You've been playing at FNM's for a
couple of months now, and you're starting to notice that you're
winning more often than not. The same at your local shop's Tuesday
standard.
You like your deck – no, actually,
you love your deck. You built it yourself, and maybe it's not exactly
a netdeck, but it has a solid game plan and you know how to pilot it
against all the major decks in the format.
You're wondering if you should maybe
take your game to the next level. You hear some guys at your shop
talking about travel plans. You saunter over to them and ask them
what they're talking about.
“Oh, dude, you didn't know? This
weekend is the Grand Prix.”
“The Grand Prix?” you ask.
You've heard some of the guys talk about how they went to Boston a
few months ago, but you've never been to one. “What's that?”
“It's a huge tournament –
usually more than a thousand people – over two days. There's one
this weekend in Atlantic City! A bunch of us from the shop are going
down there.”
“Wow, awesome.”
“One more thing – it's a
competitive tournament, a little bit different from an FNM.”
“Oh?”
-----
It can be a little intimidating
stepping into your first Competitive REL tournament. In fact, it can
be downright terrifying. My first was a side event at Pro Tour
Philadelphia (back when they were open to the public.) It was a big
tournament for an iPad, and I got a game loss in my first game.
Unfortunately, at the time, I had no idea that there was any
difference between my local FNM and a tournament for $15,000. I
assumed we were just playing Magic, and that was that.
The reality is a little different, and
as a player who hates seeing people get screwed because they weren't
aware of the difference, I'm going to be going into some detail about
some of the things that you can expect at a Competitive event.
First off, what is Competitive REL?
Because of the high prizes associated with them, some tournaments are
run at a stricter level of rules enforcement than others. Notable
events are the first day of a Grand Prix, TCGPlayer Max Events, Grand
Prix Trials, Pro Tour Qualifiers, and Star City Games Opens,
Invitational Qualifiers, and Invitationals
At these tournaments, there is some
measure of high prizes at stake. It could be playmats, invites to
other tournaments, byes, or large cash prizes. Regardless, because of
the prizes being offered, the tournament is to be held in as
skill-testing an environment as possible. That's where we hit the
first major difference between Regular REL and Competitive REL.
During Regular REL tournaments, like
FNM, the emphasis is on educating players. At Competitive REL, the
emphasis is on an individual's play skill.
That might seem
like a minor thing, but it really has a whole lot of implications.
The most obvious way that you can see it is that at a Competitive REL
tournament, there will be a judge who can hand out the penalties
found in the Infraction Procedure Guide (or IPG, for short.) That's
the document that all judges (and players, if they so choose) have
access to, which tells about all the things that you can be penalized
for at a Competitive tournament.
Some of these
things are fairly simple. The IPG has a whole boatload of ways of
saying simple things like “Don't Cheat”. Luckily, you're a good
person, and you're not going to cheat. We don't have to worry about
the vast majority of that section because it doesn't apply to you as
long as you are being open and honest while playing.
That brings us to
the first major rule that I'm going to give you if you've never
played at Competitive REL. It's the first rule because I honestly
believe that it is the most important.
Do not lie to the judge.
The
judge does not exist to punish you. He exists to make sure that the
game is being played by the rules, and to ensure an even playing
field, and to make sure that everyone at the tournament is
comfortable.
Sometimes,
the judge will punish someone. That could very well mean anything
from a verbal Caution (which means literally nothing as far as you
playing the game goes) to a Disqualification (which is very bad.) For
the record, receiving multiple instances of the same penalty does
eventually lead to an upgrade in penalty to a more severe one. That said, lying to a tournament official is a one-way street to a disqualification. Period. End of Story. Just don't do it.
The
IPG lists out a full treatment of everything you can get punished
for. This is a good thing, because it means that judges can't just capriciously punish for anything, only things covered by the existing document. They can't 'go rogue' and just make things up. Please keep in mind that at larger events, you ALWAYS have the right to appeal a decision to the Head Judge of the tournament if you believe that your ruling was incorrect. For the majority of players in the majority of situations,
none of that is important. In all my time playing competitively, I
believe that I've received only a handful of warnings (and one game
loss, as you'll see below).
How do
you avoid such penalties? It's actually pretty simple. Play according
to the rules, and be clear, open, and obvious about what you're
doing. Below, I'm going to list what I consider to be the 5 most
commonly given out errors and penalties, and how to avoid them:
-----
1)
Tournament Error: Deck/Decklist Error
This
one is the top of the list, and it isn't even close. In Round 2 of GP
Boston-Worcester last year, over 100 of these were given out at the
start of Round 4. This penalty refers to something fairly broad –
there's a problem with your deck, or your decklist.
At
Competitive REL, you will be responsible for filling out (either
before the tournament begins for Constructed, or during deck
constuction for a Limited Event) a deck list. Be very careful with
this list, because as far as the tournament officials are concerned,
that's what you're playing. In order to curb cheating and provide
some measure of security for the integrity of the tournament, judges
will be checking decks throughout the tournament. As long as what's
in your deck matches what's on the sheet, there's likely to be no
problem whatsoever. However, there's always a few things that can go
wrong. Here's some of the common ways to earn yourself a
Deck/Decklist Error:
-You
made a last minute change to your deck, and forgot to update your
decklist.
