The following pages will cover these topics:
Proper and respectful communication between players in Grand Archive is a responsibility shared among all players in a game. A clear representation of the game state is essential in Grand Archive when there are many moving elements in a game between players.
It is encouraged that both players have an understanding of the rules and can appreciate the many different interactions that can occur within a game of Grand Archive. A player can have advantages in better game understanding, greater strategic skills, decision-making, and game awareness/”game sense.” A player is under no obligation to assist opposing players, however, any unsporting conduct will not be tolerated under any circumstance and may warrant action from tournament officials at any given event. Players must treat other players with respect and in a just and fair manner.
If discrepancies in recorded, tracked, or announced information are noticed, players are expected to point this out, and, if a judge’s intervention is required, that one is called to the play area. Players are obligated to answer all judge questions as honestly and as completely as possible, regardless of what was asked. Players cannot misrepresent, lie about, or confuse any person about public or derivative information in the game. While players are not obligated to assist other players in determining freely accessible information in the game, players must answer questions regarding public information completely and honestly to the best of their ability. Bluffing is allowed only to the extent that players do not lie or misinform other players regarding status or public information regarding the game state.
The types of Information in Grand Archive can be broken into the following different sections:
Status
Public
Private
Status information is information that Must constantly be tracked at all times. Changes in this information must always be explicitly announced and tracked in the course of a game. Tracking this change must be clearly visible to all players in a game and must be agreed upon as an acceptable method. Acceptable methods are any methods that all players can access it. Use of dice that may be easily and accidentally changed, or shifted/disturbed is not advised. Status information in Grand Archive will typically be in the form of damage counters to be tracked on champions.
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.
Private information is any information that players can only access from their position in the game considering their view on the game state and access to private information. Except for the main deck, most face-down cards, and the identities (not number of) cards in hand and memory typically fall within this category. Players cannot freely access private information that is in whole or part hidden from them from their perspective in the game and, though players may be asked about private information, players are not obligated to share their private information. If any questions arise about whether specific information is public or private, judges may be called to clarify this.
Players have the liberty to discuss any private information known to them to any other players in a game, they may not explicitly reveal this information publicly unless instructed to by an effect.
Shortcuts in gameplay can take place. These actions can skip certain steps or small processes that might occur in a game. This allows players in a game to progress through a match smoothly. Shortcutting relies on clear communication between players and a shared understanding of the process involved in the shortcut. Shortcuts must generally be approved for use in a tournament setting or must be done in such a way that it does not create an unclear game state. If a shortcut is intended to be made that is not a common shortcut, an approved shortcut, or is not mutually understood by all persons in a tournament, the shortcut must be explicitly and clearly defined and demonstrated. if needed, a judge can assist in ruling over a shortcut and intervening, if necessary.
Players adding an additional ability or card activation to the Effects Stack will be considered as having passed Opportunity by default unless they explicitly state they are maintaining Opportunity to act.
If a player activates a card or ability with choices that are made intended for when that object resolves, they are obligated to follow those choices unless another player responds. If another player does, and that card or ability resolves, the on-resolution choices may be changed.
A player that is instructed to glimpse but does not look at any cards is assumed to have not looked and chosen to leave the cards in the order they are currently in.
Players may ask that other players pause at certain points in a turn if they intend to perform a player action at that time to avoid accidentally taking a shortcut to progress the game phase.
Complex interactions may occur frequently in a game of Grand Archive. Players may sometimes wish to take a series of actions that result in a legal and unambiguous game state upon completion however, this may sometimes happen in illegal sequences. Opponents may ask that the player repeat the actions with correct sequencing to allow for appropriate and legal responses. Such sequences cannot result in additional information gained that might affect decision-making for that player or any other players in the game. Players may also not attempt to fish for opponents’ reactions to sequences of play to seek out modification of that sequence. sequencing errors cannot allow players to retroactively take missed actions. If there is a substantial time after a sequence has been announced and performed, it is considered that the sequence is finished and that the game state can progress to a new point.
Common sequencing error examples:
Moving to materialization or attempting to materialize a card before waking up objects
Resolving On Death abilities before placing that object into the graveyard
Drawing a card from the Draw Phase after starting the Main Phase
Paying costs of card activations or materializations before revealing the intended card
Players are expected to follow through on execution of the intended action, correcting the sequencing in the process. Only if the intended sequence is illegal can the actions be taken back and the game state reverted to the time before the sequence was tried.
Loops are considered actions or a sequence of events that can occur an arbitrary amount of times, each iteration completed identically through that sequence of actions. players must demonstrate a loop exists by performing an action or sequence of actions that do not produce a conditional effect. If a sequence of actions results in the player being required to make a decision or where they intentionally make a choice, it is either not considered a loop or will stop being a loop at that point, if a player was demonstrating a loop previously. If a loop can be demonstrated to be “infinite,” the player must choose a number equal to how many times they wish to iterate through the loop. When this is done, that loop will iterate that many times; players cannot choose “infinity” as a number. If a loop depends on hidden information for continuity, a judge may be called to determine the continuity of the loop. Loops must be deterministic, i.e., the outcome of the loop must produce the same effects for each iteration in the loop.
