Ruling Optional Card Descriptions

[Scraggy559]

Hey, so I was curious as to what cards have optional choices. Such as these three for example. I've had someone tell me that you need a hand to discard to even use Professor Sycamore and it can't be the only card in your hand. I've seen Donald from DarkIntegralGaming use Trainers' Mails and Ultra Balls, and he didn't pick up a card from his deck.

So now, I am curious as to what other cards have some kind of loophole to them?

 

[bbninjas]

Moved from the TCG Help to the Ask a Professor forums, as the OP is moreso asking a rulings question. ~bbninjas

 

[PMJ]

You always have a hand, even if it has no cards in it, so you can play sycamore if it's the only card in your hand.

The contents of your deck are private, so you're allowed to intentionally fail any search that calls for taking a specific card, such as a pokemon or basic energy card. You can fail the search even if it's known to both players that the card being called for is in your deck, because the deck is private and the game doesn't know its contents.

This does not extend to discard pile searches, as it is a public area.

 

[Scraggy559]

You always have a hand, even if it has no cards in it, so you can play sycamore if it's the only card in your hand.

The contents of your deck are private, so you're allowed to intentionally fail any search that calls for taking a specific card, such as a pokemon or basic energy card. You can fail the search even if it's known to both players that the card being called for is in your deck, because the deck is private and the game doesn't know its contents.

This does not extend to discard pile searches, as it is a public area.

So if two Puzzles of Time were played, I have to pick two cards?

 

[PMJ]

If you have two cards in your discard pile, then yes. If you have exactly one, then you would take the one.

I should add that cards that tell you to take "a card" from your deck without specifying the type cannot be failed. While the game doesn't know what cards are in your deck, the game does know that you have cards in your deck. So those searches must be completed.