{"id":476,"date":"2016-11-02T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T08:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/?p=476"},"modified":"2016-11-02T10:06:02","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T10:06:02","slug":"slow-play-myths-and-truths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/2016\/11\/02\/slow-play-myths-and-truths\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow Play: Myths and Truths"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><div class=\"wp-caption alignleft judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/8089573001\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=8089573001&size=200 alt=\"Written by Brook Gardner-Durbin\nLevel 2, USA\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Written by Brook Gardner-Durbin<br \/>\nLevel 2, USA<\/p><\/div>Besides choosing what deck to register and what plays to make, managing time can be one of the most important factors to succeed in a competitive tournament. Whether your last event was a 15 person PPTQ or a 2000 person Grand Prix, you probably faced many of the same questions about time management: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do I have time to get food before the next round begins?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The round ended 15 minutes ago \u2014 where are pairings?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why won\u2019t my opponent just make a play already?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is the crucial turn of the game! Why won\u2019t this judge let me take my time to think it through?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This article will explain what Slow Play is, answer some questions on what we do and why we do it, common misconceptions and what Stalling is and why you do not want to do that.<\/p>\n<h2><b>What is Slow Play?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/gatherer.wizards.com\/Handlers\/Image.ashx?multiverseid=3601&amp;type=card\" width=\"223\" height=\"310\" \/>The Infraction Procedure Guide, the document that governs anything going wrong during a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/2016\/03\/01\/rules-enforcement-level-what-are-they-and-what-they-imply\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">competitive<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> game of magic and instructs judges on how to fix issues, says that a player has committed the infraction Slow Play if \u201cA player takes longer than is reasonably required to complete game actions.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Examples include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player repeatedly reviews their opponent\u2019s graveyard without any significant change in game state. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player spends time writing down the contents of an opponent\u2019s deck while resolving Thought Hemorrhage. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player takes an excessive amount of time to shuffle their deck between games. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player gets up from their seat to look at standings or goes to the bathroom without permission of an official.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The penalty for Slow Play is a Warning for the first infraction and Game Loss if repeated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the wide variety in examples illustrate, Slow Play covers a wide range of behaviors and may be very subjective. Despite the many potential actions that can earn a warning for Slow Play, however, they all fall under the umbrella of \u201cnot playing fast enough to finish three games in 50 minutes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Common Questions<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>What are the time limits?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Tournament Organizer (TO) for the event can set the time limits to nearly anything they want. While 50 minutes per round is the standard for competitive play, if Wizards hasn\u2019t dictated a round time (as it does for GPs, PPTQs, and other premier events), the TO can set it to as low as 40 minutes if they wish, or higher.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What happens if a match is still going when time is up?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The players in the match will take a total of five additional turns, starting with the first turn after the round ended. If the game has not finished by the end of those turns, the game will become a draw. If both players have won the same number of games, this will mean the match is a draw. However, if one player has won a game and the other has not, ending the current game in a draw will give the match to the player already ahead. In a tournament, a drawn match is worth 1 point, while a win is worth 3 and a loss is worth 0.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why not let everyone play at their own pace?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tournament matches have a time limit to keep the tournament moving forward for everyone. Without a set time limit for the match, it would be impossible to predict when the event would finish, making for a far worse experience for both players and judges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why is Slow Play so subjective? Why not have set, specific time limits?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If there was a set policy of \u201c30 seconds per play\u201d or similar, it would open the door to abuse (abusing the clock is called Stalling and is cheating \u2014 more on this later). It would also break down at times, as different scenarios require differing amounts of time to think through. It may be unreasonable to take even 15 seconds to decide whether to attack or not in one game, while a full minute wouldn\u2019t be unreasonable in another. The context of the game state, recent plays, and more are all variables that factor into a judge\u2019s decision to issue a Slow Play Warning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why not use clocks, like chess or Magic Online?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Besides the costs involved in providing and replacing thousands of clocks, trying to use a clock is simply not feasible for real life Magic. A given turn can have dozens of priority passes, in quick succession, and players have enough to think about without trying to remember to hit a clock after every play. Just try tapping your lifepad every time you pass priority during your next game, and you\u2019ll quickly realize how tedious that would be!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Using clocks would also make the game less accessible for players with physical challenges, such as a broken arm, being in a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/magic.wizards.com\/en\/events\/coverage\/gpind16\/finals-brandon-burton-vs-rob-pisano-2016-08-28\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">wheelchair<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, or <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/magic.wizards.com\/en\/events\/coverage\/gplon16\/how-play-when-every-game-mental-magic-2016-10-09\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">blind<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It\u2019s important for Magic to be open to everyone, which includes keeping the game a mental stress, not a physical one.