This article is for judges and players alike. The information contained here will help anyone look for Slow Play in matches they are involved in.
At tournaments, there is a round clock that ticks down to signal the end of all matches. Players are expected to finish their games in the amount of time
allotted while sharing that time with their opponent. Time is a resource for both players in a match of Magic. For that reason, it is unreasonable for one
player in the game to take up an unfair portion of the time available. That is why the Slow Play infraction exists.
Definition
Slow Play
noun.
An act (or lack thereof) whereby a player takes longer than is reasonably required to complete game actions.
What is it Really?
Judges call Slow Play by using their training in order to evaluate the various factors that pertain to a given situation where Slow Play may be involved.
However, Slow Play is subjective. That means that calling a player out for it is always based on a person’s feelings, tastes, and opinions. For example, if
I’m having a bad day or if I have to use the restroom, I may be quicker to call Slow Play. On the flip side, if I’m feeling laid back or a little more
forgiving, I am more likely to take a longer period of time to call it. Whether or not a player is playing slowly is up for interpretation and debate. Some
say that it’s like pornography (as opposed to art containing nudity): You know what it is when you see it. However, people are notoriously bad at measuring
how much time has passed, giving birth to the old adages “time flies when you’re having fun” and “a watched pot never boils.”
The Time Perception Problem
Taking the previous adage literally, this is an experiment you can do at home. Go get a pot of water and sit it on the stove at high heat. Sit there. Watch
it until it boils. Without exception, you will become bored. Play with your phone. Get a good game from the app store. At some point while you’re playing
the game, you’ll randomly check the water and it will be gone. It will have all boiled away, seemingly in no time. When you’re bored, time seems to stand
still. It can seem to take forever for something to happen.
Now place yourself in front of an opponent. You’ve already mapped out your plays for the next couple of turns, and you are sitting there waiting for them
to make a move. You’re bored, and time seems to drag on. This is the same phenomenon as watching the exceptionally still water in the pot.
The opposite can be said for your opponent. Their mind is actively engaged, trying to figure out the next line of play (or the next several lines). Their
perception is fluttering between their hand, their graveyard, the battlefield, and back. Magic is an extremely complicated game at times, and it is very
easy in this position to lose track of time, accidently playing slowly without even realizing it. It this situation, each person actually experiences time differently than the other person. This leads to conflicts and disagreements between players, which
often a judge has to sort out.
Is it Slow Play?
This wholly depends on each person’s definition of Slow Play (remember, it’s completely subjective). This is why some judges are more lenient, and some
judges are hard asses. This is why you can get a game loss for Slow Play at one event, but see a player playing glacially slow without penalty at another.
This is also why a judge should give a verbal caution before actually giving a Slow Play warning.
You may be asking why judges don’t agree on a definitive definition of Slow Play so that it will always be fairly adjudicated. Well, for one reason, the
Judge Program is very large, and it is very difficult to write a policy that every judge (from the inept to the best) can follow completely without
question. The people writing policy are torn between writing a document that judges will read, and a document that is comprehensive. The longer the
document, the less likely it is for people to grok its entire contents.
The 30-Second Rule
Why not give a specific length of time after which Slow Play definitively occurs? Some people call this time limit the 30-second rule. At this time, a rule
such as this does not exist, nor should it. First, if you give players a line to abuse, some number of them will abuse it. If a player is taking advantage
of a time limit, the infraction is stalling. However, if there was a 30 second rule, stalling in this manner would practically be sanctioned by this
policy. For this reason, recently the ‘three-minute rule’ for sideboarding has been removed from policy.
Secondly, every game and every boardstate is different. 30 seconds may be enough for most situations, but not enough for complicated boardstates. If a
person has just drawn three cards, it would be reasonable to assume that this player has a least three more things to think about (likely more). In Green
Devotion mirrors, there can be dozens of creatures in play. In situations like this, players should be allowed a greater time to think about things such as
combat and kill spells, for example.
Practicality
If Slow Play is so subjective, how can a judge or player be expected to call it out when they see it? In the judge community, there are a few rules of
thumb.
· If a spectator has had time to access the boardstate, determine what they believe to be the best course of action, and then have time to get
bored, then it is time to give a verbal reminder for Slow Play.
· If a player reviews his graveyard multiple times, his opponent’s graveyard, taps and untaps some lands, etc., then it is time to give a verbal reminder
for Slow Play.
· As a judge, if you feel that a player is playing slowly, simply ask the player to play more quickly. A verbal reminder is not an official penalty so a
player should not feel threatened by a verbal admonishment, especially when delivered diplomatically.
· As a player, if you are playing against an opponent that you believe is playing slowly, feel free to diplomatically ask the player to pick up their pace.
You can let your opponent know that you both will not get to play game 3 if they do not increase their speed. As a judge, this is one thing that is high on
my list of ‘things that players could easily fix themselves, but often do not.’
Feature Matches and Top 8
Top 8 matches are often untimed affairs. However, even though there is no time clock, the rules of Slow Play still apply. One reason for this is that there
are people at home, people working at the event, and people working at the tournament venue that are waiting on your match to finish. Even though the rules
of Slow Play should be applied, it’s often the case that judges let Slow Play slide a little bit more during Top 8 matches than they would during Swiss
matches. This is an unfortunate reality that I advocate against. Each match, no matter their location and stakes, should be adjudicated fairly and equally.
Extra Turns
Slow Play still applies in extra turns. Just because the round is over, judges must call Slow Play at the end of turns to protect the interests of the
entire tournament.
Stalling
I want to quickly go over Stalling, as players can conflate Slow Play and Stalling often. The definition of Stalling:
A player intentionally plays slowly in order to take advantage of the time limit.
Playing slowly does not equate to stalling unless the person is playing slowly in an intentional manner. Stalling is often completely obvious. A person
radically changes their pace of play for no other discernable reason (or mulligans slowly) at an opportune time. A judge must verify intent of taking
advantage of a time limit before disqualifying a player for Stalling.
There are More Guidelines than Actual Rules
The Infraction Procedure Guide is the document that lays out what penalties go with what actions and so forth. These aren’t rules that can be arbitrarily
followed. It takes study and interpretation to adjudicate properly. This is why ruling on Slow Play can differ from judge to judge and why I have written
this article.
For judges:
The Annotated IPG, which has footnotes for each sentence of the IPG, can be found here.
A complete judging article about Slow Play can be found here.