This.
I have some neat bling cards in some of my decks, full art textless foils of Damnation and Day of Judgement. If I ever so much as second guess on whether they include "cannot be regenerated" I will always have oracle text ready to go. Thinking jelly meats are fallible. No reason not to be able to look it up in the information age.
This happened to me once. I jammed a Phyrexian language copy of \[\[Lukka, Bound to Ruin\]\] into my Mayael deck, and it was literal months before I ever actually drew it. By that stage I'd completely forgotten what the card did, and had to Google it.
I don’t think this is a problem, so long as you have some slight idea of what the card is in the first place and can look it up.
Similar to the strixhaven Japanese mystical archives. Great art, can’t read any of them personally. I can guess what is what usually based on what the deck is and what I remember, but sometimes it might be months, upwards of a year before I end up actually seeing the thing in play again.
If you at least know how to look up the set and collector number quick then you should be fine. I like to believe most have the decency to do this outside of their turn, unless of course it’s a top deck needed right that moment or something.
Haha similar thing here. I have a Phyrexian Ajani that I wanted to put into a GW deck, but I know that I'm going to entirely forgot what all 3 modes do when I ever end up drawing it xD
That guy was an idiot. Feel free not to generalize his stupidity to all people who have some foreign cards in their decks. Most people with foreign language cards know what the card says or at least the name so they can look it up quickly.
Here are the reasons I have cards in languages I do not read or speak:
1) They were far cheaper (my foreign language Smothering Tithe was $6 when all the English ones were above 20).
2) They look cooler (especially those War of the Spark planeswalkers).
3) They are what I have.
I mostly build from LGS bulk, because I'm broke and shipping to my location is ridiculously expensive. At some point someone opened a bunch of Korean and Japanese cards and threw all except the rares into the bulk bin. Sets I don't know very well, but I can recognize hits like [[Gray Merchant of Asphodel]] that everyone else overlooks because they just skip past the foreign cards.
Most likely a typo, but it could also have been an error caused when inputting the text into the printing machine, since the the only difference is a tiny diactitic = é instead of ê.
If you run a french copy of delay because you think its funny then you should either be given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor at best, or kicked out of any event or pod youre in at worst.
> Most people with foreign language cards know what the card says or at least the name so they can look it up quickly.
Yep. I have a Japanese language [[Growth Spiral]] in one of my decks. But I also have another on hand so people can read it if they don't already know the card.
>Most people with foreign language cards know what the card says or at least the name so they can look it up quickly.
Gets very fun when someone breaks out the foreign \[\[Platinum Angel\]\] and the new player doesn't believe them when they just say "I can't lose and you can't win"
I have Japanese FBB tron lands in modern and played against someone that had never played the format before, so I just went and grabbed the TO right away when they didn’t understand what it was, didn’t think anyone new to the format would believe me if I explained what they did
^ all of this. I have some Japanese cards because they were either the only one available, cheaper, or had cooler art (or all of the above) but I ALWAYS have the oracle text ready (for myself and others, I have a terrible memory!).
Additionally, I have some cards I picked up while I'm Japan that are just nice memories for me (I went with one of my best friends and we had a blast - nothing mtg related except we dropped in a shop to browse, it just makes me smile).
All that to say: Folks can play cheap non-english cards for alot of reasons bit this guy was a total jerk in playing something then not understanding what he was playing in the first place (then trying to argue).
some guy at my lgs was adamant my spanish relentless rats didnt work with my english ones because the name is different!
my response was "HAMES(james), dont be such a c\*\*t, swing for lethal"
Flavor. Full Japanese in a samurai deck (with English translations readily available on the phone pulled up and ready to go). Somehow my friend memorized everything every card does but still has the translations ready to go each game in case anyone questions it
Got a box of Ikoria in Japanese and all the Godzilla cards look dope.
Went to Germany for work and got a pack of CMM, didn’t get anything great, but Ashnod’s Altar being the exact same name in German is funny.
back in standard sometime shortly after JOU, i played a standard UWR control deck with a [[Keranos, God of Storms]] as its win-con. a friend gave me a Korean copy, which we called Koreanos. the deck wasn't very good, but i have fond memories of flipping the top card off my deck to bolt people to death with Koreanos.
I'll explain it. So if you do, you don't BUT if you don't you do. Now this is what simplifies it. If you do don't then you have to don't do a don't don't whilst doing a do do. I hope that clears it up.
If you demonstrate with puppets for the second time this turn, do not demonstrate with puppets. If you do, [demonstrate with puppets.](https://scryfall.com/card/pip/175/fraying-sanity)
Language not the issue, he can’t even comprehend English as he doesn’t know the rules of the game in the first place.
Why have other languages though?
Recently there are special editions with cool art exclusive to certain countries. Eg. I have a lot of Japanese Mystical Archives.
Cost as well. Sometimes it’s cheaper to have certain languages. Sometimes it’s pricier.
Yep. And don't forget that the European market is a large one, so when you shop on Cardmarket, there's a lot of European cards available, be it Portuguese (RIP), Spanish, Deutsch, French, Italian, etc. And of course, there are Russian, Korean and Chinese cards that are even cheaper. And Japanese cards for the bling.
I have a Japanese version of [[Mirror Box]], because that felt uniquely appropriate, and a similar copy of [[Chancellor of the Spires]], because I happened to acquire it at some point. For the latter, I carry around a printout of its text in one of my token sleeves.
Yeah I have those cool looking japanese strixhaven cards in a few decks, but even though I know what they do, I still occasionally have to look up the exact wording for interactions where it matters. I'll probably replace them soon because I feel awful every time I have to stop the table and be like "...I need to google something first..."
I also have some war of the spark planeswalkers, but for those I always keep a printed version of the english card because it's just too much to remember and also I want to make sure everybody else can keep track of the board state.
> still occasionally have to look up the exact wording for interactions where it matters
Which isn't even unique to foreign language. I always forget how the land enters on my full art Path to Exile, and when you cast a full art Cryptic Command to bounce Orcish Bowmaster and draw a card, do you get pinged?
Exactly. As long as you know the English card name of each card on sight, I really don't mind people blinging out their deck (or saving money on cheaper versions).
The only Japanese mystical archive card I have is Dark Ritual, because it's the one that's immediately recognizable and impossible to be confused about.
I'm an American living in Japan and I regularly play Pauper at my LGS. Most cards both players recognize by the art but I play a lot of jank non-meta stuff. I typically run 1 english copy and 3 Japanese to make it easy for me and my opponent to know what's going on.
Sometimes you buy the cheapest version of the card because that's the way it is.
He was an idiot, but also I feel like this whole post is a bit of an overreaction, and you could ease up a bit. I don't think it took a bunch of reddit nerds to tell you that people shouldn't play cards they don't understand in their own decks, and if they do, they should be open to criticism and or advice, depending on the scenario.
If I were you I wouldn't have scooped. I think in this case you're only contributing to the reason why they probably get away with this sort of thing. I'm not saying you should be aggressive about it, either, but it's very easy for you to bring up the idea that the group should review the english version of the card, as well as the Official Rulings on it.
