Tournament Play: Communication Policy

[Todd Ozawa]

The PTQ is coming up fast, and I'd like to take some time to go over a few things that might be of interest to those players planning on attending. While these things will be posted in preparation for this PTQ, they should provide good information for any Magic player who wishes to understand more about tournament play in the future.

The first issue that is likely to come up is the official Communication Policy (section 50 of the DCI Penalty Guide and Procedures). This policy explains the three types of information, and if/how you need to provide it to your opponent, if he/she asks. Knowing this policy also will help you frame your questions in the best way possible, whether you are asking your opponent something, or a judge. There are...

1. Questions your opponent might ask you that you must answer truthfully and completely. (Free Information)
2. Questions your opponent might ask you that you may either choose not to answer, or answer truthfully, but not necessarily completely. (Derived Information)
3. Questions your opponent might ask you that you have no responsibility to answer, truthfully or otherwise. (Private Information)

The three types of information are defined as...

Free Information
Free information is so called because all players are entitled access to this information without contamination or omissions made by their opponent. If you’re ever unable or unwilling to provide free information to an opponent that has requested it, you should call a judge and explain the situation. Free Information includes:

· Details of current game actions and past game actions that still affect the game state.

· The name of any object in a public zone.

· The physical status (tapped/flipped) and current zone of any object.

· Player life totals and the game score of the current match.

For example, these questions are asking for Free information and must be answered both truthfully and completely.
Did you play that creature last turn?
What color did you choose for this (in-play) Voice of All?
Is that card in the graveyard or removed from the game?

Derived Information
Derived information is information to which all players are permitted, but which your opponents are not obliged to assist you in determining and may require some skill or calculation to determine. Derived Information includes:

· The number of objects present in any game zone.

· All objects in public zones and any of their characteristics that are not defined as free information.

· Game Rules, Tournament Policy, Oracle content and any other official information pertaining to the current event. Cards are considered to have their Oracle text printed on them.

For example, the following questions are asking for Derived Information. You may choose not to answer any of these questions. If you choose to answer, your answer must be true, however it is not required that your answer be complete, or even relevant to the question you were asked.
How many cards are in your hand?
What does that spell do?
How many creatures can you block with?

Private Information
Private information is so called because players have access to this information only if they are able to determine it from the current visual game state or their own record of previous game actions.

· Any information that is not free or derived is automatically private information.

For example, these questions are asking for Private Information:
Do you have a [card name] in your hand?
How many [card name] are in your deck?
Are you going to tap this creature during my next Upkeep?

Putting it together
The following rules govern player communication:

· Players must answer all questions asked of them by a judge completely and honestly, regardless of the type of information requested. They may request to do so away from the match.

· Players may not represent derived or free information incorrectly, improperly, or falsely.

· Players must answer completely and honestly any specific questions pertaining to free information.

· At Regular REL, all derived information is instead considered free. (PTQs are NOT Regular REL events)

Judges are encouraged to help players in determining free information, but must avoid assisting players with derived information about the game state. (This is a big one - I'll come back to this later)

More Information
If you're planning on playing in the PTQ, you should also check out these articles. They are long enough that I don't want to simply cut and paste them here, but I am 100% sure that 0 players know these things perfectly and they are worth reading more than once.

Player Communication Guide

A Framework for Communication

Remember, even if you are not a very competitive player, at this level of event you are going to play against people who are. If you want to know what you can expect from your opponents (and when you can or can't trust what they say), you need to understand this policy.

"The philosophy of the DCI is that a player should have an advantage due to better understanding of the rules of a game, greater awareness of the interactions in the current game state and superior tactical planning. Players are under no obligation to assist their opponents in playing the game. Regardless of anything else, players are expected to treat their opponents politely and with respect. Failure to do so may lead to Unsporting Conduct penalties."

It is my hope that readers will point other players to this kind of information as the PTQ approaches. In the meantime, please post your questions here, and I will address them as best as I can.

[Drake Gammill]

How many cards are in your hand is considered derived information? So if I put my hand in pile form in my hand, I can keep them guessing the whole time?

"Players may not represent derived or free information incorrectly, improperly, or falsely."

Does this apply to make it so this can not happen?

[Drake Gammill]

"Asking a Judge to shuffle your deck… yes, it is written in the rules that a player can ask a Judge to shuffle a deck."

-Riki Rules

Matt you better be ready for me

[Todd Ozawa]

"How many cards are in your hand is considered derived information? So if I put my hand in pile form in my hand, I can keep them guessing the whole time?"

Of course this has come up in many discussions elsewhere. Instead of explaining this myself, I'll just note that the 'Framework' Article linked in my post provides a pretty clear answer.

Cards in Hand
Classification of the number of cards in hand as derived information has caused an amount of discussion. For this iteration of the policy, I was trying to apply generic concepts with as few exceptions as possible. In that line of thinking, the number of objects in all zones became derived information, as this applies very nicely to the total number of cards in each library, graveyard, and hand.

It's important to remember while considering this that while a player doesn't have to help you in determining derived information, they can't prevent you from determining it yourself, either. So they don't have to count the cards in their hand, graveyard, or library when you ask, but they must not obstruct you from doing so. Thus laying your hand face down on the table for an opponent to count is acceptable; boxing the cards together in your hand to obscure their number is not.

