rorofat: Proofread, edited, and Spootified! Hope you enjoy.

Thanks! Looks great :)

I think I'm on the fence about the first one and whether it's actually cheating. I guess it's a matter of whether it's in the official rules or not. I'm not opposed to scouting, and I don't think handing out decklists is a bad idea, post them before the event for everyone to look at. It's then your responsibility to meet the players to tie a decklist to a name.

The second one, as a frequent fetch-shocker is definitely cheating. Accidental or not, if you're doing it you're supposed to be paying the cost before your fetch resolves, and you know before you fetch if you'll need the land untapped or not. Don't make that mistake due to negligence, there's no excuse for it to happen multiple times.

First off, I'm not a tournament player (I play a lot of casual and a few drafts), so I don't have first-hand knowledge of this. That aside, I'm not sure the first one is really cheating. Anybody who has a few willing friends can recruit them as spectators; it's not like decklists are being stolen or anything. Pro sports have advance scouts, whose job is to do exactly that, even to the point of watching the opponent practice. The way I see it, it's just another way to get to know the meta.

The second one is cheating, even if unintentionally, since it directly affects the course of a match. What I've found helpful is asking my opponent to record the life payment before completing the effect--that's when costs are paid, right? There's no excuse for forgetting, since you're simply confirming that all costs have been paid. Most people take it well, since it was legitimate forgetfulness. The one time it wasn't taken well, turns out the guy was a known cheater, but nobody could prove anything to a judge.

You should never let anyone cast anything without paying the appropriate cost first. Can you imagine casting something like griselbrand while "forgetting" to tap the appropriate mana or the right amount of mana. Or skimming the life cost by only paying 6 life instead of 7. I've had that happen to me too many times. I find it best to remind them to pay the cost before casting/activating and if it happens more than twice call a judge. A lot of people that I've played with casually have started using a sheet of paper for both life totals just to get in the practice of keeping the opponent honest.

Whenever I correct someone for not taking damage off their fetch, they act as if I'm being unnecessarily nit picky.

Thanks for the opinions guys :)

One of my personal favorite tricks to keep life totals with is using a pen and paper, then writing d for damage, l for land, or e for effect next to each life change - it takes two seconds and works pretty well.

Here's a tricky question I would like to pose. At an FNM I was playing elves. I had recently gotten a 2nd Elvish Archdruid out and had attacked with somewhere around 4 elves. With how he was blocking, I realized he was going to die because he had forgotten about my 2nd elf lord. Now the question is:

Do you need to inform your opponent that he has gotten the combat math wrong, or can you let him die without reminding him?

Keep in mind, the archdruid was in play before combat and hadn't gone unnoticed, just forgotten.

In a casual game, if my opponent would lose because of forgotten information, I don't mind nudging them. "Are you sure?" while pointing out the second Elvish Archdruid or whatever works. Playing for points, I'm cutthroat--my goal is to defeat you, and if you help me with that, I won't stop you.

@Lanzo493, in the case of Lords, or any buffs at all really, I try to remind my opponent of them when entering combat. Usually that is just tapping the lord and saying "buff", barely takes a second, or I tell them the buffed power/toughness of the creatures if there isn't many.

However, if you don't tell your opponent, and they forget about it, I don't believe it is required that you inform them. It may be at higher REL's, but I only really play FNM.

Worth clarifying: a few months ago, there were a few articles written about what you call "scalping" (most professional players refer to that as "scouting", but whatever, semantics) and many of the professionals agree that it's not great, and some of them evaluated the pros and cons of possible solution. Jon Finkel talked about it here and shortly thereafter the notoriously outspoken Matt Sperling write an article about it.

When I read "cheating" with respect to magic, I have trained myself to think about it in the context "things that will lead to somebody being disqualified from a tournament for Unsporting Conduct - Cheating". Not "things that scummy" or even "things that are not sporting" - although, many of the things that will get you a disqualification are scummy and not sporting - but simply, what the IPG classifies under cheating.

