Welcome back to Knowledge Pool! My apologies for the delay in this week's scenario, but now we're fully ready to go! This week we are presenting to you a Bronze level scenario. Bronze level scenarios are targeted at Level 1 judges who are just starting to learn the Infraction Procedure Guide (IPG). We normally give a time frame for more experienced judges to wait before answering, but with a Bronze scenario, we felt that slightly different guidelines were necessary. If you have read the IPG more than a few times or you have seen this situation at an event you have worked, please refrain from answering to give those that have not a chance to answer and discuss the scenario. Thank you and good luck!

Proper Courser of Action - BRONZE

http://blogs.magicjudges.org/knowledgepool/?p=1223

You are the head and only judge in a Theros/Khans of Tarkir Standard Grand Prix Trial (GPT). You are watching a game between Alex and Nathan. During Nathan's turn, he casts Hero's Downfall targeting Alex's Courser of Kruphix. Alex puts the Courser in the graveyard, but does not turn the top card of his library face down. The players proceed through combat before Nathan passes turn. Alex untaps, draws the top card of his library and then proceeds to flip the next card in his library face up. He immediately realizes what he's done and calls for you. What do you do?

I give a Warning for L@EC to Alex. No FtMGS to Nathan because he probably can't really stop Alex fast enough after the drawing to prevent the reveal. He could have said something between the death of the Courser and the draw step but I see a lot of people leaving the card there because it was legally revealed previously and that's ok.

I ask if the player has scryed anything to the top or the bottom. While he responds, I check the graveyard and battlefield for anything that scries. If he has scryed something to the bottom of the library, I set aside those card and shuffle the library then putting the cards on the bottom. If he has scryed something to the bottom, we need to make sure that it was done after the last shuffle (fetchlands = lots of shuffles).

I remind the player that a Courser requiers constant care if you don't want penalties :)

Edited Jaurès Chabalier (Jan. 15, 2015 02:47:04 PM)

So, I don't know the answer to this one, and I'm not sure where to go.

Clearly, Alex gets LEC. The question is, does Nathan get FtMGS?

One the one hand, the game state might have been broken for an entire turn, given the card staying face-up.

On the other hand, I use I leave cards face-up every time. I regularly put the top card face-up if it's known from a Mystical Tutor, a dead Oracle of Mul-Daya, or a Jeskai Charm. Is this allowed at a competitive event?

Maybe the answer here is the same rule as the previous scenario–

Originally posted by John Trout:

“If the players are playing in a way that is clear to both players, but might cause confusion to an external observer, judges are encouraged to request that the players make the situation clear, but not issue any penalty.”

After all, if we're both clear that the top card of the library is known, but face down, we can represent it as face-up.

So, since leaving the card face up is an acceptable shortcut, and the judge was called as soon as the next card was flipped, I'm going to err on the side of “no penalty.” Although, of course, if he says something like “both of us forgot Courser died” while I'm at the table, that might change my mind.

Can Nathan even receive FtMGS per the IPG?

Originally posted by Chris Vlastelica:

Can Nathan even receive FtMGS per the IPG?

The IPG has this as the definition of FtMGS:

IPG
A player allows another player in the game to commit a Game Play Error and does not point it out immediately.

Since L@EC is a Game Play Error, it's possible to give FtMGS out if it isn't caught immediately. That being said, in this case, the judge was called as soon as the players realized something was wrong, so I don't think it would apply.

I would say no to FtMGS here. The error was caught immediately. If the card lingered on the top of the deck for a bit while both players pondered their game - then, yes, I could see it. As it is, Alex revealed the card and instantly realized his error.

Thank you for your discussions this week! We'll have our next scenario posted shortly!

While it is not technically correct for Alex to leave the card revealed after Courser of Kruphix has been destroyed, it is generally accepted to be ok to do so. However, once he draws that card, by revealing the next card for a now non-existent Courser, Alex has committed Looking at Extra Cards and will receive a Warning. The random portion of the deck needs to be randomized. Determine if Alex has put any cards on the bottom of his library, such as with Scry, since the last time it was shuffled. If there are known cards on the bottom, set that many cards aside, have Alex randomize the rest of the deck, present to Nathan for a shuffle, and then replace the set aside cards on the bottom of the Library. Then, if necessary, issue an appropriate time extension for the players and record the penalty on the result slip. It is also worth noting that because the Game Play Error was caught immediately, it is not correct to give Failure to Maintain Game State to Nathan.

Edited George FitzGerald (Jan. 21, 2015 12:22:11 PM)