User blog:Buddyfight Unified Universe/"Official" Ruling on the (ACT) Ability Not Included in The Official Rules

Greetings to whomoever may be reading this!

Forgive any mistakes, I haven't had time to proofread, but needed to fulfill a promise.

Though I am new to the Buddyfight Wiki Community as a Contributor, I have been blessed to have my children on this site from very early on. Though I will spare them the embarrassment of saying who they are;)  A brief description of my role in Buddyfight would be as follows:

''*Father who studies the ins and outs of the World's his children are most interested in, and those of his friends at the local tournaments. ''

*Acting Judge for local tournaments when situations arise.

*Deck builder and helper mainly for Katana, Dragon, Magic and Dungeon, unless others ask for help with research and ratios.

I love research {sometimes to my detriment), and it was a large part of my studies in both my Undergraduate Degree from CSU, Chico and Graduate Degree from UCLA.

At first I was going to Copy and Paste the relevant text from Bushiroad Publications dating back to the beginning of the game, but decided that many don't get into the tiny details, so I would first try to do a shorter version and then continue on about a subject in the rules that divided some players at the Los Angeles Regionals this year.

This ruling is in regards to the ability (ACT).

Back on May 7th of 2014, Bushiroad Published this a PDF "Detailed Rules for “Future Card Buddyfight” Last updated: May 7, 2014 ''The following flow rules are more detailed compared to the contents within the rulebook. As there have been many enquiries regarding these matters, they are specifically stated here." ''You should be able to still find it at the following address. http://fc-buddyfight.com/en/wp/wp-content/uploads/buddyfight_rule.pdf

Once Bushiroad began publishing an "Advanced Rules" and added the section on ABILITIES, currently at version 1.06 in English (and hopefully 1.07 very soon) on their website, they eventually added a section about ABILITIES. They also finally added the Play Timings in each Phase in a much more descriptive manner. And it says something quite important. "The flow rules inside this file are more detailed compared to the rule book. As there have been many enquiries regarding these matters, they are specifically stated here. Please refer to this file for any queries and doubts regarding the rules of Future Card Buddyfight.

In fact, if you simply click on the link for rules, you cannot even find the "Advanced Rules" from last year.

A problem arose when they described (ACT), AUTOMATIC, and CONTINUOUS Abilities. Wow! This is already longer than I'd hoped, so I'll get the ruling out of the way right now for those who have nearly fallen asleep, and continue on a bit for those who love tiny details.

Short version of where they messed up. In May of 2014 during Play Timing it stated "Timing (play timing) to use CARD or ABILITIES with “Counter”.  This is why those who began playing at the beginning always used the ACT ability in the Main Phase.  The problem arose when they updated the play timings and took the word (COUNTER) out altogether.  Newer players and those who had been there from the start that wanted to see the latest rules could now, according to Bushiroad's Official Rules, use an (ACT) ability during ANY play timing on their Turn.  Obviously this made many cards broken, and quite fun, actually.  With Regional Tournaments coming up though, the problem was magnified.  Players at the California Regionals had prepared differently according to their understanding of the rules.  There was a split.  This added to my already growing desire to have an official ruling in writing on the subject.

'''SHORT VERSION OF THE QUESTION:  In your official rules, you never state that the (ACT) ability can only be used in the Main Phase of the Turn Player. In your section on Play Timing you state that the Turn Player can use a Card or Ability. There are Play Timings in every phase. When can the (ACT) ability be used.'''

'''ANSWER:  Act abilities can only be used in main phase only unless it has Counter.  That's the jist of it, but it did not end there. For more details, and to know why this wasn't a 'slam dunk' ruling, read on. I won't bore you with all of my research, but go over the most important pieces.  After reading over the copies of their rules I'd downloaded, I saw that the newest floor rules said that if there was a conflict between the English Version of the Rules and the Japanese Version, the Japanese Version would take precedence''', I read the latest Japanese version as well (to the best of my ability). After finding no differences that would affect my question, I spoke with Bushiroad on the phone, found out that only a Head Judge could at the actual event could give me a ruling, OR the customer service department. The representative was very nice and simply gave me the support address I'd used before, but I went ahead and tried it again. This was the (  usa@bushiroad-gp.com)   After not getting a response for a long time, and knowing that many people were preparing strategies and spending money (I've got a lot of kids) on cards to build their decks, I found another email address and sent my question again. I tracked it to see who opened it and how often. This was May 19th.  'This time, it was opened very quickly and then forwarded to several other email addresses and I received a prompt reply. Here is some of the relevant portion of my email, and their response.  Here is the second email (edited a bit) I sent to the other email address:' "I've happily invested hundreds of dollars in Buddyfight Cards and local tournaments for my children and before they play at the regionals, I really need an answer so I can help them with their strategy and building.   The only other way they said I could get an answer would be to ask the head judge at the regionals, but we have to fly there at $400 per ticket...and I'd be sad to see them have prepared wrong because of something I helped them with.   I thank you so much for looking at this... Here is the original question.  It is simply about the ability mentioned as one of the three in the updated rules version 1.06 and when I read the Japanese rulebook, it did not differ. Again, thank you for your time and here is the full question. " For some reason several people at the Regional Tournament in Los Angeles were not sure if they were allowed to use the (ACT) ability during the Main Phase, Attack Phase, and Final Phase during the "play timing" of each phase. They knew that if they were the non turn player, they could only use a COUNTER. But in the latest rules released about play timings it specifically states that the Turn player can use a card or ability, to which the non-turn player could counter.

