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Player forget to put battlefield and draw first hand

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FAQ #12354·asked by Kendy Lie·August 30, 2026
Answer

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The battlefield is placed now and the game continues — it's a fixable setup error, not a restart.

Forgetting to put your battlefield into the Battlefield Zone makes your deck's presented contents illegal, which is a Deck Presentation Error [Warning] (TR 703.4). The remedy is straightforward: place the selected battlefield face-up in the Battlefield Zone — it's public information and was never shuffled into your deck, so nothing about the opening hand or mulligan is affected (TR 703.4.b.2; CR 113, 170.2). Battlefields are established at the start of the game and must remain in play (CR 170.2.b), so the game can't proceed without it. Note: at high OPL, if the opponent catches the error after hands are drawn, the penalty can upgrade to a [Game Loss]; at casual/regular events, a judge will just fix it and warn.

References

Suggested answer — derived from the references below

Rules

CR 488

Core Rules 2026-07-16 > Section 400: Section 400 > Rule 488

CR 116

Core Rules 2026-07-16 > Section 100: Game Concepts > Rule 116

CR 113

Core Rules 2026-07-16 > Section 100: Game Concepts > Rule 113

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