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Say I have Spirit of the Labyrinth in play and opponent plays a Preordain.

Spirit stops them from drawing a card, but they might simply have forgotten about it. Or they might think they need to scry 2 anyway. If it's the latter and I tell them, it might come across as rude, but if it's the former and I don't tell them, then we'd have to call a judge with all its associated problems.

Should I tell them? If yes, when is the appropriate time - e.g. before the spell resolves, after they have scryed, etc?

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    You've tagged the question with several rules enforcement levels, but tags are supposed to describe the content of the question, not introduce new information not otherwise found in the quesiton. (Games tend to be an exception.) Generally people should be able to verify a tag should be present or not just by looking at the content of the question, but we can't do that here with those rules enforcement tags. Could you confirm for us which kind of tournament you're interested in, or that you are (apparently) just interested in the handling at literally every level of tournament?
    – doppelgreener
    Oct 30, 2021 at 12:54
  • @doppelgreener the question includes calling a judge, the circumstances & results of which should depend on REL.
    – Allure
    Oct 30, 2021 at 13:09

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In this situation, you're certainly not required to proactively tell your opponent that they can't draw a card. In other words, when they cast the Preordain, you don't need to remind them. When it starts resolving, you don't need to remind them. When they finish scrying, you don't need to remind them. Whether it's actually rude to tell them is a matter of opinion, not within the scope of the game rules, but personally I think most opponents who are not new to the game would be a teeny bit irritated at the reminder, because as players we're generally supposed to trust each other to act out the game correctly. (That being said, reasonable people would understand that you're just trying to make sure the game is played out appropriately, and would probably let it go if it's a one-time thing.)

After your opponent scrys, if they make a motion indicating they're about to draw a card, then you actually have a reason to think that they're about to violate the game rules. So if you do get a chance to interject at that point, it's probably a good idea to do so. But there's going to be a very short window of time where the opponent looks like they're about to draw a card but has not yet done so, so in practice it's probably unlikely that you'll get to do this.

Once your opponent has actually drawn the card they weren't supposed to draw, then it's a whole different story. That's a violation of the game rules and you must point it out if you catch it. From the tournament rules:

1.10 Players

Players are responsible for:

  • ...
  • Calling attention to any rules or policy infraction they notice in their matches.
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  • I'm surprised you don't find reminding opponent obviously rude. After all, if one is knowingly casting Preordain with Spirit of the Labyrinth in play, one is probably losing pretty badly, and do not need opponent to rub it in.
    – Allure
    Oct 30, 2021 at 6:50
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    I don't think it necessarily means the player is losing pretty badly. It could very well be the case that out of the available plays, playing a spell to scry 2 is the best one, regardless of whether you're winning or losing. And I don't see reminding your opponent not to draw a card as rubbing it in.
    – David Z
    Oct 30, 2021 at 7:34
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    @Allure Or they could just not have seen Spirit before and forgotten its effect after it's been in play for a while.
    – IceGlasses
    Oct 30, 2021 at 18:11
  • You do absolutely have to remind him. Accurate board states are both players responsibility.
    – Neil Meyer
    Nov 3, 2021 at 19:04
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    @Allure Perceptions of what's rude differ wildly, both among different people and in different settings. It took me a few re-readings to figure out that we were considering whether reminding the opponent is rude. I frequently play games with novices, so I fully expect people to make mistakes, and I would consider not reminding them to be rude, as it would mean that I would rather let them make the mistake and perhaps profit from it, rather than help them make the game about good play and learning instead of about rules mistakes.
    – Benjamin Cosman
    Nov 3, 2021 at 20:19
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Depends on the REL status of the event. In high level play both players are expected to keep an accurate board state. You are not just required to keep your play accurate but ALL play should be correct. At the high-end tables it is expected that correct and better play should lead to wins not just the happenstance of who forgot what triggers. Remaining silent for a benefit when you see something illegal is basically cheating (at this level).

At pre release or fnm is more casual in nature so I guess you could probably get away with it there, but you risk alienating your whole store. For what exactly 3 packs more worth of prize support in a tournament that is not even reported half the time?

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