So, my original plan for this week was to write on the must-have cards in each color for EDH. As it turns out though, that is going to need to be a multiple article series and I want to be able to add in cards from M11. On that note, if you haven't checked out the spoiler for M11 be prepared to love the set. M11 looks like it kicks so much butt they're going to have to import colons just to meet quota. I look forward to playing/judging in the pre-release this weekend and if you're in Orlando by all means come down and hang out with us!

Pre-releases are a fantastic first tournament experience. You come across many players who have played in few to no events. This creates a great casual atmosphere that is about as close to kitchen table magic as you're going to come across. That being said, you also have a tricky mish-mash of rules understandings which can be tricky to navigate. It's always a challenge to keep the event running with as little interference as possible while still keeping order. There's always a concern from the newer players about calling a judge, especially on “ticky-tacky” situations where they're used to a more casual atmosphere where take-backs are allowed.

As the head judge for such an event it's my responsibility to make sure that players are having fun while my judges are enforcing rules the way they should be enforced. Fortunately, this is true at every event, not just pre-releases! I make sure my judges are very well versed in the Infraction Procedure Guide and the Tournament Rules. Both of which are fairly important for the integrity of the event and let us handle situations that happen in a clear and consistent manner. Unfortunately there can't be a clean resolution to everything and that's what I want to address here.

Cedric Phillips recently wrote an article where he addressed three situations that came up, one involving Esper Charm targeting, another involving Mindbreak Trap, and a third situation that was brought up involving Fireball. I'd like to discuss those situations, giving my opinion as backed up by the documentation. Again, it's important to remember that these instances are open to some interpretation and what I am giving you is my particular viewpoint.

Esper Charm

The first issue is with a player casting Esper Charm targeting himself and then attempting to draw two cards when it resolves. There are a few things going wrong here. First off, the player has cast the spell incorrectly. If we look at the different steps involved in casting a spell the second step is selecting a mode and then the third mode is selecting a target. The player has skipped choosing a mode and jumped to choosing a target. Now typically this is not such a big deal, players use shortcuts all the time! In fact, without shortcuts the game would be pretty much unplayable (imagine approving EVERY action and passing of priority in every game.)

Fortunately we have a way to deal with shortcuts according to the communication guidelines. The guidelines dictate that "If the players are confused by the use of a tournament shortcut, they should be backed up to the beginning of the shortcut and no penalty should be issued (though they should be reminded to play more clearly)." In this instance confusion has clearly happened. I have selected a target without choosing a mode and that has created confusion when we attempt to resolve the spell.

There has been a common outcry to the idea that the player might have wanted to discard two cards with Esper Charm and now we are letting them change their mode. If a player is intending to discard two cards then there's no confusion at all. Odds are pretty good that the judge would not have been called in that instance. The only time we are concerned with rewinding is when ambiguity has happened. It's also worth noting the player does not get to change their mode when a situation is rewound. According to the section pertaining to out of order sequencing, "All actions taken must be legal if they were executed in the correct order, and any opponent can ask the player to do the actions in the correct sequence so that he or she can respond at the appropriate time (at which point players will not be held to any still-pending actions)." This means that the player who wanted to draw two cards is still bound by the drawing two cards mode.

The final verdict for Esper Charm (according to if I were the head judge), the player draws two cards but needs to be clearer and more careful in the future. I would also assess a Game Rule Violation to the player who cast the Esper Charm ambiguously, which is a warning at competitive/professional rules enforcement levels.

Mindbreak Trap

Next up we have a situation with Mindbreak Trap. Player A has cast several spells and then casts Empty the Warrens. Player B says "respond, Mindbreak Trap." There's a subtle trick here, player B never mentioned anything about storm copies! What happens here, does player A get his million goblins, or does player B get to exile the world? Well, according to current policy I believe player A would get his army. Fortunately there are lots of things in the documents that back up this position!

Let's start with the question of if storm has even happened. Storm is a triggered ability which triggers when the spell is cast and can't be put on the stack until the next time a player would receive priority. Since nothing else odd is happening here that means the storm trigger is put on the stack pretty much immediately. The question then, is what does our philosophy tell us?

The first thing is that a player automatically passes priority unless otherwise stated. This means that after casting Empty the Warrens player A automatically passes priority to player B, which lets the storm trigger go on the stack. This is where some difficulty comes up for player B. Unfortunately for player B the first time he has priority is with the storm trigger still on the stack. We also have a shortcut that tells us "A player who casts a spell or activates an ability that targets an object on the stack is assumed to target the legal target closest to the top of the stack unless the player specifies otherwise." That doesn't bode well for someone who wants to exile a lot of storm copies that simply aren't on the stack yet!

My final verdict? Goblin horde is in play!

Fireball

Finally, we have a tricky scenario, as something similar happened during a recent PTQ in Orlando. A player has six lands, one of which is a fetch land. That player is also at the precarious position of being at one life. That same player luckily rips a land off the top and announces fireball for six! Victory! But wait, there's a problem, that fetch land can't be tapped for mana. What do we do?

Fortunately, we have a reasonably easy situation to solve here. A player has cast a spell and tapped a land for mana that can't be tapped. That is a Game Rule Violation and we issue a warning. The head judge ultimately has the ability to rewind the game to the start of casting the spell, though they may choose not to. Once the situation has been rewound, the player can certainly choose whether to sacrifice their land or not. While we do hold players to actions we cannot force them to activate abilities and pay life.

Final verdict? Fireball goes back to hand, play on!

Note that the decision to rewind is ultimately up to the head judge, and while I rarely rewind situations this is very straight forward.

That's it for this week. Join me next week when we begin our discussion of the must have cards for EDH. Also keep your eyes peeled for some exciting announcements on a project I'll be helping Trick get off the ground!

Until then this is Ben McDole giving you a hundred reasons to play magic!