What exactly is a regular rules enforcement level event?
In essence, it’s kitchen table Magic gone pro. Such events attract players from all walks of life, but they’re targeted at people that will probably never play in an event with a higher enforcement level. These events focus on the average or “regular” players have their own unique distinct features, and in honor of this weekend’s upcoming prerelease, I’m going to dissect the philosophy of the Regular REL.
Pools and Tools
The registration and construction of decks is possibly the biggest thing separating a prerelease from a PTQ. At our prereleases in BC, our typical deck registration procedure is to open your packs and write down what you open, then pass it to the person sitting in front of you so they can confirm you’ve recorded everything correctly, then the pool gets passed back to the openers and the building begins.
For casual events, I think this system works much better than the “open, record, and say goodbye to your pool forever” system that is used at the more serious events for a few reasons. For one thing, it saves a lot of time. Deck registration isn’t a hoot for most; people that come to prereleases are there to dive into the new cards as fast as possible, and all that tedious writing gets in the way of that. The extra time also makes it harder for players to get into a second or third event later in the day.
Passing a sealed pool can also make for huge letdowns. Imagine opening up all the cards from the new set that you really wanted to get your hands on, only to watch them slip away. I’ve actually seen the frustration that can cause drive people to stealing.
You could argue that this system causes just as much grief, since the people that open nothing good have to face the fact that they’re stuck with it. I would say that most people think it’s a lot more heartbreaking to open great stuff and have to trade it for junk than it is to just open the junk in the first place.
It is true that keeping what you open can create a much higher chance for abuse, but when you’re at a prerelease the chance of someone trying to take advantage of this is much less likely [Not sure I agree there, fella… Craig, cynical]. There isn’t as much at stake at prereleases, and risking a disqualification and possible suspension to have a greater chance at winning a few packs is not a risk many are willing to take. The DCI and its judges recognize this fact, so we are willing to forgo the hidden cameras and tapping of phones.
This is not to say that shady doings never happen. If you have concerns or worries, feel free to voice them. If your opponent plays 3 Oblivion Rings and you think something’s fishy, you’re more than welcome to ask a judge about it. Just don’t try and cram the idea down everyone’s throat that your opponent is a dirty cheater.
If your opponent plays 4 Oblivion Rings and none of them are foil, then please inform a judge right away… especially if they’re from Lorwyn.
Another interesting feature of Regular REL events is the lack of commitment you’re allowed to have with your original build. Decklists are no longer used at events such as prereleases, and you’re allowed to change your deck as much as you want throughout the day. This rule makes for a lot more fun, and can be a huge help from an educational standpoint as well. A lot of people at the prerelease are playing sealed for the first or second time, and they aren’t going to have the strategy down right away. Allowing players to change their decks between rounds gives them an opportunity to figure out what’s good, and what isn’t, and helps them feel better about their playing skills. This will make them more likely to come back for the next large event.
And sometimes it’s not even a skill issue. Some people just want to use as much new stuff as they possibly can on the set’s opening day.
The reason why you have to use the build you come up with before round 1 starts at something like a PTQ is because that’s part of the skill set. Everyone is given the same set amount of time to build a deck out of what they get, and if you’re not as good at that as the guy next to you, then that’s something you need to work on. That’s competitive play for you.
Check This Out
Depending on your prerelease, you may have noticed that there are fewer deck checks than you might find at a more serious event. This falls under the same logic that was mentioned earlier. Deck checking kills a lot of time that both players and judges could use doing other things, and the odds of players adding cards to their pools that shouldn’t be there isn’t all that likely. Since that’s the only thing to deck check for, many judges will feel that the maximum number of possible deck checks isn’t necessary.
Don’t take this as judges giving an open door for cheating. Deck checks do still sometimes get done, and we’re always watching, and keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. If I felt that these relaxed policies were disruptive to the integrity of Magic events, I would be writing articles about how the DCI needs to change things.
