Nowadays, it seems like everyone has a smartphone, PDA, or some other kind of electronic gizmo in their pocket or purse at all times. Luckily, the latest update to the Magic Tournament Rules recognizes that we live in a very different world than 20 years ago (can you believe Magic is almost that old?) Section […]
Category: Tournament Rules
There are guidelines about artistic modifications, but the Head Judge always has the final say.
The art on Magic cards tends to be really good. It’s so good that it’s one of the reasons that many players like the game so much. Some players, however, like to get their cards altered. This means that they, or someone else, have somehow changed how the card looks. A common question that judges […]
Older versions of a card that is legal in the format are legal for tournaments.
Oh, a question near and dear to my heart! As you all may know by now, Judges are fond of Commander, and some Judges are VERY fond of ‘pimping’ their deck with older framed versions of cards, foreign language cards, rare promos, all that sort of thing. Zak Whyte, a judge friend of mine, commonly […]
Improper Drawing at Start of Game: What it is and how to handle it.
One of the more frustrating problems that players face is when they start the game off on the wrong foot–by failing to draw the right opening hand. It is easy to just go on “autopilot” and draw 7 after a mulligan, or maybe they draw 8 because the cards stuck together, or maybe they just […]
In Limited events without decklists, you can change your deck between matches.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Slight changes to this article have been made in light of the new Magic 2014 rules update. See below. Limited can be a blast, especially at Regular REL (the Rules Enforcement Level that Friday Night Magic, prereleases, and other more ‘casual’ events are held at). At Regular REL, the rules are a little […]
If you have limited mobility, you can request a fixed seat for a tournament.
This one is actually a little close-to-home for me, because I have a few friends who are somewhat disabled. For them, getting up and fighting the crowds to get to the pairings each round, then fighting the crowd to get back to a specific table is almost impossible, or extremely painful. So, if you have […]
[O]fficial ruling for Cavern of Souls: Creature spells of the named type can never be countered.
is seeing a lot of attention lately, especially with a question that popped up a few weeks back, as well as the reversal of the ruling that was given. The question was what the ‘standard’ is for Cavern. If you tap it without saying which of the two mana abilities you’re using, which is the […]
How to avoid Deck/Decklist Problems.
One of the most frustrating penalties you can get in a tournament is a Game Loss for Deck/Decklist Problem. Today I’m gonna give some tips on how to avoid these penalties, so you can enjoy even more the tournaments you play in. First, let’s talk about decklists. Here are a few good practices you can […]
Match results aren’t final until the result slip is filled out.
For those players who go to large tournaments, you’ll notice that there are many more tables than there are judges to watch them, and it can be hard to tell when a match has concluded. For this reason, the Magic Tournament Rules include a simple way to tell: The match is over when both players […]