Questions tagged [mtg-competitive-rel]
For questions about Magic: The Gathering's Competitive REL (Rules Enforcement Level), used at major tournaments and competitive events (for example Pro Tour Qualifiers and Grand Prix Day 1).
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Would illegally moving cards during a game from the sideboard to the hand/library or vice-versa be a Hidden Card Error or a Deck Problem?
Would illegally moving cards during a game from the sideboard to the hand/library or vice-versa be a Hidden Card Error or a Deck Problem? For example...
A player is instructed to shuffle their hand ...
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At Competitive REL, do players have to follow requests from spectators?
According to Magic the Gathering Tournament Rules
If spectators believe they have observed a rules or policy violation, they are encouraged to alert a judge as soon as possible. At Regular
or ...
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2
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Are costs always paid sequentially?
According to Rule 601.2h...
"The player pays the total cost. First, they pay all costs that don’t involve random elements or moving objects from the library to a public zone, in any order. Then ...
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1
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Missed State-Triggered Abilities
Player A controls Emperor Crocodile and some other creatures. The other creatures leave the battlefield, and only Emperor Crocodile remains. The state-triggered ability is not noticed, and some ...
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Choices While Resolving Missed Triggers Which Cannot Be Publicly Verified
According to the IPG, when the opponent of a player who missed a trigger chooses to put it onto the stack, "No player may make choices for the triggered ability involving objects that would not ...
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Informing opponents of outdated card text
When a player is using cards printed with less than the latest Oracle text, to what extent are they obligated to inform opponents about this? To provide a contrived example:
P1 casts Ceta Disciple, ...
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In what way are cards simultaneously milled by multiple players?
According to Rule 101.4a, "If an effect has each player choose a card in a hidden zone, such as their hand or library, those cards may remain face down as they’re chosen. However, each player ...
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In what category of information are timestamps?
In Magic the Gathering Competitive/Professional REL, there are four categories of information: status, free, derived, and private. Under which category of information do timestamps fall?
If ...
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In Magic, are you allowed to reveal what cards you have drafted to stop others from drafting the same colors?
For example, suppose I open a [bomb Boros mythic]. I reveal it, and say "Ok guys I'm drafting Boros" (with the implication that everyone else should avoid fighting me over those colors). Is ...
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Intentionally Not Announcing Triggered Abilities Until Just Before They Would Be Considered Missed
In Magic the Gathering, the Infraction Procedure Guide details what it means for the announcement of a player's triggered ability to be missed, as a function of what category of effect the triggered ...
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Should I tell opponent they can't draw a card if they try to cantrip when I have a "can't draw more than one card a turn" effect in play?
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 ...
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After how many iterations can I shortcut the Delina, Wild Mage / Pixie Guide combo?
I'm playing at competitive rules enforcement with Delina, Wild Mage and Pixie Guide. If I attack with Delina, Wild Mage targeting Pixie Guide with the triggered ability, I'll continue creating copies ...
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What if somebody used counterfeit/proxy basic lands in an official MTG tournament?
It seems clear to me that if you use counterfeit nonbasic/nonland cards in an official tournament you're likely to get disqualified or even banned.
But what happens if somebody would play counterfeit ...
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How does your opponent verify you have not more than 4 of a particular card in your deck?
Inspired by How does your opponent verify that you're able to cast a Companion card?
As of time of writing the top-voted answer basically says you don't verify that the opponent can cast a Companion ...
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How does your opponent verify that you're able to cast a Companion card?
Normally, in Magic the Gathering, your library is a hidden zone; neither you nor your opponent are allowed to look at the cards in it during a game of Magic: the Gathering unless an effect says that ...
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What happens if someone builds a MtG Turing Machine in a tournament setting?
In this paper, the authors prove that it's possible to construct a Legacy-legal combo deck where the comboing player constructs a Turing Machine through mandatory actions, which begins to execute a ...
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Does showing my opponent I have an effective win condition qualify as improperly determining a winner?
This question is focused on the tournament rule, IPG 4.3 Unsporting Conduct — Improperly Determining a Winner.
Two players playing the Bant Nexus of Fate combo deck meet each other in a round. This ...
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Is it permissible to intentionally make an illegal move in order to bluff?
Imagine this situation -
Alice's board: a tapped Steel Leaf Champion, Ghor-Clan Rampager in hand (which Bob knows about because of an earlier discard spell)
Bob's board: Charming Prince, 8 life
It's ...
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Is declining to win to burn time on the clock punishable?
Continuation of Is refusing to concede in the face of an unstoppable Nexus combo punishable?
Alice's board: Jace, the Mind Sculptor @ 5 loyalty, Counterbalance, 8 lands, bunch of counterspells in ...
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Is refusing to concede in the face of an unstoppable Nexus combo punishable?
Alice's board: 10 lands, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Teferi emblem, Tamiyo, Collector of Tales, 2 Wilderness Reclamation, 15 cards left in deck, 15 life, 4 Nexus of Fate in deck
Bob's board: nothing (...