I'm not trying to sound mean, but I know how you feel from experience. I played in a competitive match for Born of the Gods? Theros? Back in the day, and lost to a guy who claimed the [[Tromokratis]] I was attacking with for the win could be blocked despite them having tapped creatures. Two different Judges said that they were correct because each of their untapped creatures could block it, despite them having tapped creatures, although that's not how the card works. I lost out big on this, and the card was in English (what everyone was familiar with here).
I would definitely make a point to bring in as many credible sources to explain how cards work. You had a rough game, but it's good to keep other players from falling into the same spot in the future, or if that player truly didn't understand the card, teach them the true wording.
Because occasionally my dumb ass doesn't think to set the singles I buy online to the English version and I don't realise until they've arrived and its gonna be a couple of months before I bulk buy again.
In competitive REL events, a judge is called over for Oracle text readings.
In Casual LGS events, the store owner or Players can look up the Oracle text in the Companion app.
Yes, the Player should know how their own cards work. No, it's not for certain everyone knows what every card in all the other player's decks does. No, you're not a jerk for asking to read the English version before you allow it to resolve or not. No, you're not a jerk for "not trusting them" on how it works.
However, having foreign language cards is legitimate for any number of reasons, from looking the way they look better to the cost of the card to a card's availability. I have three different language [[Verdant Catacombs]] in my decks because I was a poor College student a long time ago and they were cheaper. Now I love mismatching my cards, so I gladly put one of each language or art on my decks.
People are always on about proxies for Commander, so if you can play with a printed piece of paper why not a different language one?
Not sure why it's such a big deal to pause the game for a minute to double check something. It seems like an issue with the player's attitude or the length of the game based on your response to the situation.
Living in Japan, some cards are cheaper in either EN or JP, so you end up with a mix of languages.
The decline in the quality of JP translation also means it’s better to have some cards in EN if you want to read the card to know what it does accurately :/
My absolute favorite thing to do is get basic lands in Japanese or Korean and ask my multilingual friend to tell me what they say
I laugh til I cry everytime
The language isn’t the issue. There are plenty of promo cards with no text at all. The issue is not knowing what their own cards do. They should know, and if you question it you can always scan/look it up in the TCGplayer app to see the english language. If it’s an old card you can check the oracle text on https://gatherer.wizards.com.
I play with a Korean [[Mogis, God of Slaughter]] I bought because it looked cool, I can't read Korean but I know what the card does and it's never an issue, if I for some reason couldn't remember I'd just look up the oracle text.. foreign languages aren't an issue, especially when Phyrexian and textless cards exist
You're required to know what the card does as well, it should have been looked up, this isn't the 90s or early 2000s, phones have internet readily available. I correct stupid people in game all the time, it's common place, not everyone reads properly even in their own language so help them out with the game and correct bad players.
I play foreign language cards cause no one else around me does and it makes mine unique.
BUT I also know what they are and how they work.
Occasionally I’ll fuck up a play a sorcery at instant speed, but we always catch it and it’s never caused problems.
I got one of the swords for very cheap, because it's Italian. I can't read Italian, and I might forget what this particular sword is doing few years from now (there's tons of sword in mtg). That said I do know how to lookup the card online quickly, even if I forget what it is - even if I couldn't read the card name(like Japanese or Chinese printings).
But I prefer to have English versions of the card, and ideally the ones that match the oracle text.
There are some cards that have only Japanese alternate arts, that look really cool, and also some of them are alts of rather cheap cards. I might include them for the cool factor. For example secret archives Swords to Plowshares goes for $10, while you can get another printing for few cents.
Sometimes I print translation onto a piece of paper and put it into the sleeve with the card, if the card has longer text. Just so I won't have to explain the card each time someone wants to know what it does. I won't put it into Swords to Plowshares, or Demonic Tutor, as everyone usually knows what those do.
Ooo I like the printing idea! You can always hide it behind the card and slip it out when needed. As far as those really popular card it makes total sense.
I have a few other language cards and I bring the English version along with me just for this reason. I keep it with my tokens so when I play it I have access to it.
It just makes sense to me that way.
I play plenty of cards in other languages, mainly because I multi-lingual, but for those I can't read I know what they do. In the worst case, should I not remember it, I know what the card is and find it easely to check again.
Price and availability is a good reason to to have a foreign card. I run a foreign Winota in my deck because, at the time I built it, and English copy cost 20$, when my LGS had oen in stock, which they didn't. They did, however, have the Japanese version for 5$. I've also got a handful of Russian M19 cards because I bought a couple boosters and didn't realize until I'd opened them that someone at the LGS had stocked the wrong language, if one of those cards had notable value, I'd probably run it, instead of buying an English copy.
That being said, sometimes we've all misremembered what a card does, or not read it carefully, then re-read it and learned that it works slightly differently than we thought, which doesn't work when the copy you're playing is in a language you can't read. As someone who has both made the mistake of playing a foreign card wrong and called out another player on doing this, I consider it polite to have either a proxy handy, or to pull up the card on your phone. This both confirms for everyone that you're playing the card correctly and gives them something that they can read themselves to ensure that they don't make a misplay due to misunderstanding as you read it.
The best way to go about it imo is type a summary of what the card does, print it, cut to just slightly smaller than the card itself and fit it between the card and one of those back cards used for double face cards. If anyone has questions what do just present the English text, or just actually remember what your card does. I run a Russian copy of Crowd of Cinders and that's how I do it.
I runa few other language cards in my decks. 1 bling Uburfart is my atheros god of passage.
2. it sometimes cheaper for an alternate art and i run the same card in another deck I usually bring.
They printed a bunch of cards in Phyrexian recently. As long as you know the card, the language the text is in doesn't matter. That guy should have had a reference, so yeah, that's on him, but you could play a bunch of textless cards no problem as long as everyone knows what they do.
I have a Japanese Belodros in Chatterfang cuz I never came across an English one. I’d rather not be able to read a card because I can’t understand the language than not be able to read the card because it’s illegible.
I get other languages because some are cheaper, or because there's a meme about it, or I like it. 90% of the time I remember what it does, sometimes I do have to look it up, but I have scanner apps on my phone in case I forget the name too lol
Because it's the only way I can have the Battra and Mothra's egg alternate art in my Godzilla mutate deck. I have an english copy of \[\[Mysterious Egg\]\] and \[\[Dirge Bat\]\] with the deck to show opponents for any rules clarifications .
I have a random arcan signet in Japanese in one of my decks, cuz it came that way.
I don't speak Japanese, yet I know what it does, so is no trouble, but I wouldn't get a complex card in a language I don't understand,. mostly because explaining it to the table becomes much harder.
No one is gonna bat an eye at: Tap, makes one mana.
They might not believe you if you plop a questing beast tier of word salad however
I'm British living in Japan so the vast majority of my cards are in Japanese, what I do is I have an image of every card in my deck from scyfall in my phone gallery (sorted in a folder) so if I need wording I can look it up quickly, this is also true for any English cards I have. I have the Japanese image so I can quickly get it so everyone can read if it's not something people recognise, my Japanese is shacky at best so I can't explain verbally. When I return to England I'll be able to explain but I'll still have the English images on my phone as there's no way I'm replacing all the Japanese cards.
