#competitive rel

[magicjudge]

Are all warnings issued at competitive REL equal? Like, does a warning picked up from a more severe infraction 'weigh' more than those of minor ones?

A warning is a warning. Warnings are the lowest level of recorded penalty and don’t carry any penalty in and of themselves beyond the fix for the specific infraction, however multiple warnings for the same infraction at the same event can and will be upgraded to game losses.

Warnings for each infraction are tracked separately, so you won’t have a warning for Marked Cards upgraded to a game loss because you also had a warning for a Game Rule Violation.

Warnings for Game Play Errors (e.g. Looking at Extra Cards, Game Rule Violation, etc.) are upgraded on the third and subsequent infraction of the same type. (Failure to Maintain Game State is an exception to this as it’s never upgraded and only recorded for tracking purposes.)

Warnings for other categories of infractions such as Tournament Errors (e.g. Marked Cards) and Unsporting Conduct are upgraded on the second and subsequent infraction of the same type.

Note that many infractions also have direct penalties of game losses or more severe penalties, and many infractions that are normally warnings can be upgraded to game losses for specific types of that infraction.

[magicjudge]

If you can’t use dice as counters anymore what are the other options to keep track of things?

You can still use dice to track counters on permanents, e.g. loyalty counters, +1/+1 counters, etc. You just can’t use them for things specifically related to you, e.g.. life, energy, poison, experience. These should be tracked on paper.

Note that this change only applies to Competitive REL and higher and not to Regular REL events.

[magicjudge]

So let’s say I have kataki’s war wage out against affinity. On their upkeep I try to remind them of it, but they’ve drawn a card before I can get the words out. Let’s say this is at like a GP or a SCG Regional or something- what happens?

Kataki grants the triggered ability to each artifact in play, so it’s the controller of those artifacts who is responsible for remembering the triggers and resolving them properly. If your opponent misses these triggers, then it’s too late for them to be able to pay any of them and you, as that player’s opponent, will have the option to have the default action of sacrifice carried out for each trigger missed this way. Your opponent will also receive a warning for the missed triggers.

[magicjudge]

In 2008 there was an article titled "A Framework for Communication" on the mothership about Derived information, and one of the examples seemed off to me: Player A asks "Is Bloodline Shaman [an elf wizard] an elf?", Player B responds "It is a Wizard". The article says this is fine. If Player A asks "How many cards are in your hand?" and Player B answers "These 3 cards are in my hand" with 5 total cards in hand, is that also legal? Can intentionally misleading communication ever be penalized?

First of all, be wary of what you read in older articles about policy. 2008 is ancient history in Magic terms, and a lot of things have changed since then.

Not too much has changed when it comes to derived information, though. The guiding principle here is that you can’t lie about it, but you can also provide partial answers. So saying “It’s a Wizard” when someone asks for the creature type of an Elf Wizard is OK, but saying you have 3 cards in hand when you have 5 cards in hand isn’t.

The most important thing to remember here, though, is that Derived Information is only ever derived information at Competitive/Professional REL. At Regular REL, all derived information is free information and can’t be misrepresented in any way.

[magicjudge]

Hi magicjudge! I was wondering what are the main differences of draft and sealed from regular REL to Comp and Professional REL, as I'm going to GP San Jose this weekend thanks!

Hey! Sorry for getting to this so late! I hope things are going well for you at the GP!

The biggest difference is that at Competitive REL, you have to register your pool/deck at the beginning of the day  and have to return to that deck configuration at the beginning of each round. As for the mechanics of building and drafting, just follow the thorough instructions you’re given onsite. :)

[magicjudge]

There’s something I’ve never quite gotten- what do warnings at REL events “mean”?

Warnings are penalties given out at Competitive REL and Professional REL events. The Magic Infraction Procedure Guide defines them as follows:

A Warning is an officially tracked penalty. Warnings are used in situations of incorrect play when a small amount of time is needed to implement the corrective procedure. The purpose of a Warning is to alert judges and players involved that a problem has occurred and to keep a permanent record of the infraction in the DCI Penalty Database.

Warnings exist so that incorrect play and minor tournament rule violations can be tracked both over the course of an event by the judge staff and across multiple events by the DCI.

If commits the same infraction multiple times over the course of an event, or the course of a day for multi-day events, and that infraction is normally penalized with a Warning, the penalty will be upgraded to a Game Loss. This upgrade applies on the third and subsequent same infraction for Game Rule Errors and on the second and subsequent same infraction for Tournament Errors and Unsporting Conduct.