WGP Rules for Entrants
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Important Things to Know Before You Begin
Your proper conduct is vital to a successful event. Don't break the law, be unsportsmanlike, sloppy, late, unattentive, offensive in behavior, or act out. Be there before the start time of the event.
For Nationals, if you are not logged in at the start time of the tournament, you may not be able to enter the tournament. We strongly suggest you arrive on time.
Players entering an online National must be either:
- by physically in North, Central, or South America during the event, or
- have residency or citizenship in a North, Central, or South American country at the time of the Regional.
Players connecting from outside of NA/CA/SA should make clear to the Organizer that they meet these requirements upon signup.
Know how to play properly. The How to Play has a long, detailed Comprehensive Manual. Read it. Have it open when you play, if you want. This includes knowing how to treat your opponent with respect. Also, you should take care to not skip steps. Activate triggers before moving them to Stock. Clearly reveal triggers by playing them flat to the Resolution Zone (which is any area not touching any other zone, that becomes the resolution zone the moment you move a card to it via rule process) and letting go of them, so your opponent sees them. Playing Damage to the resolution zone, and not directly to clock. This will not only allow for a more easily-followable game, but is crucial if a Judge has to unravel an issue. Also, Closed Zones are Closed for a reason. Looking at Closed Zones is not allowed. This means "looking at your opponent's deck while shuffling it", and so on. Don't do anything that would get you a Game Loss - there is a list below, check it out.
You must know how all of the cards in your deck work. Unline previous years, you are not required to have translations in-sleeve or printed out - as long as you have access to HotC for lookups if necessary, you are good.
The easiest way to do this is have printouts from HotC. No need to deal with internet hiccups or the like. But, you don't need to.
Japanese cards are required. English cards are not allowed in the WGP.
We suggest you simply open up the Reference Card page for each of your cards in your browser and hit "Print". Cut those out, and there you go (assuming you actually printed the correct cards, and your printout is readable, and so on). B&W is fine.
If your opponent asks you what a card does, tell them in full. Don't "kinda" explain it, because "kinda" can lead to them misunderstanding it. If you aren't sure if your opponent is correct, look it up. Don't take this year's lax rules, however, as a green light to misrepresent your cards - if you defraud your opponent, you could get in trouble, and cause a bad time for all. Be cool.
Play field must be large and detailed enough to show the entire game, without anything off-camera.
Players must keep the back of their hand in view of the camera at all times.
Players must stay connected at all times.
Failure to adhere to visibility and connection rules will lead to Warning and Game Loss penalties, as well as forced randomization of random areas by Judge decision.
Your sleeves / cards can't be marked. Marked means a lot of things. There's more info below on what to look out for.
Learn how to randomize a deck. 'Stick your 8 climaxes in at equal intervals and do a five-second overhand shuffle' is not randomizing. Looking at the bottom of the deck during the shuffle or cut is not randomizing. When you shuffle, you should shuffle well enough that it doesn't matter what you started with. To be specific - if you are 'pre setting up' your Waiting Room so you 'shuffle well', you can be called on improper shuffling (which can be taken as a Slow Play issue, if you hold up the game to do pre-sorting), because there is no reason to do that if you are shuffling properly. More info on Shuffling below.
You should Pre-register to best avoid Round One pre-tournament playoffs, and to let your Organizer know how many folks will be there.
If an advisor tells you to "Hold", freeze. Do not under any circumstances touch your cards - if after a "Hold" was called because you have been assigned a deck check due to somone saying you had tapped sleeves, and you tap your deck down before the Judge or advisor takes it, you could be immediately Disqualified.
The person running your event is not the Head Judge. The Head Judge is available via Discord or cellphone during the tournament. Ask the advisor to talk to them if you need to. To ask for the Judge / an Advisor, go to the Judge channel and say "Judge". When you win a match, raise your hand and say "Report".
