Ban listing and rulings

I think we need to revise our ban rules. The reason I bring this up is because earlier tonight, I was told by krossus that if I were to play this card:

Spelltithe Enforcer 3WW
Creature- Elephant Wizard Rare Guildpact
"Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player sacrifices a permanent unless he or she pays 1."
3/3

And then my opponent chose to sacrifice a basic land, I would be disqualified. I brought this up because I wanted to build a deck around making my opponents pay more to play their spells using Grand Arbiter Augustin IV and the enforcer fit along with my theme. I don't want to be disqualified because my opponent would rather sacrifice their land than an artifact, creature or enchantment they control. Cards with this conditional effect should be looked at and given a yes or no approval.

I guess I have been a hassle lately "bending" the rules but I am not trying to do that, I just want to see where my limits are so I can play cards i like and have a good time.

Here's a couple thoughts about that card...

First, you haven't been a hassle lately... If magic players didn't try to seek out new ways to win, I would be concerned that the government has put something (else) in our water. Magic is full of analytic thinking 'rule benders'... Its the type of people the game attracts :-)

Its good that you ask these questions - just to keep things clear & to help remind people of the clan rules - which are different from regular magic rules. Clan rules have been established to help keep things fun. Without the rules, we could have infinite instant kill combos running all over the place on turn 2.

In regards to the card you mentioned...
If you are playing with 5 others & you laid that card down, there is a good possibility that one or more of your opponents wouldnt have anything out to sac except for basic lands. In that scenario, they have no choice but to sac a land, thus making the card clearly illegal for clan play.

Now, there is the school of thought that you could wait to play it or only play it when all people have enogh sac-able cards out other than lands. This is obviously going to be tricky to do & it could still lend itself to forcing people to sac lands if their board becomes clear after you have played it. Playing it this way is too clumsy.

It simply is too difficult to play & keep out while sticking with the clan rules. In light of that, I can understand why Kro would just say thats off limits for clan play - because of the fact that it would most likely force someone to sac a land.

Magic is a game we all play to find the combos & concoct cool ways to win, but this card is too near to that line that you need to ask yourself - could this card (or any other card for that matter) sway over that line of clan rules that is established with the intent to foster good sportmanship & keep the games fun?

Just as an aside, Minori almost always would rather sac land anyways, as most of the time that would be the strategically correct play.

Minori wrote:

Just as an aside, Minori almost always would rather sac land anyways, as most of the time that would be the strategically correct play.

Strategic for you maybe, but someone who rarely plays creatures not so much.

I'm curious about Tainted Aether. Im a touch hazy also on if someone chooses to sac a land....thats sort of their choice. if you dont want to sac land, dont play creatures.....

I guess this means that the Eldrazi cards with Annihilator are banned.

Jetdoc wrote:

I guess this means that the Eldrazi cards with Annihilator are banned.

If a player doesnt sacrfice a basic land, then you are good to go w/ the Annihilator mechanic. However, if a player chooses to sacrifice a basic land, regardless whether he/she had other options, then you will be DQ'd in the "Core" events.

After Hour events I'm pretty sure you can play anything w/o restrictions. You would have to ask Darkpact about that.