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Tim C
Tim C
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Yes, but only to verify deck legality

During play, all printed cards (un-sets excluded, along with online-only cards) are worded in such a way that their effects can be verified by other players. Hackworth's answer goes into more detail here. It's very difficult to prove a negative, but I've never seen a card which was not designed this way.

However, there is one single exception. Players are forbidden from running more than four copies of any card, but playersthat only guarantees that cards are not allowed to inspect their opponent's deckresolved correctly. The increased count wouldgame does not allow themplayers to more reliably drawinspect their best cards - though if they draw more than four in the game, they'd haveopponents deck to prevent the fifth from entering any visible zones orensure that the cheating would be discovered.

In practice, they would eventually get caughtdeck itself is legal. Discards are face-up, and thereThere are cards which allow players to search their opponent's hand, see (or mill) the top cardseveral kinds of their library, and in a few cases even search their opponent's entire library. The advantage one could get from running an illegal deck is unlikely to outweigh the risk of disqualification.(some could be more easily hidden than others):

  • A deck with more than 4 copies of a vital card.
  • A deck with fewer than the required number of cards (e.g. a 59-card deck in a 60-card format)
    • The number of cards in hidden zones is not hidden, so theoretically their opponent could ask them to count the cards in their library at the start of the game, which would expose the cheating.
  • In constructed tournaments, players are required to use the same deck and sideboard for all games in the tournament, however, the lists are not revealed to their opponent. A player who swaps a few cards out (for example, someone who talks to their opponent's previous opponent to find out what kind of deck they're up against and then makes a few sideboard swaps before game 1) cannot be caught except by a judge.

Yes, but only to verify deck legality

During play, all printed cards (un-sets excluded, along with online-only cards) are worded in such a way that their effects can be verified by other players. Hackworth's answer goes into more detail here. It's very difficult to prove a negative, but I've never seen a card which was not designed this way.

However, there is one single exception. Players are forbidden from running more than four copies of any card, but players are not allowed to inspect their opponent's deck. The increased count would allow them to more reliably draw their best cards - though if they draw more than four in the game, they'd have to prevent the fifth from entering any visible zones or the cheating would be discovered.

In practice, they would eventually get caught. Discards are face-up, and there are cards which allow players to search their opponent's hand, see (or mill) the top card of their library, and in a few cases even search their opponent's entire library. The advantage one could get from running an illegal deck is unlikely to outweigh the risk of disqualification.

Yes, but only to verify deck legality

During play, all printed cards (un-sets excluded, along with online-only cards) are worded in such a way that their effects can be verified by other players. Hackworth's answer goes into more detail here. It's very difficult to prove a negative, but I've never seen a card which was not designed this way.

However, that only guarantees that cards are resolved correctly. The game does not allow players to inspect their opponents deck to ensure that the deck itself is legal. There are several kinds of illegal deck (some could be more easily hidden than others):

  • A deck with more than 4 copies of a vital card.
  • A deck with fewer than the required number of cards (e.g. a 59-card deck in a 60-card format)
    • The number of cards in hidden zones is not hidden, so theoretically their opponent could ask them to count the cards in their library at the start of the game, which would expose the cheating.
  • In constructed tournaments, players are required to use the same deck and sideboard for all games in the tournament, however, the lists are not revealed to their opponent. A player who swaps a few cards out (for example, someone who talks to their opponent's previous opponent to find out what kind of deck they're up against and then makes a few sideboard swaps before game 1) cannot be caught except by a judge.
Source Link
Tim C
Tim C
  • 686
  • 1
  • 14

Yes, but only to verify deck legality

During play, all printed cards (un-sets excluded, along with online-only cards) are worded in such a way that their effects can be verified by other players. Hackworth's answer goes into more detail here. It's very difficult to prove a negative, but I've never seen a card which was not designed this way.

However, there is one single exception. Players are forbidden from running more than four copies of any card, but players are not allowed to inspect their opponent's deck. The increased count would allow them to more reliably draw their best cards - though if they draw more than four in the game, they'd have to prevent the fifth from entering any visible zones or the cheating would be discovered.

In practice, they would eventually get caught. Discards are face-up, and there are cards which allow players to search their opponent's hand, see (or mill) the top card of their library, and in a few cases even search their opponent's entire library. The advantage one could get from running an illegal deck is unlikely to outweigh the risk of disqualification.