Under this definition Scouting/Scalping is NOT cheating. Nothing in the magic rules prevents you from acquiring information on other people's decks by going around and watching games. I feel this is an important distinction to make. Yes, I agree it might be not the most sporting thing, since it seems like some players are gaining an advantage for things that have nothing to do with playing a game of magic. But it's not illegal as the rules stand.

With respect to the second point - the IPG already does something to that extent. In a competitive environment, if your opponent doesn't take damage off of their fetchland/painland/shockland/thoughtseize/bob/whatever, you can call a judge, and they will receive a Game Play Error - Game Rule Violation warning. The third such warning is converted into a game loss, as is any subsequent warning. I understand what you are saying but I think you are trying to solve a problem that has already been solved - especially in a way that doesn't put the judge in a "player A said - player B said" scenario at the end of a game.

@legendofa: I am not sure I understand what you are saying when you say "you are cutthroat" but if you let your opponent perform illegal actions (like letting their Elvish Mystic trade for one of your 1/1 spirit tokens when they have an Elvish Archdruid), while you are perfectly conscious that that is not how that board state should develop, just because it would give you an advantage, according to the rules you are, in fact, cheating, and if a judge figures out that that is what you are doing you are going to be disqualified from the event (even at FNM).

The only "illegal" thing you are allowed to let your opponent do is that you can let them miss their triggers. Any other illegal action they make should be reported to a judge.

TheRedMage

I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know--I haven't been reported yet for anything, thankfully, and a similar situation has only happened twice. Maybe it's karma, but I lost both matches. I'll keep an eye on that in the future.

To be perfectly clear: you are, however, not required to correct your opponent if they believe something untrue about the boardstate, just to enforce that all decisions made are legal, and that the boardstate evolves legally. For example, in Lanzo493's example from before, he is not doing anything wrong. Their opponent's believe something untrue about the boardstate, and they only need to correct them when the boardstate would evolve in an illegal way otherwise (i.e. when they go to assign damage, and it turns out their 3/3 Elvish Visionary does not, in fact, trade with that 2/2 Scavenging Ooze).

Basically you can let your opponent believe things that are wrong, but you can't let the fact that they believe those things lead to an illegal game state. Does that make sense?

That's a pretty good answer TheRedMage. That was my line of thinking too, but I wanted to be sure.

Okay, I get what you're saying. No, I haven't let an illegal board state develop. Yes, I have let my opponent make mistakes about the board state. I misread your example, and now that I'm rereading it, I can't figure out how. So now to be as clear as possible in return: if you make a mistake against me in a game that matters, I'm not going to stop you unless it results in an illegal board state, no matter who would benefit.

I accidentally stack people. Seriously, people always mulligan against me. I don't even know how i do it, but it's neat.

I don't play competitively just to avoid stuff like this.

I like the idea of giving people your decklist before playing. My gut says you will see more transformative sideboards, which adds an element of rock-paper-scissors to the strategy, guessing how your opponent will sideboard to make one yourself.

One of the things I've noticed; cheating puts a lot of stress on the cheater--more than normal play--so cheaters tend to want their rounds to end quickly so they can get a smoke break (or the like). So, if you catch someone cheating, but can't prove it...slow your play down and take the match out to time. A legit player will probably take this in stride, but the cheater will hopefully go into the next round a nervous wreck. And you might just play better in the meantime. There's really nothing to lose.

@ legendofa: That sounds about right. As I said before, the only provision is that you can let your opponent miss their triggers if they forget about them.

TheRedMage

Glad you cleared that up. I was legitimately worried for a minute there.

Unless they're must triggers like Phyrexian Arena, correct? I head that there was a rule where if a must trigger was missed you need to go back to when it happened if possible.

@ Egann: I am not sure I like suggesting that people purposefully slow their pace down. Ideally, as long at you play at a reasonable speed, everything is fine, but failing to play at a reasonable pace will net you Slow Play warnings (that will eventually become game losses). So I'd be careful when you say "there's really nothing to lose".

