#player communication

[magicjudge]

I’m playing against a Tron opp and I ask how many of each Urza land they have because I have a land destruction spell; they lie and I end up leaving them with full Tron. How should I talk to the judge about this issue?

Your opponent can’t lie about public information, such as which permanents are on the battlefield. They have to let you determine the answer correctly at Competitive REL and have to assist you in doing so at Regular REL. If a situation like this comes up, the game would be rewound to the point of the incorrect information being given.

[magicjudge]

My opponent casts Tinker and says "Tinker for Blightsteel Colossus?" I say sure. Is my opponent required to pull out a Blightsteel Colossus? What if they don't have one? Can they claim to not have one if they do?

Yes, they're required to get a Blightsteel Colossus for that Tinker. One of the tournament shortcuts outlined in section 4.2 of the Magic Tournament Rules says, in part: "If a player casts a spell or activates an ability and announces choices for it that are not normally made until resolution, the player must adhere to those choices unless an opponent responds to that spell or ability." When your opponent says "Tinker for a Blightsteel Colossus", what they're really saying is "Cast Tinker. If it resolves, get Blightsteel Colossus with it." If they don't have a Blightsteel Colossus in their deck or get something else with it, then they've violated the shortcut rules and the game can be rewound to when the Tinker was announced so that you can respond to it without the shortcut requiring your opponent to find a specific card. However, if you respond to the Tinker at all, even if it's just to float mana, then your opponent is no longer bound to their proposed choice of Blightsteel Colossus.

[magicjudge]

Ok so... priority. In casual matches, questions of priority don't generally come up; everyone just kind of jumps in and says "i respond with..." But I'd assume under more strict regulations, that doesn't fly and players must always be cognizant of who has priority, careful about passing priority, etc. My question is, is it necessary to say "I pass priority" or ask "do you respond?", or can the Active Player just like... play 4 instants back to back and then look up at their opponent and wait?

Tournament magic isn’t a series of explicit priority passes, no. That’s just not how people play Magic in the real world. 

What actually happens is that players are usually a bit more explicit about when exactly they’re acting and responding to things. In situations where it’s unclear, then judges get involved to help sort things out according to both the game rules and the communication rules laid out in the Magic Tournament Rules.

[magicjudge]

How OK is it to say something along the lines of "I play Evolving Wilds, crack it for a forest, which triggers Avenger of Zendikar twice, turn," put the counters on the plants, and then search for the forest while your opponent draws and starts their turn? Is there a difference at Regular/Competitive REL?

This is perfectly fine at any REL. Just make sure your opponent doesn’t want to respond to any part of the sequence before you start actually performing the actions.

[magicjudge]

If I have a deathrite on board and ask my opponent "do you have anything interesting in your graveyard" do they have to reply with what's in their graveyard with the implication that I'm asking for a deathrite activation?

Your opponent doesn’t have to say anything specific in reply to a question like that because that question is meaningless. They might think that every card in their graveyard is interesting, or that none of them are, or that only the cards that aren’t instants, sorceries, lands, or creatures are interesting.

If you want to know what’s in your opponent’s graveyard, just ask “What’s in your graveyard?” or “Can I see your graveyard?” Don’t be cute with your questions. The graveyard is a public zone and you’re allowed to know what it contains, but your opponent is under no obligation to do your work for you and keep track of the cards there that Deathrite Shaman might want to eat.

[magicjudge]

I control Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, and my opponent controls Undiscovered Paradise. On my end step, my opponent taps UP without indicating which mana ability is being activated, and then quickly untaps and goes to pick up UP. I stop him at this point and call a judge, explaining that my opponent never explicitly specified which ability had been activated. (I might want to Crop Rotate for a Wasteland, say, if it had been the native ability.) What happens now as far as rewinds and penalties go?

It sounds like your opponent didn’t give you back priority after activating their Undiscovered Paradise in your end step, so you’re allowed to pull the game back to that point and ask which ability was activated if you want to do something at that point. You should absolutely call a judge to do this, though.

[magicjudge]

"Normally a cost of 0 is assumed to always be paid, but a player can specifically decline to pay it." I think you have this backwards. Rule 117.5 states (in part) "[...] Even though such a cost requires no resources, it’s not automatically paid."

Yes, but in section 4.2 of the Magic Tournament Rules, one of the accepted tournament shortcuts is “A player is assumed to have paid any cost of 0 unless he or she announces otherwise.”

You’re not wrong to point out 117.5, but there’s more to Magic than just the comprehensive rules.