In every sport, by far the least popular person on the field is the referee. People chant that they are blind, biased, or just plain stupid. They focus on one 'bad' call, and forget the hundred other good calls. Magic really isn't that different. Most players, especially less experienced ones, view the judge as someone who is there to interfere with the game and hand out penalties. They get nervous around them, and can act adversarial towards them. Certainly handing out penalties is part of their job (and part that most judges don't like to do), but they are never there to interfere. They are there to make sure things go smoothly and correctly.

If you plan on playing competitive magic, you need to become comfortable with the judge staff, and understand their role, and how to interact with them. As long as you aren't doing anything wrong, their presence shouldn't threaten you. In fact, I like it when judges watch my games as I feel more confident that the game is being played as fairly as possible.

When to Call a Judge

I originally wanted to say "whenever a problem happens, and every time," but that's a bit of an oversimplification.

There are people who feel like real jerks calling a judge. I don't. I have called the judge on myself more than a few times when I've made a game rules violation, and I have had a number of opponents do the same. The role of the judge is to make sure everything in the game goes smoothly, and to resolve problems in games. Sometimes I made a mistake that will cost me the game. Accidently drew two cards or saw the top card of my library when I drew. That is my fault, and I have to live with those consequences. It's all part of the game. The vast majority of judge calls are warnings, so you shouldn't worry about trying to cheese your opponent out. You just want to make sure that the situation gets resolved in a way that is fair for both players.

When you do call a judge, make sure you explain the situation as clearly as possible, and don't bring up penalties. The judges know what the penalties are, probably much better than you do. Calling a judge and asking for a game loss is a sure-fire way to alienate the judge and your opponent.

My philosophy is that most small errors don't require a judge call the first time. An opponent forgot to lose a life from their fetch land? Point it out the first time. This is mostly to save time and prevent the judges from having to do a million calls. The second time, call a judge. This is generally a warning and not a big deal unless someone is systematically trying to cheat. Anything that can lead to a big advantage (seeing extra cards, drawing extra, etc) gets a judge call the first time. Especially at lower level events, many players will try and mana-weave between games. I always inform them they need to really shuffle their decks before presenting them. If they choose after that to weave and do a quick side shuffle and present, I will call the judge. I believe it is important to try and educate players who may not know what the tournament rules are before an infraction occurs. There is no reason to allow them to unknowingly commit an infraction, then call them on it. That is only going to drive players away.

Here is the difficult thing: A lot of seemingly minor offenses can be overused one player to try and get an advantage on the game. For instance, your opponent is shuffling your deck and flips a card over. You may not think this is a big deal, and it could be an accident, but it could also be that your opponent just wanted to see what deck you are playing. Flipped over a Putrid Leech? I should keep that hand with two Spreading Seas. The penalty for this is just a warning the first time, but if your opponent has done it before in the tournament, it can be higher. The DCI also tracks these kinds of things, and a player who seems to flip over cards while shuffling a totally unreasonable amount of the times may find themselves taking a forced vacation from Magic.

If you really think your opponent is trying to cheat, always call the judge. It is usually best to tell them you have a question about a card, walk away from the table, and explain to them the situation.

Most people who play Magic are honest, but there are some who go in trying to get an unfair advantage. They erode the good reputation of players everywhere, and generally hurt the game as a whole. It is important that everyone works on getting these people out of the game. If you see someone cheating, call a judge. Tell them the situation. A lot of people have the attitude that it isn't their game, that it isn't their place, etc, but what happens if that person plays one of your friends in a future round? How would you feel if you lost a game, and someone informed you that the player cheated against you, but they didn't want to call a judge?

What to do if a judge is called on you

As I said before, most judge calls are minor offenses. Forgetting a mandatory trigger, doing something out of order, looking at extra cards, etc. If your opponent calls the judge, wait for them to arrive and work with the judge to solve the problem. Don't scoop or try and bargain with your opponent for possible solutions. Let the judge resolve the problems (That's what they're there for, after all.)

Let your opponent explain the situation in full, then explain your side of the story. Ideally the two sides match up and the judge can work out what happened easily. Sometimes they do not. Try and present your side of the story in the most clear and concise way possible.

If you believe you are in the right, do your best to try and show the judge why you believe you are correct. Answer any questions they have honestly. Try to keep fairly good notes during the game. You don't need to denote every damage source (however, doing so would be good), but you should at least have very clear life totals. If a dispute comes up about life totals, for instance, the player with the best notes is going to be at a clear advantage. It's also good to try and confirm life totals at least once a turn to make sure the game doesn't go too long with a problem. It is much easier to resolve any problem like this if the game hasn't progressed more than a turn then backing up half of the match. I know a lot of people who like to try and keep this information as hidden as possible (and will go as far as to not inform their opponent that his life totals are wrong until they can take advantage of it) but you always run the risk of the judge call being in your opponent's favor.

