So, a buddy of mine told me about a situation that happened at a prerelease that I wasn't present at and asked what I would do in that situation. Pairings went up for round 2, but for some reason the round didn't start right away. This fact was lost on two players, who began their match, with Anson winning 2-0 quite quickly. The judge then announced the round may begin, and Noah said the games they played didn't count because they weren't on the clock. That's how the judge there ruled, and thinking about it, I'm inclined to agree, but wondered if there was an “O”fficial way to deal with a situation like this, or if anyone has even seen this before.

From the player's perspective, the announcements weren't clear enough, or they'd have known not to start; granted, they share some responsibility here, too - you'd hope they'd notice that no one around them was playing yet, and often when this happens, a neighboring match might speak up.

Still… the reason we don't want players to start their match before the clock begins is to ensure everyone has the same time constraints; it's not fair for one match to get 55 minutes - esp. if they use it! - while all the others only have 50.

In this case? They didn't benefit from starting early, other than having more time to relax before the next round. And, it's a prerelease - fun is meant to be had! - so really, no harm done. Ask them to be more attentive, and leave the result as reported. (i.e., I would not cancel it in this case)

At at Comp REL event, if you notice someone starting before the round begins, just ask them to pause and wait for the official announcement. It's not good customer service to cancel decisions like starting hands and mulligans.

d:^D

I won't count those games as “not played because not on clock”, no matter the REL. They've sit for their match, and surely they played it as it was a true match for the round. Noah would have a very interesting conversation with me, trying to convince me otherwise.