As a spectator, what are your rights

[technogeek5000]

I have always wondered about this.

I'm sure this situation has happened to everyone. I have watched several times as a nearby match is being played out while breaking in game rules. One time during a pre-release, my buddy played against a guy who thought level up gave your guys +1/+1 and won on that basis, but as I came at the end of the match and only witnessed this happen for one turn, I waited until the end of the match and brought it up. The judge couldnt reverse it since the match was over, and my friend got booted out of a couple packs. My question is, what am I legally aloud to do as a spectator. What if I see slow play?

[cdr]

If you think you see a rule violation, ask the players to hold on and call a judge. Explain what you think you saw to the judge away from the players.

MTR 1.11:
1.11 Spectators

Spectators are responsible for:
• Remaining silent and passive during matches and other official tournament sections, such as Limited deck construction, in which players are also required to be silent. If spectators believe they have observed a rules or policy violation, they are encouraged to alert a judge as soon as possible. At Regular or Competitive REL, spectators are permitted to ask the players to pause the match while they alert a judge. At Professional REL, spectators must not interfere with the match directly.

Players may request that a spectator not observe their matches. Such requests must be made through a judge. Tournament officials may also instruct a spectator not observe a match or matches.

[Anusien]

Riki Hayashi wrote an article expanding on this, if you want to read more.

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/16820_The_Riki_Rules_Spectator_Spectacular.html

[Meekrab]

Players may request that a spectator not observe their matches.
I wonder what the limits are on abuse of this particular sentence. Head judge's discretion?

[cdr]

What abuse? Any reasonable request will be accommodated, as with most things.

[Malchar]

I wonder what the limits are on abuse of this particular sentence. Head judge's discretion?

There's really no way to abuse it. If both players in the match know the rules then there's no problem. You really shouldn't be playing - at least not in high level events - unless you know the rules.

[Purgatory]

I always find that this is hard, I once observed a match where Dream Halls faced off against Thresh. The Dream Halls player tapped an Ancient Tomb and dropped to 2 life, but the Thresh player missed to make a note of this on his life pad for some reason. I also saw that the Thresh player was sitting with a Fire/Ice in hand, but decided not to play it and the DH player won. I decided to ask the Thresh player about it after the game, but he claimed that he declined to play the spell because he was sure the DH player was sitting with a bunch of countermagic in his hand. Still, if you have an out and a slim chance of victory, why not try instead of rolling over and die?

Calling the judge and asking him to inform either player of the DH player's life total seems fishy too, since it is clearly a nod in the right direction to the Thresh player.

[cdr]

I always find that this is hard, I once observed a match where Dream Halls faced off against Thresh. The Dream Halls player tapped an Ancient Tomb and dropped to 2 life, but the Thresh player missed to make a note of this on his life pad for some reason. I also saw that the Thresh player was sitting with a Fire/Ice in hand, but decided not to play it and the DH player won. I decided to ask the Thresh player about it after the game, but he claimed that he declined to play the spell because he was sure the DH player was sitting with a bunch of countermagic in his hand. Still, if you have an out and a slim chance of victory, why not try instead of rolling over and die?

Calling the judge and asking him to inform either player of the DH player's life total seems fishy too, since it is clearly a nod in the right direction to the Thresh player.

Currently, anything written down does not have to be correct. This includes life totals. If a player verbally indicates a life total you think is incorrect (and his opponent doesn't immediately correct him), you can call a judge at that point.

Saying an incorrect life total is a Player Communication Violation.

[Magicsk8ngenius]

Riki Hayashi wrote an article expanding on this, if you want to read more.

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/m...ectacular.html

This is probably a great article, but I got a couple paragraphs in and realize this article is outdated. Wizards has since changed the rulings on how "spectators" work.

[Purgatory]

Currently, anything written down does not have to be correct. This includes life totals. If a player verbally indicates a life total you think is incorrect (and his opponent doesn't immediately correct him), you can call a judge at that point.

Saying an incorrect life total is a Player Communication Violation.

Thanks, this might be useful in the future.

[Meekrab]

There's really no way to abuse it. If both players in the match know the rules then there's no problem. You really shouldn't be playing - at least not in high level events - unless you know the rules.
I didn't mean abuse as far as manipulating game results, I meant abuse as in being a dick to people who want to watch your matches.