At a competitive REL top 8 a player mash shuffled his cards and ended up bending a sleeve enough to be noticed. He then proceeded to present his deck, I asked him to replace the sleeve and gave a warning for marked cards.

Then a spectator said, “If that's a warning, you should appeal.” This spectator had been playing earlier in the day, but had not made it to top 8.

Is this an example of outside assistance? This was after the players had seated for the match, but what was said wasn't technically game play advice. Since I wasn't sure I just opted for a stern, “You can't talk to the players,” but in hindsight I think I should have issued Outside Assistance and asked him to leave. Thoughts?

You really answered your own question. The definition of TE - Outside assistance is:
Seeking play advise or hidden information about the match
Giving play advise or revealing hidden information about the match
Refering to notes during a game that does not involve that match.

The spectator did none of those things. Though what the spectator did was certainly uncalled for, it is not outside assistance and it really isn't an infraction.

Your best remedy here is to talk to that spectator and instruct them not to interfere like that again. If they do it after that then you could issue them an Unsporting Conduct - Major infraction for failure to follow your direct instructions.

Edited Cris Plyler (June 5, 2013 11:53:04 AM)