Magic Judge Monthly: June 2017

Dear Judges,

Hope you’re all enjoying the summer, at least here on the northern hemisphere.

So, sit back, relax and enjoy these nice, light topics, such as Judge Tokens, player recognitions and RPTQ invitations . Okay, some of them provoked quite lively conversations, which might not be typical summer reading material, but hey, still fun to read.

Either way, enjoy and until next month,

The MJM team

Content Table
Important
Documents
Community
Questions & [O]fficial Answers
Policy
Projects & Jobs

Judge Tournament Qualifier (JTQ)

Moving from Level 1 to Level 2 has been a challenge for Judges in remote areas or with the inability to travel. Those locations still need qualified Judges to run PPTQs. A solution has arrived! A special conference, dedicated to helping Level 1 Judges bypass the tournament requirement. If you’re Level 1 and looking to move to Level 2, or you’re Level 3 or have the Level 2 tester qualification, check out this article for all the information.

Update to Team Leader Certification Process

Part of the Level 3 process is the GP Day 2 Team Lead check. Are you able to effectively lead a team during a professional event? Want to add something to your GP resume? Head to this article for the rundown on what exactly you will need to accomplish this!

Judge Tokens

Milan Majerčík’s pilot program is up and running. These tokens provide an easy way for players to provide feedback for a Judge. Many tournament participants aren’t sure where to turn when they want to submit some observations. For more information, check out Milan’s forum post here. Everyone needs tokens and these look really cool!

Judge Apps Notification Update

This is just a small update to notifications. Some minor quality of life improvements.

Exemplar Wave 9 and PC Desk Updates

Exemplar Wave 9 is up and out! Woo! Wave 10 wraps up at the end of July, so get those recommendations in. The PC Desk also has some updates and clarifications to their processes, all of which can be found here.

Judge Article and Blog Posts June 2017

More judge blogs you can find at Blog Portal

In case you would like to discuss an article, visit our Judge forum. Don’t forget to regularly check our Judge blog.

Happy Anniversary June 2017!

Congratulations to 5 and 10-year-old Judges from all around the world! A big round of applause for our featured Judges this month: Kenji Suzuki, Emmanuel Leal, Gareth Tanner, and Shawn Doherty.

Judge of the Week June 2017

212 Jessica Livingston L2 from Oklahoma,US
213 Nicolette Apraez L3 from Georgia, United States
214 Judgelife
215 Eder Carvalho L2 from Brazil

Concerns of a Judge

A good discussion was raised from an L2 in Virginia, USA, about the concerns of PPTQs in their area, and the diminishing opportunities for L1s to find training and events to judge at. A very thorough discussion, that is worth the time reading!

Practice Alternative to Judge Center and Review Restructure

As we all know, the DCI Judge Center is currently down for maintenance. That does not mean that we cannot keep on practicing questions of course! For more information on how to access questions databases and practice exams, visit here and here.

Player Recognitions

If you know of players (not judges) going above and beyond at store level, and helping out your community, have a chat with the TO or store owner. Maybe they can offer a token of gratitude. But be careful if you wish to give Judge promos, as it may have a downside, and has sparked quite a conversation. Currently (and in the foreseeable future), there is no “Exemplar for players”.

Questions asked in the month of June and an [O]fficial answer, just for you!

1. I have Gonti, Lord of Luxury and I exiled with it Radiant Flames. Having only swamps on my board, how much damages can I deal with Radiant Flames?

A: Your Radiant Flames was cast with only black mana, so it will only deal 1 damage to each creature.

CR609.4 explains how abilities that say you can do something “as though” some condition were true work–for the purposes that specific effect lays out you treat the game as though that condition were true, but for all other purposes, the game is treated normally.

Gonti, Lord of Luxury says “you may spend mana as though it were mana of any type” to cast Radiant Flames, so the mana is being treated as mana of any type for the purpose of spending it, and as 609.4 lays out, only for the purpose of spending it. For all other purposes–such as the purpose of checking what color that mana was in order to determine how much damage Radiant Flames should deal–the game is treated normally. The game therefore sees that all the mana you spent was black, and Radiant Flames only deals 1 damage to each creature.
Approved by Callum Milne.

2. If we have our Chittering Host and it is enchanted by Flickerform, does this mean when the two creatures return after they should BOTH be enchanted by Flickerform? Does the controller just pick one to receive the aura and the other doesn't?

A: It’s covered by this rule:

303.4d An Aura can’t enchant itself. If this occurs somehow, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. An Aura that’s also a creature can’t enchant anything. If this occurs somehow, the Aura becomes unattached, then is put into its owner’s graveyard. (These are state-based actions. See rule 704.) An Aura can’t enchant more than one object or player. If a spell or ability would cause an Aura to become attached to more than one object or player, the Aura’s controller chooses which object or player it becomes attached to.