So while you can lay your hand out face down for your opponent to count every time they ask you, "Cards in hand?" it is both faster and more sportmanlike to simply answer verbally. The only thing to keep in mind is that if you choose to answer, you must answer both truthfully and completely.

[Todd Ozawa]

"Asking a Judge to shuffle your deck… yes, it is written in the rules that a player can ask a Judge to shuffle a deck."

To ease the fears of any player drawing the wrong conclusions from this, I'm including the rest of the cited passage to provide clarity and context.

"Asking a Judge to shuffle your deck… yes, it is written in the rules that a player can ask a Judge to shuffle a deck. However, this does not mean that we have to honor all such requests. After all, we have things to do, like deck checks and passing out match result slips. It’s not an excuse for you to be lazy. When we get this request, we will ask a very simple question: Why? If you have a valid medical reason like an injury or a handicap, we will be more than happy to help. If you’re just trying to use Judges as free slave labor, we’re going to have some words."

[Todd Ozawa]

I'd like to note that the judging article Drake referenced is a pretty good one, with information on:

Shuffling - Time, Tricks, and what to watch for (or avoid).
Shards of Alara tricks - Soul's fire and stacking Devour-related triggers

You can read it for yourself (and should) here:
http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=16649

One interesting paragraph...
"Finally, as a Judge, when I watch players shuffle their decks I am looking for any visual clues that things are not on the up and up. I’m looking for potential Insufficient Randomization as explained above, and I am watching the players’ eyes. Someone who looks down while shuffling is going to come under some scrutiny. Understanding this, many Pros deliberately look up and away to avoid any suspicion of wrongdoing."

...highlights an important concept that I'd like to remind people of:

In regards to cheating, a judge does not need -proof- you were trying to cheat. The defense, "You can't prove it." is not really worth anything if you are suspected of cheating. The best way to avoid any chance of getting the cheating-flag thrown is to not do anything that -might- indicate that you are trying to cheat. Yes, it's true that in some cases, a player is not doing anything fishy. However, to protect all players, we need to be vigilant about not allowing those few who would cheat from earning any kind of reward from their behavior.

[Todd Ozawa]

"Judges are encouraged to help players in determining free information, but must avoid assisting players with derived information about the game state. (This is a big one - I'll come back to this later)"

It's later, and I am coming back.

In short, if you just wiped the board, but don't know which leaves-play trigger goes on the stack first, a judge will tell you. If you want to know how many blockers your opponent has, how big their dragon is, or how protection works, exactly, you're best advised to learn how to figure those things out -before- the PTQ.

The communication policy is very important, and I hope anyone who wants to do well this Saturday is familiar with it by now.

At almost all magic tournaments, the atmosphere is mostly focused on hanging out, having fun, and learning more about the game (including play-skill, the rules, the metagame, etc.). For example, at FNM, if a player asks me:

"If he/she blocks my 4/4 double-striker with his 1/1, will I get to hit him/her with the regular-strike damage?"

I will probably answer, "Blocked creatures deal can no combat damage to the defending player unless they have trample." If it is a new player asking, I'd probaby add the word "No." to the front of that sentence.

At a PTQ, if I got that question, I wouldn't answer like that at all. Providing that information would likely affect that player's decision to attack (and if so, with which creatures). The expectation is that players participating at that level know how double strike works (especially if its on a card in their own deck).

The DCI policy "The philosophy of the DCI is that a player should have an advantage due to better understanding of the rules of a game, greater awareness of the interactions in the current game state and superior tactical planning." is pretty clear.

However, if that player did attack with a non-trampling 4/4, and his opponent blocked with his/her 1/1, and the two players then disagreed on if the defender would take the 4 combat damage or not, I'd expect them to call a judge. In that case, it's clear that I'd tell them that the 4/4 does not assign any combat damage during the 'regular' damage step.

I can see some more-casual players becoming frustrated with not being able to get help during their matches, but every player should learn and improve from it, either in preparation, or during the event itself.

If anyone has questions about the communication policy, as it applies to players OR judges, please post them here this week before the PTQ and I'll be happy to clear things up for you.

[Drake Gammill]

Yes I suggest not looking at your deck while shuffling and also would like to point out that lying to a judge under any circumstance will get you in trouble (A DQ I believe, could be wrong) whether it be why you were late for your round to if you accidentally drew an extra card. So remember to always tell the truth

[Todd Ozawa]

Lying to a tournament official is a DQ-worthy offense, at all RELs. The infraction is 152. Cheating — Fraud.

[daniel galacgac]

i have never been to a ptq before, is this event a constructed type 2 event or will it be a draft type of event, and yes this is a yugioh player asking such simple questions i played magic for a while until i moved away from kansas. just never got into the big events with magic back then i was a casual player.

[Todd Ozawa]

In regards to this weekend's event, PTQ Honolulu (3/21/2009):
PTQ Honolulu is a constructed event (you bring your own deck). The format is called Extended, and allows cards from the Onslaught Block up through the most recent set, Conflux, with the exception of the banned cards AEther Vial, Disciple of the Vault, Skullclamp. and Sensei's Divining Top. No part of the upcoming PTQ will involve sealed or draft play.