I'm not actually entirely sure how the MTR's rules about note-taking apply at Regular REL. In 2.11, it states that players cannot refer to notes made before the match, and points to 2.12 for Regular REL where it says just that at Competitive and Professional, you cannot use electronic devices to make notes, and at Regular you can, but not whether Regular specifically forbids access to notes made before the match.

In any event, the specific question comes down to a definition of “Substantial Strategic Advice”

In many old sets, evergreen abilities had reminder text printed on the card that briefly described how the mechanics functioned. New mechanics to sets often still do. But would we consider it ‘Substantial Strategic Advice’ or a level of note-taking that would be actionable if a player wanted to have notes with them that simply spelled out how evergreen keywords functioned?

So just a little page of notes reminding them how reach, first strike, trample, haste etc function? Many magic cards (though not necessarily the ones they have access to in their deck) spell this information out explicitly, and they could query that info from a judge at any time, so I want to feel like that level of information should be allowed, but I'm curious if others disagree.

The rules on what notes are acceptable don't change with REL. I believe the passage you're referring to is this one:

Originally posted by MTR:

The use of electronic devices to take and refer to notes is permitted at Regular Rules Enforcement Level (see section 2.12).

That's just saying that electronic devices can be used at Regular where they couldn't be used at Competitive. It doesn't change the rules around when it's ok to view notes or what notes are acceptable.



As for the second question, I would have no problem with a player bringing a section of the rules with them to consult during a game (at any REL). Having a printout of the rules doesn't provide any advantage to the player that they couldn't get by calling a judge, and forcing them to do so every time they want to know how a rule works just slows down the event.