Event: TCGPlayer.com Standard States
Location: Atlantis Games & Comics (Portsmouth, VA)
Role: Head Judge/Scorekeeper

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Note: This is the first event where I used a voice recorder as opposed to a notebook for taking notes throughout the day. I believe this allows me to take better and more complete notes, as I don’t have to shorthand cards/penalties/anything and can do it quickly between tasks, rather than stopping to write.

I arrived at the start of registration, when the doors opened, at 8:30am. My role is both head judge and scorekeeper, and I have two floor judges and a standby. All three of the possible judges at my disposal are local L1s with limited experience in competitive REL events (a States or PTQ here or there, but no more). I let my staff know that any rewinds or game losses should go through me, and encouraged them to check with each other or me when they are unsure of a call.

Once during registration WER stops finding any players or recognizing DCI numbers. A quick close-and-reopen on WER gets it working once again.

At 10:00am we have 55 players, so the standby judge went home. We had a brief player meeting before beginning our 6 rounds of swiss. One floor judge asked players to pass the deck lists to him, and I quickly corrected him and have him grab them individually so we can keep them in order. The other floor judge collected them in the reverse order, and this is fixed when sorting the lists.

Round 1 (10:16am)
My floor judges sorted and checked the master list for all deck lists within the first ten minutes, and I helped him count lists afterwards. Within the next twenty minutes, we have all lists counted. There were no obvious errors, but there is an oddity in a player who registered 61 cards main and 10 cards side. Since we have no obvious errors, I decide to target deck check this player at the beginning of round 2.

One of my floor judges came to me with a simple rewind. Non-active player cast Reprisal targeting a Stormbreath Dragon during the pre-combat main phase. Active player placed it in his graveyard, but when he immediately goes to declare attackers, he realized that Stormbreath Dragon has protection from white, and was an illegal target for Reprisal. I have the floor judge assess the non-active player with a Game Rule Violation and no other penalties. The non-active player seemed to be fishing for the active player to receive a Failure to Maintain Game State, but I intervened to explain that the active player caught the error in a reasonable amount of time and could have gained no potential advantage in the short period of time.

Round 2 (11:13am – 57 minutes)
I assisted my floor judge with the targeted deck check and confirmed he was playing 61/10. We gave the players an 8 minute time extension. My floor judge forgot to write the time extension on the match slip, and I realized it later in the round.

One of my floor judges answered a call correctly where a player was asking how Courser of Kruphix works with two Eidolon of Blossoms in play (both drawn cards will be revealed). The same floor judge also told another player to change the sleeve on his token since it matched his deck, and we did not want him to accidentally shuffle the token into his deck. Later, he received a judge call regarding the interaction with deathtouch and trample; he came to the correct solution that 1 damage is considered lethal while speaking to me about it.

My other floor judge took a call that involved a missed trigger penalty. Active player returned Sidisi, Brood Tyrant to the battlefield with Whip of Erebos. They successfully resolved the trigger when it entered the battlefield, but forgot the trigger when declaring attackers. My floor judge stepped in during the declare blockers step, once the player had missed the trigger. While the floor judge successfully identified the trigger as detrimental (as losing cards from your library to your graveyard gets you closer to losing), he applied the incorrect fix by rewinding the declare attackers step and putting the ability on the stack. He believed this was accurate since the trigger was detrimental, but I explained afterwards that the only change between how we handle a detrimental missed trigger and any other missed trigger is assigning a warning or not (we also discussed triggers with a default action and delayed triggered abilities, too). In the end, he assigned a Missed Trigger warning to the active player, and a Failure to Maintain Game State to the non-active player, the latter being an error that we also discussed (FTMGS is never assessed to a Missed Trigger).

This round ended with 4.5 minutes left on the clock. I made an announcement that all matches are complete, but we will wait until the round is officially over, as some players had left to get food and had the expectation of the round lasting at least 50 minutes.

Round 3 (12:07pm – 54 minutes)
This round started shortly after the last one ended, and we only had one tardy player (arrived 2-3 minutes after the round had started). He was assessed a tardiness penalty, though my floor judge forgot to explain that the player receiving the loss would determine play/draw for game two, and no sideboarding. I catch this immediately and have him explain it to the players.

One floor judge is on break this round. I asked him to get me food, so I do not have to leave the venue. As I am also scorekeeper, I have the ability to sit and eat while being available for appeals.

This round ended as time was called.

