SorceryCon

Tournament Rules and Policy Guide

Tournament Code of Conduct

We want SorceryCon to be a fun, inclusive, harassment-free experience for everyone involved, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, appearance, race or religion.  Harassment in any form will not be tolerated, and may be grounds for disqualification from the tournament and removal from the event space.

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the event staff.

Players are expected to behave in a sporting manner, play by the rules, help their opponent play by the rules, and generally participate in the event in an honorable way.  Obviously the goal of the game is to win, but it is important for the long term success of the community that everyone participating in the event has fun and feels fairly treated.  Collusion, cheating, “angle shooting” and generally dishonorable conduct will be seen as grounds for disqualification from the tournament, at the discretion of the tournament organizer or head judge.

Obviously, criminal conduct will be grounds for disqualification from the tournament and removal from the event space.

For further information about the SorceryCon Code of Conduct, please refer to this document: SorceryCon: Code of Conduct

Rules Documents

The following documents are used for official gameplay rules in SorceryCon tournaments:

Specific Rules Changes and Clarifications

Chaos Twister

This card is legal for play.  To resolve Chaos Twister’s effect, a player must use an unsleeved, unaltered, undamaged Sorcery card as a stand in for the targeted minion, assuming the owner of the minion does not wish to un-sleeve their card and provide it to the player of Chaos Twister.  The card used must appear relatively “pack fresh.”  Additionally, the following text from the official FAQ must be followed:

“This card as-written represents part of our design philosophy for Sorcery. Apply the birthday candle rule, which is that you must blow the card off your hand in a single breath; if you do not, then the effect fails. If the card falls prior to starting to blow, replace it on your hand. Once you start blowing, if the card falls due to anything other than blowing (e.g. hand movement), the effect fails. Call a judge before resolving this card if you're worried, but please be cool and apply the golden rule!”

It is not required that you have a judge present when resolving Chaos Twister, but if you would feel more comfortable having one, please do not hesitate to call.  Whether it’s your Twister or your opponent’s!

Erik’s Curiosa

This card is legal for play.  However, it’s effect must be faithfully carried out (i.e. it must be torn to pieces such that, per the FAQ, it is no longer legal for play).  A player’s deck list will not be declared illegal (i.e. a spellbook containing only 49 cards) if they can show that they have ripped up a copy of Erik’s Curiosa from that deck during the tournament.  Call a judge before activating this card’s ability to ensure that it’s recorded that you did so.

The intention is that if a player rips up their copy of Erik’s Curiosa, that will impact them for the rest of the tournament.  Therefore, a player may not swap a ripped copy of Erik’s Curiosa out in order to replace it with an intact copy until after the tournament is completed.

The card that is drawn from the player’s collection by the effect of Erik’s Curiosa can only be used in the game in which the Curiosa was activated.  For subsequent games in the tournament, the player must revert to their official deck list.

If an opponent gains control of a player’s copy of Erik’s Curiosa during the course of the game, that player may concede to their opponent before the artifact’s ability can be activated, in order to prevent the card from being ripped.

Deck Construction

A player’s deck consists of their Spellbook and Atlas.  For draft and sealed events, the cards a player drafted or opened but which are not included in their Main Deck are considered their Sideboard.

Deck Minimum Size

Decks must follow normal deck construction rules unless otherwise specified in the event description (50 cards minimum in spellbook, 30 in atlas for constructed games; 24 cards minimum in spellbook, 12 in atlas for draft/sealed games).  An exception to these minimum requirements is made for players who wish to enter a constructed event with an un-altered official pre-constructed deck (Alpha and Beta printings permitted).

Draft and Sealed

When constructing a deck for draft or sealed play, players will use the official Sorcery: Contested Realm Draft Kits for their sites and avatars.  This means they will have access to the Spellslinger avatar, and the Valley, Spire, Stream, and Wasteland sites.  Players may use any sites or avatars from their draft or sealed pool as well when assembling their decks.

Sideboarding

There will be no sideboarding during Constructed events.  Player’s decks will have to be unchanged throughout the whole event.  During Sealed/Draft events, players may alter their decks between rounds using only the pool of cards they opened/drafted for that event.  Due to this, please note that players may intentionally “scout out” their possible upcoming opponent’s card pools, and attempt to sideboard against their strategies.  This is permissible, and a part of the game, but please be sure that this is done honorably and in a friendly manner.

Sleeving

Decks containing foil cards must be sleeved in opaque sleeves.  The sleeves used for a deck’s Spellbook and Atlas must be easily differentiated at a glance, as it is public information which cards in a player’s hand are sites, and which are spells.  Optionally, a player may play without sleeves, or with clear sleeves, as long as their deck contains no cards with full-art backs (except for their avatar, which may be in a clear sleeve or hard case with a full-art back).