Loops must be able to progress the state of the game. If a loop or series of iterations in a loop does not produce a meaningful progression of the game state, a judge may rule that the player must take different actions.
Players are responsible for remembering their own triggered abilities; players are not obligated to point out triggered abilities they do not control. Players intentionally leaving triggers unacknowledged constitutes cheating. Players may inadvertently forget about a triggered ability. Such abilities are considered forgotten and will have subsequently not entered the Effects Stack. Forgotten triggers that specify a “may” component that gives the controller a choice as to whether that ability takes effect will assume the ability was declined. Abilities without a permissive or optional component are handled via rules enforcement.
There is no formal method of representing zones, cards in zones, or the various decks in a play area. Broadly, requirements are that the main deck and material decks are each separate and plainly visible and that the graveyard and banishment are explicitly noted and visible. Furthermore, champions should be placed such that they are clearly and easily visible in the play area. The memory zone should not be confused with any other face-down cards and should be positioned closer to the player whereas objects in the game are positioned closer to the opponent(s). It is recommended that the main deck, graveyard, and banishment are all kept to either the right or left side of a player and that the material deck be positioned on the opposite side. Cards in one zone may be referenced or tied to by an ability of a card in another zone; this relationship should be clearly denoted and represented.
It is recommended that players adhere to the following conventions of card layouts during a game of Grand Archive:
The main deck and material deck should be on opposite sides, left and right, of the player. E.g. If the main deck is on the player’s left, the material deck should be to the player’s right.
The graveyard should be kept in front of or adjacent to the main deck.
Banishment should be either set off to the side or represented in an organized pile horizontally beneath the graveyard or in front of the graveyard.
Cards in the memory zone should be kept directly in front of the player near the end of the table. Cards in the memory zone should be kept in a manner that makes each card easily singled out, if possible and reasonable.
Cards in hand should be held in hand or may be temporarily set face-down together on the table when needed.
Champions may be set upright in front of the controlling player either in the center of the playing area or in a corner of the playing area near the material deck (but not further out than the material deck).
Weapons should be kept near the champion.
Regalia should be kept near each other in an area of the play area.
Allies should be maintained in front of the player in front of the memory zone and in the center of the board adjacent to the champion or flanking the champion if the champion is centered.
If any cards exist in a zone that is referenced or tied via an ability to another card or object, that card can be placed underneath or next to the tied card while the zone of the card is mentally tracked or physically denoted.
Players should be expected to play games with the intention that their cards, game state, and decision options have been carefully considered before taking any player actions. Physical and/or verbal commitments to a player's action are expected to be followed through, though players should be explicit in communicating the intended action. However, wrong decisions can occur and there are some cases in which changing a decision is permissible. If no new information is gained by that player in wanting to reverse a decision or make another choice, judges may allow a play to be taken back. Players may not leverage opponents’ expressions or lack of reactions to decide whether they should take back or modify a decision. If there is any suspicion that information may have been gained, or that it is uncertain if new information was gained, the decision should not be allowed to be reverted. In general, reverting decisions may be permissible if no significant change in the game state or information about the game state has occurred after the initial course of action.
Concessions are a common tool in competitive games where a game or match may be ended prematurely and the game forfeit by a player. Players may have many reasons for voluntarily conceding a game. Most often, players may forfeit due to being in a position in the game that does not allow them to win the match through any means. In this case, it is beneficial to accept defeat and allow time in the round for additional games while also respecting an opponent's time and playing ability in the tournament. Players can concede at any point in a match and it is effective immediately; the game will end with their opponent being the winner of the game or match (whichever is specified) and the game can move to the next game.
Conceding the first game without having played the full match will still allow both players to sideboard and allows the conceding player to pick who becomes the first turn player.
Concessions can't be made in exchange for any material or non-material considerations or offerings. Similarly, concession can't be offered as a leveraged strategic piece for exchange of any kind of consideration. Both of these situations are seen as a part of bribery.
Intentional Draws (IDs) are similarly a common tool in many competitive games. Intentional draws allow for players to agree on a match result (in applicable formats and settings) that may be mutually beneficial. We believe that allowing intentional draws in some scenarios is more acceptable and ethical for players than disallowing them, since by disallowing them would only incentivize some players to see out the same draw result through needlessly convoluted gameplay, compromising the integrity of fair and honest play, and of the tournament as a whole. Players might otherwise attempt to create a false scenario where an ID emerges, either through stalling or other ploys, in addition to being difficult to police effectively if it were disallowed. While this is a debated topic, there are a few guidelines players and judges need to be aware of regrading intentional draws:
IDs are expected when mutually favorable situations between players may arise, typically regarding tournament standings and top cuts.
If players are seeking an ID, this must be done within the first 5 minutes of the match and before the match has started, otherwise the players are expected to determine the result through a fair match and may only determine the winner of the match by within-match factors.
If an ID decision is sought but not made and a match has not begun after 5 minutes, both players will be penalized under Tardiness.
IDs cannot be made in exchange for any considerations or take into consideration external match results. E.g. Players can't wait for the result of another set of opponents' match or matches to inform their decision to ID. They may only use the information presently available to them. If an ID is made in an unethical or erroneous way, this may be seen as collusion or bribery.