A player drops Nevermore and says “Bob.” His opponent says ok. He passes the turn. The opponent plays a Dark Confidant and a judge is called.

Is “Bob” a valid name? Many cards have nicknames. Should they just be avoided?

Edited Scott Marshall (Aug. 1, 2013 08:42:09 PM)

If both players understand what is being named, the exact language
doesn't matter. If one player is confused, then they need to clarify.
In the situation listed, the opponent should have verified the card,
if they weren't sure. Nicknames should be avoided to prevent
confusion, but there is nothing wrong with them if the players are not
confused.

On Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 2:39 PM, Eric Crump
<forum-5296-1450@apps.magicjudges.org> wrote:

Just to give some clarity to the situation, let's call the Nevermore player Ned and the other player Alice.

I'd definitely be asking Alice what she thought Ned was naming, since she's required to call attention to an Ned naming an illegal or nonexistent. It could be an innocent mistake, or there could be something more seriously wrong.

In principle, yes. There is no reason that cards can't be referred to by nicknames as long as both players are clear on the outcome. I've never heard any other card called “Bob”

If called over, I would begin by investigating why the player is calling a judge. If he thinks that the call of “Bob” was illegal and was waiting to call a judge, that's a more serious issue. If he genuinely thought that “Bob” was a card name, just not the Confidant, then I would explain that Dark Confidant is commonly referred to as “Bob” and instruct the Nevermore player to be more clear.

I would in any case not allow the Confidant to be played, as “Bob” is not a valid card name, and if I were to determine that a card was not validly named for Nevermore, then part of the fix for GRV is to allow him to name a card immediately, and so he could stop Bob.

Originally posted by Sean Hunt:

I've never heard any other card called “Bob”

Amusingly, my buddy refers to Spined Wurm as “Bob”. I have no idea why Bob was chosen, but he has names for all sorts of things. “Tim” is Prodigal Sorcerer, “Tom” is a similar pinger, and Anaba Shaman is “Mister Ed” (for the original Homelands art, that makes sense).

Having said that, I completely agree with what Shawn, Paul, and Sean have said.

Edited Scott Marshall (Aug. 1, 2013 08:56:18 PM)

Originally posted by Scott Marshall:

…he has names for all sorts of things. “Tim” is Prodigal Sorceror…

That is an oldie but goldie. Prodigal Sorceror gets his name from Monty Python.


Tim, the Enchanter

Edited Bret Siakel (Aug. 1, 2013 09:03:36 PM)

More amusingly, “Bob” has been a widespread nickname twice.

The most common one is the one in current use–for Dark Confidant. Dark Confidant was named “Bob” for it's designer, Pro Tour Champion Bob Maher.

The earliest widespread use of Bob was for Treetop Village–an abbreviation on Beats On Blue (since lands couldn't be countered, And Treetop gets in there for a decent amount of damage).

Why is this amusing?
Bob Maher became a Pro Tour Champion in Chicago 1999. In his winning deck, Bob played Treetop Village, a.k.a. Bob.

Bob the land = http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=sb20010424b
Bob the PT Champion = https://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTCHICAGO9900/top8decklists
Bob the Invitational winner resulting in Bob the card judges' nightmare = https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/mi04/welcome

Ijust want to add that there's the not-so-alltime-favorite-mana-acceleration-anymore card Birds of Paradise, aka Bop (or Bob, since Bop would spell weird).
Where I live, this was always referred to as Bob.