If you don't like a ruling that your advisor makes, you can appeal to the Head Judge, available via Discord or phone. This is only if you feel they are in error - if you screw up, and you actually screwed up, the Head Judge is not going to overturn what the advisor said. If the Advisor does not allow you to escalate, or you think the Advisor is doing something sketchy, contact us immediately via email or Twitter.
Shuffling / Card Supplies
Deck randomization is a serious matter. A "shuffle" is "a randomization followed by an opponent shuffle or opponent cut". Simply 'fanning in' Climaxes on Deck Refresh and performing a few overhand shuffles is not sufficient - randomization must be done to a point that it does not matter if climaxes or other cards were placed in deliberately prior to shuffling. In fact, if a player "organizes" cards before shuffling, that is considered a precursor to cheating, and can draw a Warning or more - there is no reason to do this if you are randomizing properly. Players must use at least one full table/riffle/bridge shuffle when they randomize a deck.
For the cut, An opponent may instead 'shuffle' a deck as opposed to 'cut' it. If they do, then they have 'shuffled', which means the other player (you) get a 'cut'. Note that we ask that if two shuffles occur, and then a player (you) still wants to shuffle, you contact an Advisor and alert them that something is up and neither player feels that the other is randomizing properly.
You must be able to randomize a deck without damaging the sleeves in order to enter the tournament. If you cannot due to physical disability, please contact your Tournament Organizer in advance so you can bring someone to help you shuffle. Players must take care to preserve the quality of all cards they touch. The shuffle taught to Judges is a 7x Faro + Bulk (non-single card, over and under) Monhegan, followed by a cut.
A 'cut' is a 0-50 card removal as a pile from the top of a deck in order at once one or more times until 0 is chosen, then the piles stacked so that the deck is not in the same order it was before the cut. **(For Online events, this may be done by the shufler into three piles, with the opposing player determining the final order. That play may give further instructions on how to randomize - for example, to pile shuffle post cut, or cut again, or the like)** If you do more than this, you did not cut, you shuffled - which means your opponent then gets to cut (A shuffle is a randomization followed by a cut). If you do not trust the randomization, ask them to do it again. If you still are not satisfied, call for a Judge.
After the Shuffle is complete, for online events, you may request a final randomization of your choice when your opponent finishes shuffling.
If your opponent must choose / view your cards from a hidden zone without you being able to see ( such as Stock, or Library - note that this is exceedingly rare), place your head on your mat and show the cards to the camera, then return them. Yes, this is difficult to do, but necessary to maintain game state. If you cannot, contact the Head Judge.
By entering the event, you are affirming that you are entering the tournament with the intent to do as well as possible, and not to act in a way that gives another an advantage. You can't "join just to lose to your friend on purpose", for example. You don't need to play in the main events to get participation PRs - you can just enter via free play. Acting in this manner may cause you to forfeit PRs and door prizes after review. Please show respect to the event and the other players.
"Organizing" Waiting Rooms
While the comprehensive manual notes that players may manipulate the order of their WR freely, the Tournament Floor Rules state that performing such acts as "splitting specific cards" undermines the randomization of the deck. Performing such acts wastes time unnecessarily and requires even more time to randomize. If a judge considers these actions to be delaying the game, they may apply Slow Play penalties to them.
This also falls under other floor rules. If, for example, the opposing player manipulates their Waiting Room during their own turn to do such things, it could be slow play. If they do it during their opponent's turn, it could be considered similar to flipping through cards in hand and making noise - doing such actions can cause a player to lose focus.
If you are doing it to shuffle them in "evenly": "evenly" means you aren't randomizing enough, since you are saying that your starting state "matters" to the shuffle. This could be considered cheating for failure to properly randomize. Leave them where they are and be sure to shuffle properly.
If you are keeping count of them: putting them there, and other such sorting or splitting, undermines the randomization of the deck when it is time to shuffle. This slows down the game unneccessarily. Please refrain from doing this, as you could incur Slow Play penalties from the action. If you need to know the CX count for your choice of action, please refer to your complete WR.
