Are we supposed to "know" the contents of our deck during a duel?

[Deathjester]

Revisiting the whole controversy over recent deck searching rulings here. It used to be stated (and still is for older cards this applies to) that you could activate an effect which would let you search your deck for a certain card type, even if you didn't have any left, and this would be confirmed by the opponent; the reason being that you don't actually "know" what's in your deck.

A ruling for Reinforcement of the Army, for example:

• You can activate this card even if you have no Level 4 or lower Warrior-Type monsters remaining in your Deck, but you must let your opponent see your Deck to confirm. Shuffle your Deck afterwards.

However, since TAEV, the rulings for cards with deck searching effects state that you cannot activate them in the first place if the specific card type is not in your deck; or even the required number of cards to look for.

Snake Rain
Normal Spell
Discard 1 card. Select 4 Reptile-Type monsters from your Deck and send them to the Graveyard.

• You cannot activate this card if there are less than 4 Reptile-Type monsters in your Deck.

Now, it's understandable that it might slip a player's mind that Snake Rain will not successfully work because there aren't 4 Reptile-Type monsters in the deck. There's usually a bit more focus on what's in the hand and on the field because we actually know what's there.

Despite the ruling, if Snake Rain (or any other recent deck searching cards) were to be activated in such a situation, what would the procedure be?

 

[Maruno]

The newer cards (the ones that state you can't activate them if you don't have the appropriate card in your Deck) are worded like that to imply that the card doesn't resolve without effect. Instead, the game is rewound and the card is returned to your hand (or Set).

The game will not allow these cards to resolve without effect. The only way to cope is to not allow the activation of the card in the first place. That's what the rulings say. According to the game, you have no idea what's in your Deck. The Deck List is not part of the game, nor is the Restricted List.

I don't know whether Reinforcement of the Army would end up resolving without effect, or if it would be an illegal activation (the wording and rulings don't clarify). I imagine it would be an illegal activation, though.

 

[HorusMaster]

Having played in a recent Regional, I activated a card that couldn't resolve because I didn't have the appropriate cards in my deck. One of the cards I needed was in the graveyard. The game was rewound to the point that the card was activated and I received a warning. Although the deck is not supposed to be "known", it's understood and expected that the player should know what is in their deck and as such, cannot activate a card that the player knows will not resolve with effect.

 

[Maruno]

I don't quite think you should have received a warning. You didn't do anything wrong (presuming you activated the card accidentally without knowing it wouldn't work). A rewind should've been all that happened. Then again, I'm not sure how penalties work.

If you kept trying to activate the card, effectively stalling, however, you would receive a penalty.

 

[Raijinili]

Also of note is the case in which the opponent chains a trap, and a rewind would then reveal the opponent's trap.

 

[Maruno]

Then it's their problem for having activated their Trap when there would be a rewind (whether because they legally couldn't activate their Trap, or the rewind should already happen but that player was being hasty). They should notice when something is done that can't be - while players are not assumed to know the contents of their Deck, they ARE assumed to know how to play the game. Unfortunately reality is just so much the opposite.

 

[Oceanus]

The problem is that he might have negated the card, when it couldn't even resolve. A waste of time and an illegal representation of the tactics being played on both ends. We're being forced to have vigilance in the understanding of our own decks. This doesn't come with all decks, but some do automatically need this, such as Gladiator Beasts and Neo-Spacians. However, since the majority of deck builders have no idea about their decks, it's being attempted for them take that step into the competition where they know more about what's going on more with their own deck.

Also, these rules also apply in the new WC08 game, to old and new cards alike. I think that's funny considering we can play a Structure Duel with decks we literally don't remember every little detail about before we begin a duel XD.