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This is a follow-up question to How do I handle a gameplay error when I have an equivalent play available in a tournament?. The answer to that question indicates that even though the play is equivalent, I still can't rewind that play + get a warning.

Now suppose I have two Dryad Greenseeker in play, one of which is freshly cast. I activate one of them. Opponent calls a judge. He says I tapped the Dryad Greenseeker that is summoning sick, and therefore I was breaking the rules and should get a warning. He says he knows which Dryad Greenseeker is summoning sick because he paid attention when I cast it, while I don't remember whether I put the new Dryad on the left or on the right.

  1. Do I get a warning for game rule violation?
  2. Does my opponent get a warning for unsporting conduct?
  3. Do I get to activate my Dryad Greenseeker after all?

If the answer to #3 is "yes", I'm also curious why there's a difference compared to the situation in the linked question.

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    I don't know about tournament rules, but if the answer to #3 turns out to be "yes", the difference is that in your case, reverting just the illegal play takes you back to square one, while in the other question, reverting just the illegal play takes you back to a summoning sick mountain.
    – Arthur
    Dec 13, 2018 at 7:33
  • How is this any different than your earlier question?
    – ikegami
    Dec 13, 2018 at 14:20
  • Are you asking if they're required to provide information about which of your Dryad was cast when?
    – ikegami
    Dec 13, 2018 at 14:26
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    @ikegami Other question involved a legal action followed up by an illegal action, with OP wanting to rewind to before the legal action. The questions are pretty similar but there is a Key difference, answer can probably be inferred from Hackworth's answer in OG question but might be clearer for other's to have it's own stand-alone answer.
    – Malco
    Dec 13, 2018 at 15:09
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    @Arthur what if I do something like activate Dryad Greenseeker and in response kick Vicious Offering sacrificing the Dryad Greenseeker? Conceivably, the judge can say "you can't activate the Dryad, but Vicious Offering is cast as normal".
    – Allure
    Dec 14, 2018 at 1:54

2 Answers 2

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The answers to #1 and #2 will depend on the judge. A judge may not give a warning at all if it's unclear any rule has been violated. But if a judge does give a warning in this situation, it would probably be to you. The reason is that you are responsible for maintaining a clear and legal game state (both players are responsible for this, but yours are the cards in question). In the situation you describe, you can't remember where you put the newly summoned creature, which sounds like a failure to maintain a clear game state on your part. Even if your opponent is mistaken about which one has summoning sickness, the statement "I don't remember" is insufficient defense on your part because the burden is on you to maintain the state of your permanents.

As to #3, you would, in this situation, be able to activate the other Greenseeker. The reason is that the resolution to an illegal action is, whenever possible, to just rewind to before the illegal action. In this case, if we undo the activation of one Greenseeker, the other one can be activated. In the case of the linked question, the only illegal action was attacking with the Mountain, which is undone. Targeting a Mountain with summoning sickness with Koth was still legal, and so that part of the play stands.

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  • Both players are required to keep the gamestate clear, if you remain silent on an illegal gamestate for your own gain you will get the penalty, or if the judge is convinced it was just you being confised maybe a warning.
    – Neil Meyer
    Dec 16, 2018 at 10:26
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If one of the cards is summoning sick and the other not then being confused about which one to tap is rather trivial. If you tap both of them while one is sick then the rules are violated and then a judge really needs to be called.

As for the rewinding of the turn, that really should only ever be done with the help of a judge. Also only actual rules violation can be rewinded, usually only to uphold the integrity of a match. If you target a sick mountain with koths ability no rule is broken, you cannot then expect to have your legal, sub-optimal plays retconned. This is offcourse assuming competitive rel, in a casual setting I will gladly rewind to help teach new players learn rule concepts.

Lastly you should know that game penalties are the sole discretion of the various judges. Your opponent does not have the right to negotiate your game penalty. There is a lot of factors that go into that decision. When you become a judge you receive a fair bit of training in to how to do these penalties in a way that is fair and upholds the integrity of the tournament.

Not only is it unsportman like to try and influence a judges decision for your own gain it puts the judge in a compromised position. If you have any illusions of calling any of these people your friend then this is the type of behavior you should avoid.

If you are serious about becoming a good player then you are going to need as extensive of a support network behind you, as possible. All the best players immerse themselves as deeply as possible into the mtg culture around you. Their is always going to be more experienced players around you can learn from, if you get all rules lawayer on them not only are you going to loose their respect but you are going to find theyare much less likely to shape you into a better player.

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