Does "searching" a hand count as a look or reveal?

Asked by StopShot 6 years ago

My question is in regards to the cards Surgical Extraction and Extirpate.

Let's say I cast either spell on a card in an opponent's graveyard in a multiplayer game. I'm then told to search their graveyard, library, and their hand.

When I search their hand is it counted as a "look" as in I'm only allowed to look at the cards in their hand, or is it treated as a "reveal" in which all players are allowed to look at their hand in this instance? Or since I'm the controller of the spell do I get to decide whether the search is private or public? Is the same true for the opponent's library in terms of information being kept private or public?

Lastly, if I were to cast either spell on a card in my graveyard, when it comes to searching my hand do I have to reveal my hand to my opponents or can I keep the search private to just myself?

Thank you for the help!

Tyrant-Thanatos says... Accepted answer #1

Searching never reveals cards. When you cast a Demonic Tutor for instance, you don't reveal your entire library to everybody, just you look through it. So when Surgical Extraction instructs you to "search" your opponents hand, only you look through it, nobody else may see the cards in that player's hand. (apart from the said player themselves)

January 22, 2018 3:20 p.m. Edited.