The deck you play in a Block *does* have to be the same to finals, should you make the cut.
Sleeves:
- three sleeves per card max (example: "penny", sleeve, oversleeve)
- must be sleeved
- sleeves cannot be damaged
- all cards must be identically sleeved
- 1 card per sleeve
- sleeves must be transparent over all areas of card text and information (this means no printed matte finish on the face-up side, and any holographic stickers or other opaque areas must not cover any card information).
- cannot use sleeves that unnecessary slow / impede shuffling (if hard sleeving, you better be good at shuffling)
- Note that purchased sleeves are not necessarily uniform. You may buy sleeves that have some that are shorter than others, or have a fold in the corner. In Regional and greater events, it is your responsibility to use uniform sleeves.
- Oversleeves with printing of any sort will be very thoroughly examined, as we have had instances of players hiding marks underneath the printed parts of oversleeves before. We strongly suggest that if you use oversleeves, you only use 100% clear oversleeves, so as to avoid any possible miscommunications.
- Players are required to use opaque card sleeves so that the back of cards cannot be easily distinguished. Sleeves used within each deck have to be of the same design.
- cannot be unlicensed (if character picture / logo / etc., must be from legitimate rights holder - printing copyrighted designs / images on sleeves is not allowed. If you bought sleeves from an festival / auction site and it did not come in official packaging / official logos, or sent someone a custom picture to print that includes copyrighted images, it is probably no good)
- These rules are also enforced by the Deck Check. If you make it through an entire tournament with a winning position (a high enough ranking to receive a prize / invitation), you should expect as least one. Decks and their sleeves are checked thoroughly for any evidence of deceit. For example, if all of your sleeves are slightly worn, but the four cards with the most wear in the upper-left corners are the Grade 1 part of your Ride chain (Cardfight!! Vanguard) or your Door Trigger Climax (WeiB Schwarz), you should expect at least a Game Loss. For example, if all of your Climaxes (WS) are at the top of your sleeves (so they can be noted when looking at the top of the sleeve from the side) or perhaps have an identical crinkle on the right side, that is an equal penalty.
What are marked sleeves / cards?
Marked sleeves are cards that someone can identify while they are face down as being different than other cards. This is the most common form of cheating at HotC tournaments, and as such we are very strict on our sleeve rules.
- "My sleeves are scuffed from playing" Change them.
- "My sleeves were slightly different lengths when I bought them I did not shave them" Change them.
- "That is some dirt on the edges from my deck box" Change them.
- "These are just reflective because that is the sleeve material" Change them.
- "My cards just happen to be tapped in at different lengths from casual play" Tap all cards in to the same depth.
- "How do people cheat" We have personally seen the following at events: Climax cards put in slightly shorter sleeves. L0s tapped to a higher sleeve depth than the rest of the cards. Well worn sleeves with crumples in the corner for L3s, side for climax. Patterned sleeves with tiny scratches to show climaxes. Reversed oversleeves on climaxes. Players with tapped decks 'tapping them back to normal' when a judge asks for them to check / at the end of a game. Players putting their climaxes in their WR upside down so they are reversed on refresh. Players heating their deck so the RRR climaxes bend slightly more so they can tell which is which. And so, so much more.
- "So does that mean I should have extra sleeves on me just in case" Yes.
- "But I use all RRR climaxes and they naturally bend I can't help it" Flatten them or change them.
- "So what do you officially recommend for the WGP" Sleeving your tournament deck in new sleeves with new oversleeves, and bringing a pack of extras of each layer. Before the tournament 'deck checking yourself' to make sure that it doesn't just happen that all your Climaxes are in shorter sleeves. Making absolutely sure your cards look the same from all four sides, flattening any cards bent due to foiling, or simply changing them out for the non-foil versions if you cannot.