@ Lanzo493: What you are referring to are so called "detrimental triggers", i.e. triggers that harm their controller instead of benefitting them. If your opponent forgets a detrimental trigger:

• The trigger will always be put on the stack when the fact it was missed is discovered, regardless of how much time expired since. So if your opponent's Howling Mine triggers during your upkeep but you both forget and you notice during your second main phase, the trigger will be put on the stack at that point. Normally, if the opponent misses a trigger, the opponent has the option to just let the trigger not happen.
• The player who forgot the trigger will get a warning, while normally the penalty is just that they don't get your trigger

Worth mentioning that

• Whether a trigger is detrimental does not depend on the game state. The Phyrexian Arena trigger is not detrimental, even if you are at 1 life. Your opponent has, however, the option to "force" you to have your triggers if the fact they were missed is caught timely. A good rule of thumb is asking "would this card be better without this ability?". If the answer is "no" then the trigger is not detrimental.
• However, it can depend on the timing. For example, the Howling Mine trigger (which is always controlled by the player who has the Howling Mine) is not detrimental on the controller's upkeep, but it considered detrimental on an opponent's upkeep.

Also, the game is never rewound to the time where the trigger happened. If the trigger needs to be put on the stack, it is put on the stack in whatever phase the game is currently in, even if that is not the normal time that trigger would happen.

The first point ('scalping'; or perhaps more correctly put: 'scoping') is interesting given that in SOI draft you are required to reveal and announce your two-sided card, as well as put two-sided cards on top of your draft pile as you draft them. This allows others to look around the draft table and 'scope' your two-sided drafts and begin to induce not only your draft colors, but overall strategy. Granted, two-sided card drafting is understood as knowledge that should be available to all, but it nonetheless encourages looking around the table and fosters a culture of gathering information about your opponents-even if that information does not fall under equal and fair use. Thus, I am not certain that 'scalping', at least at the level of the individual, is cheating of any sort. Recruiting others to help you gain an unfair advantage is conspiracy, and is against fair-play rules.

My $0.02

• Scoping, or "Scalping", is fine imo for super competitive environments. When at an event with this atmosphere, to put it bluntly, I am there to eviscerate you. Total annihilation if possible. So if I do reconnaissance on my opponents decks and playstyles I am doing nothing more than preparing myself for war. I am no hypocrite when it comes to this topic as I expect the same from my adversaries. Obviously at a LGS FNM I dont care enough to watch for playstyles but just knowing opposing deck colors gives me a decent advantage.

• ALWAYS KEEP TABS ON YOUR OPPONENTS LIFE lol be it on paper or mobile telecommunications device, keep tabs people.

Well written rorofat

Ok: I will be honest, I am apart of this scalping scouting stuffs. When I go drafting I listen to the table for the person who is inevitably going to call out, "I got Arlinn Kord  ^Flip F and it is in my colors!"

Also: when in a modern tourney, I listen to what peoples say: "God, I hope that [insert name here] doesn't win with that garbage burn deck...! | I wonder if [insert other name here] can win with that merfolk deck again...?"

Is that cheating?

Thanks for posting this topic. I've slid away from tournament play and even some shops because of 'unsportsman-like' actions. It's a slow poison to the hobby.

Storytime!: I have experience with competitive play. Grand Prix to PTQs to 'net deck' FNMs. Top players, them or their posse, at those events in my area in the day were always scouting. Good, bad or indifferent - I once was approached by a top 8 finalist that was fishing me for information on the table. I was aghast and politely told him to go f... off. Yes, that's not nice and shows my character in a grayer light BUT I wouldn't want my competition knowing my deck, so why would I do that to someone who's worked really hard to get to that table after X hours on site and who knows how many more practicing? FWIW, some time later, that same individual, a well known player in the area, got himself blacklisted/labeled for 'forgetting' to reset his side board enough to be dubbed, 'cheater'...

Anyways, I think players, new & veteran, should be aware that not everyone has the same moral compass when it comes to [competitive] play.

