So, an unusual case that came up during a PPTQ I head judged a bit ago.
So let's say Adam and Nathan are playing for the opportunity to play in the finals. Adam is at 1 life, Nathan is at 8. Adam controls a
Rakshasa Deathdealer and a 3/4 bird token from Wingmate Roc, his opponent has six goblin tokens, tapped out from a previous attack due to a Rabblemaster. Adam draws for turn, mutters “I need another land”, then goes to combat, attacks with his creatures, pumps the Deathdealer twice lacking the mana to do it three times, and then he says “Go to 1?”. Nathan okays it, then Adam shows a hand of dead sideboard cards, and extends a hand for a handshake, presumably, thinking he just dies on the retaliatory attack.
A spectator then asks “Wait, shouldn't Nathan be dead? 6 + 3 is 9, right?” Cue a few spectators starting to discuss this before being asked to go outside until the judge call is resolved.
“So, wait, first and foremost, how did everyone including me miss the fact that Rakshasa Deathdealer has two power to start with? Nathan should be at -1 life.”
Adam: “I have no idea, I thought deathdealer was a 0/2 at first.”
Nathan: “Same”.
Me: “Well, in any case, this is a failure to maintain game state for both parties due to neither of you knowing the actual damage number that was supposed to be dealt. My question is if you actually conceded or not Adam.”
First and foremost, me and a spectating L2 judge eventually reached the conclusion that he didn't really concede. And this is the point where I raise a question on what constitutes a concession. He only revealed a hand and extended for a handshake. No other cards were really picked up, his opponent didn't shake his hand, etc.
So the question really is on what actually constitutes a concession. I wasn't entirely sure myself but I felt as though I made the correct call given the situation.
Edited Todd Dalton (March 15, 2015 11:27:10 AM)