- "That is crazy, no one would do these things, that is silly" It happens in every card game, all the time. The judge team for HotC has a combined thirty years of official TCG judge experience, and we have seen everything here happen so many times it isn't even surprising any more. While we strive to have a fun and engaging experience, and we have found that WS players are some of the most friendly and welcoming players in the TCG world, there are bad apples in every competition where prizes or pride is on the line.
Marked cards are cards where defacement covers an active area of the card, or allows it to be picked out while face down. The only non-active area of a card is the artwork. So, if someone has signed your card, and it is covering the card text area, or the trigger, or the power, or name, or soul, or anything like that, it is not allowed. Regarding teling the card as different face down, this includes but is not limited to a dark marker 'inking' the edge of a card, or a hard press pushing through to the back, leaving an impression that can be seen through sleeves.
JUDGE RECOMMENDATION: either single-sleeved in new opaque solid color sleeves or double-sleeved in new character sleeves and new oversleeves, 'tapped' in to the same level, individual reference cards for opponent translations, and extra sleeves ready for the possibility of a 'busted' sleeve. Please note we take marked decks very, very seriously, and a player who does not take proper care of their deck in a tournament environment is only hurting themselves. Things that can get you penalized: shaved sleeves, certain cards 'tapped to the top of the sleeve', crumples that allow us to pick out any individual cards / tech combinations / level 0s / etc, certain combinations of sleeves reversed in a deck so they can be recognized (reversing climaxes, etc).
Note that printed matte finish (screentone) is different than matte plastic (which is just non-shiny clear plastic). See-through matte plastic is fine for the front / back of cards, and is considered 'transparent' for ruling purposes.
Playmats:
- cannot be bootleg (if character picture / logo / etc., must be from legitimate rights holder - printing copyrighted designs / images on mats is not allowed. If you bought a mat from an auction site and it did not come in official packaging / official logos, or sent someone a custom picture to print that includes copyrighted images, it is probably no good)
- cannot be reflective
- if not official bushiroad WS/non-specific product (points mat, paper mat from trial deck, universal Bushiroad rubber mat without any game markings, Bushiroad mat with WS markings etc), opponent must approve of mat for you to use it
- If the judge decides for any reason that your mat is inappropriate, it is inappropriate and cannot be used.
Language and Card Legality (Applies to US WS WGP Nationals only):
Decks must be built according to the Tournament Deck Construction and Restriction List, available in our How to Play section. Only Japanese-language cards may be used at the Nationals. Please bring all proper translations. Should a player play a deck in an illegal language and be reported, they receive a Game Loss for that game, and must recreate the deck in a legal language. If they cannot, they are dropped from the event and cannot get an invite from that event (even if the event ends before then)
Gameplay
Closed zones (stock, deck, etc) must have face-down cards stored in a uniform matter. This means no 'flipping around' climax cards in your deck so you can tell when a Cancel is coming up, no turning them in Stock so you know which ones in Stock are Climaxes, etc. This is ruled in HotC-run events as 'Notetaking' or 'Marking Cards', both of which are against the rules.
Moving cards from Open to Closed Zones must be confirmed. As such, when you Refresh, your opponent must confirm it before you put the cards into the Closed Zone that is the Library. This does give them the opportunity to review the cards. Note that if multiple cards are moved in a specific order simultaneously ("put two Characters from your Waiting Room on top of your Library in any order"), you do not need to confirm the order that they are placed, but you do need to confirm which cards are moving.
Mandatory actions cannot be 'skipped'. Should you draw before you stand all of your Characters, you must go back and stand them. Players should call a judge if they feel their opponent is pressuring or 'sharking' them.
Non-mandatory actions can be skipped. If you attack with another character after your Level 0 Reverser loses a battle without saying anything, you've passed on activating that ability. If your opponent attacks one of your characters that has a "when this is attacked" ability, asks if you want to do anything, you say no, and they trigger, you don't get to use that ability. (Note that if they just say 'Front' and flip the trigger, you can still use the ability - they were rushing. If you counter or start taking damage, though, you've passed on any optional actions up to that point). If it says "may", and you don't do it, and you keep going, you didn't do it. This is a very specific rule in the Tournament Floor Rules, and we have to keep to it.
