Stephen is watching Angus and Natalie play their match in a Sealed PPTQ. Natalie controls a tapped . Angus attacks with , which he has cast for its Dash cost, and a 2/1 Warrior token. He puts another Warrior token onto the battlefield, combat damage is dealt, and Angus moves to the end step. He […]
Category: Difficulty Rating
Schrödinger’s Markings
You are the Team Lead of the Deck Checks team at a Super Sunday Series event at a Grand Prix. You perform a random beginning-of-round deck check on Andy at the beginning of round 7. You notice that throughout the event, Andy’s main deck has become quite warped from the way that he is shuffling, […]
Proper Courser of Action
You are the head and only judge in a Theros/Khans of Tarkir Standard Grand Prix Trial (GPT). You are watching a game between Alex and Nathan. During Nathan’s turn, he casts targeting Alex’s . Alex puts the Courser in the graveyard, but does not turn the top card of his library face down. The players […]
A less-than-ravenous Ravager
You are the Head Judge of a Modern PPTQ, wandering onto the floor to watch some matches. The first one catches your eye; Anakin is attacking with a bunch of creatures, including an with no counters. You don’t see any effect pumping his toughness so you assume it is a 0/0 and step in. “Excuse […]
Rattleclaw Missed. Ick.
In a sealed PPTQ for which you are a floor judge, Nat calls you over. He explains that during a relatively complicated combat step on Andy’s turn, Nat cast targeting one of Andy’s morph creatures. You ask to see Andy’s hand and it contains a , a , and a Mountain. Andy tells you that […]
Like a phoenix from the ash(cloud)es…
You are the Head and only judge of a Standard Grand Prix Trial. You are called to a table where the players are finishing Game 3. Nathan tells you that Ashley just won the game by attacking for lethal and didn’t reveal her morphed after the game ended. Both players agree that the Ashcloud Phoenix […]
Blue Card Monty
During a Legacy Open (Competitive REL), Abel casts paying 2 life and targeting Noel, who responds with . Abel casts targeting the Brainstorm. Noel responds by casting , returning his to his hand leaving his board empty. As Noel is resolving Brainstorm, Abel says “Go,” so Noel untaps and draws for his turn. At this […]
Relentless Rats or Shadowborn Apostles…?
Louis is playing in a GPT, of which you are head judge. As you are checking decklists, you notice Louis’s list ends with the line “23 ______________” with no card name filled in. The remainder of the list contains 37 cards, all of which are either blue or artifacts. What do you do? Judges, feel […]
Dig Through Time Stop
Andy and Nathan are playing in the first PPTQ of the season; the format is Standard. Andy has one card left in his hand during his main phase, and he taps out to cast . He grabs 7 cards, and looks visibly relieved to have found what he was looking for. He drops a land […]
Absent Guide
You are the head judge of a Khans of Tarkir sealed PTQ. At the end of round 2, a player turns in an in a matte black sleeve that he found on the floor. He has no idea whose it is, and there are a couple dozen players with matte black sleeves. When you announce […]