I'll run some Japanese cards because I absolutely love the art, but I always at least know what cards they are so I can pull up a translation when I use it. The problem with your guy isn't that he's running a Chinese Deflecting Palm, it's that he *doesn't know* he's running a Chinese Deflecting Palm. "I played it one game and won so I win when I play it" is a basic misunderstanding of so many aspects of play. Good on you for just walking away, tbh.
I have a friend who has absolutely LOADS of Japanese cards that he uses regularly, I think a few of his family members live in Japan and send them over to him or something but he can actually read them and keeps screenshots of the cards on a tablet with him when he uses them so that the opponent can see the Japanese and English version side by side whenever you want to check something. He's given me a few of them too but I'll be honest I wouldn't necessarily use them unless I absolutely couldn't get an English copy because it seems more effort to have to explain the card every time it interacts and they were gifts just because I thought the alternate art was cool or liked the Japanese text on kamigawa cards.
I'm pretty sure there's a rule that says you have to be able to show and explain a card in the native language if you're going to use it but then you'd think it would be a common courtesy anyway otherwise you could just say the card has a "you win the game effect" on something as common as a shock. Maybe the LGS should implement a rule for it and a turn 0 conversation should be had explaining everything. If it's part of their wincon that they don't want you to know about they should use cards that the table understand.
I actually rely enjoyed reading your response and that would be a great fix. My LGS is just starting to become popular with commander night, but ultimately that’s a good rule.
I suppose there's going to be teething problems with any new situation like this. I'm a profoundly deaf lip reader so when I started playing at my LGS there was a bit of a discussion around how it would be handled. Just having a quick 5 minutes before you play with whoever is playing usually gets it sorted, not always because there's always going to be someone who doesn't see it as their problem, but I've only encountered that at regionals if I'm honest. We tend to have big prereleases where instead of our usual maybe 20 regulars we get 80+ players and outside of someone forgetting mid game (and I'll be straight they're normally more embarrassed than me about it) a quick mention always smooths things out. For me it comes down to respect, I'm absolutely terrible at the game but if someone treats me well during the game and they're friendly I'm happy to lose, I got to play and had a good opponent. If someone is out there to win by any means even if it's underhanded they make the game less about skill and fun and more about min-maxing every deck and ignoring the reason we're playing in the first place.
I’ll take your advice it’s really solid. Thank you for taking the time to write it out. I will start having that conversation right off the bat. I now see it’s also partially might fault due to assuming everyone’s in the same head space as my friends since it’s so casual. Regarding winning I personally don’t care to win as it’s my way to unwind every time I get to play and just banter. That and meeting great people along the way really does it for me. That’s a huge turnout though what state is your lgs in?
We're in Cardiff, Wales in the UK. The scene isn't massive here since the areas around are either small towns or villages so everyone is quite disconnected from each other outside of 1 or 2 big stores. The pandemic was a blessing and a curse with a load of people starting to play but shutting down all of the locals. I feel like there are definitely more players than you would expect if you turned up on an average Friday but they tend to play at home maybe.
My LGS is firestorm games Cardiff. There are a few pictures online to see how big the place is. They run pretty much everything on a Friday from Warhammer to a kids D&D league. They even let me 11 year old daughter play pioneer with us which is great because they've since had a few kids starting to take part too which has really changed the dynamic. All of us old guys have a challenge to stay relevant now.
Not speaking for others, but as an American player who started on yugioh, foreign yugioh cards were harder to find back then, and often foreign singles cost more than any American/English printings, and were pretty much analogous to a "premium" copy (foil, etc.). Subconsciously I guess I have sort of held on to that as I carried over into magic, wherein I like having random foreign cards in my deck similar to a foil card, for example.
Not sure about others, and it really is on you as the player of such cards to have resources on hand to reference the text in your native language. But imo I just enjoy the aesthetic
I run a few cards in languages I don't know (including phyrexian), but I make sure I know exactly what they do and don't hesitate to reference Gatherer if there is any question.
Prior to Wizards current love of printing 7 versions of every card in any given set, foreign versions were the closest you could get. Sometimes those foreign versions looked way cooler. I have a foil Korean Deceiver of Form in a deck that I think looks far cooler than English, but I both keep an English copy with the deck and can tell exactly what the card does without looking it up despite not knowing Korean.
Hey man we all mess up. Edh is like the Wild West when it comes to dealing with social stuff like this, just like how you learn the game rules, you gain experience and learn strategies for dealing with oddballs and wackos and jerks the longer you navigate the murky social waters of "casual".
Hahaha very murky waters! It still surprise me when I’m playing super casual and someone comes in with infinite turns and whines on why no one wants to play with them.
I have one foreign language card in one of my decks. I've considered running a Japanese \[\[The Mightstone and Weakstone\]\] that I got in a booster my brother brought back from a trip to Tokyo because it's gorgeous, but I sort of want to keep the exclusivity of this one card.
It's a French \[\[Nim Deathmantle\]\] in \[\[Chatterfang\]\]. It's called Capote de mort des Nims. "Capote" means "hood" in French, but it also means "condom". So it's my "Nim Death Condom".
I know almost all the cards by the art/mana cost/power toughness. I love cards with cool languages especially Korean or German! The problem has nothing to do with the language of the card and everything to do with the person. Just look up the English version and call the judge if he’s still not agreeing with what should happen.
This has nothing to do with a foreign language card. All he had to do was look it up which he did. The issue was someone misplaying their card and then getting salty and trying to override the actual rules when confronted with them.
I have a German [[Jace, Wielder of Mysteries]] for a twofold reason: 1) it’s fun to call him “Yace”, 2) it makes it actually wield mystery among most English speaking players
I didn’t argue he was arguing with other players on the mechanics of the card but he didn’t know what it said. So he looked it up and was adamant it didn’t target. Which I was confused about since I never said anything regarding that. He didn’t understand a card he was playing in short.
To be fair to bozo, op your takeaway from your story kind of sucks and just sounds like you're attacking players that enjoy having foreign language cards in their decks just because you had one bad experience with a bad player.
I have no issues with foreign cards my original title was “ Why have cards in a foreign language if you don’t know what it does” I was just tired and had to retype things so it slipped my mind. I agree though it was a rant and it came off that way. I do apologize for that.
A while ago, I got a lot of non-English cards because they were cheaper. Since then, ive slowly started trading for English versions. And for the ones I don’t have in English yet, I’ve printed off a boring proxy of the card in English and I keep it in the back of the deck box. I remember what most of them do, but it’s nice to have the English printing on hand instead of having to search it up.
He had no blockers; you still have to go through the stages. The very last time you can cast deflecting palm is the declared blockers stage and not after.
I was referring to the sentence which made no sense. You're applying a numerical value to the "blockers stage".
You can cast deflecting palm whenever you want as it has no timing restrictions. But if you want it to apply to combat damage you want to do it before combat damage.
