Okay, so assume I have a recursion loop going of Reveillark + Saffi + sacoutlet, and I also have a Cream of the Crop in play, allowing me to keep one card on the top of my library with a high CMC. Let's say that I know my opponent's deck through some means and know for a fact that he has no card in his deck which equals or beats my card's CMC. Now, with enough time, this loop would allow me to completely stack my deck ... but I don't want to go through all the hundreds of iterations that would take. Is it okay for me to ask my opponent if a.) his deck has a card which could possibly beat or tie my top card, b.) if he can interrupt this looping interaction, and c.) if he understands what's going on, can I then just stack my deck to speed things up? Because let me tell you - I like the idea of stacking my deck, but the time it would take to actually perform all the iterations required to do this would eat up the entire round ... great if I want to draw a game, I suppose, but if I want to win that's another story entirely. Any help regarding this matter would be appreciated!
Fair enough; I didn't think that through quite right ... but either way, the question's valid. Say there *was* a clash going on and I could keep it on top, could I ask the question? Also, with that interaction going on, is it legal to stack my deck once the interaction becomes apparent?
Most opponents would let you stack your deck as you pleased. To force you to go through the motions is ridiculous and quite frankly should be considered stalling.
You can ask your opponent any question you want to, but they're not obliged to answer. You could ask them what cards are in their hand and they can answer any way they want to, including lying. The rules really don't govern table talk.
If you had an infinite loop going that involved winning a Clash battle, you could ask your opponent if he has anything that can beat your card. If he's smart he'll answer honestly, because once you're in an infinite loop there's not much he can do to win so he might as well move on to the next game.
If he forces you to go through the motions, I don't think there's much recourse for you. Clash involves a private zone (the library) and you can't call a judge over to check his library to see if he can ever win the Clash battle. They don't do that.
What you could do to speed up the process is to explain to your opponent what is happening then show him the interaction and then if he wants to make you go through the motions call a judge over and explain the combo the judge may want to see your combo and ask you to go through the motions a few times to make sure it's a legit interaction and then they may tell you that you no longer have to go through the motions and just ask that you continue with the clash resolutions.
You can ask your opponent any question you want to, but they're not obliged to answer. You could ask them what cards are in their hand and they can answer any way they want to, including lying. The rules really don't govern table talk.
If you had an infinite loop going that involved winning a Clash battle, you could ask your opponent if he has anything that can beat your card. If he's smart he'll answer honestly, because once you're in an infinite loop there's not much he can do to win so he might as well move on to the next game.
If he forces you to go through the motions, I don't think there's much recourse for you. Clash involves a private zone (the library) and you can't call a judge over to check his library to see if he can ever win the Clash battle. They don't do that.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=5401186#post5401186