This ruling has always bothered me. Its seems pretty simple to me: IF the hand is private, then you can fail. If you CAN'T fail when you have the energy, common sense says the contents of your hand are no longer private, thus you must show your hand. Having it both ways where you can't fail but you don't have to prove it is counter-intuitive. You CAN fail private/unknown things. If you CAN'T fail, it isn't private. This seems so obvious to me, its stated in the compendium:
While the hand isn't public knowledge, its not exclusively private. This seems really easy to rule out using the above "meta" rules in the compendium:
Meta rules say if a card says its not optional, the effect is mandatory. So, USING the Potrait is optional. Using a supporter after the power is announced is not. So, if Engineer is the only supporter, you MUST CHOOSE that supporter. Then, after it is chosen, then apply another meta rule, "a card cannot be played for no effect." So, we then determine, does the player have the energy? We then have to reference meta rules: "a card cannot be played if it is PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE that it will have no effect." So, let me break it down a bit more:
I announce portrait (optional). The only supporter I find is Engineer's Adjustment. I choose it because I must (its not optional) according to the power. Then, a determination has to be made about whether or not I can play the card. Since I MUST play the card, a "public knowledge" decision has to be made. If I discard the energy, it becomes public knowledge. If I do not discard the energy, the only way that becomes public knowledge is by revealing my hand. If choosing the supporter is mandatory and I CANNOT play a card for no effect, the hand MUST be revealed if there is no energy discarded. I'm going to have to side with Otaku on this one. There really is no way to justify not revealing the hand if there is no energy since the meta rules clearly state the only thing you can fail is private and Potrait clearly states playing a supporter is not optional. Call it collateral damage if you will. Its not an issue of fairness, its an issue of what the rule book says.
compendium said:The game has no knowledge of the contents of your deck. For example, if you search your deck for something and fail, you can still use other cards or effects to search for the exact same thing. (Apr 17, 2008 PUI Rules Team)
The contents of your deck are technically unknown. If an effect calls on you to search your deck for a specific card or category of card, you may choose not to find a card, even if it is present in the deck. (Worlds 2006 PCL Announcement; May 8, 2008 PUI Rules Team)
You cannot play a card if it is public knowledge that it will have no game effect. Paying a cost does not satisfy the requirement that the card has a game effect. (Jan 31, 2008 PUI Rules Team; Mar 12, 2009 PUI Rules Team)
Mandatory game actions cannot be forgotten or missed; they must be done. Examples: Drawing a Prize card, checking for Asleep, etc. (Jan 31, 2008 PUI Rules Team)
Whether a card's effect is optional or not is determined from the card text. If there is no explicit indication that you have a choice, then you don't have one and the effect is mandatory. (Sep 29, 2011 PUI Rules Team)
While the hand isn't public knowledge, its not exclusively private. This seems really easy to rule out using the above "meta" rules in the compendium:
Meta rules say if a card says its not optional, the effect is mandatory. So, USING the Potrait is optional. Using a supporter after the power is announced is not. So, if Engineer is the only supporter, you MUST CHOOSE that supporter. Then, after it is chosen, then apply another meta rule, "a card cannot be played for no effect." So, we then determine, does the player have the energy? We then have to reference meta rules: "a card cannot be played if it is PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE that it will have no effect." So, let me break it down a bit more:
I announce portrait (optional). The only supporter I find is Engineer's Adjustment. I choose it because I must (its not optional) according to the power. Then, a determination has to be made about whether or not I can play the card. Since I MUST play the card, a "public knowledge" decision has to be made. If I discard the energy, it becomes public knowledge. If I do not discard the energy, the only way that becomes public knowledge is by revealing my hand. If choosing the supporter is mandatory and I CANNOT play a card for no effect, the hand MUST be revealed if there is no energy discarded. I'm going to have to side with Otaku on this one. There really is no way to justify not revealing the hand if there is no energy since the meta rules clearly state the only thing you can fail is private and Potrait clearly states playing a supporter is not optional. Call it collateral damage if you will. Its not an issue of fairness, its an issue of what the rule book says.