As a computer scientist, and knowing the complexity of Magic rules, I have to admire the work behind MTGO's rules engine.

I assume that for testing their software the programmers probably developped an interface where they could create a specific game situation without going through the entire process of playing several games waiting for that situation to occur.

Now comes the crazy idea:

Why not make that interface avaiable to judges?
Wouldn't it be a great tool for judges to confirm their interpretation of the rules, either when “studying” or actually in realtime during a tournament where a weird interaction came up?

What's your thoughts on this?

Time and again MTGO has had card interaction bugs. They're often fixed relatively quickly, but its enough that I wouldn't trust it enough for training :/

I definitely like the idea. It would be neat to have something like that in remote regions where having a L2+ Judge is a problem (like here in Alaska). It might be worth emailing WotC about, but that's just my opinion. :D

Let me suggest http://chat.magicjudges.org where you can get
real-time, 24/7 access to the #mtgrules chat room.

On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 12:45 PM, Benjemin Harris
<forum-2065@apps.magicjudges.org> wrote:

With access to multiple human judges, who by consensus are probably more
accurate than MTGO and being human can explain things, not just show you
how something works (if you can figure out how to ask MTGO to do the same
thing, or if it has the cards involved)


On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 5:49 AM, Kevin Binswanger <
forum-2065@apps.magicjudges.org> wrote:

> Let me suggest http://chat.magicjudges.org where you can get
> real-time, 24/7 access to the #mtgrules chat room.
>
> On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 12:45 PM, Benjemin Harris
> <forum-2065@apps.magicjudges.org> wrote:
>
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–
Gareth Pye
Level 2 Judge, Melbourne, Australia
Australian MTG Forum: mtgau.com
gareth@cerberos.id.au - www.rockpaperdynamite.wordpress.com
“Dear God, I would like to file a bug report”

The programmers do have a way of testing situations, but last I checked, it wasn't a separate interface–it's the Library of Congress, a custom card created to allow them to set up any situation they require with ease within the normal game engine.

While I think the idea is neat, I have to agree that Magic Online isn't reliable enough on the rules front that I'd be comfortable using it as a source of rulings. Besides which, I can start up a browser and check any number of online resources much faster and on more devices than I could start up MTGO and set up a situation in-game.