You are the Head Judge of a PTQ that is halfway through round 4. Amleth, a player with a 3-0 record, calls a judge over because one of his cards has become creased in the process of shuffling his deck. The judge brings you to the table, and you notice that his Snapcaster Mage in play has a scantily clad female in a suggestive pose altered onto it and has become unrecognizable. When you ask him about it, he says all four of his Snapcasters look like that. After you disallow the cards, he complains that he only has two unaltered copies of the card with him, and asks you to give him proxies for the other two.
In this situation, what is the best Infraction, Penalty and Fix for the creased card and 2 missing Snapcasters?
Judges, feel free to discuss this scenario here!
View AnswerThe card that became creased during shuffling is a simple fix. Because he called a judge as soon as it occurred and before he could possibly have gained an advantage, there is no infraction here. If the player has another copy on hand, allow them to replace it. If not, issuing a proxy is acceptable because the card became marked in the course of playing in the tournament.
The disallowed Snapcaster Mages are another story entirely. While Amleth is missing cards due to your decision, it is still Amleth’s actions that forced your decision. With the rise in popularity of altered art cards, it becomes increasingly important to teach players that they should check with the Head Judge before they play with altered cards. Amleth did not do this; the issue we’re correcting remains his responsibility.
If the art is simply unrecognizable, we can allow the match to finish normally before Amleth replaces those cards. If he can’t find enough Snapcasters, he’ll have to swap in basic lands – and we’ll adjust his deck list to match, without penalty.
If the art is offensive, however, Amleth’s error is more difficult to correct without disrupting the game. Amleth should be directed to replace all offensive alters immediately. If he has or can quickly acquire enough replacements, we can assist with the replacement in hidden zones: take his hand and library aside, swap out the cards, and return hand and library to the players and have them continue the game.
If Amleth is unable to replace all of his offensive alterations, then his “crime” is egregious (for non-English speakers, that means Really, REALLY bad!). His actions have led to a situation where we can’t continue the game as is; he will have to add basic lands, we will adjust the deck list, and issue a Game Loss for D/DL Problem (which ends the current game). Please don’t consider randomly determining which Mages to swap for lands, esp. when at least one is in a public zone.
Temporary proxies were proposed in a number of responses to this scenario. Nowhere in any of our documents are temporary proxies mentioned or allowed. When proxies are to be issued, they remain valid for the duration of the tournament as outlined in the IPG and MTR, or not at all. Also, keep in mind that, if Amleth finds more replacements later, he is no longer allowed to swap them for those basic lands he added. (That’s specified twice in the IPG, under Marked Cards and again for D/DL Problems.)
Finally, remember that we as Head Judges must be firm with our handling of offensive material, including card alterations (or sleeves, playmats, etc.). While the player’s opponent and even neighboring matches may not be offended, it’s possible – perhaps even likely – that someone will be quietly offended, say nothing, and leave the event with a very negative impression.