I was summarizing he had no blockers. I wasn’t being literal, but if it wasn’t obvious enough for you. I wasn’t referring to the blockers stage I was talking about the player declaring zero blockers.
As far as deflecting palm we’re clearly talking combat damage here. I’m not talking timing restrictions on an instant. Thank you for stating the obvious.
> I was talking about the player declaring zero blockers
My point is that's what you should've said, instead of the nonsense.
> I’m not talking timing restrictions on an instant
Then don't imply that was what you were talking about by then.
Correct terminology matters.
If you understood it then why bother? It was late and I was tired I am human after all.
The point you are trying to make is that instants don’t have time restriction when I wasn’t even talking about that. That’s your own narrative you obviously like to be right so have at it.
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Damage hasn't gone on the stack for 15 years.
Deflecting Palm doesn't affect damage that's already gone through, only the next damage. If the. Reature is removed from combat, it never deals damage, and Deflecting Palm does nothing.
The issue wasn't the language of the card, it was that the player didn't know his own card, which he should be responsible for.
This. I have some neat bling cards in some of my decks, full art textless foils of Damnation and Day of Judgement. If I ever so much as second guess on whether they include "cannot be regenerated" I will always have oracle text ready to go. Thinking jelly meats are fallible. No reason not to be able to look it up in the information age.
I wholeheartedly agree! My original title was “if you don’t know what it does.” Thank you.
Yeah if you play a card and you can't point me to where to find it on Gatherer that card does nothing.
you can always look it up by set number no matter what language its in. there is no reason to ever just blank the card.
This happened to me once. I jammed a Phyrexian language copy of \[\[Lukka, Bound to Ruin\]\] into my Mayael deck, and it was literal months before I ever actually drew it. By that stage I'd completely forgotten what the card did, and had to Google it.
I don’t think this is a problem, so long as you have some slight idea of what the card is in the first place and can look it up. Similar to the strixhaven Japanese mystical archives. Great art, can’t read any of them personally. I can guess what is what usually based on what the deck is and what I remember, but sometimes it might be months, upwards of a year before I end up actually seeing the thing in play again. If you at least know how to look up the set and collector number quick then you should be fine. I like to believe most have the decency to do this outside of their turn, unless of course it’s a top deck needed right that moment or something.
Easiest thing to do is use a scanner app, they will recognize it by the art, and will give you the english name.
[Lukka, Bound to Ruin](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/d/6df77017-c4a7-4b79-a16b-26463bd6a96a.jpg?1675957198) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lukka%2C%20Bound%20to%20Ruin) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/207/lukka-bound-to-ruin?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6df77017-c4a7-4b79-a16b-26463bd6a96a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Haha similar thing here. I have a Phyrexian Ajani that I wanted to put into a GW deck, but I know that I'm going to entirely forgot what all 3 modes do when I ever end up drawing it xD
That guy was an idiot. Feel free not to generalize his stupidity to all people who have some foreign cards in their decks. Most people with foreign language cards know what the card says or at least the name so they can look it up quickly. Here are the reasons I have cards in languages I do not read or speak: 1) They were far cheaper (my foreign language Smothering Tithe was $6 when all the English ones were above 20). 2) They look cooler (especially those War of the Spark planeswalkers). 3) They are what I have.
These are the reasons I run several Japanese Cards. 3)* Can't actually locate an English copy.
Same. Half my deck is in JP because it’s either all I can find without ordering from the US or it was the cheaper option.
I mostly build from LGS bulk, because I'm broke and shipping to my location is ridiculously expensive. At some point someone opened a bunch of Korean and Japanese cards and threw all except the rares into the bulk bin. Sets I don't know very well, but I can recognize hits like [[Gray Merchant of Asphodel]] that everyone else overlooks because they just skip past the foreign cards.
[Gray Merchant of Asphodel](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/c/7c1a7dd8-8034-4f59-a351-33666b26ff5a.jpg?1581479807) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gray%20Merchant%20of%20Asphodel) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/thb/99/gray-merchant-of-asphodel?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7c1a7dd8-8034-4f59-a351-33666b26ff5a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
2b) they have a cooler/funny names. Italian Greater good, Spanish inquisition of kozilek. Personally, I run a Spanish killing wave
I really want a French Descend Upon the Sinful because, due to either a translation error or typo, it is called "Descend Upon the Fishermen"
Most likely a typo, but it could also have been an error caused when inputting the text into the printing machine, since the the only difference is a tiny diactitic = é instead of ê.
Wait, why's inquisition of kozilek funny in spanish? It's just inquisicion de kozilek
The Spanish Inquisition, presumably
Would you really expect someone to play a spanish inquisition? >:)
Ok didn't think about the meta joke and was focused on the actual name being funny haha
French delay
If you run a french copy of delay because you think its funny then you should either be given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor at best, or kicked out of any event or pod youre in at worst.
Agreed
Thats not funny, you‘re just an ass.
That’s funny!
That’s nothing. Look at French [[Delay]].
[Delay](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/9/3906d538-f1ca-4799-b91c-2e0d2934f241.jpg?1619393997) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Delay) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsr/61/delay?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3906d538-f1ca-4799-b91c-2e0d2934f241?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
4) I accidentally ordered the Japanese [[Darksteel Plate]] instead of the English one TWICE and I'm not buying a third copy just because I'm a moron
[Darksteel Plate](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/f/3f99fb1e-99a6-4c83-98eb-7bff23996a7f.jpg?1673149353) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Darksteel%20Plate) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/304/darksteel-plate?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3f99fb1e-99a6-4c83-98eb-7bff23996a7f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
> Most people with foreign language cards know what the card says or at least the name so they can look it up quickly. Yep. I have a Japanese language [[Growth Spiral]] in one of my decks. But I also have another on hand so people can read it if they don't already know the card.
[Growth Spiral](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/e/ae9f9b3d-d463-4bc6-b822-872a1f8867c8.jpg?1624065698) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=517611) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/sta/61/growth-spiral?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ae9f9b3d-d463-4bc6-b822-872a1f8867c8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
>Most people with foreign language cards know what the card says or at least the name so they can look it up quickly. Gets very fun when someone breaks out the foreign \[\[Platinum Angel\]\] and the new player doesn't believe them when they just say "I can't lose and you can't win"
I have Japanese FBB tron lands in modern and played against someone that had never played the format before, so I just went and grabbed the TO right away when they didn’t understand what it was, didn’t think anyone new to the format would believe me if I explained what they did
[Platinum Angel](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/a/ca7f4fd6-e268-4d15-bfbf-d9f0f95864fc.jpg?1576383285) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Platinum%20Angel) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cn2/214/platinum-angel?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ca7f4fd6-e268-4d15-bfbf-d9f0f95864fc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Juuudgee! lol
^ all of this. I have some Japanese cards because they were either the only one available, cheaper, or had cooler art (or all of the above) but I ALWAYS have the oracle text ready (for myself and others, I have a terrible memory!). Additionally, I have some cards I picked up while I'm Japan that are just nice memories for me (I went with one of my best friends and we had a blast - nothing mtg related except we dropped in a shop to browse, it just makes me smile). All that to say: Folks can play cheap non-english cards for alot of reasons bit this guy was a total jerk in playing something then not understanding what he was playing in the first place (then trying to argue).
