At a Grand Prix Trial you are running at your local store, a spectator points out a player to you and asks you to watch the way he shuffles. Before the player’s match, you witness him riffle shuffle with the cards facing himself once, and then once with the cards facing away. He repeats this […]
Temple of Malarkey
Aardvark is playing in a Standard Competitive REL tournament. He’s playing a red-black aggro deck. On his decklist is written 4x . A start of round deck check reveals he’s playing 4x . The decklist is otherwise legal. What do you do? What are the relevant infractions, penalties, and fixes, if possible? Judges, feel free […]
Break it Down Now
You have called time in round 6 of a GPT for which you are the head judge. You are overseeing the extra turns of the last match when you overhear Nate talking to his friend about how he played three really good games but since he lost and is dead in the event he gave […]
Can we ‘phix it? Yes we can!
Alan and Nadia are playing in a Theros Block GPT. Alan plays targeting Nadia. in response, Nadia plays , then allows Thoughtseize to resolve, revealing the rest of her hand. Alan chooses a card for Nadia to discard, attacks with his creatures, then passes the turn. Nadia untaps, draws for the turn, plays a land […]
This Cat’s Gone Trigger Happy
Ajani controls a . He casts on it. Nala says it resolves. Ajani then casts on Nala’s . After writing down and confirming the new life totals, Ajani says, “Oh yeah, I need to draw for Dragon Mantle,” and immediately picks up a card, putting it into his hand. Nala calls for a judge. What […]
The Majestic Unicorn
Andy and Nichole are playing in a Modern GPT. During his second main phase, Andy attempts to play a land for the turn. Nichole stops him, telling him that he’s already played a land for the turn. Andy says “Oops!” Then he puts the land back in hand and passes the turn. Nichole untaps, draws, […]
A Tragic Switch
Eight minutes into round five of a PTQ, you are called over to tables 35 and 36. Albert and Yuval are sitting at table 35. Albert has just won a game, and they are just presenting their decks after sideboarding. Bob and Zachary are sitting at table 36. They are in the middle of game […]
Drawing Extra Cards, Game Play Errors, Game Rule Violation, Gold, Looking at Extra Cards, Missed Trigger
Better late than never
Abel is playing in a Standard PTQ. He controls a , which he untaps at start of his turn. He then immediately draws a card for his turn. He pauses for a second, says, “Oh!” points to his Pain Seer, then reveals the top card of his library, which is a Swamp. He says “Swamp. […]
Drake The Type Of Card That Darkslick Shores
In a Modern PTQ you are head judging, your Deck Checks Team Lead brings you a decklist. At the bottom of the lands there is an entry of “4 Darkslick”. You confirm that there are only two cards legal in Modern with Darkslick in the name: and . She believes that the player intended Darkslick […]
Now I know my ABC’s
You are a floor judge at a Sealed PTQ. During pool verification, Ashley calls you over. There are only two minutes left in verification, and she tells you that there is no way she’ll be able to finish in time. You discover that Norbert ignored the head judge’s three separate announcements to alphabetize the pool, […]