Both players think the other conceded.
Asked by Named_Tawyny 3 years ago
Okay, bear with me. I've been though the Tournament shortcuts section, and couldn't find an answer to this, and I've only ever been an L1, so it's a bit above my paygrade. But I'm hoping somebody has some concrete rulings on how this would go. (two potential scenarios). Wondering how this should be ruled.
- Albert and Beth are playing in a tournament against each other. Albert is playing an off-meta combo deck - something storm or eggy, that isn't an automatic win, but should be able to go off.. Albert plays the last piece of his combo and, in the interests of time, says 'Game 2?'
Beth agrees, and they shuffle up. Albert asks Beth "Play or draw" and she responds "It's your choice, you just conceded"
What happens?
2 same scenario, but Albert says instead "Do you want to play this out, or shall we just go to game 2?"
Obviously, and unfortunate situation, and both players legitimately believed that the other was conceding.
What should happen?
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #2
I found a rather old post (2014) from an old official judge forum that supports the idea of calling it a draw, but with no penalties mentioned. It was a similar situation where neither player actually conceded but they both decided to move to game 2. I feel like "no penalty" seems correct, as I don't see what rule or policy was actually violated here.
Here's the link but I think only registered users can read the forum. Here's the text of a response from a level 3 judge (not sure if that's current status or last known at the time the forum was still supported):
I had this happen in a Vintage event. Player A took a few actions and then said “Go to game 2?”. Player B thought that Player A “fizzled” his combo and was conceding. Player A thought he had shown Player B that he was going to win and was asking him to concede. They didn't realize the issue until one player asked the other if he wanted to play or draw. In this case, no one actually won the game. They just agreed to move to game 2. In that case, since no one won, it should be a drawn game.
October 25, 2021 6:05 p.m. Edited.
Named_Tawyny says... #4
Great find, thanks! Interesting (and helpful for me!) that they asked a quite different question, but that the L3 decided to give a personal anecdote.
Thank you both!
Gidgetimer says... #1
I can't find anything in the Tournament Rules, IPG, or Judging at Regular that gives a concrete answer.
What I would do is call the previous game a draw and give Albert a Warning for a Communication Policy Violation. This may be a little harsh, but as primarily a combo player myself I feel that the onus is on the combo player to explain their combo as it happens.
The change in what Albert said (and both players would have to agree that is what he said) moves this into obviously asking if Beth concedes to me. I would say that Albert won the previous game and caution both of them to be more clear in their communication so that it doesn't become a Communication Policy Violation.
October 24, 2021 11:41 p.m.