The Flickerform would try to attach itself to Graf Rats and Midnight Scavengers, so you choose one of the two creatures to attach it to, and it becomes attached to that creature. It does not become attached to both creatures.
Approved by Nathan Long.
Chittering Host

3. Anna casts an Approach of the Second Sun for the first time in the game but, when it resolves, she puts it into her graveyard instead of inside her library. After that Anna cracks an Evolving Wilds, she fetches for a Plains, she shuffles her deck and only once she has finished she realizes the error she made.
This is a GRV + W (and FTMGS + W to her opponent). But how would you fix it?

A: Originally posted by IPG 1.4, Backing Up:

A good backup will result in a situation where the gained information makes no difference and the line of play remains the same (excepting the error, which has been fixed).
The existence of a “fetch land” – i.e., Evolving Wilds – is the classic example given when we advise against backing up. For example, returning cards to the library when a player has the ability to shuffle their library is not something that should be done except in extreme situations.
Also: backups are regarded as a solution of last resort, only applied in situations where leaving the game in the current state is a substantially worse solution; I don’t think it’s substantially worse to leave things as is; in fact, the existence of Evolving Wilds tells me it’s much worse to back up, so I’d reject the full rewind option.

As for a Partial Fix: If an object is in an incorrect zone either due to a required zone change being missed or due to being put into the wrong zone during a zone change, the identity of the object was known to all players, and it can be moved with only minor disruption to the current state of the game, put the object in the correct zone.
The card was supposed to move from the stack to the library; instead, it moved to the wrong zone, the graveyard. Anna has chosen to shuffle her library, so she’s already accepted the likelihood that the card will no longer be the seventh card – and then she notices her error.

I would have her continue shuffling after adding that card to her deck.
Approved by Scott Marshall.
Approach of the Second Sun

4. Axe has 5 energy counters and casts Harnessed Lightning targeting Nailgun's Thing in the Ice which has one ice counter. Nailgun responds by casting an Anticipate. Axe places Harnessed Lightning in the graveyard without modifying his energy total or declaring anything and moves on with his turn. May Nailgun assume that Axe has done 3 damage to Awoken Horror (which is the implication of the legal game state that has been reached)? Or is he required to correct Axe's assumption that Harnessed Lightning has been countered on resolution?

A: Nailgun may assume a legal gamestate, resulting from a legal progression of events, because Axe failed to communicate. It would be sporting of Nailgun to ask, and make sure Axe isn’t confused; it’s not unsporting, but only competitive, to allow a legal mistake.
Approved by Scott Marshall.
Harnessed Lightning Thing in the Ice Awoken Horror

5. Player A called you over after discussing that he drew poorly. In the course of the discussion, Player B (the opponent) mentioned that, in between games, he sorts his deck so as to “de-clump” it so he gets “more even” draws, and recommends to Player A to do the same so he gets more even draws as well.
Player B made the implication that he knows that he draws uncharacteristically well and attributes it to this shuffling technique openly. However, Player B also believes the statement that he is sufficiently randomizing his deck by shuffling after he sorts his deck. He believes that his shuffling procedure meaningfully impacts his draws, but also believes his deck is sufficiently random, despite them being contradictory.

Questions:
1) Is what Player B is doing illegal?
2) How would you go about proving/disproving cheating in this case?
3) This was the last round of the event, so observing Player B in future rounds is not an option. Is this something to keep in mind for future events he attends, or do you let it slide?

A: We would need to investigate the specifics of the circumstances described to determine if there is sufficient randomization, or not, after the “de-clumping” action.

As we’ve all learned fairly recently, you can no longer use a pile “shuffle” technique more than once per game, both to avoid the “double nickel” mana weave and to save time. We know the player is manipulating his deck in order to optimize the order prior to shuffling; that isn’t illegal. What we don’t really know in this scenario is how this player shuffles; if he shuffles sufficiently, then what was done before is irrelevant. It is recommended to watch the player in future events/games, and investigate if it is felt to be insufficiently shuffling.
Approved by Scott Marshall.

Mobile App Updates

The Bugko App has been updated with the IPG document and Comp Rules being redesigned with Quick Reference now linking directly to the relevant rule in Comp. Rules or IPG.

Online Pairings on Facebook

Following on from its use at dozens of PPTQs and FNMs around the world and successful deployments at GP Santiago, GP Manila and GP Sydney, we are happy to share with you the Facebook Pairings App.

The app allows players to register with their name or DCI number by sending a message to a Facebook Page.

Deferring RPTQ Invitations

What happens if a player asks about deferring his invitation to the upcoming RPTQ? The default answer would be that it cannot be done, but we could advise them to contact Wizards just to be sure. More information here.

Manual Pod Pairings

In the event that two regulars at a store ask to not be put in the same pod as the other, we should treat this situation with care so as to avoid committing tournament fraud.

Find out which Judge Conferences, Grand Prix and SCG Opens have available worldwide staffing positions! You still have time to apply for Grand Prix Liverpool 2017. Check out the Grand Prix Solicitations and Selected Staffs for more details on individual tournaments.

Public projects are looking for help. If you wish to get more out of your Judging experience and give back to the community, sign up to something that interests you!