Banished Face-Down Ruling
A recent update in the Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Card Database reveals an important ruling regarding the game state of banished face-down cards.
Kashtira Arise-Heart
When selecting the opponent’s banished face-down card(s), for my effect’s target or for my effect’s resolution, how is this chosen?
In this situation, if I select the opponent’s banished face-down card as the target of my “PSY-Framelord Omega” ② effect, or if I select the opponent’s banished face-down card for the resolution of my “Kashtira Arise-Heart” ② effect, how is this chosen? (Do I choose randomly? Or can I choose a card based on how they were banished face-down?)
If a player’s cards were banished face-down multiple times, as long as any player wants to, they may verify how each card was banished before proceeding with the duel (The cards remain face-down while being distinguishable from each other).
For example, if you activated your “Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker” ① effect 2 times over 2 turns, and 2 cards are banished face-down from the opponent’s Extra Deck, one of them is “the first card banished by the ① effect” while the other is “the second card banished by the ① effect”, proceed with the duel by having them remain face-down while being distinguishable from each other.
Furthermore, if the top 10 cards of the opponent’s Deck is banished face-down for the cost of “Pot of Desires”, proceed with the duel by having those 10 cards being distinguished as “banished for the cost of ‘Pot of Desires'”. Also note that it is not necessary to be able to distinguish a specific card among the 10 banished cards (For example, it is not necessary to be able to distinguish which was the top card of the deck among the 10 banished cards).
In addition, if there is a need to verify and distinguish as described above, it is acceptable to proceed with the duel by having the banished cards separated into multiple piles based on how they were banished.
2022-11-05
[About ② effect]
- Even if a face-down card is selected, it will become a face-up Xyz Material.
Discussion
Banished face-down cards are private information, and only the owner is able to flip and view them. However, the Q&A for Kashtira Arise-Heart states that while you may not flip to check the opponent’s banished face-down cards, you may select accordingly based on how they were banished.
One useful application is to avoid picking the opponent’s Extra Deck monsters which were banished face-down by the effects of Kashtira Unicorn and Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker. This is to prevent the opponent from being able to recycle their Tearlaments Fusion Monsters as Tearlaments Cryme could only target a banished face-up “Tearlaments” monster. A banished face-down card would turn face-up when attached as Xyz Materials to Kashtira Arise-Heart, and thus would be banished face-up later if detached as cost to activate the ③ effect of Kashtira Arise-Heart.
This ruling is fantastic for competitive gameplay, allowing players to make better strategic decisions. But from a judging perspective, this is a nightmare to enforce. Especially in the earlier rounds of the tournaments where the tables are all packed to the brim, there is barely any space to have multiple piles of banished cards. Maintaining game state is already a challenge when we frequently have players forgetting the mandatory trigger of Kashtira Arise-Heart ② effect.
Is there a rule that main deck cards and extra-deck cards have to have different sleeves? If not, that might be something that can help the problem.
The different sleeves would help separate the Main Deck and Extra Deck cards.
Though there is still a strategic use for distinguishing the Extra Deck cards. For example if “Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS – Sky Thunder” and “Tearlaments Kaleido-Heart” were banished face-down by “Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker” or “Kashtira Unicorn” effects, then attaching Zeus as Xyz Material is still a safer choice over Kaleido-Heart.
if you have an banish eff that actives once it sends to the banish pile by effect, are you allow to active them even if they are face down.