Hi all.. I have a few specific questions related to slow play situations and would also appreciated any general advice on this topic.

First question, are players required to play faster than normal when there is less time remaining on the clock? Example… 50 minute match and games 1 and 2 take combined 40 minutes leaving only 10 minutes remaining. Are players expected to play at a faster pace to try and complete the game in 10 minutes? Or even 5 minutes?

Is a player allowed to play at a regular game pace (i.e. not normally unreasonable) knowing that it will likely result in a time-based tie?

Also.. any general guidelines on what you do when a player calls you over and says “I feel my opponent may be taking unreasonable time that will prevent us from determining a winner”

Thanks

(1) No, they're not required to play faster than before, or faster than normal. The only thing we are concerned about is a player who plays slower when time is running out.

(2) If the pace is reasonable, that's all we can really expect. Sometimes time based ties are unavoidable.

(3) Ideally you should try to observe the opponent and judge for yourself. Or have a second judge observe (in case the opponent suspects you're watching). You can't step in just based purely on a player's say-so, but if you're alerted to a potential problem then you can start to observe yourself. One thing to note though is that time feels different depending on whether you're the one considering your options and making plays, or whether you're waiting for your opponent to play out their turn. The player may thing his/her opponent is being slow when it's actually just a perception. They may in fact both be playing at the same pace, yet both think the other is playing slower.

At the end of the day, Slow Play is one of the toughest parts of judging to get a feel for. Do the best you can!

You have a great resource to know more about Slow Play in this article by
Matteo Callegari and George FitzGerald, give it a look!

http://blogs.magicjudges.org/whatsupdocs/2012/12/09/tournament-error-slow-play/

//David

Thanks Mark/David.

When I posted this question I had actually intended for the Regular REL forum and posted here by accident.

Seems like the answers would be nearly the same though…

The linked article indicates adding extra 2 turns after a Slow Play warning. Is adding extra turns a possible option at Regular REL?

Thanks - not sure if this thread should be moved or not now

At Regular it falls under “General Unwanted Behaviours” when players play slowly. The JAR asks that you educate the players.

In the case where time is short and they don't speed up? Leave them be. As before, we don't expect them to hurry up. And it would be worse if players were expected to hurry up at Regular and then made a game losing error, than it would be if they just timed out and drew.

Hi Jeff, I moved the thread to Competitive REL since I believed it was more relevant to this forum. Note the Slow Play infraction does apply only at Competitive and Professional RELs.

If you refer to Regular REL this is what the JAR says:

“General Unwanted Behaviors
 Players taking unreasonable amounts of time sideboarding or making play decisions.
(…)
Educating players who exhibit these behaviors should be your primary motivation as a judge. It can be useful to reinforce this education with more stern penalties should a player's unwanted behaviour continue, especially in cases where players are likely to upset others. ”

So basically players are expected to play at a reasonable pace at all times, no matter the time left or the game state. If they don't, please educate them.

If you are looking for guidance on what's appropriate to consider reasonable then the article linked above might come in handy.

Edited David de la Iglesia (Dec. 18, 2013 11:28:10 AM)

Ok in Regular REL:

What if the player has heard your encouragement to play faster but still seems to be taking unreasonable time. Would adding extra turns be an option for a judge at Regular REL?

Thanks

Hey, David beat me to posting the article!

While it's geared more towards a Competitive REL setting, there are still
lessons from it that are worth taking to apply to Regular REL.

Also, if you have one player that consistently has a problem with playing
slowly, talk to them about it and encourage them to ask questions. I have
one particular grinder in my area that we used to refer to as “Slow Play
Guy.” He is someone that I personally have given a Slow Play warning to no
less than 5 times. Almost every tournament I see him at, he comes and talks
to me about it. Through that experience, he has learned what is and is not
acceptable and has improved his pace of play. It has been a while since
I've had to issue Slow Play for him.

Originally posted by Jeff Jeakins:

Ok in Regular REL:

What if the player has heard your encouragement to play faster but still seems to be taking unreasonable time. Would adding extra turns be an option for a judge at Regular REL?

Thanks

I don't think that there is an answer on what you should do here and I think you will find opinions both ways of if you should or not. The JAR does not specifically cover it, other than calling Slow Play an unwanted behavior.

My opinion is that it is OK to give the two extra turns. The IPG prescribes that as an appropriate remedy at Competitive REL and I think the philosophy still fits at Regular REL. By playing slowly, the player has deprived themselves and their opponent of time to complete their match. Giving the tow extra turns is a remedy because it's impossible to calculate how much time they would have had without the Slow Play. With that said, I don't think that you're wrong for not giving the two extra turns either because it's not supported by the JAR.

Your mileage may very, and that is my opinion, and mine alone and does not represent the opinions of any other judge or the judge program as a whole.

-George FitzGerald
L2, Sarasota, FL

Applying fixes from the IPG at Regular is usually a bad idea, so I am firmly opposed to adding turns at Regular. However, if this is clearly what both players makes happy (maybe because they are seasoned PTQ veterans), you can deviate and apply the remedy, which is an invention on the spot. But I would be very reluctant to do so…

What do you do if a player one player is running a slower deck say esper, and continually tries to push the pace of the match? I was at an event were one player was running a slow deck and constantly called the judge to watch his opponent for slow play. At competitive level events you are responsible to make sure the opponent drew the correct number of cards off of divination and sphinx rev. Also to make sure he didn’t play an extra land. If someone is rushing his opponent, what should you as a judge do? Is there a judge call for rushing your opponent?

And if there isn't should there be?

The opponent is entitled to play at their own pace (assuming it's reasonable). It is unfair on the opponent to have the Esper player pushing for faster plays. In fact, it's probably Unsporting Conduct - Minor as from your example it sounds like the Esper player is harassing their opponent.

As for repeatedly calling a judge for slow play - if this is happening then perhaps you need to re-examine how you're handling the calls. Either (a) there is no slow play, and you need to communicate this to the player who keeps calling for a judge so that they understand, and stop calling a judge (as it's disruptive); (b) there is slow play, but you're not comfortable giving a penalty as you've never done it before/feel it might be unfair/other reason (this is most common I suspect, as Slow Play is one of the hardest penalties to assess); or © the player is playing fast when you're watching, and slow when you're not (have a second judge keep an eye for this as it's a big red warning sign!)

At Regular events, you would try and tone down the talk of penalties etc and increase the emphasis on education (either “why it's bad to harass your opponent” or “why it's bad to repeatedly call a judge when there's no slow play” etc etc)