I was watching the Theros pro tour coverage on youtube to pass some time. In one of the rounds that was featured, player A referred to very obviously pre-written notes regarding deck lists. There is no way to know what this information was used for but from my standpoint as a viewer of the game, it seemed that player A was deciding how to sideboard based on information he had prepared prior to the match starting.

I was unable to find the relevant ruling in the MTR nor the MCR. I did however find this article on daily MTG: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=judge/article/20070322a

I'd really like to further my own knowledge as I continue my judge career. I feel like this was an obvious violation and I'm more than shocked to see that it happened so openly with 2 judges standing next to the match.

Hi Jonathan.

The date on that article that you have linked is 2007. This is worth checking when you read policy articles, as policy is evolving and updating constantly and information can rapidly fall out of date. If something is a few years old, it should definitely be treated with suspicion.

In this case, this is what has happened. The section that you are looking for is section 2.11 of the MTR, ‘Taking Notes’ (the latest version of the MTR being available here: http://www.wizards.com/contentresources/wizards/wpn/main/documents/magic_the_gathering_tournament_rules_pdf1.pdf):

“Between games, players may refer to a brief set of notes made before the match. They are not required to reveal these notes to their opponents. These notes must be removed from the play area before the beginning of the next game. Excessive quantities of notes (more than a sheet or two) are not allowed and may be penalized as slow play. ”

If the player was looking at sideboarding notes in between games, that is perfectly legal, which would explain why the judges did not intervene.

Hope that helps!

Kim.

Edited Kim Warren (Nov. 18, 2013 01:05:28 AM)