SCG Open Pitt - Part 2

= SCG Open Pitt - part 2: Deck checks

As part of my staff duties at Star City Games open in Pittsburgh, I was on the deck checks team.

Deck checks are a feature of just about every competitive or professional magic event run. At the start of the event, all players are seated and decklists are collected. Tables are then randomly selected to be checked.

The reason judges perform deck checks is to maintain the integrity of the event, by making sure that players are on the level with what deck they run, and how they run it.

The tables that are targeted for deck checks are selected at random by the scorekeeper (there is a function for selecting a random table in wizard event reporter). However their is a clear preference among judges to target the lower table numbers. Thus it is often good practice for the scorekeeper to generate a list of possible tables, and let the judge staff target one or two from that list.

After you know what table your after, you head out onto the floor, identify the table your going to hit with a deck check, and keep an eye on it. The common practice is to hover near, but not at, the targeted table. My personal preference and comfort zone is 3-4 paces away. As a judge you want to "swoop" in and stop the players at the moment that the players present their deck to their opponent. By presenting the player is making an implied statement that their deck is legal, randomized, and matches the list they submitted to the tournament staff. Also make a note of the time as you interrupt the game.

In a large tournament situation such as the SCG-open, deck-check judges go out in pairs. While one judge swoops, the other is guard. The guard's role is to field any judge calls at the beginning of the round, especially tardiness calls, so that their counterpart can swoop uninterrupted. The extra judge also can act as a 'decoy' for the actual swooping judge. Plus, it's always useful to have another set of eyes and ears on the floor.

So the two decks are brought back to the area set aside for deck checks. Lists have to be pulled from the file (hopefully before actual decks were grabbed). Then you check the deck. When checking the deck there are a few things Judges look for. (1) If the decks were grabbed at the right moment, look at the top 10 or so cards, looking for patterns, outstanding hands, or other signs that the deck may have been stacked or improperly shuffled. (2) Look at the sleeves, checking for miscut sleeves, discolored sleeves, or any other telling marks that could be interpreted as marked cards. (3) Check the contents of the deck against the decklist looking for any disagreement or mismatch.

If any problems are found, it's the judge's responsibility to call the player aside, inform them of the problem, and get it fixed. In most cases this will involve handing out a penalty when a problem exists. Guidelines for fixing and penalties for various situations are given in the official penalty guidelines so I won't waste time to repeat them here.

Once everything is set, you allow the players to return to their match. A time extension is given to the players. At the SCG open we tracked time extensions by writing them on the front of the slip and also writing them on a clipboard by the scorekeeper. The typical time extension given is the amount of time it took from when a judge took the decks, to when the decks were returned to the players, plus 3 minutes.

For those few of you who are interested in being a Magic Judge, please refer to this page.
[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=judge/welcome]

If you recently certified as a LV1, the judge community has made a page just for you here.
[http://wiki.dcifamily.org/index.php/Welcome_to_Level_1]