Tournament rules 2.1 and 4.3 contradiction

While preparing for a tournament I organized, I ran across the following contradiction in the tournament rules:

Tournament Rules 2.1 has the following paragraph: All new cards and game rules go immediately into effect for V:EKN tournaments. Whenever a ruling is reversed or new errata is issued, the ruling reversal or errata doesn't go into effect for 30 days.

Tournament Rules 4.3 however says on this topic: New V:TES cards and rules (new expansions, new editions of the basic set, new rules released in expansions or basic sets, and promotional cards) are allowed in Constructed tournament play beginning 30 days after their retail release date.

While there might be hairs to split about what "going into effect" means exactly for new cards, to me this seems as the rules telling us new cards are legal immediately in rule 2.1 and after 30 days in rule 4.3

Everyone I know follows rule 4.3 for tournaments and the VEKN Newsletter tells us the card legality date as if 4.3 is the correct one - still I feel it would be nice to have it cleaned up in the rules.

Cards that are reprints in the new set can still be used, but the new cards or errata to existing cards requires 30 days. This was to allow folks to play a card, like Blur or GtU, from the latest release without having to find a copy from an older release.

Honestly, I never would have expected reprints to be counted as "new cards" as per rule 4.3.

This still doesn't explain away the contradiction - both paragraphs are talking about "new cards" and "new rules".

Yomyael wrote:

Honestly, I never would have expected reprints to be counted as "new cards" as per rule 4.3.

This still doesn't explain away the contradiction - both paragraphs are talking about "new cards" and "new rules".

Just wait until you read what 1.6 has to say about who has right to publish event information.

Fact of the matter is that tournament rules have not been touched in a while... Read the last line of them to see how in couple years they also turn 20... This also means they were written in time when hosting draft tournaments with boosters for launch events was a thing. Which mandated the *need* to have rules that allow playing with the new cards, otherwise it would be silly to host draft but not being able to play with the drafted cards.

With BCP and VEKN tournament players seemingly moving towards constructed format as the "always default" it means 4.3's first sentence is the norm.

"4.3. New Releases

New V:TES cards and rules (new expansions, new editions of the basic set, new rules released in expansions or basic sets, and promotional cards) are allowed in Constructed tournament play beginning 30 days after their retail release date. V:EKN announcements confirm the exact date that each new card set enters tournament play before the set is released."

You're still free to host limited tournament without the 30 days wait as pointed out in the next sentence. "New cards or rules are allowed in Limited tournament play immediately, including before the release date (for example, at a Prerelease tournament)." It's perhaps badly worded now but at the time of it's publishing when boosters and prerelease events were a thing, it was perfectly normal. As those dried up constructed slowly clawed it's way to be king among the ashes. Restricted (section 7.9) still exists and enables peeps to play "constructed with new cards right away." But they get no fancy imaginary status points for it.

www.vekn.net/player-registry/event/1986 <- for example. With VEKN history being what it is, many such events have been lost during the years as databases have moved and them not considered "proper" tournaments "worthy" of TWDA mentions. Which in turn has cemented the earlier pointed out position of current players by default thinking there's only one format.

TL:DR Old rules from more diverse times cause confusion in current less diverse times where no-one has had time to rewrite them as focus is on getting cardboard to players. New players who never have experienced those times do not know what they're missing from going blind to play from random selection of deck and few boosters atop and are just confused.