You walk into your local hobby shop and see an advertisement for a large Magic event that’s happening this weekend. You figure “Hey, I have a Magic deck. I’m not doing anything this Saturday. I’m gonna go play with my sweet Eldrazi deck!” You walk up to the jovial worker manning the counter and give them your name, your DCI number, and get registered. But when he says to you “Ok, so you need to register your deck, want to send us your deck list now, or wait until Saturday?” You look at him, somewhat confused, and say “Why do I need to write my deck down? I just want to play…”
Welcome to the World of Competitive Magic
The growth of Magic: the Gathering in past few years has resulted in more and more tournament organizers and local communities running Magic events. These events happen all the time and often come with huge prize payouts, invitations, and/or byes to even larger events. When a big event like this happens, it is likely the event itself will be run at a Competitive Rules Enforcement Level or Comp REL. However, many players don’t actually know what being at a Comp REL event means. They might know you need that they need decklist, but that’s not all. My name is Patrick, I’m a Level 2 judge who’s worked many Comp REL events. Today I want to spend some time talking about Comp REL, more competitive tournaments in general, and how it relates to you. Hopefully, by the end of this article you’ll learn something you didn’t know before regardless of whether you’ve played in a thousand competitive events or none at all.
What is Comp REL
Let’s begin by taking a look at what Comp REL actually is. Not every event is run at Comp REL. When you play at your weekly FNM or your weekly draft, those events are not Comp, they are run at a much more lenient Rules Enforcement Level called Regular, which is a topic for another day. The point of having an event set at Comp REL is to promote a tournament environment in which players have rules and procedures in place to enable a fair and safe event. The goal of your Regular REL events are to promote and emphasize fun, education, and social interaction. Comp REL events on the other hand lean towards competition, technical play and tournament integrity.
Comp REL is commonly used at events that have a substantial prize on the line. All large Wizards of the Coast run events would fall under this category, such as a Grand Prix. On a local level Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifiers and Grand Prix Trials also fall into the category of Comp REL. Additionally, tournament organizers can choose to run events at Comp REL when they deem it necessary. For example the Face to Face Games Tournament Series is run at Comp REL due to a substantially higher prize payout.
One of the requirements for a Comp REL event is that it must have a DCI Certified judge overseeing it. The job of the judge is not to punish players, but rather to maintain the integrity of the tournament. Judges do not actively look to find players making mistakes, dish out disqualifications or tell people what to do. They are there to make sure everyone is playing by the rules and are on an equal playing field.
Why Does This Matter to Me?
Once you register for the event you are expected to abide by the guidelines set by a Comp REL event. While the basics are the same (you play some number of rounds of Magic, etc) there are a lot of smaller nuances that can make or break your tournament experience. I am here to walk you through a list of things that can help you adjust for your first Comp REL event.
Prepare a deck list. If you are playing in a Comp REL event, know for a fact that you will need to provide a deck list. Usually, tournament organizers will have blank lists waiting for you at the start of the tournament. Some tournament organizers even allow you to submit your deck list online so you don’t have to write it all out. We ask for deck lists because every player in the event is allowed a minimum 60 card main deck and a maximum 15 card sideboard. It would be unfair if one person were to play with additional sideboard cards, wouldn’t it? Additionally, when you are writing things on your deck list remember to write complete card names. For example, don’t just write “Tasigur” on your deck list. Write his entire name. While it is unlikely that you are playing Tasigur’s Cruelty in your modern deck, when a judge looks at your deck list there shouldn’t be room for interpretation.
Be wary of the deck-check process. At Comp REL it’s possible that a judge might stop you and ask you and your opponent to give them your decks. This is a deck check. Judges take these actions to verify the legality of your deck to make sure it matches the list you’ve provided. During this process you will need to give the judges everything in your deck-box; basically everything you’ve put on the table since the beginning of the match. What this means is that you do not want to have any extra playable cards in your deck box as they can be mistaken for cards that you are planning on using. So if you’re the type of person who has 2 decks in your deck box switch down to 1 for the duration of the tournament. If your friend just returned some cards to you do not put them in your deck box, put them in your bag. The idea is that even though you might know the cards are not actually supposed to be in your deck, your opponent, and the judges don’t.
Before every round make sure your deck is complete. Check your deck to make sure it is the same configuration and your sideboard is still the same 15 cards that you wrote on your list. Often, players sideboard in a card and forget to take it out after the game, which means the deck they present no longer matches what was written. Other times, players might have the same sleeves and accidentally took another players card without noticing. Doing a quick count of your deck will solve this issue before it becomes a rules infraction.
Don’t be late. It seems like a no-brainer, but don’t show up to your match 15 minutes late and expect to play your round. Depending on what was announced at the start of the tournament, you usually have 3 minutes to get to your seat. Any later than that and you’ll likely be getting a game loss. If you start your match late it might cause your match to end late. If your match ends late you’re potentially holding up the tournament for everyone else.
Shuffle. Shuffle your deck a lot. Make your opponent shuffle their deck a lot. Then after shuffling and present your decks, shuffle their decks real quick as well. Separating your deck into just four piles is not shuffling. Putting a land between every two spells is not shuffling.
Use pen and paper. One of the most common problems that judges resolve at events is when two players find a discrepancy in their life totals. I’ve often seen players forget to change life totals for an attack and 4 turns later, a judge is called because one player noticed the mistake. At that point, if one player used dice to track life and the other player used pen and paper who do you think the judge is going to believe? You can’t figure out a full sequence of events using dice to track life, but you can when you use paper. As an additional benefit, you can use your pen and paper to take notes during the game!
Calling judges. Judges are here to help. If you have any questions at all during the tournament, you can ask. If your opponent is playing a foreign card and you want to make sure you know what it does ask a judge for oracle text. If you think your opponent is playing too slowly you can ask a judge to watch. Most judges will offer you the option of speaking with them away from the table just in case you want to ask about something you don’t want your opponent to know about. Remember that judges will not provide any answers which can be considered strategic in nature, as it would provide an unfair advantage, so be careful of how you ask the question.
Playing tightly and cleanly. Announce what you are doing. Make it very clear as to what phase of the turn you are in. If you are drawing a card say it first. Don’t rush through your upkeep just because you don’t expect your opponent to do anything. Don’t miss triggers. While it is cheating to miss them INTENTIONALLY, responsibility still lies on you to remember. If you miss a trigger and remember a little while later you can call a judge to try and fix it. Keep in mind you are not responsible for your opponents triggers. If your opponent misses a trigger that you want to happen you can call a judge to fix that as well. Some players like to put a die on top of their decks to remind them that they have a trigger in the upkeep or they might want to do something at the end of turn, which is a good way to remember.
The Infraction Procedure Guide. There is a document called the Magic Infraction Procedure Guide (the IPG), which is a 20 some odd page document that governs appropriate penalties, procedures and course of action whenever a rule is violated during the course of a Comp REL event. This document is in place to protect players from potential cheaters and from general player misconduct. Discussion of the IPG is a whole article in itself, but for now, let me mention that it exists. You may get a warning throughout the course of a tournament, but typically, warnings are not a huge concern until you commit the same infraction multiple times (it adds up).
Conclusion
These things are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to playing at Comp REL. With large Magic events being hosted every weekend and the new PPTQ schedule starting soon, I recommend anyone who plans on playing to keep these things in mind. I personally plan on being at a bunch of PPTQs myself and I’d hate to see someone get a game loss or worst because just because they were late. See you all there!