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When the match time is called, does the current turn end immediately?
In the Magic Tournament Rules, the End-of-Match procedure says:
If the match time limit is reached before a winner is determined, the player whose turn it is finishes their turn and five additional ...
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Can I bring a visual flow chart for complex magic cards to events?
I was reading the card Chains of Mephistopheles and I found these great flow charts for how it's replacement effect works. Would I be allowed to bring a simple flow chart like that to a sanctioned ...
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What happens if both players misunderstand the game state until it's too late?
Let's take two players, Alice and Bob. Alice has a Tarmogoyf. She asks Bob what card types are in his graveyard. Bob fans out his graveyard, they do the math, and conclude Alice's Tarmogoyf is 5/6.
...
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Tapping a creature with summoning sickness in an equivalent play situation
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 ...
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Scrap Trawler triggers
If I control a Scrap Trawler, a Krark-Clan Ironworks, and a Chromatic Sphere, with a Mox Opal in the graveyard. When I sacrifice the sphere to Ironworks, do I have to return the opal to my hand or can ...
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How do I handle a gameplay error when I have an equivalent play available in a tournament?
For example, suppose I have 3 Mountains. I play another Mountain, cast Koth of the Hammer, use the +1, and attempt to attack for four. However the Mountain I target is the one I freshly played (...
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43
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3
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Am I technically allowed to look up cards during a Magic tournament match?
Am I allowed to look up a card during a game, if it's being played with serious Rules Enforcement? Either to read the full card from the Gatherer, or to try to find the exact card I'm vaguely thinking ...
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Whose turn is it when the end-of-round 5 turns are called and the turn is being passed?
In the midst of the third game of a match, the active player has just suggested a short cut to pass priority until their turn ends. Simultaneously, the judge announces the end of the round, leaving 5 ...
- 3,906
2
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1
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Variety in competitive standard decks [closed]
As you can see, I am a noob in MTG. I have been looking at the top standard decks in order to catch up some guidelines about the deck distribution (quantity of lands, spells and creatures; rares, ...
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Drawing an Extra Card During Mulligan
Errors prior to the beginning of the game have a less disruptive option—a forced mulligan—that
is not available at any other point during the game.
...
If more than one
excess card was drawn (...
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If a player goes to "combat", and then activates an ability, what is the game state?
My question is not a duplicate of When should I activate Man Lands and Keyrunes in order to attack with them?, although anyone answering this question would need to understand at least that much in ...
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When are players obligated to tell their opponent that the storm count is wrong?
Nathan and Alice are playing a Modern tournament at Competitive REL. Alice is playing Storm, and keeping track of the storm count using a spindown. "Storm count" is shorthand for "the ...
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Should a judge assume that any triggers not mentioned have been missed when providing a ruling?
Alice and Nathan are playing a friendly game of magic in a tournament run at Competitive REL. They run into a situation that they don't quite understand, and so they call for a judge. Jason arrives, ...
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23
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Can my opponent force me to play out a demonstrated loop?
We are at a Competitive REL tournament. With ten minutes left on the clock in game three, my opponent is at 5000 life. I control two Elite Arcanists. Each of them have Time Stop exiled. I also control ...
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2
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When must one communicate denial of a shortcut?
Anthony begins his turn by drawing a card. He then immediately turns his creatures sideways and declares "I attack with Runeclaw Bear and Alpine Grizzly."
Anthony's opponent, Nathan, has 6 ...
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4
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2
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When is a battalion trigger considered "missed" at Competitive REL?
At exactly what stage of combat would a Competitive REL judge change his ruling from "The trigger happens" to "Your opponent decides" to "The trigger was missed"?
The ...
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Communication - Saying "Draw"
My opponent was in his second main phase, sitting silently for about a minute. He finally gestured towards me and said, "Draw." I drew. My opponent then shouted, "Judge!" and told the judge that I ...
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Penalty For Skipping Priority
Sometimes when I pass my turn, my opponent simply untaps and, if nothing triggers during upkeep, they draw. This can be a major headache for me when I want to cast Mana Short after my opponent untaps ...
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Are you required to call a judge if you're not involved in the game?
If you're a spectator to a game at either competitive or professional REL and you see a gamestate error occur, should you call a judge?
What happens if you don't call a judge?
Is it different if you ...
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How do I interrupt a loop after multiple iterations?
This is a question regarding infinite loops and shortcuts at Competitive REL.
Here is a potential scenario.
Both my opponent and myself are at 20 life each.
I have no creatures on the battlefield.
...
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1
answer
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Sensei's Divining Top activations
A player in a competitive REL tournament pays 1 mana to activate Sensei's Divining Top's ability to look at the top 3 cards of his library, looks at the 3 cards, changes the order and put them ...
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Infractions/Player Communication - Infernal Tutor and Lion's Eye Diamond
In a Competitive REL tournament with an opponent, a player casts Lion's Eye Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond, Infernal Tutor, making a note of storm count after each spell is cast. If the active player ...
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