IPG 3.2 Tournament Error — Outside Assistance

Definition

A player, spectator, or other tournament participant does any of the following:

Penalty

Match Loss

- Seeks play advice or private information about their match from others once they have sat for their match.
  
  As soon as a player has sat for a match, they are not allowed to get instructions or information about the match from other people. Casual chat is not forbidden, unless such chats include information which may benefit the player’s match. This does not include asking for advice at the pairings board or dealer booth, or outside while smoking. Players are going to chat about decks they played against or think they have to play against. We cannot control what they talk about in the restroom.
- Gives play advice or reveals private information to players who have sat for their match.

This scenario often happens to a spectator or a player who is watching a friend playing after just finishing their own match. Especially for players who are still in the tournament, such behavior should be punished and the Match Loss should be issued. Keep in mind we are talking about “play advice.” “Don’t forget to attack” is play advice; “Quit, so we can go get food” is not play advice — although both may result in the game ending.

During a game, refers to notes (other than Oracle™ pages) made before the official beginning of the current match.

The form notes take can be varied, but are typically on paper. While looking at these notes between games is OK, during a game it is not permitted. As an exception, official Oracle text is allowed to be checked at any time during the match. Typically players will just call a judge, but if someone has a printout of all the oracle text of all the cards in the set, they can use it as long as they are quick.

These criteria also apply to any deck construction and draft portions of a limited tournament. Additionally, no notes of any kind may be made during a draft. Some team formats have additional communication rules that may modify the definition of this infraction.

During a Limited format event, either sealed events or drafts, players in the deck construction or draft portions shall be treated as though they were “in a match”, and any behavior which fits the definition above is regarded as “Outside Assistance.” Asking what to draft, or how many Forests should be played, or “Did you force White?” are examples. For some formats, such as Two-Headed Giant and Team Tournaments, team members can discuss decks and strategies between themselves, and Outside Assistance does not apply.

Notes made outside the current match may only be referenced between games, and must have been in the player’s possession since the beginning of the match.

These notes may be things like strategies for sideboarding for different matchups. A note taken in game one can be checked during game two. The “beginning of the match” is the line because there has to be one, and there makes the most sense. Players can’t go online between games and look up sideboard strategy.

Examples

A. During a game, a player references play notes that were created before the tournament.
B. A spectator points out the correct play to a player who had not solicited the information.

Philosophy

Tournaments test the skill of a player, not their ability to follow external advice or directions. Any strategy advice, play advice, or construction advice from an external source is considered outside assistance.

A game is between two players. Not a player vs. another player and their friend, or Google, or the Twitterverse. Outside Assistance can be a word, a piece of paper or a gesture; it can be a request for information. If it can be seen to have offered the player strategic, play or construction advice then it should be regarded as outside assistance.

Keep in mind though that asking or telling a player the results of another match is not Outside Assistance, even if that information is used to end the game.

Visual modifications to cards, including brief text, that provide minor strategic information or hints are acceptable and not considered notes. Detailed instructions or complex strategic advice may not be written on cards. The Head Judge is the final arbiter on what cards and notes are acceptable for a tournament.

Some players write notes on cards, which may contain some strategic information. Several words, a mark, or a picture are tolerable, but sentences may be beyond the line. Examples include dots on the face of sideboard cards, or “attack with me” on a Ball Lightning, or a Trinket Mage altered to be examining a specific artifact (the intended target). If you are not sure whether such visual modification is acceptable, ask the Head Judge.

Spectators who commit this infraction may be asked to leave the venue if they are not enrolled in the tournament.

For the players who are still in the tournament, Outside Assistance may be the Sword of Damocles which prevents them offering advice or seeking suggestions from others. However, spectators do not need to worry about the potential punishment because they do not have a “next match” for a Match Loss to apply to. In these case, judges should ask the spectators to leave the venue politely; this provides a warning to other spectators who can’t help talking about the current match when they are watching others.

Not being enrolled in the tournament doesn’t protect you from this infraction. If a spectator commits this infraction and is not enrolled in the tournament, enroll them, assign the infraction, then drop them from the event.

Downgrade

If the information acquired is information that the player would have access to between games, the penalty is a Game Loss.

This downgrade reflects that the advantage that you might gain for accessing information that you are allowed to access between games is likely to be less than if you access information that you wouldn’t normally have access to between games. Looking at your notes on sideboarding is still likely to give you an advantage but not as much as asking a friend what your opponent sideboarded in and out this game.