Tablet / Writing things down - OK? Y/N?
Asked by EthanTheBrave 11 years ago
I recently made a deck that makes heavy use of taking peeks of the opponent's hand and deck and uses that information constantly, so since I've seen other people doing this before - I brought a tablet with me to write down things and keep track.
I recently debuted this deck at a FNM and did pretty well, but something I was uneasy about the whole night was that I was really unsure of people's reaction to my tablet. (Pen and paper tablet, in case there is confusion).
Out of 5 rounds, 3 opponents were totally ok with it (one even complimented me on planning it out), whereas the other two rounds the opponents seemed really annoyed that I'd go to such lengths - and in one the opponent refused giving me time to write things down before scooping up his hand after Thoughtseize and whatnot.
So my question to people here is - do you think it's rude or bad form to bring a pen-and-paper tablet to write things down, or is it perfectly ok if your deck calls for it?
(I will also say - I was not slow in any way. I used abbreviations for all the card names and kept the pen in hand so i could mark-on-the-go.)
This really isn't a rules question, more of an etiquette thing really.
It's certainly legal, assuming your not taking very long to write everything down, your notes remain visible to everyone throughout the game, and you start with a clean sheet at each round.
I personally dislike it, but I have a very good memory and I am pretty biased against things like taking notes in class. It bugs me a little, but I accept that not everything is to my personal taste.
February 6, 2014 10:26 a.m.
It's perfectly OK and actually part of the rules. The trick is that during your match, you can only refer to notes written during that match. Other notes are not allowed. More Info
People upset by this are either unaware of the rules or just bad sports.
February 6, 2014 10:27 a.m.
Aboithagameboi says... #4
It's perfectly legal, I had somebody Slaughter Games naming something and wrote down every single card in my deck, then crossed off every card I had played since then and after. Afterwards I asked our judge and he said it's perfectly legal as long as he doesn't make a Slow Play, but I was just annoyed that he would go to that extent of tryharding, especially since this was just casual FNM play. If it were a PTQ or GP I would had less problems with it, but personally I wouldn't bust out a page of paper and write down an entire deck list right there just for FNM. It's definitely completely legal though.
February 6, 2014 10:54 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #5
Call a judge immediately if your opponent starts writing down the entire contents of your deck. That definitely strays into "excessive" territory.
February 6, 2014 11:01 a.m.
daniferrito says... #6
Because of your last example (someone hiding their had when you start writing out the contents from Thoughtseize ) i would recomend you first noting everything they have in hand, THEN, deciding which card to take away.
February 6, 2014 11:23 a.m.
The rules are unfortunately light on an "official" duration for things like Peek
Does your hand stay revealed until priority is passed after the resolution of the spell? Does it stay revealed until the next time there is hidden information in your hand?
In the case of Peek, I assume it stays revealed only until they draw the card.
February 6, 2014 11:40 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #8
When it comes to duration, I think we have to take the general guideline from the rules about revealing cards in a zone, namely that "If an effect causes a card to be revealed, it remains revealed for as long as necessary to complete the parts of the effect that card is relevant to." You look at the cards for as long as it takes to get a good look at them, and that can include taking some quick notes.
Rhadamanthus says... #1
You're allowed to make notes during a match. You can only look at those notes during that specific match and you can't take an excessive amount of time doing it, but it's perfectly fine. How your opponent feels about it doesn't really matter, but do your best to be polite. If your opponent still doesn't like it, that's his problem.
February 6, 2014 10:25 a.m.