]

Another way to explain it to players is that Bait Doll's effect to force activation occurs at the resolution of Bail Doll. With that in mind, can Bait Doll's effect force the activation of Solemn Judgment? Keeping in mind here that Solemn Judgment must be chained directly to the card's activation that it wishes to negate...the answer of course is no, we're already at Bait Doll's resolution.

Can Bait Doll's effect at resolution force the activation of Gravity Bind? Sure, Bait Doll resolves and now forces Gravity Bind to activate, the timing is apropriate. The same could be said for Return From the Different Dimension if the player has monsters removed from play.