From:"Daniel M. Gray" Subject:Re: PT New York Floor Rules Notes Date:Tue, 4 May 1999 13:49:15 -0700 At 06:20 AM 5/5/1999 +1000, you wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: Daniel M. Gray >To: >Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 1999 3:08 AM >Subject: PT New York Floor Rules Notes > > >> 2. Slow Play >> >> The term and penalty for "stalling" is abolished effective >immediately. It >> is replaced with a new rule called "slow play." >> >> The rules now require a player to play his or her matches in such >a way so >> as to ensure that three games may be completed within the 50 minute time >> limit. A player who, in the opinion of the judge, is not so doing is >guilty >> of slow play. The Penalty Guideline for slow play has not been fully >> developed at this time, but for Rules Enforcement Level 5, they are as >> follows: > >I think that this needs a little more clarification. Does this mean that if >the players do not finish 3 matches that one or other of the players should >be penalised for slow play? >Does this also mean that if with 10 minutes to go and the 3rd game is still >in progress and isn't looking like it is going to finish within 10 minutes >plus 3 turns that the players must speed up the tempo of the game or face >penalties? No. The rule there is what it has always been-- "Players must play at an acceptable pace." The rule simply means you must _try_ to finish the match. There is no penalty if you don't even though you're playing at a normal pace. An example from the PT-- Scott Johns was playing a Stroke of Genius combo deck. He frequently took a 10-15 minute turn to win the game. His opponents repeatedly called judges over asking for Scott to be cited for slow play. However, since Scott was doing everything in his power to play at an acceptable pace, he was not guilty of slow play even though, in one instance, his first game took 47 minutes. Generally, to adjudicate this, you want to watch the player as he or she plays. If you think they're are pausing or waiting or "thinking" for an unduly long time, or spend excessive time counting libraries or looking for graveyards, or the player is playing a combo deck and, rather than going ahead and winning the game simply "does stuff" to waste time. Another example from the PT for this one-- one player was playing the same Stroke deck that Scott Johns was. At one point, his opponent asked me to watch the player for slow play. Even though the player was playing at an acceptable pace, he already had a Stroke and Palinchron in hand, with 11 artifacts and an untapped Tolarian Academy on the table. The opponent was playing monogreen, so there was no chance he would have any sort of countermagic. The player could have won immediately. However, he proceded to attempt to draw more cards from his deck (using Opportunity, Frantic Search, and another Stroke) to go find his lone Power Sink. Clearly, he was wasting time and I gave him a warning for slow play. (The player then responded by stating, "I was afraid he had a counterspell so I wanted to make sure I had mine." Yeah. Lots of green countermagic in Urza block. But I digress. . .). The rule isn't "Players must play at a high speed." The rule _is_ "Players must try to play as quickly as is possible and make their best attempt to finish the match in the time allotted." Yes, it's a judgement call, but so was stalling. The new rule is in place largely to reflect the mandatory extra turns granted by the new time limit rules. Dan Gray Level IV Certified Judge Official dcijudge-l Network Representative for Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Los Angeles and Phoenix Tournament Organizer Magic: The Gathering Playtester