Not calling out player misses is a really mucky area I agree. I have been on both ends of the stick and found those games to be tough lessons. They forced me to raise my own bar for game board awareness. At your local FNM, where it's you vs a new guy, show them the ropes and nurture their progress. It's much better for everyone when you coach/mentor players that need it than 'winning packs' you can't do anything with cause your local shop starts to wane in attendance.

It's kind of crazy. I've had guys run bogus mulligans while I am WATCHING them, had folks play limited with WAY MORE RARES than is jackpot likely to have fallen into their packs, been asked NOT TO SEARCH decks when my card clearly states - search opponents deck (and remove X copy(s)), guys telling me I lost without explaining and asking me to sign my record sheet, my record sheet being taken and forged and even had guys jounce my dice so the life totals are brought into question. Ultimately, my older self has learned when to call BS and when it's acceptable for the progress of the game to just happen.

I love EDH, I would play this hands down every chance I could because it just speaks to me more than any of the other formats. My challenge is that it's always hard to find a steady play group. You have to ask, is it better to call out the guy that shows-up every event and have the game either not happen, become toxic or worse yet - not happen next weekend? Or, do I keep quite and tell myself gameplay mode just went from intermediate to hard? This is a bit of a rant; however, I feel that as table top strategists it's in us to think through these moments and not go running through the tables calling 'cheater!'

Again - appreciate you starting this thread. It's an interesting area for TCG players that I don't really see much discourse on. Peace!

@ miracleHat: No, as I was trying to explain before, there is no part of the rules of the game that states you are not allowed to gather information about people's decks. Especially if people are blabbing about it and you happen to overhear, but even if you go out of your way to learn what people are playing, that is, in fact, not illegal.

We can argue whether that is sporting, or whether gaining advantage that way is fair, obviously, which I think was more in line with what the author was talking about. There have been some articles written about this by pros, too (I linked them above). Still, it's not against the rules.

@ KidNemo: I am not sure I am processing that last bit correctly but please, please, please, if you see somebody cheating, don't just let it go. If it's a competitive event, the judges got your back, please talk to them.

@TheRedMage Totally agree on calling out 'cheats' in competitive play.

What I was trying to communicate, albeit not so well I guess, was more open to other readers than directed at yourself. I can't play Magic (unless it's draft) anymore because there are not enough people to show unless its an adverti$ed event. Even when I was living in a more MTG centric hood, getting a pod to fire on time if at all was never a sure bet for me. I'll let the guy next to me pull his mulligan crap just to play. That's just me in my #gamerblues BUT if an opponent is straight-up pulling legit gameplay shenanigans, I'll end it like I hope anyone else would. You have to.

What are the ramifications if a player gives their opponent misinformation about their board state? For example if you ask what the power of one of their creatures is and they give you the wrong number?

Also if your opponent is performing an illegal action and a bystander informs them and your opponent corrects it are either of them violating the rules?

I had both of these things happen to me at a recent PPTQ.

@jorzolek: Giving misinformation by accident is usually a Communication Policy Violation, but sometimes a Game Rule Violation. It depends on the specifics of the situation. Doing it on purpose is Cheating. Also, a spectator shouldn't be intervening in a game except to call a Judge. I hope you called a Judge in both cases at your PPTQ.

Scouting (not "scalping") may be seen as sketchy by some, but it's not against any rules. I think it's acceptable in any game that allows people to spectate on matches. The only way to control the information is to restrict spectators from the play area, and that doesn't seem like it would be good for the overall tone of the game. As for the suggestion of sharing decklists, the only reason decklists are shared during the top 8 portion of Professional events is because some of the decks may have already been made public knowledge through event coverage activity. Letting the players see each others' lists is a fairness measure. Sharing decklists at any other type of event is not supported by the Magic Tournament Rules.

The potential issue with fetch/shock life total problems is one of the many many reasons why players are encouraged to use pen and paper to record life total changes during a match.

@TheRedMage: sorry, I did not read all of the comments.

