Is it legal in a Tournament to....

[exodia]

Is it legal in a Tournament to write down your opponets cards on piece of paper when Cyber jars effect happens.
sombody did this to my i got mad.
its not fair.

 

[Bigred Blues]

Normally it is up to the Head Judge if this possible. But 99% of the time it is not legal as it is interfering with the game. There was a no note taking policy in the past but it was removed. It is now up to the Judge.

Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 16:16:47 -0700
From: "Charsky, Alex" <alex_charsky@upperdeck.com>
Subject: RE: Re: Writing down things?

Folks,

Lets use some common sense. There is no way that I as a head judge would
ever allow someone to write down the contents of their opponent's deck.

This doesn't mean that I wouldn't allow someone to take brief notes on the
game as long as they don't delay the tournament for me. Occasionally players
want to post tournament reports, so to encourage this, I would allow players
to write down small notes. Once again, notes should never delay the
tournament.

Currently the policy does not cover note taking. This is okay. Not
everything in judging will be black and white. This is why we have judges.
It's okay to allow note taking as a head judge. It's okay to disallow note
taking as a head judge. Instruct players to check with you, or make a small
announcement at the beginning of the tournament. Most local game shop
regulars will know your policy on notes after a few events and will let new
players know.

This really is a very small issue. It's expected that you as a judge should
be able to handle this.

Take care,

Alex Charsky
Tournament Commissioner
Upper Deck Entertainment
alex_charsky@upperdeck.com

I personally wouldnt allow it. As is see it as a delay in the game play, and combo'ed with D.D Designator for an unfair and truely gaming stall combos.

as a Head Judge, i'm rather glad you pointed this out...

i originally had a problem with the 'taking notes' policy, since in
other games it was deemed acceptable to use a card similar to
Confiscation, see the opponent's hand, then take small notes regarding
what the opponent had, which i would allow AFTER the effect, not
during, and therefore they had to remember what the opponent had in
their hand, not during the resolution of the effect.

but a card like Dark Designator (which i really have no idea what the
strategy could be, besides what you're referring to) and your comment
about using the time to write the deck down (which btw, would not be
allowed at all, but the ruling could be used for discussion and
appeal) makes me completely rethink the entire 'taking notes' policy.

thank you for an insight that had earlier escaped me, and i'm sure
that a number of Head Judges along with most likely all judges right
down the line, to reconsider the what i would have thought to be a
small issue, and could be perverted into something very
unsportsmanlike in the end.

from this point on, i will be siding with the 'no notes' argument, and
making sure that all judges are aware of this kind of blatant improper
use of a rather insignificant ruling.

gary "Mr. Wheat" haynes

Subject: Re: Writing down things?

I must disagree with you.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ude_yu-gi-
oh_tcg_judge_list/message/9222

It was declared earlier that players were only allowed to keep track
of Life Points on paper and no other notes. (Which stinks for me,
because it destroys my "use Dark Designator, call a card no one uses,
force opponent to show me their Deck and copy their Deck List" combo.)

~Michael Lucas

Answer:

This is no longer the case.

Currently it is at the Head Judge's discretion.

----------------------------------
Curtis Schultz
Official Netrepâ„¢
CurtisSchultz_netrep@hotmail.com

 

[daivahataka]

Is it legal in a Tournament to write down your opponets cards on piece of paper when Cyber jars effect happens.
sombody did this to my i got mad.
its not fair.

As long as they don't hold up the game I don't see a problem with this as you're allowed to shuffle the monsters before you set them (assuming you wish to play more than one of the monsters in face down defense position), so it doesn't really give them any advantage, the average duelist will simply remember what you drew anyway so notes will be unnecessary.

 

[kingpinopie]

I think I would have to totally disagree with the writing down of the pieces of someones deck. Lifepoints calculation is ok, but as for figuring out what is in a deck and such, use your memory. ( I think that is why it is there, so we can remember things) If someone wanted to write the duel down, they can do it after the duel, in between rounds. With cards like Mind Wipe, DD Designator, and others of the like... its just not fair to other duelists to write their stuff down. I personally would feel like I was cheating if I did it, and if my opponent was doing it I would tell them not too. Definitely. Bottomline.... I just dont agree with writing down someone's deck. This is a game of skill "and" luck.... Vegas would not let you write down what has been dealt so far... heck they have cameras to make sure you dont have TOO GOOD of a memory.... .... Heck, even the "highly honorable" folks out there think it's cheating...hahahahaha...

 

[DaGuyWitBluGlasses]

I have a really good memory, i can easily remember what a deck looked like.

I feel that not allowing note-taking would give me an unfair advantage. Isn't giving myself an unfair advantage cheating-- I can't just erase my memory at will; its only fair that my opponent has some means of keeping up with me.

I only approve of it as long as the note-taking is done really quickly, writing down full card names is stalling and unacceptable; i only approve of initials (even card numbers, i feel, will take too long when there's multiple cards)

 

[daivahataka]

I have a really good memory, i can easily remember what a deck looked like.

I feel that not allowing note-taking would give me an unfair advantage. Isn't giving myself an unfair advantage cheating-- I can't just erase my memory at will; its only fair that my opponent has some means of keeping up with me.

I only approve of it as long as the note-taking is done really quickly, writing down full card names is stalling and i unacceptable; i only approve of initials (even card numbe, i feel, will take too long when there's multiple cards)

I agree completely with this sentiment, as long as they're clearly not trying to stall what harm, heck most of the time if someone asks me at the start of a duel what deck I'm running I'll tell them honestly, they can't change the cards in their deck with the sidedeck until after the first game anyway and at that point they'll know what deck type it is. I really don't get this excessive secrecy people have about their decks, it's a game of skill and strategy, the only duplicity that should come into it is occasionally bluffing an opponent out of attacking by letting them thing the face down card is a trap.
It seems to me to be much like the braille on the sleeves topic, some people are blind, some have poor memories, as long as it doesn't slow up gameplay what does it matter.

 

[Dlanaan]

Ask the Head Judge at the tournament. At any tourneys where I am head judge, I do not allow note taking for any purpose except for Life Point calculation. At most high level events that I am aware of, it is likewise prohibited.