Opponent forgot to play Negate
Asked by Argy 4 years ago
I played Banishing Light targeting my Opponent's Traxos, Scourge of Kroog at Pioneer FNM.
She put in into exile, then noticed that she had a Negate in hand, and asked if she could play it.
I said no, because Traxos, Scourge of Kroog was already in exile.
I was talking about this with a friend, who said I was rules lawyering, and they would have let her play the Negate
It would probably have cost me the match.
Thoughts?
I'd have to agree with sergiodelrio the dependence on circumstancial factors. If an opponent waited to see my next play and then wanted to walk back to a previous counterspell opportunity, that would seem sketch and so i'd probably say no. If someone dropped an oops and immediately noticed their error without waiting on additional game info, I'd likely let that slide.
That said, if I was your opponent, you let me walk that back, and I went on to win a prize, I'd probably be sharing that prize with you if it was the clear reason for my win. Nice is nice, but it's less mandatory in increasingly competitive environments. Always consider the prize vs. the downside of being that guy. FNM is maybe you let it go, depends on circumstance and the opponent. If it's Commander night next time, your friend is 100% correct; let it go. If it's quarter-million championship match, lawyer up and go buy a more tolerant friend with the prize pool!
April 23, 2021 8:56 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #3
First answer for a rules question at any sanctioned event: call a judge to help. FNMs are "Regular" level events, so judging at the event is all about helping and educating. No one is going to get penalized for anything unless they're doing something very wrong (cheating, being aggressive, this is the 5th time they've been reminded about this tonight, etc.)
You weren't rules lawyering. Traxos going into exile meant you and your opponent agreed that Banishing Light resolved, entered the battlefield, triggered, and the trigger resolved as well. However, a situation where you said "Banishing Light" and your opponent responded with "Okay - no wait, hold up, Negate " without acknowledging the trigger is a lot different. Call a judge.
April 23, 2021 9:14 a.m.
I know you selected an answer already and I agree that your decision is circumstantial. In fact, one of the other circumstances I take into account is the skill level of my opponent. If I know they are new to the game or format, I'm more likely to forgive slips ups and correct things. One of the places I see this most is newer players using instants to boost their creatures pre-combat rather than as a combat trick. I've actually reversed their entire attack phase to show them the optimal way to handle it in the future, even keeping my blocks the same despite the possibility of it wiping my board. Where I am less forgiving is a player that seems experienced and after everything has resolved, like in your example. At the point of remembering the Negate, Banishing Light had resolved as had Traxos going into exile. I could see the Banishing Light resolving and when you choose Traxos allowing the Negate to be played, if you wanted to be forgiving, but in this chase I think you made the appropriate call.
sergiodelrio says... #1
Really depends on a lot of circumstancial factors imho. Rules wise you did the correct thing of course. Actually no one can really help you here, this is entirely your call what degree of slipup you tolerate at any given time that exceeds the game rules.
April 23, 2021 8:42 a.m.