This week’s article isn’t about new technology. There are no stories of crazy encounters with crazy men and crazier women in exotic cities. There is no tournament report, no talk of manabases. Today, I want to talk a little bit about interacting with judges, the dangerous mental poison that is opportunistic cheating, ridiculing people who have made mistakes, and Doing the Right Thing.
Sometimes you are going to have a judge call go awry.
I was competing in U.S. Nationals a little over a week ago. In the draft portion, my opponent attacked with a few creatures including a Lorescale Coatl with a +1/+1 counter. I had a 2/4 Rhox Meditant and, as you might expect, I blocked. I take my turn, my opponent begins his. He draws a card and sets the number of counters to three.
I look at him, he looks at me. Then he says to me, “Wait, shouldn’t your Meditant have died last turn?”
To this, I reply, “Wait, what?” I am confused for a moment. I thought his creature only had one counter. Did I somehow block horribly and not bin my guy?
“No, wait a minute. Your guy only had one counter on it.”
He insists that it had two counters, and we call a judge. As the judge walks over the situation with us, the debate seems to center on a couple of key factors. This is the third turn the creature has been on the battlefield (so it could have three counters, though the trigger is optional), and we definitely resolved combat in a way a turn ago that would suggest that it only had one counter at the time, despite there being logical blocks that would have taken place if it had been two (I was at 16, randomly jumping is so loose there, and there were other possible blocks, though obviously that doesn’t matter to a judge).
At this point I am a little outraged, as my opponent had to physically pick up the die that was on one and set it to three, which may not have been a premeditated action, but seemed to be an attempt to opportunistic. I don’t think my opponent was trying to cheat, I just think he got stuck in an awkward position and tried to dig his way out of it.
I think he actually tried setting the die to three because he mentally realized that it had been in play three turns. I suspect that when he set it to three, he might not have even realized that it had been at one, particularly if he was following a long-term plan he had made. The problem came when he realized what he had done and tried to cover it up, rather than just admit that he had been mistaken. To his credit, he did not tell a judge that he was 100% sure or anything like that.
The judge’s ruling was that it was at three counters because when he walked over, it was physically at three counters and it had been in play three turns. It was a failure to agree on reality, and I was getting a warning for not binning my creature the previous turn.
Obviously, I was offended by this ruling and appealed to the head judge. The head judge went over the case and got up to speed. As our match was on the end and had a huge crowd, and the head judge wisely opted to question the spectators, which quickly revealed that, sure enough, everyone watching was sure there had only been one counter. The judge reversed the ruling and removed my warning.
Some people don’t like when spectators are involved, but in “failure to agree on reality” situations, it can be a real boon to have outside perspectives, particularly if it is a large crowd, not just one person.
The story does not end there. Later, the judge that had given the wrong ruling walked up and issued my opponent a warning for having set the die to three, and cautioned me about having got fired up during the whole debate. At this point, I let anger get the best of me for a few seconds and asked the head judge who was nearby if I could please have my match watched by anyone else, as I felt that this judge was unduly persecuting me.
While my feelings of persecution may have been rooted in a very real situation, this is not a good way of handling a conflict like this, for several reasons. First of all, you can’t decide who watches your match. As a matter of fact, the head judge instructed that judge to watch the remainder of my match immediately. Second of all, you have to ask yourself what you are really trying to accomplish. In this case, my primary objective was to be able to play out my match with just rulings behind the law. With that objective, I would be better served to be the bigger man and not lash out at the judge for making a mistake.
Everyone makes mistakes. Hell, I make about seven mistakes a game. This judge is not some million dollar actor or supreme court justice. He is volunteering a ton of time not only to this event, but to becoming and staying a top level judge. Judges get a variety of perks, but on the whole, judging Magic is only positive EV for people with a love for the game.