Mens Rea
Or for those that didn’t take a lone law class in high school and like to pretend to be sophisticated by using fancy Latin terms…
Guilty Mind
On March 1st 2008, the DCI released a new edition of the Penalty Guide that included a long list of differences. One of the major changes, one that immediately jumped out at me, was that certain offenses that had previously always warranted a disqualification could now be downgraded to a match loss if the head judge felt that the player(s) committing the infraction weren’t aware they were doing anything wrong. To me, this revision to the PG is a figurehead for the movement to make Regular REL events about what they’ve always intended to be, which is socializing, entertainment, and education, as opposed to Competitive REL, which is about generally focused on some kind of major prize and fairer, stricter play to assure that whoever takes the prize truly deserves it.
The penalties that were affected by this change are bribery, randomly determining a winner, and all the infractions under the ‘cheating’ section which includes stalling, fraud, hidden information violation, and manipulation of game materials.
Some didn’t like this idea, as they felt it was essentially judges having a higher tolerance for cheating, but I have to disagree. Even after a downgrade these infractions are still a match loss, so these people are hardly getting away with murder, and it’s usually only the least severe infractions that do get downgraded. You’re going to have a hard time convincing a judge that you didn’t know it wasn’t okay to rig your deck, or that you didn’t know it was wrong to get your friend to send you a text message with what your opponent has in his hand. These downgrades typically go to less harmful things, like trying to roll dice to determine the winner of a match.
We do still make sure to keep a fair tournament in this process of education, and all these infractions are still very bad, even if the players doing them don’t immediately recognize this fact, so we don’t let people off the hook entirely. This way, players are still educated and will most likely never repeat whatever it is that they did, but they will still get to stick around and play Magic for the rest of the day.
But That’s Not All…
There are a few other penalties that receive a lighter sentence at Regular REL than they do at Competitive.
Deck/Decklist Mismatch:
This penalty is a lot harder to get at a prerelease since decklists aren’t used, but it still isn’t impossible. This infraction gets handed out when a player accidentally leaves with one of his opponent’s cards, and when you combine the power of Pacifism or Control Magic effects in Limited with people’s tendency not to use sleeves at prereleases, then there is a decent chance that this could happen quite easily. There is still a lot of potential for abuse here, but potential abuse isn’t as highly considered at Regular REL, and since it can be a very easy mistake, a warning is issued rather than a game loss.
Drawing Extra Cards:
Here is another infraction that is very easy to do, so much so that it even mentions that in the Penalty Guide. The reason why this is a game loss at other RELs is because there is so much potential damage caused by it that there really is no other choice but to end the game right then and there. Once again, for a more casual setting we look harder at how easy it is to do, rather than how abusable it could be.
Failure to Reveal:
Go reread what I said about Drawing Extra Cards.
Insufficient Randomization:
Again, I direct you to what I said about Drawing Extra Cards, but this time there’s more. A lot of casual players aren’t too aware of their shuffling habits because they know they don’t cheat, and their friends know they don’t cheat, but they’ll often forget that random strangers aren’t aware of this fact. I feel confident that, if a player gives a really weak shuffle this weekend, they probably aren’t trying anything sneaky. But even if they aren’t up to something with their single riffle, it’s still not okay, so a warning will still be handed out. The reasoning behind that warning will be explained to prevent it from happening again.
Another benefit of penalties being less severe at Regular REL is that it makes players less terrified of the judging staff. I always issue far fewer penalties at prereleases than I do at any other kind of event, and I have a feeling it’s not because there isn’t as much going on that would get penalized. Most of the time this is due to players not feeling the need to call a judge, and just fixing things themselves. Occasionally, however, a player may not call a judge in fear of getting himself or his opponent the evil eye for something as simple as forgetting to remove a suspend counter. Regular REL players have little to no experience with judges or policy, and this fact is taken into account.
…
I hope this has shed some light on why judges run certain events the way they do. Now I’m curious as to how Regular REL events, especially prereleases, are being received by players. Do you think they’re too lenient? Not lenient enough? Have you noticed the significance of changes in the last two years? From what I’ve seen, prereleases keep getting better and better (other than the mess that was Shards of Alara, but that’s a totally different story), but I’m not a player, and your voices on these issues are what really get things going. Take to the forum and tell me what you think.
Enjoy your prerelease weekend and until next time, stay out of the penalty box.
Max