The Secret Must Be Kept - Rules Clarification

Funny situation in last game I played.

I want to cycle this card but there are no allies or retainers in play.

Card Text:
The Secret Must Be Kept
Requires a Laibon
Choose an ally or a retainer. If the acting Laibon is a magaji, choose up to two allies or retainers. Successful referendum means the chosen allies and retainers are burned, and their controllers burn 1 pool (each methuselah burns no more than 1 pool, regardless of the number of allies and retainers chosen).

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So I interpreted this as: if I have a laibon and there are no allies or retainers I cannot play it. BUT if I have a magaji, I can CHOOSE UP TO two allies... and ZERO is on the way "up to" two, so then I can play it.

The cycle was pretty moot in the game but I figured I should ask. Is this the correct interpretation?

The first sentence requires you to choose one. So to meet the text of the first sentence you must choose one. If you are a magaji, you must choose one (1st sentence) and you may choose up to two (2nd sentence).

Huh.
Based on this interpretation, a magaji successfully calling TSMBK can burn 1-3 allies or retainers?

If that's the case, I have been reading this wrong all this while...

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

The first sentence requires you to choose one. So to meet the text of the first sentence you must choose one. If you are a magaji, you must choose one (1st sentence) and you may choose up to two (2nd sentence).

Incorrect.

A Magaji can choose zero. [LSJ 20080620]

LSJ wrote:

> Also, if The Secret Must Be Kept is called by a Magaji, and zero
> allies/retainers are chosen, the vote is still conducted normally, and
> if it passes, Voter Cap can still be played, right? I think yes.
Sure.

the1andonlime wrote:

Based on this interpretation, a magaji successfully calling TSMBK can burn 1-3 allies or retainers?

It's not correct. As above, a Magaji can choose zero. It's implicitly been ruled to be one sentence or the other, not both.

Pascal, can we officially add in the "instead" into the card text?
I know it's a trivial thing, but it is a small change that make the text much, much clearer.