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Common misconceptions<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are a number of common myths surrounding Slow Play, in part because it is so subjective, and because it is not a commonly issued penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cThe battlefield is very complicated \u2014 I should get more time to plan my combat phase.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This depends a lot on the recent plays. Suppose two players in a limited match reach a board stall on turn four, then each play one creature a turn until turn ten, never attacking. In this case, the battlefield has barely changed from one turn to the next. Neither player should be thinking for extended periods on each turn. They have already determined whether they can attack or not; a new turn should not require them to think out every possible combat scenario again and again and again \u2026 They only need to determine whether anything relevant has changed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/gatherer.wizards.com\/Handlers\/Image.ashx?multiverseid=245187&amp;type=card\" width=\"223\" height=\"310\" \/>If the battlefield has changed significantly from recent turns, however, it would be more reasonable to take a longer period of time to think. If the game recently saw a Warp World or The Great Aurora resolve, or some other spell that had a significant impact on the board state, it is understood that players have to start thinking through combat from the beginning again, so what counts as \u201creasonable\u201d would change and more time would be awarded before issuing a Slow Play Warning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cI\u2019ve been playing fast all game; I should be able to think longer now.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you\u2019re playing baseball and run from one base to the next faster than you need to, so you arrive well ahead of the ball, do you get to use that extra time when the next batter steps up, and you start running to your next base? Of course not! Each turn, and in fact each action should be considered independently of each other one. Playing faster in the earlier turns is good \u2014 it means you have more time in the match in case the games drag on \u2014 but it doesn\u2019t give you Protection From Slow Play.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cMaybe I\u2019m playing a little slowly, but I\u2019m still going faster than my opponent was all match. I shouldn\u2019t be able to get a warning.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you believe your opponent is not playing quickly enough, call a judge and ask them to keep an eye on your match. Be sure to call a judge as soon as it happens, as waiting until the end of the round will be too late. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cBut I\u2019m playing faster than they were!\u201d is not an excuse for taking too long with your own decisions, and the speed of your opponent has no relevance to whether you are playing too slowly or not. It is not uncommon for both players in a match to be guilty of Slow Play.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This myth partially stems from players not being fully aware of just how long they were taking to think. It\u2019s easy to underestimate how long you\u2019ve taken to figure out a scenario (because your attention is focused elsewhere) while overestimating how long your opponent took (because you had to just sit, bored, while they thought things through from their side). Luckily, judges will provide an external and less subjective view on the play pace, so do not hesitate in calling one if you think it is needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cTime has been called and we\u2019re on our five turn extension \u2014 that means I can take as long as I want.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can still receive a Warning for Slow Play in extra turns, or in an untimed match. It\u2019s important to keep the match (and with it, the tournament) moving forward, regardless of where your game is occurring. In fact, playing slowly during extra turns can be lengthening the event for everyone involved. Before, you were playing on your time. After everyone else has finished and is waiting for you, you\u2019re on <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">everyone\u2019s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cControl decks are Slow Playing all the time! I often see them do nothing on their turn.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s easy to feel like control decks \u201caren\u2019t doing anything\u201d for turns on end when you\u2019re playing against one. So why aren\u2019t they being issued penalties for Slow Play so frequently they\u2019re not viable for tournaments?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because players don\u2019t have to \u201cdo something\u201d to avoid being issued a Warning, they just need to make their decisions at a reasonable pace. Control players don\u2019t get extra time because they\u2019re playing a counterspell deck, but they also aren\u2019t going to be punished for not casting a creature until turn 20. As said above, it\u2019s important to keep the match and the tournament moving forward, but a player choosing not to cast a spell or attack when they seem to have a win available to them is not enough to earn a penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There could be any number of reasons for a control deck to choose not to cast their win condition, or for a player not to want to alpha strike for the win. The player may know or suspect a crucial card is in their opponent\u2019s hand, they may have simply miscalculated the math and not realized they could win, or any number of other factors could be playing a role. The important thing is not whether a player is ending the game as fast as possible, but whether they are making their decisions in a reasonable amount of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Slow Play vs Stalling<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So far, this article has focused on Slow Play \u2014 the Warning that comes from unintentionally not playing quickly enough. Slow Play has an ugly step-sibling, however: Stalling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Looking to the Infraction Procedure Guide again, we can see Stalling occurs when \u201cA player intentionally plays slowly in order to take advantage of the time limit.\u201d The penalty for Stalling is Disqualification.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Examples include:<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/gatherer.wizards.com\/Handlers\/Image.ashx?multiverseid=398652&amp;type=card\" width=\"223\" height=\"311\" \/> <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player has two lands in his hand, no options available to significantly affect the game, and spends excessive time \u201cthinking\u201d about what to do to eat up time on the clock. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player is ahead in games and significantly slows down his pace of play so the opponent has little chance to catch up. