Naomi has Chalice of the Void in play with 3 charge counters on it.

Abra plays a 3 CMC creature illegally (both players don't remember about the Chalice).

Naomi takes her next turn. Abra takes his turn and copies the 3 CMC creature with a 4CMC copy spell.

Naomi takes her turn… then passes her turn back to Abra but says “woah woah wait.. you should never have been able to cast that 3CMC creature! It should have been countered!”


In these 4 or so total turns that have taken place there has also been changes to life totals etc so it's quite difficult to roll back. JAR says to fix anything currently illegal… While the 3CMC creature is not “currently illegal” it was illegal when cast.

What is the proper way to resolve this situation?

Thanks!

Chalice doesn't make it illegal to cast 3 CMC spells, it creates a trigger to counter 3 CMC spells. So what we have here is a case of missed triggers, not illegal plays. Just have them carry on, and explain to Naomi how the card works properly.

ahh that's right… Thank you

The casting of the Creature is not Illegal. What has really happened is
that Naomi has missed her trigger and Abra does not have to remind her of
it. There is no need to rewind the situation and it should be left alone.
The answer would be the same at Competitive REL.

-George FitzGerald
L2, Sarasota, FL

If the spell was actually illegally cast, lets say they couldn't pay the proper mana, it is ok to attempt a rewind if it would not be too disruptive to the game or tournament. Lets replace chalice in your example with blood moon and assume it has disrupted Abra's manabase enough that he/she can't cast said 3 CMC creature or teleport away from the battle. It is up to you as the acting tournament authority figure to determine how far is too far, and how much information is too much. I think the JAR really says it all with the line “Don't go crazy with this!”

Personally, at regular REL, unless it is an intuitive fix that both players could have come up with without getting me involved I tend to let the game state stand and remind them that they are both responsible for ensuring a legal game state. Rewinding and putting random cards back on top of libraries and putting cards from graveyards and exile back into play can often confuse players more than just leaving the game alone and having them agree that a mistake has been made and they should both be paying more attention.

Also make sure to tell them you are free to talk about the rewind policy AFTER the match has ended. It can take a while to explain the logic, esspecially to the player on the “wrong side” of the ruling.