@ Rhadamanthus: Re: spectators - just wanted to point out, at competitive REL spectators actually can and should interrupt games if they think something against the rules has happened, be it a game rule violation or a suspected attempt at cheating. They can't obviously fix the situation, but they can stop the players and ask that they pause their playing while the spectator goes fetch a judge. Not sure if that's what you meant by "intervening", just thought I'd clarify.

One of the few differences between competitive and professional REL is actually this - at professional, a spectator is still allowed to call a judge but cannot stop a game while they do so.

@ jorzolek: There are three types of information in a game of magic: Free, Derived, and Private.

Free information is just that - free. If your opponent asks for a piece of information that is considered free, you have to answer truthfully to the best of your abilities. If you are asked whether your Tarmogoyf is tapped, or what your life total is, you have to just give your opponent the answer. If you give an incorrect answer or refuse to answer, it's a Tournament Error - Communication Policy Violation, and you'll get a warning. Unless you were doing so on purpose, and then we enter the realm of cheating and disqualifications.

Derived information works slightly differently. You still can't lie about it, but you don't have to answer the question either. If your opponent asks you what the power of your Tarmogoyf is, you can either answer truthfully, or not answer at all (or even front some other irrelevant piece of information. "How big is Tarmogoyf?" "I played a land this turn."). If you do decide to answer, you have to do so truthfully though. As before, answering incorrectly is a TE-CPV and purposefully lying to your opponent is considered cheating.

Hidden information is mostly cards in hidden zones. You obviously don't have to answer questions about it, and you also can in fact lie about it. In fact, your opponent can Gitaxian Probe you look at your hand of Mountain, Mountain, Stomping Ground and Atarka's Command and as you pick up your cards you can inform them you have seven Lightning Bolts in your hand because even if its contents are known your hand is still considered hidden.

I don't see how what you're saying is at all different from what I said, but I guess it doesn't matter. We agree that only a Judge should be making calls for a game, not a spectator.

I will say this to readers as an LGS employee and somebody who, by that nature, regardless of whether or not I have the title to do so, has had to judge events:

Cheating isn't okay. It is NOT OKAY. Sounds pretty simple. But it's got a lot of meaning. In any way shape or form if you believe there is cheating or there is some player derived ruling you don't agree on you talk to your nearest judge on duty or tournament organizer. Even if I (I'll make this personal now) don't know, the answer you seek is only a few keystrokes away.

I've read thoroughly over the rules as far as tournament procedure and I've ran the DCI website out of sample questions to give me on tournament procedure calls.

It takes you all of five seconds of staring at the Unsporting Conduct rule section to realize that any form of intentional and recognized cheating receives ZERO TOLERANCE at ANY REL LEVEL.

I was honestly a bit bothered by the first part of the article when rorofat mentioned players who recognize people who take sneak peaks at their deck when their opponent is away or people feeling pressured NOT to say anything. To me, that means he has experienced these situations before. And that simply isn't okay.

There's only one response to cheating according to the DCI and that is an indiscriminate and automatic disqualification from the event with a submission to DCI of the incident via Reporter or what have you.

My point is this: I don't care where you are, who you are, or what happened. If you know or think you saw cheating happening, you get up, as fast as possible, and talk to somebody in charge.

It needs to be dealt with, then and there. If you know you talked to the right person and they don't take the proper action, then stop playing there. That isn't something you want to see happen and it should honestly be brought to DCI and WOTC's attention if a registered event organizer and/or distributor is refusing to follow the protocol they agreed to.

Obviously, this isn't as much of a concern at the larger SCG and WOTC backed tournaments, but don't always trust the first judge who comes up to you. A lot of judges are good friends with regular event players, and there are a number of judges out there who are known to make the wrong call, intentionally or otherwise. If you still don't agree or you detect foul play, then appeal to a Head Judge. It's well within you right. (Just don't be an ass about it.)

This message brought to you by your friendly neighborhood LGS employee.