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player playing slowly appeals a warning in an attempt to gain advantage by having more time to make a decision. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player intentionally mulligans slowly before the third game in an attempt to make it harder for his opponent to win in time. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A player losing a game starts slowing down the pace of play in an attempt to run out the clock.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In each of these cases, the problem is the player is deliberately moving slowly to abuse the clock. They are not simply reaching a decision and deciding not to act; they are reaching a decision, then continuing to pretend to think to remove time from the clock.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is different from bluffing. Judges are aware that Magic is a game of hidden information, and sometimes you have to convince your opponent your two lands in hand are actually a Cryptic Command and a Doom Blade. You can take an extra moment to sell that you have options when you don\u2019t; you just can\u2019t take an excessive amount of time. The other factor here is the rationale for the decision: if you are pretending to think to run out the clock, that is not the same as pretending to think so you can bluff something. Judges are pretty good at figuring out which is which, so trying to test the line is *not* recommended.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Stalling is a Disqualifying offense. The winner of a match is meant to be whoever can win the most games in the time allotted, not whoever can win the first game, then slow down significantly so no other games can finish. Stalling harms the tournament integrity and is unequivocally cheating.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_482\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-482\" style=\"width: 353px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-482\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/files\/2016\/10\/slowplay-296x300.png\" alt=\"Image from cardboard-crack.com\" width=\"353\" height=\"358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/files\/2016\/10\/slowplay-296x300.png 296w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/files\/2016\/10\/slowplay.png 588w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 353px) 100vw, 353px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-482\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image from <a href=\"http:\/\/cardboard-crack.com\/post\/134257154716\/um\">cardboard-crack.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><b>What about less competitive tournaments?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tournaments run at <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/2016\/03\/01\/rules-enforcement-level-what-are-they-and-what-they-imply\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Regular <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rules Enforcement Level, like Friday Night Magic or Prereleases, don\u2019t use the same system of Warnings and Game Losses when players accidentally break the rules in some way. That doesn\u2019t mean that Slow Play is allowed, however!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Regular events are intended to be more casual and friendly than something like a Grand Prix or Regional Pro Tour Qualifier, but players are still expected to play quickly enough they can finish three games in the allotted time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In these circumstances, if you believe your opponent is playing too slowly, a gentle nudge and mention of the time left in the round will hopefully be sufficient. If it isn\u2019t, don\u2019t be afraid to ask a judge to watch your match. Stalling is still an illegal action and can result is a disqualification, even at Friday Night Magic.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>In Summary<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whatever the setting for your match, make sure you play at a pace that will allow three games to finish in 50 minutes. If you believe your opponent is not playing quickly enough, whether intentionally or not, call a judge and explain the situation. Remember that you are not obligated to end the game as quickly as possible, just to make your decisions at a reasonable pace.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Credits<\/h3>\n<p><div class=\"wp-caption alignnone judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/4208120376\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=4208120376&size=200 alt=\"Aruna Prem Bianzino\nEditor\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Aruna Prem Bianzino<\/strong><br \/>\nEditor<\/p><\/div> <div class=\"wp-caption alignnone judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/2300476113\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=2300476113&size=200 alt=\"Jeremy Fain\nReviewer\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Jeremy Fain<\/strong><br \/>\nReviewer<\/p><\/div>\u00a0<div class=\"wp-caption alignnone judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/7207236749\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=7207236749&size=200 alt=\"John Temple\nReviewer\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>John Temple<\/strong><br \/>\nReviewer<\/p><\/div>\u00a0<div class=\"wp-caption alignnone judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/3223825192\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=3223825192&size=200 alt=\"Matthew Pitzer\nReviewer\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Matthew Pitzer<\/strong><br \/>\nReviewer<\/p><\/div>\u00a0<div class=\"wp-caption alignnone judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/9212398928\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=9212398928&size=200 alt=\"Eskil Myrenberg\nReviewer\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Eskil Myrenberg<\/strong><br \/>\nReviewer<\/p><\/div> <div class=\"wp-caption alignnone judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/58806265\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=58806265&size=200 alt=\"Matteo Callegari\nReviewer\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Matteo Callegari<\/strong><br \/>\nReviewer<\/p><\/div> <div class=\"wp-caption alignnone judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/1204047096\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=1204047096&size=200 alt=\"Sandra Regalado\nReviewer\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Sandra Regalado<\/strong><br \/>\nReviewer<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brook explains us why we cannot play too slow, what to do to recognise when it is happening, and how to avoid it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[46,47],"language":[38],"class_list":["post-476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rules-and-policies-for-players","tag-slow-play","tag-stalling","language-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":499,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476\/revisions\/499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/playerexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}