Some IPG Questions

[Malakai]

Quoted material comes from here: http://internationalmagicjudges.net/article-1624


A trigger is considered missed once the controller of the trigger has taken an action after the point at which a trigger should have resolved or, in the case of a trigger controlled by the non-active player, after a brief period of time to allow that player to realize that the active player has advanced past the trigger. Players may not cause triggered abilities to be missed by taking game actions or otherwise prematurely advancing the game. For example, if a player draws a card during his or her draw step without allowing the controller of a triggered ability that would trigger during that turn's upkeep to resolve it, place that trigger on the stack at this point and issue no penalty.
So there's nothing to stop me from always drawing a card before my opponent's upkeep triggers are announced, thus always having extra information? Or if this only applies if I "forget," doesn't that just means that I can only get away with it once in a while?


If the trigger requires no choices to be made and has no effect on the visual representation of the game, assume the ability resolved at the appropriate time and issue no penalty. The visual representation consists of elements the players are able to see happening or on the battlefield, such as zone changes and adding counters to permanents, as well as life totals.
Is there something obvious I'm missing here? The only thing I can think of are Standstill triggers beyond the first one that resolves.



If the trigger was missed more than a turn cycle ago, instruct the players to continue playing and issue no penalty.
It's the no-penalty line that gets me. Doesn't this incentivize a player intentionally ignoring their triggers if they are unfavorable? I don't see anything in the article's IPG quotes that says I can't just act like Dark Confidant's ability disappears when I am at 1, or choose not to inform my opponent of his draw three when I break his/my Standstill. This all just seems highly abusable.


I see that missing it intentionally is Cheating-Fraud, but that's very hard to prove.

[cdr]

Quoted material comes from here: http://internationalmagicjudges.net/article-1624


So there's nothing to stop me from always drawing a card before my opponent's upkeep triggers are announced, thus always having extra information? Or if this only applies if I "forget," doesn't that just means that I can only get away with it once in a while?

Intentionally drawing a card early to gain information is Fraud. You will be caught eventually, especially if you attempt this at a competitive level.



Is there something obvious I'm missing here? The only thing I can think of are Standstill triggers beyond the first one that resolves.

This is not a new part of the IPG; it's several years old. An example would be a Plated Geopede or similar trigger resolving; no choice and no visual change.


It's the no-penalty line that gets me. Doesn't this incentivize a player intentionally ignoring their triggers if they are unfavorable? I don't see anything in the article's IPG quotes that says I can't just act like Dark Confidant's ability disappears when I am at 1, or choose not to inform my opponent of his draw three when I break his/my Standstill. This all just seems highly abusable.

I see that missing it intentionally is Cheating-Fraud, but that's very hard to prove.

Judges don't need proof, only sufficient suspicion. "Forgetting" a Confidant trigger at 1 life or such is obviously extremely suspicious and at a competitive event would be heavily scrutinized. A player who persists in cheating (and cheaters universally do) will get caught.

The IPG generally assumes infractions are unintentional unless otherwise noted. Intentionally doing bad stuff is Cheating - Fraud.

[Jason]

Missing my own Bob trigger is obviously cheating, but what happens if my opponent misses it? Can I just ignore it and reap the rewards of him not getting the card advantage? What if my opponent has Bitterblossom and forgets the trigger? Can I ignore that one until, of course, it's beneficial for me (he's at 1 life or something)? This all seems very shady.

[ScatmanX]

I'd like to clear something too:

" ...an object is in the wrong zone, instead of backing up the game state judges will now just move the object into the correct zone if it is caught before you reach the same step of your next turn. Basically this means if you forgot to put a creature into the graveyard, instead of backing up the game to the point where you forgot to put the creature into the graveyard the judge will simply place the creature in the graveyard."
And what happens if we realize later than the bolded part? Nothing?

[cdr]

Missing my own Bob trigger is obviously cheating, but what happens if my opponent misses it? Can I just ignore it and reap the rewards of him not getting the card advantage? What if my opponent has Bitterblossom and forgets the trigger? Can I ignore that one until, of course, it's beneficial for me (he's at 1 life or something)? This all seems very shady.

The huge change with the most recent IPG was that you are no longer responsible for your opponent's triggers. You can choose not to remind your opponent of any of his triggers he forgets.

'Purely beneficial' triggers are termed "lapsing triggers" - you can read the IPG or the above article for the definition. Not even a judge can point out to a player that he forgot a lapsing trigger, and no penalty is given if an opponent calls a judge for one.

Bitterblossom and Confidant are not lapsing since they involve life loss. You can still choose to not remind your opponent of them, but if a judge sees a player miss one he will intervene and issue a penalty. For non-lapsing triggers, if you call a judge within a turn cycle (or a judge catches it), your opponent will get a Missed Trigger infraction and the trigger will be resolved.

Past a turn cycle there is never a penalty and the trigger is never resolved.

However yes, you can choose to not remind your opponent about Bitterblossom until he's at 1 and forgotton it for that turn, and then call a judge.

[cdr]

I'd like to clear something too:

" ...an object is in the wrong zone, instead of backing up the game state judges will now just move the object into the correct zone if it is caught before you reach the same step of your next turn. Basically this means if you forgot to put a creature into the graveyard, instead of backing up the game to the point where you forgot to put the creature into the graveyard the judge will simply place the creature in the graveyard."

And what happens if we realize later than the bolded part? Nothing?

Exactly: nothing. If it's caught after a turn cycle the game state remains as-is.