One of the biggest questions a lot of judges receive is the way people arrange their cards on the battlefield. Players may organize their cards on the battlefield in any way they see fit, provided it does not cause confusion. For example, some people place their where their lands are, and there is nothing inherently […]
Category: Tournament Rules
You can’t reveal a Miracle card after you’ve touched it to the other cards in your hand.
The new Miracle mechanic is very peculiar in the way that you might have to adapt your physical habits associated with drawing a card. If you’re playing Miracle cards in your deck, you have to make sure that the first card you draw each turn doesn’t touch the rest of your hand. If that card […]
There are no Game Loss penalties at Regular REL (FNM, Pre/Release Parties, Game Day, etc.).
For those of you that don’t know, there are different ‘rules enforcement levels’ (RELs) for Magic tournaments. The one we’ll talk about today is Regular REL. This is the level you can expect at most events; Prereleases, Release Parties, Game Days, FNMs, etc. At this REL, the Infraction Procedure Guide (the document that Judges use […]
How the Heartless Summoning + Havengul Lich combo works.
As you might have guessed by now, we’re doing a special Combo Week this week! I got saddled with (in my opinion) the most hilarious combo in Standard right now: Heartless Lich. But how does it work? First, you need to control and a . You also need a (either in the graveyard or in […]
How loop shortcuts work.
So now you’ve assembled your and two s, and are ready to make infinite mana… but you don’t want to sit there tapping and untapping them ad nauseam. Luckily, you don’t have to, thanks to the magic of loop shortcuts. Once you’ve assembled your combo, you can propose a loop shortcut. Demonstrate the combo once, […]
New! Each life total change must be verbally announced with the new life totals.
At the start of any game, both players should explain to each other the method that they plan on using to keep track of life totals. Whichever method they choose must be accessible by both players to record life totals consistently. Each life total change should be verbally announced and recorded. If a player notices […]
What a bye means for you.
If you’re playing FNM (or any Swiss-pairing tournament) and there is an odd number of players for any round, you may receive what’s called a “Bye.” This means you don’t have to play against anybody in that round. Lucky for you, it also means you automatically win that round! It counts the same as any […]
Intentional draws are always recorded as 0-0-3.
When you and your opponent choose to intentionally draw (“ID”) a match during a tournament—say to make the top eight cut of your FNM event—the match result is reported as 0-0-3 (zero wins, zero losses and three draws), in accordance with tournament policy outlined in the Magic Tournament Rules. This will affect your second and […]
You can’t ignore it when you notice your opponent violate a game rule.
Any time there is an error in a game that you notice and your opponent does not, you should always notify a tournament official in order to fix the problem. It can be as simple as tapping the wrong mana to cast a spell, or putting a card in the graveyard when it should’ve gone […]