Okay folks, this week's scenario is rated BRONZE. This means: If you are L0 or an L1 with very little IPG experience, this question is for you. If you are an experienced L1, you are L2+, or the question seems very straightforward to you, then let others answer rather than spoiling it for those who will benefit. Instead, you may assist us in educating our fellow judges by taking on a guiding role if necessary. Thank you.

This scenario's blog post can be found here:
http://blogs.magicjudges.org/knowledgepool/?p=795

Antonio and Nelson are playing in a PTQ. They are currently sideboarding for game 3 when one of Nelson's friends who has finished his match approaches the table and informs Nelson they are going to pick up lunch, and asks if he wants anything. Nelson stops sideboarding and they begin discussing lunch options. After a few minutes of waiting on their discussion after Antonio has already presented his deck, he calls for a judge. What do you do?

If the “few minutes” adds up to more than the usual allotted time to complete the pre-game procedure (a short investigation might be necessary), then this is Tournament Error - Slow Play. Nelson gets a Warning, and Nelson's friend gets advice about the conduct expected from people not involved in an ongoing match. Each player will get one extra turn at the end of the current match if it goes to time.

If not enough time has passed to be considered Slow Play (or if it's impossible to determine), Nelson and his friend get advice on conduct during a match.

Originally posted by Michael Shiver:

more than the usual allotted time to complete the pre-game procedure

What would you consider the usual alloted time?

Well, I thought there was a hard figure (5 minutes or something), but now I see the MTR just says “a timely manner”. Since it's not defined I would have to use my own judgment on the matter, so I would end up using my instinctive 5-min limit to guide my decision on that point.

And a good gauge for timeliness could be the other player. If we assume that Antonio didn't rush through sideboarding and shuffling, the amount of time that he took is likely “reasonable.” (We don't know how long it was, but nobody was waiting on him to finish at any point.)

Once Antonio presents, now we're waiting on Nelson. Nelson gets some time (maybe he's just not as fast as Antonio), but at some point, he has to realize that the game/match are being held up for him.

If we arrive and can tell that Nelson has clearly been distracted by his friend, it seems like an easy Slow Play call. Guidance that I've read is that “if you think there's some Slow Play happening, you're probably right” and so I'm inclined to extend that to “If a player is slow enough that you've been called, it's probably an infraction.” (Obviously, you don't indicate that to players, or you get a lot of calls about “slow” play that's hardly Slow.)

As for the hard figure, it used to be 3 minutes, so if we're well over that (we must be if he stopped sideboarding to talk about lunch and has been doing so for “a few minutes” since “a few” to me means “about 3”), it's time for a Warning.

I'd also say 3 minutes is about reasonable since when doing deck checks we add 3 minutes to the time we needed for checking for the player's pregame procedures so this is what it should take.
So I would also give him a warning for Tournament Error - Slow Play and tell him to finish his pregame procedures.

Good work this week folks. As many observed, the infraction here is slow play. While no specific elapsed time was given, Nelson is required to complete his pregame procedures at a reasonable pace. The fact that his opponent has had his deck presented and ready for a few minutes makes it clear that Nelson has had ample time and should be ready to play. He receives a warning and, as an additional remedy, if the match goes to time the players will get two extra turns in addition to the normal five (be sure to mark +2 Turns or some similar note on the match slip in case you aren't there as the match ends).

See you all tomorrow for our next scenario!

Originally posted by Patrick Vorbroker:

as an additional remedy, if the match goes to time the players will get two extra turns in addition to the normal five (be sure to mark +2 Turns or some similar note on the match slip in case you aren't there as the match ends).

Hello, and many thanks for the answer.
I'm replying just to understand better the philosophy of this additional remedy.

Why is the chapter 3.3 of the IPG (Tournament Error - Slow Play) instructing to give +1 Turn for each player, instead of – for example – some minutes of extra time? What kind of policy difference am I missing here? :)

How long is a turn? :)

I'll confess, this change happened a long time ago; Ten Years After, I really don't recall the discussion that led to it. The rather arbitrary nature of time as it relates to Slow Play was probably most of it.

Time extensions are based on actual time elapsed, while Judges are involved in the interruption of play. Deck Checks get an extra 3 minutes, since they have to re-do the pre-game procedure (shuffling a LOT); otherwise, we note the time on the clock when play is stopped, and when it starts again, and extend the match by that amount.

There's really no reliable, consistent guide we can give judges that would correlate Slow Play to an actual amount of time lost. Adding an extra turn is an elegant and consistent solution.