I always score keep both of our life totals, or all 4 players in the case of commander, and I always pay attention to a players actions, making sure the correct lands are tapped, making sure damage is properly registered. My LGS was pretty rampant with UW Eldrazi players, so I often had to correct them when they actually took damage from their pain land to play Path or when they pinged 1 to activate a Corrupted Crossroads. It gets frustrating to play against these players as it causes a lot of turmoil and they often redo their plays accordingly. I have had several people ask me not to keep score for their life total, and I always ignore them or call a judge over. This is a bad trend that the community as a whole needs to shake off, I went to a PTQ and saw this happening their too, keeping track of your life usage can mean the difference in a series of games.

The first idea is sound; I think it's a huge problem that teams of people are getting a big advantage and getting ahead due to association rather than skill at magic.

@ WizardLogic

"ask me not to keep score for their life total"

Wow... That's sad to hear.

People suck.

I swear people need to sit down for an afternoon and actually read the rules for this game.

Another problem I notice a lot at the local FNM level is zealously over-competitive players that try to anticipate your targets, your timing, the card your playing before you've even tapped a land, etc. just to create "conversational" distractions in an attempt to cause you to miss a trigger, or play a card at the wrong point on the stack. I've gotten better at dealing with it, but when I first started playing modern in my local meta a couple years ago, I would get so pissed because Mr. Know-It-All who's only playing tonight because legacy didn't fire is trying to manipulate the stack in his favor simply by talking during it, guessing my play, trying to choose my targets for me... It's really sad and intimidating to new players, which at the local level is a shame because new players are the driving force behind brick-and-mortar stores' economies.

I "cheat scry" sometimes in very casual, very large multiplayer Commander games, particularly if I am badly behind, tapped out, and there's no triggers riding on it. Not technically legal, but as far as I go. Mostly it is to speed up my turns to try to balance out the players that take 5 minute turns.

It's just looking at the next card, really, to plan my turn (despite me calling it "scry" I don't move the top card of the library), when I'm sitting waiting for the previous three players to decide if they want to play Fyndhorn Elves or Llanowar Elves first. I fail to see the point of cheating for any other reason, but I've never counted on winning for any reason.

I never do it any time there's points or prizes or anything riding on the game. Didn't even let a 10-year-old cheat to not be curbstomped in an sealed deck event once- though I did assist him a little in suggesting he put a few of those "basic lands" everyone loves/hates in.

nobu_the_bard I would be careful about that and only do it with people you know are fine with it because people can get the wrong idea when you do that.

@ barfsymphony: Honestly I think you are looking into it a bit too much. I am myself a "talker" - I'll drop my Deathmist Raptor into three open mana and ask "Got the Abzan Charm?" in the middle of a long conversation I am having (mostly with myself) about how stupid the price of Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip is. I'll drop a Tide Drifter against my opponent's limited aggressive RG deck when they have a single untapped Mountain and demand that they "show me the Outnumber" I saw in game one, and I'll laugh my way through every second of it.

I am not trying to scare anybody (and, of course, I reign it in against new players, partly because I probably don't actually know what's in that deck, partly because I don't want to intimidate them) and I am certainly not trying to decide targets for them. If anything, when I "guess" I usually guess the optimal play.

It's honestly that... Well, the thirty-eighth time you play Dark Jeskai Versus Blue Abzan, it gets kinda boring. I don't have the money to build more than one standard deck per rotation, so the one I build is usually a competitive one, and the same goes for my friends. But playing the same matchup over and over can be a bit grueling, and I distract myself by airing my mouth.

@logansullivan, that is basically what I do, yep.

I can support what TheRedMage is saying in the fact that I see the regulars at my shop interact this way all the time. They know each other well as players and they know their decks at the time nearly as well (assuming it's not a new deck). It's just casual banter to make the game more fun and less of a "Here we go again."

It's highly interesting to see the way Magic players interact with each other in body language.

I'll attempt to not further derail.

