Are opponents allowed?
Asked by JackOfAllTrades 11 years ago
Are opponents allowed to look at every single card i lay on the battlefield even if I don't play an ability or use it (like cast the card but not play it yet). Because one of my friends who I play FNM with looks at almost every card i lay on the field and gives it good hard 20-30sec stare. I find it a bit much and it effectively makes the game last 15-30mins longer than it could've been. As soon as I play and lay it, he takes it from my field and stares at it profusely.
MagnorCriol says... #2
This isn't a clear-cut situation. Yes, they're completely allowed to look at the cards on the battlefield; that's a public zone and information there is open. There's good reason to look at the cards before you activate them, too - knowing that you have the option to use an ability is important strategic info.
That being said, if they're dragging it out that much longer, they're starting to drift into the "slow play" zone. That can be a problem if it's dragging things on that long, not just for you but also for all the other players in the tournament waiting on y'all. I'd ask the judge or the tournament organizer about it before the tournament next time and see if they can keep an eye on the situation, so that they can intervene if they deem it to be too much.
As an aside, there's no functional difference between "cast" and "play" in the way you're using them here. What do you mean by that?
October 19, 2013 4:03 p.m.
They are allowed to look at your cards any time they are in a public zone, but that doesn't extend to physically picking up your cards. You can definitely tell them to stop picking up your cards. If they want to read what a card does, you can turn it the other way around and they can read it while it is still on the table.
Any time they have a question about the text of a card or want its full oracle text, they can ask a judge to supply that service (This will also make it clear to a judge if they are trying to slow-play by asking every time)
You should be able to assume somebody playing in a given format knows most of the cards in that format (especially standard with the small card pool) but you can't refuse them looking at the card.
October 19, 2013 4:03 p.m.
JackOfAllTrades says... #4
I cast the card but do not play the ability, like Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage . I cast the card but do not play any of the mana abilities. (I use play and cast with different terms, makes it more simple for me to explain)
I kind of figured he can (but the part where he physically picks my card up off my field and stares at it part is quite irritating). So he isn't allowed to pick up my cards? I will even read them out loud, he still picks them up and looks.
October 19, 2013 4:13 p.m.
Vitu-Ghazi has no mana abilities, she has two activated abilities. Abilities are never cast, they can be activated, triggered or static.
October 19, 2013 4:19 p.m.
JackOfAllTrades says... #6
Oh, it's called activated abilities? I didn't know that, whoops. (I am fairly new, still trying to understand the rules and descriptions)
October 19, 2013 4:23 p.m.
No problem.
It doesn't matter whether you activate any of a permanent's abilities before they look at the card to see what the abilities do. Maybe they see what the abilities are and decide to do something specifically before you can use them. Any time you cast a spell, before it even resolves, all players should have a proper understanding of what that spell will do if it resolves, so they can decide if they want to allow it to resolve (assuming they have counterspells etc)
All players are expected to maintain a full understanding of the game state, and that requires them to all know what is in play and what it does.
But yes, you can tell them to stop handling your cards, and instead offer to place them on the table facing the other way so they can read them, or have a judge supply the oracle text.
October 19, 2013 6:13 p.m.
To quote directly from the rules for tournament play:
"Derived information is information to which all players are entitled access, but opponents are not obliged to assist in determining and may require some skill or calculation to determine. Derived information includes:
~ The number of any types of objects present in any game zone
~ All characteristics of objects in public zones that are not defined as free information"
So in competitive REL, what all your cards do is Derived Information and you can't refuse them access to that information, but you also don't have to do anything to assist them. So you can just tell them to read the card upside down or ask for an oracle reference from a judge, anything else is you being nice.
However...in Regular REL (like at FNM) all derived information is instead considered "free" information.
"Free information is information to which all players are entitled access without contamination or omissions made by their opponents. If a player is ever unable or unwilling to provide free information to an opponent that has requested it, he or she should call a judge and explain the situation."
October 19, 2013 6:21 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #9
If you don't want a player to handle your cards, with the exception of cutting, then you may ask them not to, they are however permitted to look, and you are obliged to allow them to read your cards, at any time they need to. Otherwise you are impeding the public nature of the zones.
In other words quit being a little sissy and hand over your cards. (Unless they are benders, I've known benders, people that bend cards, dicks, burn them with fire.)
October 19, 2013 9 p.m.
KrazyCaley says... #10
Also note that if your opponent is deliberately doing this to stall, in competitive environments that would be illegal. In a more casual environment, I'd just say let them read the card.
JackOfAllTrades says... #1
You don't want to know how long one 2v2 game lasts...
October 19, 2013 3:57 p.m.