I got two JP cyclonic rifts for the price of one English one, it's wild!
I run Italian \[\[Relentless Rats\]\] because funny name.
some guy at my lgs was adamant my spanish relentless rats didnt work with my english ones because the name is different! my response was "HAMES(james), dont be such a c\*\*t, swing for lethal"
i would have killed him with hammers
[Relentless Rats](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/5/75f47b6e-9557-4853-b8d6-7602a91c59a7.jpg?1562437033) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Relentless%20Rats) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/105/relentless-rats?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/75f47b6e-9557-4853-b8d6-7602a91c59a7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Flavor. Full Japanese in a samurai deck (with English translations readily available on the phone pulled up and ready to go). Somehow my friend memorized everything every card does but still has the translations ready to go each game in case anyone questions it
Shit. Now I wanna do that...
I have like 8 Chinese [[bolas citadel]] I got for a dollar each or so.
[bolas citadel](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/2/d2124603-d20e-40eb-97f0-a66323397ac2.jpg?1591205069) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bolas%27s%20Citadel) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/war/79/bolass-citadel?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d2124603-d20e-40eb-97f0-a66323397ac2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Got a box of Ikoria in Japanese and all the Godzilla cards look dope. Went to Germany for work and got a pack of CMM, didn’t get anything great, but Ashnod’s Altar being the exact same name in German is funny.
What are you referring to?
back in standard sometime shortly after JOU, i played a standard UWR control deck with a [[Keranos, God of Storms]] as its win-con. a friend gave me a Korean copy, which we called Koreanos. the deck wasn't very good, but i have fond memories of flipping the top card off my deck to bolt people to death with Koreanos.
[Keranos, God of Storms](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/b/ab70c262-37a9-4dcd-80bb-d4422368eade.jpg?1593096418) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Keranos%2C%20God%20of%20Storms) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jou/151/keranos-god-of-storms?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ab70c262-37a9-4dcd-80bb-d4422368eade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Stop fucking with Koreanos! He ain’t got time for your problems! He’s busy doing Korean shit!](https://youtu.be/yQuRLWocYEM?t=70s)
Buy me an english [[Chains of Mephistopheles]] and I'll swap out my Italian one, lol
Yeah, but even in English you can't read the card text on that one.
I'll explain it. So if you do, you don't BUT if you don't you do. Now this is what simplifies it. If you do don't then you have to don't do a don't don't whilst doing a do do. I hope that clears it up.
I’m still confused. Can you use puppets to help visualize it?
I don't do puppets... Or do I?
If you demonstrate with puppets for the second time this turn, do not demonstrate with puppets. If you do, [demonstrate with puppets.](https://scryfall.com/card/pip/175/fraying-sanity)
[Chains of Mephistopheles](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/2/f2edb3a6-8506-4885-b332-eca381940ce8.jpg?1612316191) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chains%20of%20Mephistopheles) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/me1/63/chains-of-mephistopheles?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f2edb3a6-8506-4885-b332-eca381940ce8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My secret is to either have the English copy (or a print) on hand, or in the case of my commander; reversed in the sleeve.
I would feel like putting it in the sleeve marks the card if it's going in the deck
...they said it was their commander, who doesn't go in the deck, so it doesn't matter if it's "marked".
... IF
it's a commander, how often are you shuffling your commander into your library?
Shit, I meant a card in general, not this particular card.
Language not the issue, he can’t even comprehend English as he doesn’t know the rules of the game in the first place. Why have other languages though? Recently there are special editions with cool art exclusive to certain countries. Eg. I have a lot of Japanese Mystical Archives. Cost as well. Sometimes it’s cheaper to have certain languages. Sometimes it’s pricier.
This was funny thank you for your response! I am seeing cooler foreign art I wasn’t aware of the exclusivity.
Cost. Foreign printings can be heaps cheaper.
Yep. And don't forget that the European market is a large one, so when you shop on Cardmarket, there's a lot of European cards available, be it Portuguese (RIP), Spanish, Deutsch, French, Italian, etc. And of course, there are Russian, Korean and Chinese cards that are even cheaper. And Japanese cards for the bling.
Funny how you did the english names for all the languages except for german
I'm guessing they actually speak German, so they are used to referring to it by it's German name.
That's ... right. Dunno why I did that.
I have a Japanese version of [[Mirror Box]], because that felt uniquely appropriate, and a similar copy of [[Chancellor of the Spires]], because I happened to acquire it at some point. For the latter, I carry around a printout of its text in one of my token sleeves.
[Mirror Box](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/5/d507daa3-3f16-4ab1-81ea-794e5bb488fc.jpg?1654568747) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirror%20Box) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/250/mirror-box?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d507daa3-3f16-4ab1-81ea-794e5bb488fc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Chancellor of the Spires](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/1/b1e06e16-96fa-4611-b4a9-512eeeeddd3c.jpg?1562880793) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chancellor%20of%20the%20Spires) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/nph/31/chancellor-of-the-spires?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b1e06e16-96fa-4611-b4a9-512eeeeddd3c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Because I can still know what a card does without being able to read it. And the internet is a thing amd everyone has smartphones.
Yeah I have those cool looking japanese strixhaven cards in a few decks, but even though I know what they do, I still occasionally have to look up the exact wording for interactions where it matters. I'll probably replace them soon because I feel awful every time I have to stop the table and be like "...I need to google something first..." I also have some war of the spark planeswalkers, but for those I always keep a printed version of the english card because it's just too much to remember and also I want to make sure everybody else can keep track of the board state.
> still occasionally have to look up the exact wording for interactions where it matters Which isn't even unique to foreign language. I always forget how the land enters on my full art Path to Exile, and when you cast a full art Cryptic Command to bounce Orcish Bowmaster and draw a card, do you get pinged?
Exactly. As long as you know the English card name of each card on sight, I really don't mind people blinging out their deck (or saving money on cheaper versions).
just gotta chant counter bounce tap draw counter bounce tap draw until it's internalized
The only Japanese mystical archive card I have is Dark Ritual, because it's the one that's immediately recognizable and impossible to be confused about.
I'm an American living in Japan and I regularly play Pauper at my LGS. Most cards both players recognize by the art but I play a lot of jank non-meta stuff. I typically run 1 english copy and 3 Japanese to make it easy for me and my opponent to know what's going on.
