The four states of the turn

Tracks 1 and 3 each named a state of the turn at the moment they needed one. This lesson puts them side by side.

At any given time, the turn is in either a Neutral State or a Showdown State,¹Rule 308. At any given time, the turn is in either a Neutral State or a Showdown State. Open in the rules browser and, separately, in either an Open State or a Closed State.²Rule 309. At any given time, the turn is in either an Open State or a Closed State. Open in the rules browser

The first pair is about showdowns. Moving to a battlefield named the Showdown State, the turn while a showdown or combat is in progress. If no showdown or combat is in progress, the turn is in a Neutral State.³Rule 308.2. If no Showdown or Combat is in progress, the turn is in a Neutral State. Open in the rules browser The second pair is about the chain, and the last lesson covered it: Closed while a chain exists, Open while none does.

Four combinations

Put the pairs together and the turn is always in one of four states.

• Neutral Open. No showdown or combat, and no chain. When combat happens defined it, as the state a combat begins in.
• Neutral Closed. There is no showdown or combat in progress, and a chain exists.⁴Rule 310.2. Neutral Closed: There is no Showdown or Combat in progress and a Chain exists. Open in the rules browser
• Showdown Open. A showdown or combat, and no chain. It is the state Focus works in, from The combat showdown.
• Showdown Closed. A showdown or combat is in progress, and a chain exists.⁵Rule 310.4. Showdown Closed: A Showdown or Combat is in progress and a Chain exists. Open in the rules browser

Playing a spell in your Main Phase while no showdown or combat is in progress does not start one. It starts a chain, so the turn goes from Neutral Open to Neutral Closed, and when nothing is left on the chain it is Neutral Open again. Only a showdown or combat makes the turn a Showdown State.

Who may play, by default

By default, cards can be played and abilities activated only when a player has Priority on their turn in a Neutral Open State.⁶Rule 310.1.a. By default, cards can be played and abilities activated only when a player has priority on their turn in a Neutral Open state. Open in the rules browser The turn player is the player taking the current turn.⁷Rule 304. The Turn Player is the player taking the current turn. Open in the rules browser In your own Main Phase, you receive Priority whenever the turn is in a Neutral Open State.⁸Rule 312.2.a. When the turn is in a Neutral Open State during their Main Phase. Open in the rules browser Nobody has Focus while the turn is in a Neutral State, whether or not a chain exists.⁹Rule 313.5. If the turn is in a Neutral State, no player has Focus. Open in the rules browser

None of what follows in this track changes whose turn it is. The turn player changes only when they reach the end of all the phases of their turn.¹⁰Rule 306. The Turn Player changes when the current Turn Player reaches the End of all of the Phases of their Turn. Open in the rules browser

Action and Reaction are the permissions that widen the default. Neither one narrows it. A card with Action is not restricted to showdowns¹¹Rule 806.2. The card or effect with this keyword is not restricted to showdowns. This permission is inclusive of all other timings and options available to the ability as written or by default. Open in the rules browser, so it keeps every timing it already had, and a card with Reaction is not restricted to Closed States or showdowns either.¹²Rule 813.2. The corresponding card or effect with this keyword is not restricted to Closed States or Showdowns. This permission is inclusive of all other timings and options available to the ability as written, Action's permissions, or by default. Open in the rules browser

The card that closes the state

That leaves a puzzle. The combat showdown taught that only cards and abilities with Reaction can be played in a Closed State, and the last lesson showed that moving a card to the chain is what closes the state. Read together, a card with Action could never be played at all.

Timing is judged at step 5 of playing, the check that Paying a cost said covers more than costs: the game checks that the card has the permissions to be played at this timing¹³Rule 358.4. Check that the card has the appropriate permissions to be played at this timing.Example: If the state is Showdown Closed and the card was the one that Closed the state, ensure that it has [Action] or [Reaction].Example: If the state is Closed and the card wasn’t the one that Closed the state, ensure that it has [Reaction]. Open in the rules browser. The rules' own examples draw the line at the card that closed the state. In a Showdown Closed State, the card that closed the state must have Action or Reaction, and a card that did not close it must have Reaction.¹³Rule 358.4. Check that the card has the appropriate permissions to be played at this timing.Example: If the state is Showdown Closed and the card was the one that Closed the state, ensure that it has [Action] or [Reaction].Example: If the state is Closed and the card wasn’t the one that Closed the state, ensure that it has [Reaction]. Open in the rules browser

So in a showdown, Track 3's sentence is about joining a chain that already exists: the card with Action that starts a chain there passes the timing check, and only what is added to that chain after it needs Reaction.