Round 4 (1:01pm – 54 minutes)
I sent the other floor judge on break this round. When he returned, I presented them with the scenario I found on Twitter. I sent my floor judges onto the floor to ponder this together, and when they return they give me the correct solution (both players receives a game loss for Deck/Decklist Problem, however, they offset each other and we are back at game two).

Round 5 (2:01pm – 60 minutes)
Standings were posted and removed prior to the round starting. Random beginning of round deck check had no errors, and players were given an 8 minute time extension (originally 5 minutes since floor judges forgot to give an extra 3 minutes for shuffling).

There were no noteworthy calls during this round.

Round 6 (3:00pm – 59 minutes)
Standings were again posted and removed prior to the round starting. Looking at the standings, there are 4 players at 13 points, 6 players at 12 points (all playing against each other), and 2 players at 10 points, both playing against players with 9 points. The 4 players at 13 points can all draw and make top 8, while the 6 players at 12 points must play (and the winners will make top 8). One of the 10 point players has better tiebreakers, and his opponent with 9 points decided to concede at the start of the round since he has no way making top 8. The other 10 point player was a victim of the random deck check, and received a game loss for presenting a 57 card main (with 18 cards in the side). The 10 point player was still victorious (though finished in 9th place due to tiebreakers.

One of my floor judges assessed a warning for a Game Rule Violation for a player missing his Ordeal of Purphoros trigger. This is incorrect, and the only way it could be a GRV is if the player placed a third counter on the creature then failed to sacrifice the enchantment (as this would be failing to resolve the ability fully and correctly). I spoke with the floor judge about it, and was told that the players had just finished their match, so I went over and explained the appropriate resolution.

I decided to not do courtesy top 8 deck checks for this event, as I find it to be a waste of time and resources, and only benefits coverage. Instead, I spot-checked a couple sideboards during the top 8 to check for any cheating.

Quarterfinals (3:53pm – 53 minutes)
I set the top 8 up to play across one row of tables with both my floor judges in between two matches. During this time, I typed up the top 8 decklists for the tournament organizer. I made myself available for appeals, and monitored for slow play after the lists were typed.

There were no noteworthy calls during the quarterfinals.

Semifinals (4:38pm – 45 minutes)
I offered the top 4 players a split, and it was a 2-2 vote, so they played. I rotated my floor judges through covering the matches so they could use their store credit (which was given as compensation).

There were no noteworthy calls during the semifinals.

Finals (5:08pm – 30 minutes)
I sent home one of my floor judges, and watched the finals together with my remaining floor judge.

I assigned a Missed Trigger warning for a player missing his own Eidolon of the Great Revel trigger. While I explained the warning, the player receiving the warning said “I take two,” and the other player confirmed, essentially short-cutting the additional remedy of the penalty.

There was an interesting interaction between Goblin Rabblemaster and Circle of Flame. When he went to combat, created his Goblin, and attacked with the Goblin, I asked to read the text of Goblin Rabblemaster. I wanted to check if it out the token on the battlefield attacking (similar to Hero of Bladehold) or if it just put the token on the battlefield and gave it haste (which is correct). During this, the floor judge and myself missed the fact that the players still pumped Goblin Rabblemaster, despite the token being destroyed. I overheard players a couple tables away talking about the interaction, and in between games, I did a quick search and found that Goblin Rabblemaster will not receive the bonus due to nonactive player’s triggered abilities resolving first, and Goblin Rabblemaster not seeing any other attacking Goblins when it’s own ability resolves. I explained this to players in between games, and they were satisfied with the result.

In an attempt to destroy a player’s Polis Crusher, the other player cast Magma Spray then Searing Blood, then dealt the player 3 damage. When I noticed the player didn’t scry, I realized he cast Magma Spray and not Magma Jet, and the creature is exiled. I quickly intervene to explain that the creature did not die, and the other player should not have taken 3 damage from Searing Blood.

End of Event (5:42pm – 34 minutes | Total time: 7 hours 26 minutes)
I was very pleased with the pace of this event. I had zero appeals and no long time extensions, and I felt my floor judges learned a lot from their experiences. I do not often get to work events at local stores, as I am frequently allocating the time I spend judging to larger events, but it is very refreshing to work with L1s and local store owners. Even if you are on the “grind” as a judge, working several SCG Opens or Grand Prixs, I highly recommend taking a brief break to return home and work with your local stores.

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