Hey guys.

JAR update: http://www.wizards.com/wpn/Document.aspx?x=Magic_The_Gathering_Judging_at_Regular_REL

So, there are not that many changes in the latest version of the JAR. There is some tightening of language where we saw that there were things that could be said in a more concise fashion, and there are some clarifications (such as explicitly stating that bluffing about cards in hidden zones does not count as lying, and so is not a Serious Problem). The one real change shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, as it is simply updating the fact that breaking a rule requires both knowledge and intention in order to be considered a Serious Problem (bringing this in line with Unsporting Conduct – Cheating from the previous IPG update).

I just want to take a moment to talk about how Missed Triggers are handled at Regular REL. In the last update, we changed the rules around missing triggered abilities so that the opponent was no longer responsible for pointing them out, meaning that players would not find themselves at risk of a disqualification at Regular REL for acting as they did in Competitive REL tournaments. We left a lot of room for discretion on the part of the judge in terms of whether or not they should step in if they saw a trigger missed in a game, and flexibility in the fix. One piece of feedback that we got was that judges felt we hadn’t defined what it meant to have missed the trigger, so we’ve added a stripped down version of the IPG definition to make it clearer:

“These abilities are considered missed if the player did not acknowledge them in any way at the point that it required choices or had a visible in-game effect.”

Even though players are no longer obliged to remind their opponents about their triggers, this behaviour should still be encouraged at the majority of Regular REL events. These are intended to promote fun play and are meant to be welcoming, accessible environments for newer or less experienced players, and a greater level of sportsmanship should be encouraged than that which you might expect at more Competitive events.

We are planning to update and maintain the Judging at Regular REL document more frequently going forwards, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to get in touch!

Kim