Triple Triad Plus Rule

[Ryuko]

When you place the card down, that card must be touching any two sides of any OTHER cards that add up to the same number. It won't count on any other card. In your first example, you did not flip any cards because you placed down the Cactuar... Not only was the Cactuar only touching one card when you placed it down, but the other side that added to 9 was on Godbert, not the Cactuar. If, for example, you were the one to place down Godbert in that same exact scenario (with the Dodo and the Cactuar already on the board), you WOULD get the flip.

However... having 'setups' like this isn't completely useless. Once the plus rule kicks into effect, the 'combo' effect will take into account the cards that are already on the board, which is why you can get multiple flips after that first plus rule takes effect. Thus, you COULD trigger a flip with that Godbert later in the 'game'.

Also, the cap on a card is 10... no matter what. A = 10, btw, in case you were wondering. You can also confirm this via the ascension rule. So, even though one side technically adds to 10 and the other adds to 13, they both actually add to 10... thus, you get the flip...

I hope I've explained this well.