Public Information

Public information can be defined as information all players have equal access to. If a player is ever unwilling/unable to provide the public information available to any opponent that requested it, then a judge can be called to come and investigate the situation. A judge may also ask about public information in a game and truthful answers must be provided. Public information can be defined as the following:

• Details of current and past game actions that continue to affect the game state.

• The name of any visible object in play.

• The amount and type of counters

• Properties of any card in play (awake, rested, etc.)

• The zone of any card in the game

• The face-up contents of all graveyards and banishments.

• Face-up or currently revealed cards in any zone.

• The current phase in a turn

There is also derivable information about the game state that, although is accessible freely to any player, it is not always innately clear, obvious, or statically reflected in a game. Such information typically requires a manner of calculation, counting, or assessment of the game state. This information is also considered public information which can be determined by players or judges if needed. Examples of public information in the form of derivative information can be the following:

• Number of objects/cards in a game zone (such as the number of cards in hand, memory, main deck, or material deck)

• Characteristics of cards in any zone that is not statically defined or represented (type-setting, etc.)

• Power/life stats (if modified or contingent on specific rule-setting)

• Specific game rules, tournament policy, card rulings, or any information regarding the Indexed text of a card.

Any information like this should be determined when relevant to the game state or at any time in which a player or judge asks for this value. Players should work together to ensure that the derived information is correct (such as calculating proper power and life stats) and judges can be called to assist, if any ambiguity or disagreement is noted. Judges can always be called to interpret specific game rules and tournament policies as enumerated in this document or assist in recalling rules text from the Index.

Players should also be able to keep track of recent significant game actions in the case that a game must be backtracked from a past game state to determine the current game state. While some mistakes can often happen with respect to inadvertently misrepresenting the public information in a game, players should work together to correct these mistakes quickly and as often as possible. Therefore, it is the responsibility of both players to engage in ensuring that the public information of the game is correct and properly represented. Non-game tokens, dice, coins, or other outside materials must be explicitly defined and identifiable separately from other similar non-game objects.

It is the current turn player's responsibility to dictate the current phase in turn. In doing this, they may not abridge the Opportunity of a non-turn player from acting when they are legally able to do so. If a non-turn player expresses the intent that they would like to act when it is reasonable to determine that they were legally able or there existed a game state where they were able, players and judges ought to allow non-turn players to act in this context.

Any card orientations must be represented in 90 degree increments, either placed upright (at 90 degrees) or turned horizontally (at 0 or 180 degrees). Orientation should be maintained in a clear manner and ambiguity should be avoided. If the orientation of a card is ambiguous, players should clarify card orientations before proceeding in the game.