Welcome back to another edition of Knowledge Pool! This week we have a silver scenario, which means that it's aimed at the level 1 judges. L2+ judges please wait until Friday before giving your answers. Feel free to check us out at the blog below:

http://blogs.magicjudges.org/knowledgepool/?p=1169

Ampharos is playing against Natu in a Standard Constructed GPT during the first week of October. Ampharos controls an Alpine Grizzly. He casts Force Away on Seeker of the Way controlled by Natu and draws a card. He then attacks for 4 with his Alpine Grizzly and passes the turn. As Natu is untapping, she realizes Ampharos never discarded a card for Force away and calls a judge. Ampharos tells you that he just didn't finish reading the card and didn't realize he was even supposed to discard. What do you do?

As a helpful hint, the event described here is certainly after September 26th, which means the new IPG is in effect! If you haven't noted the recent changes to our policy documents, I suggest reading Toby's blog here before answering the question today :)

GPE - GRV Warning for Ampharos for not discarding, GPE - FtMGS Warning for Natu for allowing the attack / turn pass without noting the error. The fix is simply to have Ampharos discard a card right now, then continue the game. Backing up isn't an option, as that is only a last resort and only if the specific fix isn't already specified (which it is in this case).

I would also want to speak with Ampharos and get a little more information about how / why he came to be playing a Constructed deck with a card that he hasn't even read fully. If I felt that he wasn't being truthful and I thought he was trying to pull one over on his opponent by “forgetting” to discard, I would investigate further and potentially issue USC - Cheating. If I thought it was an honest mistake of being excited to use the new cards, I would remind him that it's a Competitive REL event and he is expected to know what his cards do.

I'm with Chuck; this looks like a GRV in the same manner that not putting cards back during a Brainstorm is. It's not DEC, because Ampharos was entitled to draw the card.

We don't need (or want) to rewind, we can use the partial fix in the IPG: “If a player forgot to discard cards, that player does so.”

Natu gets a Failure to Maintain Game State; if they noticed Ampharos hadn't discarded, they should have waited to proceed. If they assumed Ampharos was in the process of discarding and just moved on with untapping and drawing as a shortcut, maybe it's not FtMGS yet, but that they stopped and called a judge seems to imply that wasn't the plan.

Looks like a simple GRV - Warning and a FTMGS - Warning. Discard a card, possibly investigate for cheating although it is a rather new card, and I've certainly been guilty of not fully reading my new cards and using them wrong (Fated Conflagration doesn't hit players?! WAT ). Of course, if it happens again later in the day, we may have a problem :I

Before reading other answers.

GPE-GRV for Ampharos, he receives a warning and discard a card immediatly as a partial fix “by the book” : If a player forgot to draw cards, discard cards, or return cards from their hand to another zone, that player does so.

and a GPE - Failure to maintain game state for Natu, he receives also a warning.

Ampharos committed a GPE-GRV, he receives a warning. Moving a card into the correct zone (Hand to graveyard), in this case, would not be too disruptive to the overall flow of the game, so Ampharos discard a card as partial fix.

Natu allowed Ampharos to commit a Game Play Error and does not point it out immediately, so she committed a GPE-FTMGS, and then also receives a warning.

Originally posted by Sal Cortez:

possibly investigate for cheating

For the sake of this Knowledge Pool scenario, we assume that nobody cheated.

All errors made by Ampharos and Natu are honest mistakes.

GPE - GRV for Ampharos, GPE - FtMGS* for Natu. Warnings all around.

Not DEC, since the draw was legal, just to get that out of the way. No other GPEs apply, so GRV. (*) Depending on how long the turn post-GRV took, I may not give FtMGS.. If Ampharos was playing fast (“Force Away your guy and swing for 4. Pass.”) it's close enough to “immediately” to work for me, but if they were playing at a “normal” pace, it's definitely too long.

As for the remedy, assuming that Natu has not yet drawn for turn, we have a simple and easy rewind. Undo the untap and combat, have Ampharos properly resolve Force Away, and have them play on.

Edit: Oh yeah, this is actually a partial fix. No rewind, have them discard a card. My bad.

Edited Suhas Arehalli (Sept. 25, 2014 12:09:45 AM)

I agree with you guys.

Besides the solution you have mentioned, I would also ask the players whether they are in the correct event. Aren't they actually playing in the simultaneous Sealed GPT that is being run on the tables in the other part of the store? (just kidding)

GPE:GRV, warning, have him choose a card to discard, FTMGS warning for his opponent. Suggest that it is really important they each know what their cards do in a competitive REL event. I almost made the exact same mistake with that spell at prerelease, dyslexia is a bitch sometimes.

I wouldn't know how to properly handle the infraction since I'm not familiar with the IPG yet. But if I had to fix the situation, the correct is to make Ampharos discard a card of his choice right away. I think it may be GRV though, since he didn't resolve the ability properly, even though she resolved at the apropriate time and all the players acknowledged it.

Without looking at the other replies, I'd say Ampharos discards a card then. Looking at the IPG:

IPG 2.5. Game Play Error – Game Rule Violation

“If a player forgot to draw cards, discard cards, or return cards from their hand to another zone, that player does so.”

So each player recieves a warning; GPE:GRV for Ampharos, and GPE:FtMGS for Natu. Ampharos discards a card. Players may continue from this point. Add the amount of time the judge call took to their time sheet.

Edited Oscar Chan (Sept. 27, 2014 07:17:17 PM)

GPE-GRV for A, FtMGS for N. A has to discard a card right now before play continues.

This seems to be a pretty clear Game Play Error - Game Rule Violation infraction on the part of Ampharos, as he did not properly resolve Force Away. We should issue a Warning to Ampharos. Additionally, since this involves a GRV where a player forgot to discard cards, we should also have Ampharos choose and discard a card from his hand. I would also mention to Ampharos that he needs to read his cards more carefully in the future to ensure he is resolving their effects correctly.

Natu appears to have met the requirements for a Game Play Error - Failure to Maintain Game State infraction, as she did not immediately point of Ampharos' Game Play Error. The game continued through multiple steps after the error was committed before it was noticed. We should issue a Warning to Natu.