CONSECUTIVE ACTIONS UPDATE: In the case of consecutive actions, if the end result of the actions is identical, no information is revealed additionally or out of order of chosen actions, and the opponent allows it, those actions may be performed in a non-strict order. Examples:
- Performing "Search 1 Character and Shuffle your deck" twice consecutively, and searching 2 Characters without a shuffle in between.
- Playing an Event that says "Search 1 Character and Shuffle your deck. Put this Event in Memory" by placing the Event in Memory and then searching, instead of placing it in Resolution Zone, searching, shuffling, then moving the Event to Memory.
- Attacking, triggering a Gate icon, and moving the triggered card to Stock before choosing and returning a card to hand.
Note that this last case can lead to a large number of conflicts - a player may find out if Damage cancels or if a Counter is played before their choice of card to return - and then an investigation must be performed to see which player rushed or provoked an illegal action. As such, Organized Play strongly suggests that players play properly to avoid such situations. In addition, if a player asks their opponent, for example, to "please play with the proper gameplay steps", those players must play using the proper steps of play order from that point, disallowing consecutive action rearrangement. This request may be given at any time, including during initial game setup.
You can be penalized if you fail to follow appropriate 'manner' rules. This includes, but is not limited to: threatening your opponent, making excessive / annoying noises (loudly flipping through the cards in your hand while they are thinking, talking to them, etc), rushing them (if you feel someone is slow playing, call a judge), and so on. These rules exist to make sure everyone at the tournaments has a fair time.
If a player asks for the Power of their opponent's characters, that opponent must give the powers, where any bonuses due to effects that modify that power come from, and any on-stage abilities that may change that. For example: "What is the Power of this character?" "6500. 5000 base, +1000 from this, and +500 to things in front from that. Should I use a Startup, this over here gives 1 character +500 for the turn. If a character is reversed, this lets me give 1 character +1000."
If a player asks for effects of their opponent's characters, all abilities must be explained. Therefore, asking for "Powers and effects of your characters" covers all open game state abilities and information. While players do not hve to reveal things that are not asked for (as long as they are properly on translations that the opponent has because the player has given them), players cannot, through strategic ommission, mislead another player. Examples: Telling a player that asks for "powers" that a card is 4500 power, but not "this gets +1500 for every time you attack.". Not telling a player that asks for powers and effects that a charcter has an auto-reverse ability.
No spectating. We have found through speaking with players and advisors that there is no appropriate penalty to a player who gets useful information without requesting it from a third party (someone watching saying "That is their 8th Climax" for example), and as such dishonest players may use that to their advantage. Persons not directly involved in the judging of the match, or who in any way are involved in playing, may not watch other matches.
Notetaking / Equipment
Players may not create any record of information gathered in-game during game, nor reference outside information gathered other than official rules and translations. Note that this covered using your cards and play area to store data (turning cards in your clock upside down to denote Climaxes remaining, etc). No outside equipment, electronic or otherwise (paper, pencil, watch, clock, phone, timer, etc) may be used during or for your match. Should outside equipment or an assistant be required, contact HotC in advance so we can accomodate you.
Privacy
Players agree to have their First Name and Last Initial published for any tournament reports. Full Names are used on any Discord server used during the eent, and the National Champion's Full Name is also published publicly.
Player Problems / Q&A
I lost my confirmation number!
You saved it via photo or screenshot when you first got it. Can't find it / can't figure out how you spelled your name? Register again, make sure you know how you spelled / capitalized / spaced your name, and save it. Your new number is your new 'place in line'. If you don't have your confirmation number, you aren't registered, and are treated as such by the Judges when it comes to promos and whatnot.