Did I really think that this judge was out to get me? No, of course not. Don’t get me wrong, I think his ego was bruised from the conflict, and there may have been a part of him that wanted to send me a message that he was still in charge, but at the end of the day, I have seen this judge around at many events. I know he is a good judge, and when pros talk about judges (and they do), he has never come up in any sort of negative way that I know of.
The point is, my mistake was temporarily losing my cool and making such a request of the head judge like that. Our match had a crowd of players, and my remarks could be construed as insulting, as the insinuation regarding the judge is not good. I am not usually one to lose my cool, but one thing that offends me deeply is when I am on the receiving end of what I consider to be true injustice. In my Magic career I have been ruled against countless times, and there are a number of times where I have disagreed with the judgment call made by a judge. What offends me is when I receive a bad ruling and I believe that the judge did not even handle the situation correctly.
Everyone makes mistakes with decisions, but I think it is more important for procedure to be handled correctly. That is why I apologize for losing my cool here, despite receiving what I consider to be bad rulings and judging. My procedure in this case was flawed, which is much worse in my book than a mistake.
For instance, at Grand Prix: Chicago, I had a feature match and called a judge to get a ruling. My initial understanding of the interaction was mistaken, but I followed all of the proper procedure and acted in good faith, which is why I don’t feel bad at all in that situation, despite receiving a bad ruling in my favor (that turned out to be inconsequential). To me, acting in good faith and following procedure is the most you can ask of a person. Where I have to be critical of myself is if a situation arises like above, and I let frustration temporarily cloud procedure. Just because you are playing by the rules doesn’t mean you are following procedure. Always treating judges respectfully is a very real part of procedure.
Later, the judge that had issued the wrong ruling pulled me aside and apologized, but little needed to be said as we are both professionals and both have respect for the other. The moral of this story is that it is not enough to just behave with integrity and honesty. Acting in good faith is vital, but you also need to come from a place of respect. So many players get caught up in the short term that they lose sight of the big picture. People are just trying the best they can, and a mistake is no reason to treat people with lesser respect than you would normally.
My reputation as a wild character causes my matches to be watched by judges more often than normal, but it would be naïve to think that my reputation for integrity has not benefited me on plenty of occasions. I am not talking unfair advantages; I am talking situations where a judge has had to make a judgment called based on what they perceive my intent to be, and they have given me the benefit of the doubt because they know the content of my character. Many people think that wearing a white hat is thankless, but I assure you, there are people who care, who notice.
What I have said here is not just true with judges, but with everyone. Do you have any idea how many people I see rag on their friends and teammates when they make a mistake at Magic? If you are in a team draft and one of your teammates punts a match or drafts a horrible deck, what do you think is higher EV? Honestly trying to help them pick up the pieces and offering support without being patronizing, or mocking them and making them feel stupid?
Everyone makes mistakes. It is a part of the human condition. Life would tend to bore if everything was easy. If your teammate punts a match, what do you accomplish by ridiculing them? Do you think they punted on purpose? Do you think your jokes will put them mentally in place of playing better next match?
There is no question I have been guilty of this countless times, but when I am thinking clearly, when confusion does not overwhelm me, I tend to think that this is a poor strategy. That player is just doing the best they can. There can certainly be a time and place to joke around, and even to give people a hard time, and that can be helpful as it makes the experience more meaningful and memorable in the person’s mind, but where a lot of people lose their way is when they torment someone and make them feel like an idiot when they are at their most vulnerable.
They just lost a match with their teammates counting on them, often in front of people, and by way of a mistake that 9 out of 10 people wouldn’t make. How bad do you think they feel already? You can really hurt someone in this position as they are totally vulnerable to any sort of cruelty you muster, as they will know your words are not unfounded. There has to be an element of truth to someone’s words for them to actually be able to impact someone, and when someone has just punted a match, drafted a bad deck, or made a mistake, they are going to know that no matter what you say, there is an element of truth to it. This can make your words extraordinarily potent.
