Last Updated: 2026-07-16

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128. Privacy

128.1. A card will always exist in one of the many Zones described during Setup.
128.2. A card will have a different level of Privacy based on its state or where it resides at a given time.
128.3. Secret: This level of Privacy indicates that no player may read or look at the face of the card.
128.4. Private: This level of Privacy indicates that only the controller of a card on the board or the owner of a card in any other zone may read or look at the face of the card. Example: Cards in a player's hand are owned by that player. Only that player may read or look at their faces. Example: If a player controls a facedown card at a battlefield, that player and only that player may read or look at that card's face, regardless of who owns that card.
128.5. Public: This level of Privacy indicates that any player may read or look at the face of the card.
128.6. A player cannot be compelled to perform an action on cards whose privacy is secret or private if that action specifies a type or quality of card. Example: A card effect reads, "Play a unit from your hand, ignoring its costs." Although the effect does not say "may", the player can choose not to perform the action even if they have a unit in their hand, because the effect specifies a card type.
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