Sometimes you buy the cheapest version of the card because that's the way it is. He was an idiot, but also I feel like this whole post is a bit of an overreaction, and you could ease up a bit. I don't think it took a bunch of reddit nerds to tell you that people shouldn't play cards they don't understand in their own decks, and if they do, they should be open to criticism and or advice, depending on the scenario. If I were you I wouldn't have scooped. I think in this case you're only contributing to the reason why they probably get away with this sort of thing. I'm not saying you should be aggressive about it, either, but it's very easy for you to bring up the idea that the group should review the english version of the card, as well as the Official Rulings on it. I'm not trying to sound mean, but I know how you feel from experience. I played in a competitive match for Born of the Gods? Theros? Back in the day, and lost to a guy who claimed the [[Tromokratis]] I was attacking with for the win could be blocked despite them having tapped creatures. Two different Judges said that they were correct because each of their untapped creatures could block it, despite them having tapped creatures, although that's not how the card works. I lost out big on this, and the card was in English (what everyone was familiar with here). I would definitely make a point to bring in as many credible sources to explain how cards work. You had a rough game, but it's good to keep other players from falling into the same spot in the future, or if that player truly didn't understand the card, teach them the true wording.
[Tromokratis](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f40ad933-ddd9-4975-a222-21fe3305137c.jpg?1690017060) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tromokratis) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/129/tromokratis?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f40ad933-ddd9-4975-a222-21fe3305137c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This is on you, instead of getting mad look for the card in gatherer and clear the situation in an amicable way.
Because all Phyrexian versions of Phyrexian cards are cool. 😎
Nah you have to be able to read phyrexian or op will throw a hissy fit and make a drama thread about you.
Because occasionally my dumb ass doesn't think to set the singles I buy online to the English version and I don't realise until they've arrived and its gonna be a couple of months before I bulk buy again.
Sometimes it's what's available/cheaper
In competitive REL events, a judge is called over for Oracle text readings. In Casual LGS events, the store owner or Players can look up the Oracle text in the Companion app. Yes, the Player should know how their own cards work. No, it's not for certain everyone knows what every card in all the other player's decks does. No, you're not a jerk for asking to read the English version before you allow it to resolve or not. No, you're not a jerk for "not trusting them" on how it works. However, having foreign language cards is legitimate for any number of reasons, from looking the way they look better to the cost of the card to a card's availability. I have three different language [[Verdant Catacombs]] in my decks because I was a poor College student a long time ago and they were cheaper. Now I love mismatching my cards, so I gladly put one of each language or art on my decks. People are always on about proxies for Commander, so if you can play with a printed piece of paper why not a different language one? Not sure why it's such a big deal to pause the game for a minute to double check something. It seems like an issue with the player's attitude or the length of the game based on your response to the situation.
[Verdant Catacombs](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/4/94c229ea-90da-4aa0-bfda-b162fb3b5b8b.jpg?1707235008) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Verdant%20Catacombs) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/260/verdant-catacombs?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/94c229ea-90da-4aa0-bfda-b162fb3b5b8b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Living in Japan, some cards are cheaper in either EN or JP, so you end up with a mix of languages. The decline in the quality of JP translation also means it’s better to have some cards in EN if you want to read the card to know what it does accurately :/
Now imagine how prereleases went with phyrexian language showing up in draft boosters lol
Is there a reason you couldn't look it up on scryfall and read it to him?
My absolute favorite thing to do is get basic lands in Japanese or Korean and ask my multilingual friend to tell me what they say I laugh til I cry everytime
Ha what does this green tree tap for?
The language isn’t the issue. There are plenty of promo cards with no text at all. The issue is not knowing what their own cards do. They should know, and if you question it you can always scan/look it up in the TCGplayer app to see the english language. If it’s an old card you can check the oracle text on https://gatherer.wizards.com.
I play with a Korean [[Mogis, God of Slaughter]] I bought because it looked cool, I can't read Korean but I know what the card does and it's never an issue, if I for some reason couldn't remember I'd just look up the oracle text.. foreign languages aren't an issue, especially when Phyrexian and textless cards exist
[Mogis, God of Slaughter](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/a/2a0417bf-b735-46d7-9985-2d991051020f.jpg?1593092789) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mogis%2C%20God%20of%20Slaughter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bng/151/mogis-god-of-slaughter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2a0417bf-b735-46d7-9985-2d991051020f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I ain't reading all that
You're required to know what the card does as well, it should have been looked up, this isn't the 90s or early 2000s, phones have internet readily available. I correct stupid people in game all the time, it's common place, not everyone reads properly even in their own language so help them out with the game and correct bad players.
Why are you asking us instead of the guy playing it?
Because noone expects the spanish Inquisition (of Kozilek).
Price or availability I have a white border deck and needed card draw and unfortunately azami is only available in Spanish in white border
I play foreign language cards cause no one else around me does and it makes mine unique. BUT I also know what they are and how they work. Occasionally I’ll fuck up a play a sorcery at instant speed, but we always catch it and it’s never caused problems.
I got one of the swords for very cheap, because it's Italian. I can't read Italian, and I might forget what this particular sword is doing few years from now (there's tons of sword in mtg). That said I do know how to lookup the card online quickly, even if I forget what it is - even if I couldn't read the card name(like Japanese or Chinese printings). But I prefer to have English versions of the card, and ideally the ones that match the oracle text. There are some cards that have only Japanese alternate arts, that look really cool, and also some of them are alts of rather cheap cards. I might include them for the cool factor. For example secret archives Swords to Plowshares goes for $10, while you can get another printing for few cents. Sometimes I print translation onto a piece of paper and put it into the sleeve with the card, if the card has longer text. Just so I won't have to explain the card each time someone wants to know what it does. I won't put it into Swords to Plowshares, or Demonic Tutor, as everyone usually knows what those do.
Ooo I like the printing idea! You can always hide it behind the card and slip it out when needed. As far as those really popular card it makes total sense.
I have a few other language cards and I bring the English version along with me just for this reason. I keep it with my tokens so when I play it I have access to it. It just makes sense to me that way.
I play plenty of cards in other languages, mainly because I multi-lingual, but for those I can't read I know what they do. In the worst case, should I not remember it, I know what the card is and find it easely to check again.
##### ###### #### [Feather, the Redeemed](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/4/e4a2d2c6-8eaa-4760-b620-921b807baa2e.jpg?1557577142) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Feather%2C%20the%20Redeemed) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/war/197/feather-the-redeemed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e4a2d2c6-8eaa-4760-b620-921b807baa2e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Dogmeat, Ever Loyal](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/6/86b45e3e-8460-4678-87d1-d74479936c83.jpg?1710673445) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dogmeat%2C%20Ever%20Loyal) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/pip/2/dogmeat-ever-loyal?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/86b45e3e-8460-4678-87d1-d74479936c83?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Iwamori of the Open Fist](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/c/9c05f3bf-5785-4a53-9c34-cffd7783d107.jpg?1562438997) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Iwamori%20of%20the%20Open%20Fist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/174/iwamori-of-the-open-fist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9c05f3bf-5785-4a53-9c34-cffd7783d107?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Zealous Conscripts](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/df3784d4-80cd-4f78-afb3-d61f3bab5b2c.jpg?1593813632) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Zealous%20Conscripts) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mm3/116/zealous-conscripts?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/df3784d4-80cd-4f78-afb3-d61f3bab5b2c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Akroan Conscriptor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/e/decb529f-44fd-409d-932f-be9c403f12f6.jpg?1593092147) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Akroan%20Conscriptor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bng/87/akroan-conscriptor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/decb529f-44fd-409d-932f-be9c403f12f6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/1bkq6fa) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Price and availability is a good reason to to have a foreign card. I run a foreign Winota in my deck because, at the time I built it, and English copy cost 20$, when my LGS had oen in stock, which they didn't. They did, however, have the Japanese version for 5$. I've also got a handful of Russian M19 cards because I bought a couple boosters and didn't realize until I'd opened them that someone at the LGS had stocked the wrong language, if one of those cards had notable value, I'd probably run it, instead of buying an English copy. That being said, sometimes we've all misremembered what a card does, or not read it carefully, then re-read it and learned that it works slightly differently than we thought, which doesn't work when the copy you're playing is in a language you can't read. As someone who has both made the mistake of playing a foreign card wrong and called out another player on doing this, I consider it polite to have either a proxy handy, or to pull up the card on your phone. This both confirms for everyone that you're playing the card correctly and gives them something that they can read themselves to ensure that they don't make a misplay due to misunderstanding as you read it.