The thing to remember is that the whole reason your teammate made the mistake in the first place was that they were confused, and now, with greater enlightenment, they will try to not make the mistake again. If you ridicule them, it is not only lower EV for you and your team, but it is also a sign of confusion in you. They may have blocked badly because they were confused about what is better given the situation, but you are treating them wrong because you are confused about what is better given the situation as well. To make things worse, they own up to their mistake and bend over backwards to avoid repeating it. On the flipside, many people know they are hurting people with their words, but do so repeatedly over and over, often to attempt to make themselves feel better about the mistakes they make.
I am 100% with friends joking around and giving each other a hard time. Do you think I don’t enjoy opportunities to give GerryT a hard time about Cruel Ultimatum from time to time? Do you think he doesn’t return the favor when he has the advantage on me? The key is that it can actually be joking around when there is an understanding, when things are founded in positive energy. When you try to hurt someone, especially a teammate, because they made a mistake, where is the understanding? Where is the positivity?
If someone is making a conscious decision to continue to act like a fool, the scope changes. A mistake is a mistake, but when someone makes the same mistake over and over and knows they do it, it is a different situation. For instance, I can’t fault any of my friends that give me a hard time about mulligans. I keep hands that are too loose sometimes, and I need to be better about it. The fact that I know I do this and don’t go to the lengths necessary to stay where I need to be on this shows that I am making a conscious decision to do something foolish. I deserve what they hit me with.
Maybe you keep drafting the same deck, and it isn’t working; you keep playing R/W Aggro in Standard, and it isn’t working; you don’t work a job, and no money isn’t working; you get messed up, and school isn’t working; you don’t pay attention to your girlfriend, and the relationship isn’t working; you eat too much junk without activity, and your weight isn’t working; you chew tobacco, and your common sense isn’t working; or you blame others for your life, and your happiness isn’t working. Whatever it may be that you are doing wrong (and everyone is doing things wrong on the regular), if you choose to keep doing it despite knowing it is a bad play, then you are confused.
Anyway, I am just saying that one of the truest, deepest, most meaningful insights I could ever hope to share is that coming from a place of compassion is actually a much higher EV play than clever cruelty. You may feel a temporary rush when you crush the person in front of your peers, but I promise you, there is a deeper more meaningful satisfaction possible.
I have been team drafting a ton over the past 6 months and, at one point in Hawaii, I happened to be on a streak of 27 consecutive drafts with a record of 2-1 or better every time. I did a draft with Guillaume Wafo-Tapa and Michael Jacob. They both went 2-1. I went 0-3 and punted my last match. It was a very small, nuanced mistake, but a very clear one in retrospect. I probably only lost 1.6% EV from it, but it ended up costing me the game and the match.
It would have been so easy for them to tear me down and in this case, the draft was already over. Neither of them cut me down at all. They did not patronize me and pretend that it was not a mistake, but they did not insult me, mock me, or in any way take it out on me that we had lost the draft because of my mistake and my 0-3. In the short term, you may wonder how much they are really gaining by this patience and understanding, this compassion.
Let me ask you something. What do you suppose I think of Guillaume Wafo-Tapa and Michael Jacob? I mean, obviously my perspective of them is not built entirely on this draft, but the truth is, they are good men, and the universe has a funny way of sending energy back around. Do you think that is the only draft Wafo and MJ are ever going to do with me? How much stronger of a team are we that I know they have my back, that I can count on them mentally, that I can relax and play my best game without fear that they will ridicule me? This is not such a great feat from them, though, as they are just good men. They know that I am trying my best. They know that people make mistakes and I already realized mine, so why torment me with it? They are enlightened and realize that at the end of the day, the higher EV play is the higher EV play, on or off the battlefield.
There is a sense of purpose, of conviction, of justice when you know, you know you have right on your side. When you are operating at a high level, even when you experience temporary shortcomings, whether it is a loss you couldn’t prevent or a loss from a punt you will never forget, if you are coming from a place of good faith, you follow the procedure that is appropriate to whatever you are really doing, and you constantly seek enlightenment, you need not fear anything.
