Tournament Policy

Missed triggers, game-play errors and deck lists — what a judge actually does, per the IPG.

Everything else in this quiz is about what the game rules say. This track is about what a judge does — and the first thing to know is that it almost certainly doesn't apply to your Friday night.

The Infraction Procedure Guide governs Competitive and Professional REL events. Regular REL — FNM, prereleases, and absolutely your kitchen-table Commander pod — runs on a different philosophy: fix the game state, teach the players, carry on. Quoting IPG penalties at a casual table is a category error. Learn this material because it's genuinely interesting and because it sharpens how you think about the game, not so you can hand out Warnings on a Friday.

Two documents, two jobs

"Is this allowed?" is an MTR question. "What's the penalty?" is an IPG question.

The infraction that surprises everyone

IPG 2.1 Missed Trigger carries a penalty of None. Forgetting a trigger is an infraction — it gets tracked and fixed — but it isn't punished. The single exception: if the trigger is usually detrimental for its controller and they own the card responsible, it's a Warning.

"Usually detrimental" has a specific test, and it isn't "it costs me life": the ability has to be essentially all-downside, such that the card wouldn't see play if the trigger didn't exist. It's about the card in general, not this board.

When a missed trigger has no special remedy, the opponent chooses whether it goes on the stack. The player who forgot doesn't get to pick the outcome that suits them.

And the rule that matters most in practice: you are not required to point out your opponent's triggers. You may if you like, but you're only ever responsible for your own. Letting an opponent forget their own upkeep trigger is legitimate play.

The flip side is sharp. Missing your own beneficial trigger isn't an infraction — but intentionally ignoring one to gain advantage may be Cheating.

The pairing that runs Competitive REL

When somebody breaks a game rule, two infractions usually result:

Both players are responsible for the game state. That's the principle the whole document is built on — and it's exactly why triggers are singled out as the explicit exception.

Intent is the dividing line

The same physical action can be a Warning or a disqualification depending entirely on what was in the player's head:

Cheating requires all three: a rule is broken (or the player lies to an official, or spots an offence in their own match and stays quiet), they're attempting to gain advantage, and they know it's illegal. Cheating is always deliberate — there is no such thing as accidental cheating. Fail any one criterion and it's a different infraction entirely.

Determining a winner, and asking for a concession

4.3 Improperly Determining a Winner is a Match Loss, and merely offering is enough. No dice, no coin flips, no arm wrestling, no comparing cards off the top of your libraries. A draw is a real tournament result.

But you may ask an opponent to concede on the strength of an overwhelming board position — that's based on the current game and introduces nothing from outside it. They may refuse. What you may not do is offer them anything from outside the game, which is 4.4 Bribery and Wagering.

Decks and lists

3.4 Decklist Problem is the written registration being wrong. 3.5 Deck Problem (Warning, with potential upgrade) is the physical deck not matching an otherwise-correct list — sideboard cards left in after a match, an opponent's card picked up last round, fewer cards than registered.

One piece of real-world housekeeping

Judge certification is run by the International Judge Program (Europe — the relevant one here) and Judge Foundry (US and Canada). Judge Academy is defunct. The rank names in this quiz nod at the judge ladder, but they are not a certification of anything.

21 questions in this track, checked against the 2026-06-19 Comprehensive Rules.