Hi, all. The cases for Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec have all been processed and Judge Center updated. You can find the updated Suspended Players Page here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/suspended-dci-memberships

If you are looking for a read about Investigations, I recently published a 3-part series called The Search for Collateral Truths. It is here: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/articles/2014/12/30/investigations-the-search-for-collateral-truths/

Also, we now have PLAYER ann JUDGE FAQ's to help you AFTER you have decided to DQ someone. Print the Player FAQ and give it to the player, and refer to the Judge FAQ for your own instructions on what to do. And don't forget to get statements from the offender and any witnesses.

DQ Procedure and the FAQ are here: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/o/disqualification-process/

My thanks to all, and as always - ask if you have questions!

-Eric Shukan
Player Investigations Leader

Edited Eric Shukan (March 23, 2015 11:00:34 AM)

Hi, all. The cases for January 2015 have been processed and Judge Center updated. You can find the Suspended Players page here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/suspended-dci-memberships

DQ Procedure and the FAQ are here on the judge wiki: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/o/disqualification-process/

Thank you to everyone for your support in making The Search for Collateral Truths the article of the year. If you haven't read it yet and want to, it is here: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/articles/2014/12/30/investigations-the-search-for-collateral-truths/ From there you can also access parts 2 and 3.

Eric Shukan
Player Investigations Leader

Hi, all. The cases for February 2015 have been processed and Judge Center updated. You can find the Suspended Players page here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/suspended-dci-memberships

DQ Procedure and the FAQ are here on the judge wiki: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/o/disqualification-process/

Please ensure that you offer to the player that they may write a statement after you DQ them. better still, print out the DQ Player FAQ and give it to them, THEN request a statement :)

If they decline, please write in your Judge Center DQ report that you offered but they declined. And indicate if you gave them the FAQ.

Thanks!

Eric Shukan
Player Investigations Leader

Greetings, Judges! The March 2015 DQ cases have been processed and judge center is updated. You can find the suspended players page here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/suspended-dci-memberships

We're seeing an uptick in the DQ's for Improperly Determining a Winner, so please try to announce clearly in the last couple of rounds NOT to use any die rolling, etc.

Also, in some recent cases involving Bribery, we have seen players asking judges about what they can and cannot say. PLEASE DO NOT HELP THEM TRY TO WALK THE LINE. Phrases like “You can offer to split as long as it isn't linked to a match result” is not a good thing to tell them. If they are at turn 5 or the end of the match, maybe better is to say, “One of you can concede if you like, without any mention of prizes” The message you want them to get is that there is no good way around" bribery, and they would be better served by either conceding or report a draw.

T5 in overtime is NOT the time to star talking about a prize split and then a concession. That's going to be Bribery quite often at that point.

Eric Shukan
Player Investigations Leader

Hi, all. The May DQ cases have been processed, and Judge Center and the Suspended Players Page are updated.

The judge center has a submission bug such that when most people submit an investigation (don't forget to click “submit”!), they get an error message. If you get that, the case has usually been submitted, and the error is irrelevant. You might search to verify that.

Based on some cases we have seen recently, here are a couple of tips:

a) When a player asks about how he can “ask for a prize split and agree to a draw or concession”, or anything like that, please do not make suggestions about how they might dance around the issue. Likewise, if they are near the top and want to delay their match to se other results, please do not help them dance around that issue (by suggesting that they might draw a game that they are currently playing, for example). We are seeing many examples where a judge is helping the players achieve a goal, and the players go too far, and that same judge DQ's them. The DQ's are technically correct, but they wouldn't happen if the judge stays out of the players' attempts to get around the rules. Tell them that that they have to play not talk for ten minutes, that they have to give a result when done, and/or they shouldn't link prizes to ANYTHING associated with a concession or draw. Please don't give them rope so you can hang them later on subtle language and behavioral issues.

b) Please ask players for a written statement, or inform them that they can send statements to the links in the Player DQ FAQ, which hopefully you have printed for them. If they do not give a statement to you, please say in your report that you offered and they declined or they said they'd email one later. If there is no statement and if you say nothing about it in your report, I'll be emailing you asking. That wastses some time, unless you are wanting a social visit with me, but in that case you might simply put it into your report and email me separately saying “Hi”.