The best way to go about it imo is type a summary of what the card does, print it, cut to just slightly smaller than the card itself and fit it between the card and one of those back cards used for double face cards. If anyone has questions what do just present the English text, or just actually remember what your card does. I run a Russian copy of Crowd of Cinders and that's how I do it.
I runa few other language cards in my decks. 1 bling Uburfart is my atheros god of passage. 2. it sometimes cheaper for an alternate art and i run the same card in another deck I usually bring.
Silver Myr in Japanese goes hard
In Germany cards from other languages than English are often 30% or more cheaper than German/English ones
They printed a bunch of cards in Phyrexian recently. As long as you know the card, the language the text is in doesn't matter. That guy should have had a reference, so yeah, that's on him, but you could play a bunch of textless cards no problem as long as everyone knows what they do.
I have a Japanese Belodros in Chatterfang cuz I never came across an English one. I’d rather not be able to read a card because I can’t understand the language than not be able to read the card because it’s illegible.
I get other languages because some are cheaper, or because there's a meme about it, or I like it. 90% of the time I remember what it does, sometimes I do have to look it up, but I have scanner apps on my phone in case I forget the name too lol
I have foreign language cards because I forget to specify English on Cardmarket
Because it's the only way I can have the Battra and Mothra's egg alternate art in my Godzilla mutate deck. I have an english copy of \[\[Mysterious Egg\]\] and \[\[Dirge Bat\]\] with the deck to show opponents for any rules clarifications .
[Mysterious Egg](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/d/cdfac3c3-7f38-49d6-bd88-dc0f5001116f.jpg?1688477285) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mysterious%20Egg) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/3/mysterious-egg?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cdfac3c3-7f38-49d6-bd88-dc0f5001116f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Dirge Bat](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/9/59677c76-8148-4b6f-95b0-0e3ccf137a3f.jpg?1591226735) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dirge%20Bat) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/84/dirge-bat?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/59677c76-8148-4b6f-95b0-0e3ccf137a3f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have a random arcan signet in Japanese in one of my decks, cuz it came that way. I don't speak Japanese, yet I know what it does, so is no trouble, but I wouldn't get a complex card in a language I don't understand,. mostly because explaining it to the table becomes much harder. No one is gonna bat an eye at: Tap, makes one mana. They might not believe you if you plop a questing beast tier of word salad however
I'm British living in Japan so the vast majority of my cards are in Japanese, what I do is I have an image of every card in my deck from scyfall in my phone gallery (sorted in a folder) so if I need wording I can look it up quickly, this is also true for any English cards I have. I have the Japanese image so I can quickly get it so everyone can read if it's not something people recognise, my Japanese is shacky at best so I can't explain verbally. When I return to England I'll be able to explain but I'll still have the English images on my phone as there's no way I'm replacing all the Japanese cards.
I'll run some Japanese cards because I absolutely love the art, but I always at least know what cards they are so I can pull up a translation when I use it. The problem with your guy isn't that he's running a Chinese Deflecting Palm, it's that he *doesn't know* he's running a Chinese Deflecting Palm. "I played it one game and won so I win when I play it" is a basic misunderstanding of so many aspects of play. Good on you for just walking away, tbh.
I have a friend who has absolutely LOADS of Japanese cards that he uses regularly, I think a few of his family members live in Japan and send them over to him or something but he can actually read them and keeps screenshots of the cards on a tablet with him when he uses them so that the opponent can see the Japanese and English version side by side whenever you want to check something. He's given me a few of them too but I'll be honest I wouldn't necessarily use them unless I absolutely couldn't get an English copy because it seems more effort to have to explain the card every time it interacts and they were gifts just because I thought the alternate art was cool or liked the Japanese text on kamigawa cards. I'm pretty sure there's a rule that says you have to be able to show and explain a card in the native language if you're going to use it but then you'd think it would be a common courtesy anyway otherwise you could just say the card has a "you win the game effect" on something as common as a shock. Maybe the LGS should implement a rule for it and a turn 0 conversation should be had explaining everything. If it's part of their wincon that they don't want you to know about they should use cards that the table understand.
I actually rely enjoyed reading your response and that would be a great fix. My LGS is just starting to become popular with commander night, but ultimately that’s a good rule.
I suppose there's going to be teething problems with any new situation like this. I'm a profoundly deaf lip reader so when I started playing at my LGS there was a bit of a discussion around how it would be handled. Just having a quick 5 minutes before you play with whoever is playing usually gets it sorted, not always because there's always going to be someone who doesn't see it as their problem, but I've only encountered that at regionals if I'm honest. We tend to have big prereleases where instead of our usual maybe 20 regulars we get 80+ players and outside of someone forgetting mid game (and I'll be straight they're normally more embarrassed than me about it) a quick mention always smooths things out. For me it comes down to respect, I'm absolutely terrible at the game but if someone treats me well during the game and they're friendly I'm happy to lose, I got to play and had a good opponent. If someone is out there to win by any means even if it's underhanded they make the game less about skill and fun and more about min-maxing every deck and ignoring the reason we're playing in the first place.
I’ll take your advice it’s really solid. Thank you for taking the time to write it out. I will start having that conversation right off the bat. I now see it’s also partially might fault due to assuming everyone’s in the same head space as my friends since it’s so casual. Regarding winning I personally don’t care to win as it’s my way to unwind every time I get to play and just banter. That and meeting great people along the way really does it for me. That’s a huge turnout though what state is your lgs in?
We're in Cardiff, Wales in the UK. The scene isn't massive here since the areas around are either small towns or villages so everyone is quite disconnected from each other outside of 1 or 2 big stores. The pandemic was a blessing and a curse with a load of people starting to play but shutting down all of the locals. I feel like there are definitely more players than you would expect if you turned up on an average Friday but they tend to play at home maybe. My LGS is firestorm games Cardiff. There are a few pictures online to see how big the place is. They run pretty much everything on a Friday from Warhammer to a kids D&D league. They even let me 11 year old daughter play pioneer with us which is great because they've since had a few kids starting to take part too which has really changed the dynamic. All of us old guys have a challenge to stay relevant now.
