We had this problem last time at our Modern League tournament. A player was waiting to see who he was playing against before choosing his deck, and was even telling player he was doing so. After talking with the TOs, we all agreed that this shouldn't be happening and could have been very punitive for the player (DQ for cheating), but how could we fix that issue? We can't start asking for deck lists since it's a casual tournament and Regular REL, so how to make sure that never happens again?

Thanks!

By “Standings”did you mean “pairings”? And could you clarify whether this was a first-round or subsequent-round choice?

Does the player understand that once the tournament has started he's not allowed to swap decks?

If he does, the road to a DQ for cheating is pretty easy to follow. You don't need courtroom evidence. If he says he is swapping decks based on who he's playing, that's enough to establish intent. You can also do a deck check after the tournament has started but before first-round pairings are posted, and then another deck check after he sits for his first match. The deck check can't verify a decklist (although at Reg REL you could in theory still require one from him…) but you can use it to verify that he's swapping decks.

If he doesn't want to listen to reason and his behaviour is harming the fun of a casual evening playing Magic, you may want to suggest to the TO that he could simply deny the player access to the venue. In that case the store is probably better off without him anyway.

I agree with Evan. It's a different decision if it's Round 1 vs. any other round.

If this is happening Round 1, there's not much you can do about it. If it's any other round, then this could be bad. It seems like he's admitting that he's waiting to know who he's playing, which tells me that he knows he's supposed to use the same deck and is choosing not to, you probably should DQ him for cheating.

I agree that the answer changes based on whether this happens at the beginning of round 1 or the middle of the tournament. I'm not so sure a DQ is really inbound here - seems unlikely a player who knows switching decks during the tournament is dissallowed would brazenly admit to it - but YMMV. I'd also contend that choosing a deck for the very first round based on opponent is simply not a big issue at regular, but perhaps that's just me.

Regardless, you say yourself and the TOs to find this to be a problem. If that is the case, regardless of whether the player is cheating or not, you should talk with him / her about why you find this to be a problem. See if you can get them to see it from your perspective, and perhaps you will be able to change their behavior without having to resort to any policy enforcement. I'm inclined to say this is always the better road to take for Regular, at least by default.

Before going straight in for the DQ (or any other penalty), the first thing to do is to talk to the player and find out why this is going on. If they genuinely think this behaviour is ok, then a short education on why it's not should do the job. If the realise what they're doing is wrong however, then explain the repercussions of doing it again (potentially being DQed as a Serious Problem).

Note - this is the same even if it's Round 1 as far as I'm concerned - a player needs to have a deck for the tournament BEFORE the tournament starts. Waiting to see who you play in round 1 before deciding is basically like allowing players to sideboard for game 1.

It's just when the pairings for round one come down. He sees against who he is playing and take the deck accordingly. He doesn't change after that.

I don't see much of a problem here. At regular I have often set out two deck boxes and asked my opponent to pick a box. I have also set down and decided rather or not I feel like playing the slow grueling decks I am known for or something quick and easy. Correct me if I am wrong but your decision is not final until you turn in a deck list or present your deck for a cut in round one.

-Ariel Adamson

On Mar 26, 2014, at 9:17 AM, “Samuel Tremblay” <forum-9223-d5ac@apps.magicjudges.org> wrote:

At FNM I wouldn't do anything about it, as long as they play the same deck the whole tournament.

If you think it's causing a problem and people are complaining about it, talk to them about how it isn't very sporting and that it would be nice if they would not do that.

I like this approach. Im also curious how big of a group this is. Thinking more on this I realize how this could be more of a problem with a small play group that is maybe more established in their respective archetypes. While I still don't think much can or should be done the best solution I can think of is a teaching moment. Find out their intention and ask them if they think that is fair to their opponent.

-Ariel Adamson

On Mar 26, 2014, at 9:36 AM, “Matthew Turnbull” <forum-9223-d5ac@apps.magicjudges.org> wrote:

I agree that it seems clearly inappropriate, but I'm not sure if it's actually actionable.

When do we define the tournament as having started?

• If it's once the players sit for round one, then this behaviour is legal.
  
  
• If it's sooner than that, then this is illegal, but so are plenty of other Regular event type behaviours that we presumably wouldn't want to stop - such as the “pick a box” mentioned above, or players lending newer people decks at the last second, etc.
  

Of course we can have a word with the player in question about how appropriate their behaviour is, but I don't see how we can do anything beyond that without breaking consistency.

I don't think there's anything illegal about this player's actions, and - personally - don't think it's “wrong”.

However, it is worth pointing out to him that several other people think it's wrong. Perhaps he's OK with that, or perhaps he wants to have a good reputation in that community of players.

d:^D

Shouldn't you have chose your deck at the second you're registered in a tournament? In any ways, if this behavior is perfectly legal and can't me considered as cheating or a serious problem under JAR, would the best way just to talk with him and ask him to have a conduct a little more “sporting” since this is Regular REL?

Samuel, expecting players to have the exact deck picked out upon
registration is just not realistic. At Regular sometimes people are
editing decks all the way up to pairings. Even in Competitive this tends
to be true and people register and then fill out their deck lists. As long
as they play the same deck through from start to finish they have done
nothing against the tournament rules.

As to the how to talk to them I think Uncle Scott said it best. “However,
it is worth pointing out to him that several other people think it's wrong.
Perhaps he's OK with that, or perhaps he wants to have a good reputation in
that community of players.” Community perception can be a big motivator
for behavior changes.

When is the deck you're playing with locked in at competitive REL? Well that would be when you hand in your decklist. We don't use decklists at regular REL (for the most part, though you really shouldn't), therefore the first time we know the contents of the deck is when the player presents it to their first round opponent. I don't see any issue with his actions.