During a Premier Rules Tournament, time in the round has been called.

Player A has two planets in his display and a bloodied Warlord.

Player B has one planet in his display.

The players continue playing the current (and final) game round.

Player B manages to kill Player A's Warlord. No further planets are won.

According to a strict reading of the Tournament Rules, the players then compare the number of planets in their victory displays. Player A has more planets, so he will earn a modified win, even though his Warlord was killed.

Does that seem right to you?

There's a nuance in the "strict reading" of the Tournament Rules you are missing:

When time is called, you play to the end of the current game round and then compare planets. So, you only do the planet comparison to determine the modified win when (or more to the point, if ) you get to the end of a round after time is called.

If one of the players reaches one of the 3 standard win conditions (defeat a bloodied warlord, claim planets with 3 matching symbols, opponent runs out of cards in deck), the game ends immediately with their full victory (i.e., not a modified win). You never get to the end of the current game round , so you never count planets for the modified win. That's the whole reason the game continues to the end of the round - to give the players a final chance to reach a true win condition - instead of doing the modified win comparison at the moment time is called.

So in your example, Player B wins (a "full" tournament win) because the game ended as soon as Player A's warlord was defeated. The game never got all the way to the "end of the current game round," and there was no comparison of planets in the display to award a modified win.

Thanks, ktom. Your answer is what I expect should happen.

I am still puzzled by the phrase: "If a player meets his deck's victory conditions *before the time limit has been reached*, that player earns a match win and his opponent receives a match loss."

In my example, Player B did not reach his victory condition (Warlord kill) until after the time limit had been reached. Time had been called and both players were still alive and battling.

The *highlighted* phrase seems to imply that a full 5-point match win can only be earned before time is called.

I know how to play it, I just find the wording to be strange.

Thanks for your help.

It does work as written:

- Before time, match end procedure is A (full win/loss as the only outcome).

- After time, match end procedure is B (full win/loss and modified win/loss outcomes possible).

But you are correct that it could have been worded better because, as you say, it invites the interpretation that once time is called, a full win is impossible. Another interpretation of the same phrasing is possible, but that's not the way to write a rule book.