-You
forgot to de-sideboard your deck after your last round
-You
had a bunch of cards that aren't in your deck or sideboard in the
same box as your deck and sideboard.
-You
don't have at least 60 cards (or 40 for limited) in your main deck,
and in Constructed tournaments, you have a number other than 0 or 15
in your sideboard.
-You
are playing cards that aren't legal in the format that you are
playing.
There
are other ways to earn them, but those are what I'd consider the most
common. The penalty for Deck/Decklist Error is usually a Game Loss –
a steep penalty because the potential for abuse is so high. Be
careful with this one, and when the judge tells everyone to take one
last look over their decklists, I implore you to actually do it.
Judges hate giving this one out, because it's usually so easily
avoided.
My
first infraction ever was a Deck/Decklist Problem. I didn't fill one
out because I didn't know it was required. Whoops. By the time I
was informed of this, round 1 was already well underway, and my opponent was
happy to be cruising onto game 2.
2)
Game Rule Violation
A Game
Rule Violation is a general catchall category for an issue that takes
place during the game, but doesn't fall into any of the other
categories. Generally, it means that you did something that you
shouldn't have done. At the moment, the most common one of these that
comes to mind is putting a creature into the graveyard after it's
been killed by a Pillar of Flame. There isn't much to say about this
one except that you should make sure that you are doing your best to
adhere to the text on cards.
3)
Missed Trigger
Everyone
take a deep breath, because I know that you've heard tons about this
one. You've heard things about lapsing and nonlapsing triggers.
You've heard tons about people getting disqualified for ignoring
triggers, and abilities that don't happen when they should.
Relax.
Take a deep breath. This one isn't that tricky.
First
off, some info, and the largest change between Regular and
Competitive REL. At Competitive REL, you are required to demonstrate
awareness of each one of your
triggers. If you (or your opponent) do not, then the trigger is
considered missed, and a judge should be called.
Full
stop.
When a
judge is called, a couple of things will happen. First, the judge
will establish if the trigger was actually missed. A trigger is
considered missed if the player who's trigger it was has taken an
action after the trigger would have resolved without indicating that
they were aware of the trigger. Second, the judge will ask the
opponent of the player if they would like to place the ability on the
stack. (The answer will generally be no. Do I want my opponent to
gain 2 life and a 2/2 wolf token – no, no I do not.) As far as the
game goes, that's the end of it.
Then,
based on if the ability is detrimental to the player, they may get a
warning, but that's not generally something that players will need to
worry about.
The
penalty for a missed trigger is usually nothing, but is occasionally
a Warning, however, you likely won't get your trigger unless it hurts
you in some way. Failing to activate a trigger deliberately and
pretending you missed it, by the way, is cheating, so don't do that.
If you
have any more questions about missed triggers, I strongly suggest you
read Level 5 Judge Toby Elliot's Blog on the Topic. It can be found
HERE. There is additional commentary HERE as well.
4)
Looking At Extra Cards
This
one is actually remarkably common. Have you ever been shuffling your
opponent's deck and accidentally spilled it all over the table? You
looked at some extra cards. Ever try to draw a card and the top one
flipped over onto the table? Looking at extra cards.
It
generally takes place whenever someone looks at (but doesn't draw!)
extra cards.
To
avoid this one, just simply be deliberate with your actions. Be sure
you've only picked up one card. Shuffle gently (but thoroughly!) with
your opponent's deck. Doing this is a Warning.
5)
Drawing Extra Cards
On the
other hand, if instead of just looking at extra cards, you actually
draw extra cards into your hand (indicated by the cards making
contact with the rest of your hand) we've entered into a different
penalty altogether. Drawing Extra Cards is one of the most extreme
infractions that can be committed, because of how much potential for
abuse there is, and how little an opponent could potentially do to
stop it. Worse, because there's no easy fix, drawing extra cards is
almost always a Game Loss.
There
are some exceptions that you could look up, but those are extreme
corner cases, and it's best to just simply be extra careful any time
that you're drawing cards – this goes for drawing for turn, drawing
dozens of cards in a single turn off a Glimpse of Nature, or casting
a Sphinx's Revelation for a whole bunch. Count the cards before
putting them into your hand, and we won't have an issue.
-----
There
are a number of other infractions that can be given out for a variety
of things, the vast majority won't actually apply in almost any
situation. If you want to take a look at the entire list, the entire
IPG is available for your perusal HERE.
I'd
also like to point to a pair of articles that Jackie Lee, a notable
professional player, has written on the topic of Competitive REL and
Judges – Here and Here. They are both well-written, well-informed
articles that I recommend to anyone looking to break into the
competitive scene.
I want
to take a couple of paragraphs at the end of this article to ease
some concerns as well. If you're looking into starting at a
Competitive tournament, you should consider the judge an ally. We
exist to help you at all times, and make sure that the tournament is
a fun experience for all. If someone at the venue, even another
player or tournament official, is giving you a problem, please, speak
to a judge about it. Likewise, if you are unsure of an interaction,
or you think something has gone wrong in your game, call a judge.
They will be more than happy to help you sort it out.
If, at
any point, in any tournament, you ever need the assistance of a
Judge, just raise your hand high (some of us have trouble seeing
through all the spell-slinging, so clearer is better), and yell
loudly “Judge!” One of us black-shirted folks will be by shortly
to sort things out.
With
that, may all your spells resolve, and good luck at any future events
you take part in.
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