Missed Triggers

Penalty: No Penalty

Definitions and Philosophy: When a triggered ability would trigger and the player controlling the trigger does not express knowledge or does not remember the trigger the first time it would affect the Game State. Triggered abilities can be different with respect to their game impact.

If a triggered ability would not cause an immediate change in the Game State, the trigger must be acknowledged the first time it would cause such a change. If a trigger changes the game rules, the controller must acknowledge the trigger and stop opponents that try to take any illegal actions given the modified game rules.

Delayed triggers must also be acknowledge by the player who owns the trigger. Abilities that specify “when you do” are considered reflexive triggers and must also be acknowledged. Any of these triggers that are not acknowledged are considered missed triggers. A trigger that would have no impact on the game if it is left unacknowledged would not be considered to be a missed trigger.

Judges should not intervene for missed triggers unless they are mandatory or would imminently cause a significant gameplay error, or if there is suspicion of Unsporting Conduct via intentionally missed triggers.

Triggers are assumed to be remembered until they are evidently missed past the first point at which they would need to be acknowledged (e.g., a "beginning of Recollection" trigger is realized to have been missed during the player's End Phase).

If a player’s action is dependent on the result of an unacknowledged trigger, and the trigger is acknowledged when attempting to perform that action or resolve it, the trigger can become acknowledged at that time. Then, either the intended action succeeds or the Game State is reverted. Sequencing errors are common and missed triggers are often a component of these.

Missing the card drawn during the Draw Phase as a turn-based action is also considered as a Missed Trigger.

Corrective Procedures: If it has been a full turn of phases since the missed trigger, it will not be added to the Effects Stack and players should keep playing. If the trigger would have created a temporary effect whose duration would have expired in the current Game State, the trigger will not be added and players should keep playing. Otherwise, judges will allow an opponent to choose if the triggered ability can be placed in the appropriate layer of the Effects Stack pending resolution or, if not possible due to the time when it was missed, it will be placed on the bottom (it would resolve last).

Upgrading: This penalty may be upgraded to a warning under a Failure to Maintain Game State infraction a player continues to miss triggers. Judges can also upgrade the infraction class to Cheating under Unsporting Conduct if a Judge determines a player is intentionally missing triggers to gain an advantage.

Examples:

• A player forgets an On Attack trigger and remembers the trigger at the beginning of the damage step of combat.

• A player forgets an On Enter effect from their Materialization phase and remembers it during the start of their Recollection Phase.

• Forgetting or missing the draw a card turn-based action during the Draw Phase.

VARIABLE ENFORCEMENT: At events of lower level than Store Championships and Regionals, enforcement of missed triggers should be more lenient. Mandatory missed triggers should be placed onto the Effects Stack when possible and appropriate. For optional triggers (using "may"), judges should offer the player a chance (if appropriate, without significant impact on the current Game State) to acknowledge the trigger and make a choice. Missed triggers should not be upgraded to Failure to Maintain Gamestate and should remain at No Penalty. If there is concern for Unsporting Conduct, this should be investigated and penalized as found appropriate.