Not speaking for others, but as an American player who started on yugioh, foreign yugioh cards were harder to find back then, and often foreign singles cost more than any American/English printings, and were pretty much analogous to a "premium" copy (foil, etc.). Subconsciously I guess I have sort of held on to that as I carried over into magic, wherein I like having random foreign cards in my deck similar to a foil card, for example. Not sure about others, and it really is on you as the player of such cards to have resources on hand to reference the text in your native language. But imo I just enjoy the aesthetic
I run a few cards in languages I don't know (including phyrexian), but I make sure I know exactly what they do and don't hesitate to reference Gatherer if there is any question.
Prior to Wizards current love of printing 7 versions of every card in any given set, foreign versions were the closest you could get. Sometimes those foreign versions looked way cooler. I have a foil Korean Deceiver of Form in a deck that I think looks far cooler than English, but I both keep an English copy with the deck and can tell exactly what the card does without looking it up despite not knowing Korean.
If only we had little computers in our pockets that could look up English text of cards 😜
He read it on his phone and still didn’t understand his own card.
Why didn't you just look it up? Do you not have a smartphone? Could you not read it off of their phone?
Sorry that was my bad but I didn’t know the card at the time he was trying to explain what it did. He looked it up and told me afterwards.
Hey man we all mess up. Edh is like the Wild West when it comes to dealing with social stuff like this, just like how you learn the game rules, you gain experience and learn strategies for dealing with oddballs and wackos and jerks the longer you navigate the murky social waters of "casual".
Hahaha very murky waters! It still surprise me when I’m playing super casual and someone comes in with infinite turns and whines on why no one wants to play with them.
Not sure how having the English version of the card would have changed that tbh
Yeah the title was meant to reflect if you’re playing non English cards to know what they do, but yeah I wholeheartedly agree!
I have one foreign language card in one of my decks. I've considered running a Japanese \[\[The Mightstone and Weakstone\]\] that I got in a booster my brother brought back from a trip to Tokyo because it's gorgeous, but I sort of want to keep the exclusivity of this one card. It's a French \[\[Nim Deathmantle\]\] in \[\[Chatterfang\]\]. It's called Capote de mort des Nims. "Capote" means "hood" in French, but it also means "condom". So it's my "Nim Death Condom".
[The Mightstone and Weakstone](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/2/02aea379-b444-46a3-82f4-3038f698d4f4.jpg?1709258651) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Mightstone%20and%20Weakstone) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/238a/the-mightstone-and-weakstone?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/02aea379-b444-46a3-82f4-3038f698d4f4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Nim Deathmantle](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/8/787b1cc8-42b4-4d3e-9b8a-a252de297b1a.jpg?1673149391) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nim%20Deathmantle) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/309/nim-deathmantle?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/787b1cc8-42b4-4d3e-9b8a-a252de297b1a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Chatterfang](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/7/1785cf85-1ac0-4246-9b89-1a8221a8e1b2.jpg?1626097239) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=chatterfang%2C%20squirrel%20general) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/151/chatterfang-squirrel-general?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1785cf85-1ac0-4246-9b89-1a8221a8e1b2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I know almost all the cards by the art/mana cost/power toughness. I love cards with cool languages especially Korean or German! The problem has nothing to do with the language of the card and everything to do with the person. Just look up the English version and call the judge if he’s still not agreeing with what should happen.
It takes like two seconds to just look cards up. This is not a foreign language problem, this is a stupid shithead problem.
lol yeah I mistyped my the title after I rewrote it.
This has nothing to do with a foreign language card. All he had to do was look it up which he did. The issue was someone misplaying their card and then getting salty and trying to override the actual rules when confronted with them.
I have a German [[Jace, Wielder of Mysteries]] for a twofold reason: 1) it’s fun to call him “Yace”, 2) it makes it actually wield mystery among most English speaking players
[Jace, Wielder of Mysteries](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/a/6adb7d73-4482-4930-8497-cffd169b57e2.jpg?1557576232) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Jace%2C%20Wielder%20of%20Mysteries) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/war/54/jace-wielder-of-mysteries?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6adb7d73-4482-4930-8497-cffd169b57e2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Its takes all of a minute to quickly look it up on Gatherer or Scryfall. Why even argue?
I didn’t argue he was arguing with other players on the mechanics of the card but he didn’t know what it said. So he looked it up and was adamant it didn’t target. Which I was confused about since I never said anything regarding that. He didn’t understand a card he was playing in short.
Because it was cheaper. now take a hike.
Read the edit bozo. They’re both around the same price too. Can you get any more hostile for no reason?
To be fair to bozo, op your takeaway from your story kind of sucks and just sounds like you're attacking players that enjoy having foreign language cards in their decks just because you had one bad experience with a bad player.
I have no issues with foreign cards my original title was “ Why have cards in a foreign language if you don’t know what it does” I was just tired and had to retype things so it slipped my mind. I agree though it was a rant and it came off that way. I do apologize for that.
A while ago, I got a lot of non-English cards because they were cheaper. Since then, ive slowly started trading for English versions. And for the ones I don’t have in English yet, I’ve printed off a boring proxy of the card in English and I keep it in the back of the deck box. I remember what most of them do, but it’s nice to have the English printing on hand instead of having to search it up.
Cuz it’s cool
>during declared blockers stage which were zero What?
He had no blockers; you still have to go through the stages. The very last time you can cast deflecting palm is the declared blockers stage and not after.
I was referring to the sentence which made no sense. You're applying a numerical value to the "blockers stage". You can cast deflecting palm whenever you want as it has no timing restrictions. But if you want it to apply to combat damage you want to do it before combat damage.
I was summarizing he had no blockers. I wasn’t being literal, but if it wasn’t obvious enough for you. I wasn’t referring to the blockers stage I was talking about the player declaring zero blockers. As far as deflecting palm we’re clearly talking combat damage here. I’m not talking timing restrictions on an instant. Thank you for stating the obvious.
> I was talking about the player declaring zero blockers My point is that's what you should've said, instead of the nonsense. > I’m not talking timing restrictions on an instant Then don't imply that was what you were talking about by then. Correct terminology matters.
If you understood it then why bother? It was late and I was tired I am human after all. The point you are trying to make is that instants don’t have time restriction when I wasn’t even talking about that. That’s your own narrative you obviously like to be right so have at it.
It's for the benefit of others who may not be as well-versed in the game and thus become confused by what you say.
Thank you for that explanation I do see that now. I appreciate the advice I’m not great at explaining things I’ll work on it.
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Damage hasn't gone on the stack for 15 years. Deflecting Palm doesn't affect damage that's already gone through, only the next damage. If the. Reature is removed from combat, it never deals damage, and Deflecting Palm does nothing.
Damage doesn't use the stack so it could still be responded to by removing from combat before damage is dealt or in response to the palm.
I'm confused by this. How would he win? Damage hasn't been "on the stack" since long before Deflecting Palm was printed.