However, some players build their decks under the idea that an (ACT) ability can only be used during the main phase by the turn player, and some, not seeing that written anywhere, purchase and plan their strategy with the assumption that during any play timing on their turn, they do not need a (COUNTER) with their (ACT) to use the ability.

Both the Japanese and English rules say that an (ACT) is one type of an ABILITY. And it doesn't say that it is only limited to the Main Phase in any of Bushiroad's Rules.

In the ABILITY SECTION OF THE LATEST RULES It ONLY says about an (ACT) ability,

ABILITIES ARE CLASSIFIED AS 3 TYPES, NAMELY, "ACTIVATED", "AUTOMATIC", AND "CONTINUOUS" Abilities.

''' 1. Using activated abilities

1.1 When using an ability with (ACT) written on it, declare the use of an ability.

1.1.1 When the effect chooses a target l, choose any card in a public zone (field, face up soul, drop zone) that fits what is stated by the effect.

1.2 Timing to use (COUNTER) by the opponent of the fighter who used the (ACT) ability occurs. '''

AND IN THE SECTION OF A PLAY TIMING IT SAYS:

1.  Play timing starts 1.1 Resolution check 2. Turn Fighter uses a card or ability. 2.1 The fighter who is playing that turn (turn fighter) may choose to use one card or an ability.

And on it goes with cost and resolutions and counters.

But nowhere does it state that during a play timing outside of the Main Phase an (ACT) ability can not be used by the turn fighter.

So people are coming to the regionals with different ideas and strategies that can dramatically alter the outcome of the tournament.

''' I am simply asking for clarification on this rule in a response to this email so that I don't misguide my children and they don't build their decks and strategies incorrectly. '''

I'm asking you to please just respond and tell me if I am reading the rules correctly or if I have missed something.

''' Thank you so very much. ''' ______________________ Because I placed a tracker on it, I was able to see some (possibly not all as people can thwart the tracker) of the email addresses that opened the email, their location (sometimes) and the time and date they looked at it. In previous emails, I'd only notch a view or two. This time it exploded. People were opening it at all times of the day and night from California to Texas. Here is their response in full, with my name excluded (can't have embarrassing videos of my popping up): " Dear  Thank you very much for your email. With regard to your queries,  1) For questions regarding Future Card Buddyfight, you can contact us via the following email.    [mailto:sg_support@bushiroad-gp.com sg_support@bushiroad-gp.com]    [mailto:usa_help1@bushiroad-gp.com usa_help1@bushiroad-gp.com]    [mailto:bf_support@bushiroad.com bf_support@bushiroad.com] - Japanese Future Card Buddyfight support center 2) Act abilities can only be used in main phase only unless it has Counter.  Please do not hesitate to contact us shall you have any other inquiries. Best Regards,Bushiroad SEA Support Team" - Now that I had at least an email from Bushiroad themselves, I could prepare properly and share it with the Buddyfight Community. But I had one last question for them. I wanted to get it in their rules if I could. My email (edited again)  "I would like to thank all who helped me in this.  I will be spreading the word on various Buddyfight fan sites.  Is there any way to get this in the rules officially?  If a player were to bring a printed out version of 1.06, they could show the head judge that it shows that the turn player can use a card or ability during play timings.    They would also be able to show that the latest rules show (as well as the previous ones dating back to last summer) do not say that an (ACT) ability can only be used in the main phase of the turn player and it might create a problem.  I want Bushiroad to succeed and my friends that went to Los Angeles for the Regionals said the players were split on if it was allowed or not.  The COUNTER ACT is well known, but some players use ACT in other phases and others do not. Your team was so fast to respond, I am so grateful. I will be helping my children build their decks accordingly and cannot thank you enough." ____________________________ Their response was hopeful as apparently I did not need to send a follow up question about getting it in writing: "Dear -- Thank you very much for your email. We have already forwarded your feedback to the relevant departmentfor their consideration. Meanwhile, if you have any more enquiry about Future Card Buddyfight,please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be more than happy to answer them. Best Regards,Bushiroad SEA Support Team  The whole exchange was hopeful for me. After not receiving clarification for days when I sent it to the first email (as well as another question---for a different time), All of the correspondence took place in one day. I was also able to see that it had been forwarded with a tag "Important because of the people involved", though I'm not clear as to who they are referring to. But it must be good news when you see it was forwarded to emails like {sg_support:12865} Re: (sg_tour1:6394) New York Regional Tournament and others, right? ;) Finally, Bushiroad has inexplicably left off the Final Phase section in their last few Advanced Rules updates, after adding it earlier on, so I hope they update that with play timings, etc... Please feel free to contact me for clarification, to ask any questions I may have an answer to, or for any other matter.  I appreciate this community very much!