Sorry if someone already mentioned this but the huge problem I see Werth giving deck list out before you would play is you'll be able to side cards into your main deck before you play which would destroy alot of decks

shadow63 not only is that reprehensible it is also super illegal because you wouldn't get deck lists until after submitting deck lists and you have to have your full mainboard without any other cards game one.

miracleHat: you'd hate drafting against me. I always call out the planeswalkers I get. Or rather, I always call out that I've gotten a planeswalker, even when I haven't. Pull a Triskaidekaphobia? "Sweet, Arlinn Kord  ^Flip!" I also usually tell everyone about my plans to draft five color superfriends every draft.

I dont really thing the first problem needs to be addressed, but thats just me.

For the second problem, I just think it should become common practice that every time you miss a "lose life" effect, your opponent should call a judge and give you a warning. And we all know that 3 warnings is a game loss. If people are adamant about calling their opponents out for missed life loss, then people will pay more attention to that, and the real cheaters will be scared off :D

Are either of these that big a deal? I mean, scalping only pays off with situational advantage if you know what you're doing and you are lucky enough to have planned a sideboard for the specific knowledge you gained from this dishonest act. Besides, a good player has already locked in the best 75 he can with the list he is running and has taken part in "preemptive scalping". Isn't that how we plan a deck to take to a tournament: by the scalping the known meta?

I got scalped at a tournament. The guy admitted it. In the finals he actually said, "I know what you are playing. I have been watching your tables all night." Did him little good. I played a Bant deck that took full advantage of the Thragtusk/Restoration Angel synergy and he still neglected to sideboard in his Skullcracks in game 2 even though he already knew it was there, saw it happen, and actually lost because of it.

As for people who casually forget about shock, fetch, and additional cost damage, maybe its legit, maybe its a cheap attempt at saving a few points of life, but making sure the life loss from the turn one untapped Godless Shrine is recorded is up to you and me as much as the guy (or girl) piloting the deck across the table. Same goes for them and your fetches.

I'm more worried about the guys that trickle nonlands to the top of your deck or run 6 copies of Reflector Mage in their Rally deck praying they don't hit 2 off Collected Company because one is on the board and two are in the graveyard.

Most teams gain an advantage not by gaining extra information, but by being the best at concealing it. Almost every time a team dominates an event it's because they showed up with a deck that wasn't expected and they were able to take advantage of having something people weren't prepared for.

I've never heard of Team CFB, for example, showing up and scouting the room to victory. But I HAVE seen a team be the first to pilot Eldrazi in Modern and absolutely destroy a tourney because how do you even deal with that unprepared?

@PhotogenicParasympathetic: prove it.

Part of it is just simply paying attention. Our playgroup had it as easy as "take your damage." Fine, call a judge and get them the warning, but I don't think it's outside your right to remind someone. As long as you're paying attention on their turn it's easy enough to do.

For Standard Pauper, we have weekly MTGO tournaments. Our host(s) have great relationships with their virtual card distributors, and we reap regular prizes (from single card door prizes, to event tickets for a Top 4 finish).

We set our matches to allow watchers. Herein lies a serious question. Suppose I finish my match early (win or loss, moot). Can I watch other players play their matches without fear of 'cheating,' using whichever word you prefer to substitute for scouting? No advance views of deck lists are available (but are legally registered via Gatherer links) and can be reviewed about a day after the tournament in their entirety. Is watching another match an acceptable strategy, or is it tainted?

I don't think "scalping" is cheating - there's no way to not know what your opponents are on, short of sitting in a corner and not talking to anyone outside your opponents in rounds. Once I finish a round, I'm gonna wander around and watch games because it's interesting. I'm gonna see someone and be like "oh he's on belcher and his opponent is playing TES" (that'd be a fun game to watch btw lol).

The second one is definitely bullshit, take your damage and don't be a douche about it. I'm amazed people even get away with that.

ThisIsBullshit what the op is saying is that big teams have an advantage because more people are looking around and telling each other what their opponents are playing. it just gives an advantage to people on teams.

I will admit though that I kinda dislike that that behavior has been lumped in in an article that has "cheating" in its title. It might not be the most sporting of conducts but the rules allow it and as such it's not cheating, and I don't want players to think otherwise.