Did you know that at a competitive event like a PTQ, it’s required for your opponent to shuffle your deck after you present it? Most people don’t; most people are lazy and don’t bother, or will just cut their opponent’s deck. However, on occasion you will play an opponent who wants to shuffle your deck, […]
Category: Tournament Rules
How Nivmagus Elemental’s ability really works.
As many of you know, this weekend marked the pre-release of the new set, Return to Ravnica. Many of us judged such events, and we managed to collect a few common questions that popped up a lot, so we can answer them for you guys here! One I saw happen quite a bit involved . […]
Abilities, Communication Policy, Missed Triggers, Resolving spells and abilities, Tournament Rules, Triggered Abilities
Tournament Tuesday: Changes to the Missed Trigger Policy
Taking a little break from the Return to Ravnica previews, we’ll do our normal Tournament Tuesday tip. NOTE: All of this only matters at Competitive REL and higher—stuff like PTQs and GPTs and GPs—and it won’t go into effect until October 1st. At your local FNM and at the Return to Ravnica prerelease this weekend, you’re […]
You have the right to appeal (but the Head Judge’s ruling is final).
So you may have heard about an “appeal” but aren’t quite sure what that means. It’s pretty simple, and it’s your right as a player in a sanctioned tournament. If you receive a ruling from any judge other than the head judge, it is perfectly acceptable to ask for an appeal to the head judge. […]
What judges do for you and your events.
Ask any long-time judge what a judge can do for you or your event, and you’re likely to get an earful! As this is a blog, and we like to keep it readable, let’s cover some simple ABC’s of how a judge can help. Let’s start with the perspective of a store owner or tournament […]
How taking an extra turn works during the ‘extra turns’ at the end of a timed round.
ʺPlayers, that is TIME in the round! Active player, please finish your turn; then play five additional turns.ʺ Prepare to hear that announcement several times throughout the day of a tournament. Normally, you and your opponent will alternate turns, so player A will take turns one, three, and five, while player B will take turns […]
Can you respond to the choice of what to copy with Phantasmal Image? It depends!
This is a very common question with any kind of copy creature. The most important thing to note is that the static ability that lets you choose to copy something is NOT a triggered ability (if it was, pretty much every Clone-type creature would die for being 0/0 before you could choose to copy something!). […]
What “Stalling” is and why it’s a Very Bad Thing.
Most people have heard of Slow Play and know what that means. However, some people think it’s the same thing as Stalling. While the two are often related, they are definitely independent problems with very different outcomes. Slow Play is, very simply, taking too long to make game decisions. This is difficult to quantify, and […]
What you can do with your electronic device during a tournament.
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 […]