Card Legality

Players may use any card in their decks that is a genuine, official card published by Erik’s Curiosa for Sorcery: Contested Realm with the following specifications:

  • Misprinted cards are not permitted.  This includes but is not limited to:

    • Beta foil Blink (first print wave)

    • Beta foil Blizzard (first print wave)

    • Beta foil Great Wall

    • Beta foil Courtesan Thais

    • Occult Ritual Kickstarter promo

    • Alpha foil Pendulum of Peril

    • Alpha foil Immortal Throne

    • Alpha foil Ultimate Horror

  • “Curio” cards are not permitted, unless they have name and rules text which exactly matches a card from an official Sorcery set.  (River Styx, Water Castle, etc)

  • Foil cards are permitted, but must be in an opaque sleeve with the rules text side visible.

  • “Sample” cards are not permitted unless they have name and rules text which exactly matches an official card from the “Alpha” print set. (Forcefield, etc)

  • Alt-art Avatars without the proper rules text are permitted (“Signed” Sorcerer, sketch curio Alpha Avatars), but you must bring an unaltered copy of the normal version of that avatar that you and your opponent may reference as well.

To find the official card lists for the official Sorcery sets, refer to Curiosa.io.  Special note: Curiosa.io now lists various promotional cards with their respective sets.  This means that Relentless Crowd and Winter River are legal for play in SorceryCon events.

Proxy cards are not permitted (with exception, explained below), nor are official cards which have been altered in such a way as to make the art or card text not immediately identifiable.  All errata text from curiosa.io applies to all cards, and supersedes the printed card text.  When card text differs between the “Alpha” and “Beta” printing, the “Beta” text is the official text.

Proxy Exceptions

During the course of play, it’s possible that a player’s card might be noticeably damaged and unsuitable for play, through no fault of their own.  A player may consult a judge if they can show that they own a genuine card, and there is a good reason why that card cannot be shuffled into a deck for play.  At a judge’s discretion, a proxy card may be issued to the player for use during the current tournament.

Tournament Logistics

Tournament Format

Tournaments will be run in a standard Swiss-style format with best-of-one matches with a 45 minute time limit per round.  A player must use the same deck for all matches in the tournament.  Refer to individual tournament descriptions for information about number of rounds and top cut (if any).

Start-of-Game Procedure

  1. Randomly determine which player will choose between taking the first or second turn.  That player makes their decision.

  2. Players shuffle their decks, then present them to their opponent for additional shuffling and/or cutting.

  3. Players draw their starting hands.

  4. The player taking the first turn takes their mulligans, then the player taking the second turn takes theirs.

  5. Play begins.

Round Time Limits

Games in constructed events have a 45 minute time limit.  At the end of that time, the active player finishes their turn.  Then 5 more turns are played.  If no winner has been determined, the player with the highest life total will win the game.  If life totals are tied (such as both players being at Death’s Door) then the player who had the second turn will be the winner.  Intentional slow play will be considered unsporting conduct.

Tardiness

Players are expected to be at their assigned table as soon as possible after pairings for a round are posted.  Any player who is not at their table within five minutes of the start of a round may be issued a match loss by a judge.  If your opponent does not show up, please call a judge over to confirm this.

Ties

If both avatars are on Death’s Door and would take damage at the same time, instead neither avatar takes damage.  The rest of the effect resolves as normal, but neither player wins or loses and gameplay continues until a clear winner is determined.

Gameplay Logistics

Game Information

Information in the game falls into one of three categories: Public, Hidden, or Historical.

Public information is information about the game’s state which each player is responsible for maintaining and making clear to their opponent at all times.  This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Life totals

  • Mana and threshold totals

  • Which cards in each player’s hands are spells and which are sites

  • The state of each object in play (tapped/untapped)

  • The location of each object in play (on the surface, underground, in square 8, etc.)

  • The current abilities being declared and resolved, as well as spells being cast

  • The contents of each player’s cemetery

  • The cards banished from each player’s deck

  • Cards currently revealed by effects which “reveal” cards

  • Which deck a player is drawing from

Hidden information is information which players are not responsible for revealing or sharing with any other player.  This includes, but is not limited to:

  • The actual cards in a player’s hand

  • The contents of their deck, as well as the order of cards in their deck which may be known due to River-like effects

  • If an effect requires a player to reveal hidden information to their opponent, they must allow their opponent any reasonable amount of time to review that information before the game continues.

Historical information is information which was Public at one point, but is no longer.  Players are not responsible for providing or revealing historical information for one another.  For instance, if an effect requires a player to show their hand to their opponent, after they have done so that player is not responsible for reminding their opponent what cards were in their hand.

