FF-TCG
Rules concerning penalties
Introduction:
We have a responsibility to ensure that all players respect their opponents and play the game correctly based on the
rules. These rules concerning penalties are for use as a reference in situations where game progress under the correct
rules is interrupted, regardless of whether that is due to an accident or inattentive mistake.
These rules are applicable to all officially run tournaments. Tournament staff should strive to sort out any trouble that
occurs during events in a manner that accords with these rules. The actual penalties imposed upon players are to be
decided by tournament staff. If an issue cannot be resolved in accordance with these rules then tournament staff’s
decisions will be final.
Staff in charge of running tournaments are allowed to administer penalties in line with these rules, and the
responsibility taken on in this capacity is great. Accordingly, they must understand how a penalty applied through a
careless decision or misjudgment can seriously disadvantage a player during event running.
1：Types of penalties
1-1：Caution
This penalty can be applied against illegal actions that are not serious enough to affect tournament progression or illegal
actions that can be easily rectified, such as mistakenly deploying two characters of the same name to the field at once
or mistaking the resource cost of a card etc. In cases where the same illegal action is repeatedly performed, the judges
may, at their discretion, escalate the penalty to an official warning.
1-2：Official warning
This penalty can be applied against illegal actions that can be rectified but have a level of influence on the outcome of
the game, such as drawing too many cards, turning over two cards when taking damage or dropping a card and seeing
its face when shuffling an opponent’s deck etc. This can also be applied in cases where multiple cautions for the same
offence are incurred repeatedly by a player. If several official warnings for the same offence are incurred by a player
repeatedly, the judges may, at their discretion, escalate the penalty to instant defeat.
1-3：Instant defeat
This penalty can be applied against illegal actions that make continuing a game impossible, such as playing with an illegal
deck that has four or more of the same card in it or not abiding by staff decisions during play. A player who has been
subjected to an instant defeat ruling and does not improve their problematic behavior will incur disqualification.
1-4：Disqualification
All acts of deliberate deception (cheating) are grounds for disqualification. In addition, all criminal actions involving
endangering or hurting other players or staff or damaging the tournament venue and equipment, or corresponding
behavior will incur disqualification upon the offending player. Players subject to disqualification will be immediately
removed from the tournament in progress and the tournament organizer will make a report to Square Enix. Depending
on the nature of the offence, there is a possibility that the offender will be banned from future official FF-TCG events
(See 4: Measures to Prohibit Event Participation).
2：Rewinding the game
This section details how far back it is permitted to rewind a game in instances where a caution or official warning is
issued.
2-1：If an offence is noticed immediately
In cases where an offence such as putting two of the same named card on the field is noticed immediately, before play
has progressed any further, the illegal action is deemed invalid. If a card has been used in the action it is returned to the
player’s hand and any spent cost is returned.
2-2：If a game has progressed further after an offence is committed
In situations where the game has progressed after an illegal action and it is judged that the situation cannot be restored
to the prior state, play will be allowed to continue. In this instance, if an official warning is given to the offending player
then their opponent who carried on without noticing the offence straight away will also incur a caution.
2-2-1：When characters the rules forbid from being deployed to the field at the same time are deployed illegally
together
In situations where two characters that the rules forbid from existing at the same time are placed on the field and the
game continues then both of the offending cards are placed in the break zone. This applies when named, non-general
(一般兵) cards are deployed together or when multiple cards with the light or darkness element are deployed. In
situations where 6 or more backup cards are deployed, the excess cards are moved to the break zone one at a time,
starting with the last to be placed down and working backwards until only 5 remain. All auto abilities that are usually
triggered by cards being placed into the break zone are not triggered when they are moved in this manner.
2-2-2： When a player has 6 or more cards in their hand but play has passed over to the opponent and the game
progressed since
Place one card randomly chosen from the player’s hand into the break zone.
2-3：If a player’s hand of cards is too large when the game begins
Return all hand cards to the bottom of the player’s deck and re-draw the whole hand.
3：Slow play
3-1：Excessive thinking time
Players participating in tournaments have a responsibility to progress through the game in a suitable manner. There is
no strictly defined limit on time allowed in considering taking a single action but judges are allowed enforce prompt play
in situations where they feel a player is taking an unnecessarily long time. If players do not comply with a judge’s
prompting or instructions then the judge is permitted to issue an official warning in accordance with 1: Types of Penalties
above. Unnecessarily slow play will not be tolerated, even for time extension turns which do not have a set time limit.
3-2：Slow taking of actions
This refers to deliberate timewasting activities, such as the repeated performing of unnecessary actions during play. This
kind of deliberate slow play is not to be condoned from the perspective of showing correct respect towards the
tournament progression or the player’s opponent. Players guilty of this kind of behavior should first be issued a caution
and it is possible for this to be escalated to a judgement of instant defeat or disqualification. The following actions are
included in the definition of slow taking of actions:
1: Unnecessary and repeated checking of players hands, the numbers of cards in the break zone or cards remaining in
players decks when nothing has changed about the current play situation.
2: Taking an unnecessarily long time shuffling cards (As a guideline, shuffles prior to starting the game should take
roughly 1 to 2 minutes, with mid-game shuffles lasting around 30 seconds to 1 minute)
3: Leaving ones seat without the permission of judges or an urgent reason.
4: Other circumstances where judges deem a player is deliberately wasting time.
3-3：Judges decisions
These decisions will involve an individual judge’s subjective assessment of the situation, so instances when instant defeat
or disqualification are invoked should be limited to those rare cases when a judge’s warnings are not heeded to a
significant degree.
4：Measures to Prohibit Event Participation
Players subject to a disqualification at a tournament stand a chance of being banned from participating in all future
official FF-TCG tournaments. In cases where disqualifications are reported to Square Enix, a detailed investigation will
be carried out and any supplementary penalties will be decided upon.
4：Deliberate deception (cheating)
The acts deemed as deliberate deception (cheating) in the FF-TCG rules refers to all actions where a player knowingly
plays in a manner that is not in accordance with the rules. All actions involving not playing the FF-TCG in an honest and
fair manner are considered as deliberate deception (cheating), including but not limited to deliberately drawing too
many or too few cards, covering over damage taken, shuffling in a manner that will not result in a completely random
distribution of cards, stacking the deck, negotiating with an opponent to throw a match etc. All acts of deliberate
deception (cheating), regardless of their exact nature, will result in a judgement of disqualification upon being discovered.
In such instances a report will be made from the tournament organizing staff to Square Enix with full details of the
offence.
5：Lateness
If a player is more than 5 minutes late in reporting to their play area when a round commences, they will forfeit the
match and be deemed to have lost. Play will commence and continue normally if the player arrives within 5 minutes of
the round start time, but who gets the first turn will be decided by the player who was not late. If a game that started in
this manner is timed out then a time extension equivalent to the number of minutes start was delayed is added. In
addition, if a late player is not present in the tournament venue before the start of the subsequent round, they are
automatically deemed to have withdrawn from the game.
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