Whisperwood Elemental "missed" triggers
Asked by alexthegreat38 8 years ago
Say I'm playing a 
Devotion deck, like the ones that are very common in the current Standard format. I have Whisperwood Elemental on the battlefield, as well as a Courser of Kruphix. Due to the Courser's ability, I can clearly see a Dragonlord Atarka on top of my deck. Can I intentionally "miss" the Manifest trigger on my end step so I can draw and cast Dragonlord Atarka next turn? I understand that I would have to Manifest it if my opponent points out my missed trigger, but let's say they don't. If I do this on purpose, is it considered cheating? And how could a judge prove it was intentional instead of an honest mistake? I don't really want to get away with cheating if that's how this would officially be seen, but I would like to know how much leeway I have within the rules of the game. Thanks!
ClockworkSwordfish says... #2
I'm pretty sure that in any competitive environment, you and your entire family would be publically executed. In casual, your friends would just cut your hands off.
July 27, 2015 4:11 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #3
Intentionally violating a rule in order to gain an advantage counts as Cheating, which is a DQ-able offense at any REL. Whether or not the Judge believes you made a mistake or did it on purpose will depend on the conclusions drawn from his/her investigation.
@ClockworkSwordfish: The Rules Q&A subforum is intended to be more "straightlaced" and serious than the other TappedOut forums.
July 27, 2015 4:21 p.m.
alexthegreat38 says... #4
OK, thanks guys! I had a feeling this might be the answer. Just to be clear, I hadn't actually done anything like this in a tournament yet, that's why I asked here first.
FancyTuesday says... Accepted answer #1
Yes, it is cheating. Saying you're doing it "on purpose" means that from your perspective it's absolutely cheating and you're only hoping to get away with it on the benefit of the doubt that might be afforded from others that can't know you did it on purpose, you haven't made an innocent mistake you're weighing "being caught" against the advantage you'd gain from ignoring a game rule.
What would happen depends on your REL. If it's casual the judge would give you the benefit of the doubt and try to rewind the game to the state prior to the error taking place, and because the top card of your library is public knowledge that's easy enough to do. If you have a history he may shuffle Dragonlord Atarka into your library or disqualify you.
Anything Competitive or above REL you would be disqualified. I remember someone tried to "miss" a sac-land shuffle trigger he put on the stack to save a card that was put on top of his deck in response in a GP last year and he was removed from the tournament.
July 27, 2015 4:05 p.m.