Have you ever had a Judge come over, point at some face-down card under your Fiend Hunter, and ask what it was? Have you ever had him ask you to flip it over? Here’s why. The default for things in the exile zone is to be face-up. They’re supposed to be somewhere that everyone can see them, and preferably somewhere they won’t get confused with other zones. If you and your opponent want to set the exiled stuff aside from the playmat, or next to your graveyards, or even just under the Fiend Hunter or Oblivion Ring or whatever, go for it. But please keep them face up. You should only be throwing things into exile face-down if you’re supposed to, like with Praetor’s Grasp, where you’re concealing what it is.

Putting exiled stuff face-down when it shouldn’t be can be confusing to judges and players alike, because there can be confusion and disagreement on what’s face-down, what SHOULD be face-up, what’s a token and what’s exiled, whether the face-down thing is a card in your hand or not, all that jazz. It’s really awkward for all parties involved when you accidentally scoop up your flashed-back cards into your hand because you were keeping them in a face-down pile near your hand. So, generally speaking, it’s best to keep all of your exiled stuff face-up somewhere where it won’t get mixed up with tokens or your hand. If you’ve got something that will probably be coming back, like a creature under a Fiend Hunter or something under an Oblivion Ring, it’s usually A-OK to just put the exiled card underneath whatever exiled it. Just remember to get it back from your opponent when the game ends!

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Trevor Nuñez, Level 1 judge from Roswell, NM