Player Communication

Players are responsible for clearly communicating their actions during the course of a game.  This includes both manipulation of game objects (i.e. turning cards when they are “tapped”, or clearly indicating this state in some other way) as well as verbally announcing spells played and abilities activated.  Please make sure that your actions are understood by your opponent, and please be generous with your opponent when they have the opportunity to declare a response to your actions.

This is especially true when activating the “Move and Attack” ability, since this is the only ability which allows your opponent the option of responding on your turn.  When activating “Move and Attack” please be sure that you declare the movement and attack targets upfront, rather than moving the card and then declaring the attack.  Please be sure that you clearly announce your attack target as a unit or surface of a site, or you announce your intention to move without attacking, and do not assume that your opponent will know what you intend to do without clear information given. 

Shortcuts, such as announcing attacks from multiple units at once when you know your opponent has no defending units, are acceptable as long as they do not cause confusion or misunderstanding about the current board state.  Using such shortcuts is a common way to speed up gameplay, but misuse of them will be considered unsporting conduct.

Resolving Rules Violations

Mistakes sometimes happen through no fault of anyone involved.  The following guidelines will be used to resolve these mistakes.

General Game Rule Violations

If a player makes a simple mistake and it is caught by either player, the game should be rolled back to a state immediately previous to the mistake, if possible.  If both players, or a judge, decide that the game has progressed too far for the state to be rolled back to before the mistake, play continues as normal.  At a judge’s discretion, they may assign damage or card draw penalties if they believe the mistake unfairly benefitted one player in such a situation.

Example 1: a player plays a minion for which they have enough mana, but lack the necessary elemental affinity, and either player notices immediately.  That minion is returned to it’s owner’s hand, and the mana to play it is not spent.

Example 2: a player plays a Cerberus in Chains when they lack the necessary elemental affinity, and reduce an opponent’s life total significantly over several turns by attacking with it, before either player notices.  It is determined that it is too late to roll back the game state.  At a judge’s discretion, with input from the players as to what they would consider fair, Cerberus may be banished, the player who committed the infraction may be assigned damage based on the damage dealt to their opponent, and/or their opponent may have life refunded.

Example 3: a player attacks with a 3-power minion, and their opponent blocks with a 2-power minion.  Both minions are put into their respective cemeteries, and the player passes their turn and their opponent draws a card and plays a site before they both realize their 3-power minion should have survived.  The 3-power minion is returned to play at the same location where it was when it died, tapped, and the opponent may take back the play of their site if they wish.

Revealing/Looking at Extra Cards

If a player accidentally draws extra cards, draws from the incorrect deck, or misplaces/drops cards, their opponent may look at the extra cards and then decide whether to place them on the top or bottom of their appropriate deck, in any combination and order.  If it is potentially not possible to differentiate these cards from others in a particular zone, the opponent looks at all cards in that zone and chooses an appropriate number to remove to the correct deck.

Example 1: a player draws two cards at the start of the turn, instead of one, but both are still sitting separate from that player’s hand.  Their opponent looks at those two cards and places one on the top or bottom of the appropriate deck.

Example 2: a player draws two cards at the start of the turn, instead of one, and they have already been added to the cards in that player’s hand.  Their opponent looks at their hand and chooses one card to be placed on the top or bottom of the appropriate deck.

Example 3: an effect allows a player to draw a spell, but they draw from their atlas instead.  Their opponent looks at that card and places it on the top or bottom of the atlas.  The player then draws from the appropriate deck.

Example 4: several turns into the game, one player realizes that several of the cards fell from their deck onto the ground during the start-of-turn procedure.  Their opponent looks at those cards, and decides whether each one will be placed on the top or bottom of their appropriate deck in any order.

Card Shuffling Error

If a player accidentally shuffles cards into their deck when they are not supposed to, their opponent may look at that deck, choose up to an appropriate number of cards, and place those cards into the correct zone.  That deck should then be shuffled.

Example 1: a player searches their spellbook with Common Sense, chooses a card, then accidentally shuffles that card back into the deck.  Their opponent may look at the spellbook, choose up to one Ordinary card, and place it in the player’s hand.

Example 2: a player searches through their cemetery and spellbook to find an Adept Illusionist and places it into play, then accidentally shuffles their cemetery into their spellbook.  Their opponent may look at the spellbook and place up to an appropriate number of cards into the cemetery.  If it cannot be agreed upon how many cards should be in the player’s cemetery, a judge should be consulted.

Judge Rulings

Players should feel free to ask for a judge’s help at any point.  If, during a game, a judge is called and delivers a ruling with which a player disagrees, they may appeal to the Head Judge of the event.  The Head Judge’s ruling is then final.