This has not happened, but I am looking for some clarification in case the situation ever does arise.

I am HJ at a IQ. I perform top 8 deck checks, and return decks to players. I am certain than the decks and sideboards were all correct. I inform players to go ahead and shuffle up, and good luck.
During the first round of top 8, I decide that I am going to check sideboards, just so make sure everything is in order. While checking one of the decks, I realize that a player has already sideboarded, and when I ask what game they are in, they reply that this is game one.

I come to the conclusion that one player has indeed sideboarded before game one in order to gain an extreme advantage. I know that this will be a game loss for deck list problem, but is there any point where cheating would come into play, because the players should obviously know that they cannot sideboard before the match begins?

I feel that an investigation would lead the the player knowing the rules, and breaking them to gain advantage.

If a player intentionally sideboards before Game 1 of a match in order to
gain advantage and knows it is wrong, then they are cheating. This doesn't
matter if it is the Top 8 or if you have done deck checks or not.

Originally posted by Shawn Doherty:

If a player intentionally sideboards before Game 1 of a match in order to
gain advantage and knows it is wrong, then they are cheating. This doesn't
matter if it is the Top 8 or if you have done deck checks or not.

Agreed, but I have to prove in the investigation that they indeed knew it was against the rules. I feel that they would know this, but innocent until proven guilty, and all that jazz. I feel if they were going to knowingly cheat, they would not admit to it.

I think you are thinking of the legal system, not the Judge Program.
As the HJ, you decide whether someone is cheating or not.
If you believe, based on your investigation, that they knew how
sideboarding worked, then you can pull the trigger.
If you believe that the player thought he could sideboard before Game 1
(whether because of the DC or some other logic), then you shouldn't DQ.
If we only DQ'd people who admitted to cheating, we'd have a lot less DQs
and a lot more cheaters still playing Magic.

OK. Thank you for your guidance and knowledge in this situation. I just hope it never comes up.

Originally posted by Joe Cross:

OK. Thank you for your guidance and knowledge in this situation. I just hope it never comes up.

The thing to consider might be what you tell players as you hand the decks back to them after the deck check. Even if you found no issues, tell them what they need to do. Example: “Everything checked out okay, so you don't need to do anything except shuffle your deck thoroughly since we did sort the cards. Additionally this is still game one and there is no sideboarding. Go ahead and play on.”

A simple set of things to cover that make sure players don't do anything to get themselves in trouble. (Much like covering “die rolling” in announcements or periodically during the event.) You may also want to reflect on the value gained from conducting such a Top 8 check, and whether it is truly a good procedure to follow for your event.

Originally posted by Brian Schenck:

“Everything checked out okay, so you don't need to do anything except shuffle your deck thoroughly since we did sort the cards. Additionally this is still game one and there is no sideboarding. Go ahead and play on.”

This also conveniently gets rid of the excuse "I didn't know I couldn't sideboard' in case you actually find a problem afterwards.

It is also possible to head off this problem (or other potential
shenanigans) by delaying returning the decks to the players until they are
seated for their Top 8 match. Sideboarding before game 1 in front of your
opponent with spectators and/or judges watching you do it is much more
difficult than doing so in the corner while the judges are occupied getting
things ready for the Top 8.

Please, make sure the player really didn't know he wasn't allowed to sideboard before game 1 before dq'ing him. You are in fact allowed to do so in a REL regular limited tournament that's not using decklists. Some players don't know better because all limited magic they play is at fnm or prereleases.

I totally agree with Shawn. This is the way to approach this situation.

Each of us might have a different way of investigating into the matter, but
I believe some basic questions (I would definitely not start with “Did you
cheat?”) to determine what has happened. I'd probably ask the player about
his experience at previous events and ask him to explain me how he uses his
sideboard and how sideboarding works. If I'm not convinced he is honest
about not knowing how to sideboard properly, I'd definitely DQ that player.
Also, if the player claims to be a new player and that this is his 3rd
Magic tournament, entering that player's DCI number into the PWP page we
can easily check if he is telling the truth (unless we have reasons to
believe he got a new DCI number to hide his previous history).

Regarding how to proceed with the investigation, there's a very interesting
series of articles called “Investigations – The Search for Collateral
Truths” by Eric Shukan.
http://blogs.magicjudges.org/articles/2014/12/30/investigations-the-search-for-collateral-truths/



Alejandro Raggio
araggio@gmail.com