If you have a problem with the ruling, appeal, but always understand that the head judge's ruling is final. Any time I play a deck that relies on some more obscure rule (like the layer rules), I will either know the specific rule number that is important, or I will bring a printout of the important ruling or section from the comprehensive rules. You can't use that to prove a judge wrong, but you can ask why 418.5c wouldn't apply here. Let the judge explain it to you – there is always a chance he is correct. If not, the judges may confer to discuss it.

No matter what happens, never lie to a judge. If you accidently saw the top card of your library, say so. If you forgot to de-sideboard, say so. If you made a wrong play and tried to take it back, say so. Don't ever lie to try and get an advantage. Nothing will end your day faster than getting caught in a lie. Most people who have been judges for a long time can tell you stories of people who took a caution or warning and worked it up to a DQ. A single game isn't worth your status as an active member of the DCI. And judges have been doing this for a while – they tend to have very good built-in lie detectors.

What a Judge is There For

Judges serve multiple purposes. Everything from putting the pairings up, doing deck checks, making rulings, and making sure the bystanders don't interfere with matches. They can do a lot for you. If you think your sleeves could be marked, ask a judge to check. It isn't going to get you out of a penalty later, but it should give you an idea if the staff would consider them too worn.

If you have an important question about how an interaction works, ask the head judge between rounds when possible. It's always good to ask the head judge, as his or her ruling is going to be final anyway. You can ask a floor judge, but if the head judge overrules it in a game, that is all that matters.

Most importantly, a judge is there to solve any discrepancies about the game state, and handle any time an opponent commits a games rules violation. If you have legitimate concerns that your opponent is doing something shady or against the rules, call the judge. That is what they are there for.

What the Judge is Not There For

The judges are not there to win games for you, or to tilt your opponents. While playing in Pro Tour San Diego (2HG), my teammate and I let our opponents take a reasonable amount of time to complete a Storm-driven turn. It probably took around five minutes, but there were complex interactions, and plenty of time left on the clock. They ended up with a far superior board position, then passed the turn, and called the judge to watch for slow play. This put us in a very awkward position. We were playing one of the (time wise) slowest formats of all time, facing down a nigh-unwinnable next turn, and we had to make a play every few seconds.

This is a prime example of how not to use a judge, even if it is technically legal. They had no reason to believe that we would play slow, or that our turns had taken an unreasonable amount of time. There was plenty of time on the clock – they just wanted to get an advantage in a match that would decide who would make day 2. I don't believe we could have won from that position, but not being given the time to properly plan out what would probably be the final turn of the game unless something very dramatic happened on our side didn't help. This isn't strategy, this is douchebaggery.

I've seen people at PTQs do very similar things. Once they are winning, they will call the judge to watch the match for slow play to tilt their opponent. Several have even mentioned this strategy in articles. This is not what judges are there for, and every time you do something like this, you are robbing the event of important resources for your own personal gain. Please stop. I've also seen players call the judge to attempt to get bad rulings. Everything from the casting cost of split cards in relation to cascade, to basic card interactions, to trying to dispute an established short cut. These are things the player knew, but they were 'playing to their outs.' The judge is not there to win the game for you, and you shouldn't sully his or her position by attempting to use them in that manner.

What to Do About a Bad Judge Call

Like it or not, this will happen at some point. I have a friend who plays Legacy a great deal and has had judges rule incorrectly on Bridge from Below interactions no less than four times, and none were in his favor. In every instance, he lost the game because of it. This is probably an edge case scenario, but there will be games you lose due to a judge making a bad ruling, or believing your opponent when you have a dispute.

Even when the call goes against you, never get angry or berate a judge. If you have a problem with a ruling or how a judge handled a situation, you can appeal. If you have a problem with the appeal, then you can either talk to the head judge after the match, or send them or a higher-up judge an e-mail. Even if it won't help you now, it may help other players in the future. Judges have a lot on their shoulders, and they won't get everything right every time.

If you go all the way to the head judge and still get a bad ruling, chalk it up to the game. Football, basketball, baseball, you name it - every sport has games that are decided by bad calls. Keeping good notes, being polite and clear when dealing with judges, and knowing the rules well will minimize this, but not remove the chances altogether. This is just something you will have to come to terms with and learn to live with.

Learning to Coexist

In the end, judging can be a thankless job. A good judging staff is quite often the difference between a good event and a bad one. If you want to play competitive magic, you are going to have to accept this and learn to coexist with them. Make sure that the experience is good for both sides.

If there are judges who you feel are doing a very good job, or handled a tricky situation well, tell them that and send an e-mail to their Tournament Organizers or the local higher-ups. You want these people to continue judging the events you play at. You want people who can handle angry players or tough rulings well. You don't want to be on the wrong end of a bad ruling. If you want judges in your area to be of a higher caliber, then you need to make sure that the good ones get the encouragement to keep judging. If you feel there are judges who are not doing well, then your feedback is good there too. They need to get feedback if they are going to improve. The more you can do to support the judging staff in your area, the better the events you play in will become.