Do you ask to see your opponent's resources during a game?

If so, when (e.g. starting resources, each turn, etc…) and how often?

Has knowing what your opponent resourced ever given you a tactical advantage?

I've never done this before - not that there's anything wrong with it - but that's probably because I've never played CoC in a tournament setting. With my first tournament a few weeks away, I'm wondering if this is an effective tool or does it just slow things down (and with the 50 minute time limit, pacing is important)?

i'm fairly sure resources are left poking out of the domain (or should be in my understanding of the rules), so generally the colour gives what factions the opponent is playing. not sure if actually seeing the card is allowed (which is probably what you mean), which is the reason they are reversed with only the icon and no title. otherwise they'd just leave it the other way around i'm supposing. it may just well give a tactical advantage if you know what cards may be multiples in the deck and can be planned against, so my guess would be no you can't. never asked myself to be precise though, so an interesting question.

A lot of players don't know this, but you can view your opponent's resources at any time.

Page 6 of the rulebook:

"Each player may look at his opponent's resources if he wants to."

And from the FAQ version 2.1, section 2.35 Resources and Discard Pile :

"These zones of play are considered to be public information and can be viewed freely by either player during the course of the game."

Why do you place your resource cards upside down? My guess is so that they aren't somehow confused with cards in play.

Yipe said:

That, and it's easier to see what resources you have at a glance, I'd wager. But since resources are usually covered by a domain card of some type (from unused cards all the way to actual domains) there shouldn't be too much trouble telling what is in play and what is not.

I put mine off to one side as I like to have a larger play area than what the rules recommend.

I have only found 2 instances where knowing what cards are resourced has made a difference. It is a rare occurrence but can come in handy. I generally dont bother as it does slow the game down so unless I really need to count cards and probabilities, I will refrain.

I sometimes announce what cards I am resourcing so if my opponent cares he has some indicator other than having to dig through mine for some idea. Not sure if it is appreciated or not, but it is a habit I should probably get into more for sportsmanship's sake.

I will say I have never seen an opponent request or even care what is resourced by me though.

I always tell my opponent what card I'm resourcing (and give them the time to inspect the card if he/she doesn't know it).

And I also always try to see what he's resourcing. If I don't manage to get a good enough look at the card (and know the card), I simply ask to see what card he just resourced.

I place my domains of to one side too, like Hellfury. More space for the other cards.

Domains on the left side, deck and discard pile on the right side.

I never bother inspecting them. If they announce or if I happen to see it as they're putting in their domain - fine, but I don't care to stop the game to look. It may be a small advantage to know a few more cards, but not enough for me to be worth the trouble or to make the mood less friendly.

just proof that we are all each to our own.

i'm domains to the right side and discards / deck to the left!!

I always look at the resources and always show them to the opponent. First of all, the rules state that the resource are public so I prefer to see/show as soon as possible to not slow down the game.

Second, looking at the resources gives a idea of what kind of deck the opponent is playing. In Munich, for example, playing against Wolfgang, he resourced a Necronomicon and another support, so in that case I was sure that he was playing a deck with (probably a lot) supports. This would help in deciding which card to resource: eg, not support destruction!

It helps even knowing which card. Assuming a card might be a problem for you, seeing the opponent resourcing one at the very beginning let you know that there are most likely only 2 left in the deck/hand (since the possibility to exchange resources/card in hand is usually not used in tournament decks).

Summary: look at the resources and learn how to exploit this public information. It's only an advantage for you.

Konx

I normally mention resources (if someone cares) after the initial setup. There's a lot of information in the initial setup and may cause a deadlock if two people are trying to gain information from each other's initial resourcing while it's occurring.

For initial resourcing, our house rule is that each player selects his 3 starting resources by placing them face down on the table. Then they are flipped over simultaneously for inspection.

With Yog and twilight gate it might be worth noting what ancient one can show up at any time out of nowhere

.Zephyr. said:

With Yog and twilight gate it might be worth noting what ancient one can show up at any time out of nowhere