I never got my promo at my event!
Check back later for when they get the promos in.
I never got my promo from WGP 2021!
The items for that event were delayed. They are in the process of sending them out now, check your mail soon!
Only a National? What about Regionals?
Bushiroad requested a single large National event this year. After it's over, if you have comments on this year's changes, drop us a line, we will let them know.
Can I play multiple Side Event decks?
Sure, as long as you meet the requirements with at least one of the titles listed you'll get the additional promo for that one title. You can't earn multiple promos by playing multiple decks. If the promo you earned is out of stock (we will order the lists for each promo randomly), we will contact you for your 2nd/3rd/etc choice.
I can't talk on the Discord!
The discord is locked down before the event to prevent spam. Once you are assigned a Block, you'll be able to do normal tourney things.
My Name is abbreviated / spelled incorrectly in the table listings!
There is a character limit in entry, and the attendant may have speelled your name incorrectly on accident. Let us know, and we will fix it in official postings. However, the names are locked once the tournament starts for security reasons. As long as you can identify your name amongst the others in the lists, you agree that we will wait until official posting to update things.
Conceding
To concede, call for a Judge. Tell that Judge you want to concede. Note that you have not conceded until a Judge has noted your concession, however like all Judge calls, your clock stops when you raise your hand. When Time Over is called, it is too late to concede - you must have called for a judge before that Judge started announcing the Freeze for Time Over. Note that match outcomes may not be determined through means other than actual gameplay (such as coin flip, agreement, etc).
Note that match outcome may not be determined by an method (coin flip, etc) other than playing the match according to the rules.
Common Rulings
Note that cards from damage / Brainstorm / trigger are moved to the
Resolving Zone in full, with Deck Refreshes done immediately upon
having 0 cards in Library. Revealed cards not moved via these effects ('revealed' as opposed to 'flipped over') never leave their zone.
various Brainstorms with similar outcomes have different effects. If a brainstorm says "for each CX, search for 1 card and shuffle your deck", you would not shuffle on 0 CX. If it said "for each CX, search 1 card. shuffle." you would shuffle if 0 CX. (note the comma-vs-period).
all targets are chosen before any outcomes is determined. If a brainstorm says "search for X cards, where X is the number of CX", and you get 2 CX, and 1 card is in deck, you'd only get 1 card. If it said "for each CX, search for 1 card and shuffle your deck", and you had 1 card in deck, and you hit 2 CX, you'd search for 1, find and take, refresh with refresh penalty, shuffle, search for another, find and take, shuffle. Please note the difference.
Are BACKUP abilities color-restricted? Climaxes?
The BACKUP abilities on characters (not to be confused with Event cards with the punching "Counter" symbol)
are being activated while they are in your hand, and one of the costs of that activation is to discard that card.
As such, they are not being 'played to the stage', and do not need to match color. Note that the ability itself
has a Level Restriction on it, which must be followed. Events with the Counter symbol are, however, played to the stage,
and must follow all color and level restriction rules, as do Climax cards (which only require color restrictions).
An event has a Counter symbol. Can I play it on my turn?
You may play events with Counter symbols at the same time you can play regular events on your own turn, assuming the ability itself does not restict you. A Counter event that gives a character +2500 until the end of turn can, for example, be played during your Main Phase, or when your character is Front Attacked.
My opponent Side Attacked. Can I play a BACKUP/Counter?
If an attack is declared as side attack, then the counter step is skipped and thus the defending player does not gain a play timing in order to play BACKUP/Counter. Please check Comprehensive Rule 7.3.1.3, which advances the game to damage step if it's not a front attack.
A card says something happens "at the beginning of your Encore Step". Is that on both players' turns?
No. On your turn, it is your Encore step (where both players remove and possibly Encore Reversed Characters). On your opponent's turn, it is your opponent's Encore step (where, again both players remove and possibly Encore Reversed Characters).
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