I encounter a lot of Magic players (as you might imagine), and some are uneasy with the mental side of my game. They don’t like the idea of tricking opponents or using rapport to gain an advantage or holding someone to a technicality. How does one reconcile this attitude with a desire to win a tournament?
In my case, I have very deeply considered what I am trying to do and what the proper protocol is for my agenda. With regards to playing games of Magic, I believe that the rules are the rules, and that I must obey them to the letter of the law… otherwise, what am I really doing? To me, people who cheat at Magic are stealing from everyone, not just their opponent. They are stealing from the community. When someone cheats a very small cheat, they are only stealing a very little, but stealing is stealing. People make mistakes, no question, but when you intentionally try to break the rules, even if it is opportunistic, you are stealing from the community.
At Grand Prix: Boston, this past weekend, I found myself in two matches that weighed heavily upon me. The first was against an opponent with Soul Warden. They missed 12 triggers with Soul Warden, and I corrected them every single time. It was painful because I could see what it was doing to my board position, but it is not an optional trigger, so I have no choice. People said I should have called a judge and he would have been getting warnings, but I am not really one to just try to get opponents warnings for value. Perhaps it was a mistake on my part, most likely due to the fact that I thought I could win anyway, but sure enough, he topdecked a Captain of the Watch on a key turn and won the race by two life. At one point, he actually attacked and reduced his own life total (I could tell he was nervous), but I had to correct him.
I am not going to pretend that I didn’t consider just not saying anything after the fifth time he missed Soul Warden, but the thought made me feel physically ill. I felt guilty for even imaging the game state with me not forcing him to gain the life. After I lost because of this, I did not feel anything great, and that is not why I do it. At the end of the day, though, when I am in a heated ruling about counters, land being tapped, blocks, or anything else, I can speak with conviction. I know in my heart that I have right on my side, even when I am wrong about a play or ruling.
In my final round at GP: Boston (I didn’t day 2… a bad pool, but I misbuilt my deck and punted at least one match that I could have drawn, so I can’t complain), I played against someone playing a U/W evasion deck. I had creatures with Fear, and ended up in a situation where my opponent had a Gorgon Flail on his Wind Drake, and a Phantom Warrior. We were both at two life.
I attacked with my creatures, and he cast Safe Passage. I still had a Consume Spirit in my hand and could cast it for two. The problem is obviously that Safe Passage was still in effect. I determined that my best play was to show him the Consume Spirit. He did not concede, so I said, “I am at 2 and Consume Spirit for 2 will put me at 4. Your Wind Drake is only a 3/3, right?” He replied in the affirmative.
I targeted his Phantom Warrior with the Consume Spirit, hoping he would concede. He put the Phantom Warrior in the graveyard with resignation and remarked that this was very bad. I sighed and picked the Phantom Warrior up out of the graveyard and put it back into play. He looked at me and I told him that his Phantom Warrior is still in play. He said “No, it is a 2/2.” I responded by pointing out that it has had the damage dealt to it reduced to zero by Safe Passage.
He thanked me for being honest, then attacked to kill me. You want to know why I can Profane Command all my legal targets and make my opponent lose 6 life? Because at the end of the day, if my opponent asks me if my Chameleon Colossus has fear, I will say no, no it does not.
Be true to what you believe in and do what you consider to be right. Do this, and no amount of hate or haters in the world will be able to stop you. Thanks for kicking it with me today. See you next week.
Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”
Bonus Decklist (what I would play in a PTQ tomorrow):
Creatures (8)
Lands (27)
Spells (25)
- 2 Broken Ambitions
- 4 Cryptic Command
- 2 Negate
- 1 Runed Halo
- 3 Hallowed Burial
- 4 Cruel Ultimatum
- 4 Esper Charm
- 4 Volcanic Fallout
- 1 Doom Blade
Sideboard