Eric Shukan
Player Investigations Leader

Good day, Judges. The June 2015 DQ cases have been processed, and the suspended players page updated at http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/suspended-dci-memberships

Here's a couple of tips for the month:

a) If you are doing an investigation about a player stacking a specific card to the top of his deck during shuffling, and if you say you see him move the card, then please CHECK the top card if you stop the match, and include the results of that check in your report. We've had some cases where judges think they saw a specific card move to top, but then they don't check it. Please remember to collect that piece of evidence and report it. It'll be valuable in your interview with the player, too :)

b) If you are doing an investigation about a player's story changing during a ruling, and if your decision involves the player previously speaking to the responding floor judge, please include a statement by that floor judge. Don't just say in the report “Allen's story changed from what he told judge Rondo at first”, but rather include judge Rondo's statement about what he heard. This also goes for opponent - if you say “Allen lied to his opponent…” then we'd expect to see the opponent's version of what happened, so that we can evaluate the lie ourselves. Those statements from FJ's and from opponents are very important in determining the severity of the lie for purposes of issuing the correct post-DQ discipline.

That's it for now. Good luck!

Eric Shukan
Player Investigations Leader

Edited Eric Shukan (Aug. 24, 2015 11:11:28 PM)

Hi, all. The July 2015 DQ cases have been processed, and the suspended players page is updated at http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/suspended-dci-memberships

Tip of the month
IC has seen a spike in incorrect DQ - Bribery cases which were in fact legal splits in the finals of single elimination rounds.

Players in the finals of a single elimination round may negotiate a split of the prizes that are to be awarded. They cannot discuss prizes outside the prize pool, nor can they assign monetary value to discuss money for the prizes unless the money is part of the prize pool to be awarded.

This has two major implications:

a) If they are discussing only to-be-awarded prizes AND they are in the last round of single-elim, they probably should not be DQ'ed for Bribery, and in fact you can help them avoid trouble by telling them to stick only to the prizes in the prize pool.

b) If they discuss prizes outside the prize pool, and in particular they discuss cash conversion of value without the cash being in the prize pool (“Hi. Jace is $40, so I'll let you have 1st place if you give me $40 cash” ), then they will get in trouble.

Stated another way: If the match result is dependent on the split, then in order to be legal:
a) MUST be in the last round of single elimination rounds, AND
b) discussion MUST be limited to the prizes still to be awarded

It is slightly more complicated when more than 2 players are involved, but that is rare, so just focus on the very common 2-player situations.

The relevant section of documentation is MTR 5.2 (2nd paragraph), but the entire MTR5.2 is worth reading. This topic has been discussed at length by L3+ and RC's, so if you ever have any questions, please contact them or me.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Eric Shukan
Player Investigations Leader

Hi, all. The August 2015 DQ cases have been processed, and the suspended players page is updated at http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/suspended-dci-memberships

Hi judges!

As Player Investigations Committee lead, I'm going to start using this thread again to inform you about suspended players page updates, helpful tips, etc.

Right now I'd like to share this still valid piece of advice from my glorious predecessor:

Originally posted by Eric Shukan:

Tip of the month
IC has seen a spike in incorrect DQ - Bribery cases which were in fact legal splits in the finals of single elimination rounds.

Players in the finals of a single elimination round may negotiate a split of the prizes that are to be awarded. They cannot discuss prizes outside the prize pool, nor can they assign monetary value to discuss money for the prizes unless the money is part of the prize pool to be awarded.

This has two major implications:

a) If they are discussing only to-be-awarded prizes AND they are in the last round of single-elim, they probably should not be DQ'ed for Bribery, and in fact you can help them avoid trouble by telling them to stick only to the prizes in the prize pool.

b) If they discuss prizes outside the prize pool, and in particular they discuss cash conversion of value without the cash being in the prize pool (“Hi. Jace is $40, so I'll let you have 1st place if you give me $40 cash” ), then they will get in trouble.

Stated another way: If the match result is dependent on the split, then in order to be legal:
a) MUST be in the last round of single elimination rounds, AND
b) discussion MUST be limited to the prizes still to be awarded

It is slightly more complicated when more than 2 players are involved, but that is rare, so just focus on the very common 2-player situations.

Hi all,


The suspended players page was updated a couple of days ago: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dci/suspended

Tip of the month: Be very careful with investigations that happen after the event. We don't want players to get suspended without having a chance to defend themselves. If you're not sure how to handle a post-event situation, please contact a senior judge (such as me, your RC, or a GP HJ) for advice. We are planning to provide more education on this topic in the near future.

Please note that the suspended list may be missing some players (those without updated accounts), but their suspensions are still valid. WER should still show those players as suspended. If you know a player who should be suspended but WER says they aren't, please contact investigations@wizards.com to verify their situation. Same thing for players who have questions about their status.

The suspended players page has been updated with the March cases: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dci/suspended

As noted before, the list is missing players who do not have a registered account and it is not currently possible to share the full list. Wizards Event Reporter should still recognize that those players are suspended. If you encounter any issues with this (a player that should be suspended is not listed as suspended in WER), please make sure you're running the latest version of WER. You can also contact investigations@wizards.com to verify the player's status.