Penalty – Match Loss

Definition

A player does any of the following:

• Seeks private information about their match while the match is in progress.
• Solicits, acts on, or does not report directly receiving play advice from any persons outside the match.

Additionally, a player, spectator, or other tournament participant in an event does any of the following:

• In events where notes are not allowed, references any notes taken outside of their match.
• Gives play advice or private information to players who have begun their match.
• Uses any third party websites, resources, or software that gives access to Information that cannot be derived by information available in the Game Client, unless that resource is approved by the organizer and announced before the beginning of the event.

In an Open Decklist event, decklists are considered public information, and may be referenced at any time.

For Online Events, Deck Tracking software is allowed as long as they do not provide any Private Information (see Digital MTR 3.5 Public and Private Information)

Examples

1. A player opens their opponent’s livestream or official coverage of the event to see what cards their opponent has in their hand.
2. A player receives an unsolicited private message about the cards in their opponent’s hand and does not report it to tournament officials.
3. A player, in a LAN event, uses a third-party deck tracking app that has not been approved by the Tournament Organizer.

For online events, players have access to information that would typically be regarded as “Outside Assistance” in LAN or paper Magic events.

Philosophy

Tournaments test the skill of a player, not their ability to follow external advice or directions. Any strategy advice, play advice, or construction advice from an external source is considered outside assistance.

Spectators who commit this infraction may be asked to leave the venue if they are not enrolled in the tournament, or banned from any associated platform or server in which they do so in a digital setting.