Hi folks. We had a strange situation come up yesterday during a Sealed Theros event at my local store.
I was there playing not judging first of all.
We were in the first round of Top 8 playoffs and I was in the middle of my match when a friend comes over to tell me he won his match. I congratulated him, he then tells me “Yeah man, I changed my whole deck up from earlier and now it runs way better.” I responded by saying “You do know that this isn't a pre-release and that you can't change your deck in between matches right?” He was not aware of this, since his only previous experience doing sealed was indeed at Pre-Release events. I told him he should try and put his deck back the way it was and proceed with the rest of the event. I was only trying to educate the guy. I was not telling him in any official capacity that he had to do one thing or another. I guess he ended up giving his opponent the win for that round and dropped from the event because he did not feel like putting his deck back to the way it was. The TO approached me later and said that since i was not actually Judging the event I should not be making Judge Calls during this event. I told him in no way did I make a Judge Call and if it was perceived as such that I apologize. I told the TO I was only trying to educate the person so that they would know better in the future.

What is the actual fix for something like this happening at a Regular REL type limited event? I would really love to know so I do not make a mistake in the future and can let the TO know as well.

Regular REL limited events that do not use deck lists all use continuous construction rules, so what your friend did was perfectly legal - you are allowed to change your deck using the cards in your pool throughout the tournament.

Were decklists being used?

Here's a good article on continuous construction: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/rulestips/2013/01/what-continuous-construction-means-for-limited-tournaments/

The reference for this is section 7.2 in the MTR, incidentally :)

Originally posted by Kim Warren:

The reference for this is section 7.2 in the MTR, incidentally :)

Thank you Kim. I will inform the TO and I will know better next time.

Elliot:

Just 2 cents because I do not know the dynamic between you and the TO, but you could use this opportunity to open up a dialogue about judging while playing. You are allowed to be put in WER as a judge and enrolled as a player in the event for non-premier events, such as a Regular REL tournament. Whether you want to act in any official capacity or focus entirely on recreational play without judging responsibility is wholly up to you.

That said, it's good to keep in mind that judges are a benefit for the store and it would be great for the TO to share this viewpoint. We've had issues at a local store of a player complaining about the perceived conflict of interest when a judge is playing and judging in the same event. This initiated a dialogue about the integrity expected of certified judges and there should be a degree of faith from both sides- the integrity of the judges for the store and the acceptance of the store to trust the judge to improve the quality of events.

The IPG General Philosophy says:

Judges should be seen as a benefit to the players, helping to ensure the consistent and fair running of a tournament

It sounds like you had the best interests of the event and the player in mind when you got involved in an unofficial capacity. Hopefully the TO understands that you are a benefit to the community, even when just acting as a player.

Hi Evan. Yes I do Judge events for my local store when the TO wants me to. But the TO prefers to keep that to either Pre-Releases or for GPT's. His concern is that me or any other Judge is going to try and make rulings while not being a Judge for an event. He for some reason thinks such a thing would hurt the community. Or he sees it as a person “overstepping” their boundaries. I honestly can't say what is inside that persons mind regarding this subject.
I am always open to answering questions or pointing someone the right direction to become a Judge. I had just such an opportunity this weekend and told the person to register as a L0 on this site and then search and find an L2 to connect with and start a dialogue with and to go from there.
While in this particular instance I was wrong in my thinking and what I said to the person, it has always been “understood” at my store that you can't modify your deck in between rounds say during a FNM draft. So in a way i feel i was merely upholding store policy. I have informed the TO though about the correct way to handle his limited events from now on and I think he will be making an announcement prior to the start of limited events from now on.