GymLeaderPhil
New Member
I find it very unprofessional to comment on a ruling/judgement made by another judge at events that I was not at, but I would like to address a couple points to clear any misconceptions up.
Announcements
Prereleases are the most common and frequently scheduled (sealed) premiere events. As such they are usually the first tournament experiences for many Pokemon Players. There is never a time that I find it more important to talk about the rules of the game and the event itself than at Prereleases. So many multiple questions can be answered with detailed announcements and that is the reason they are done. Not to annoy those who already "know it all" who are in the vast minority. This is the standard announcements guide that I have and that is used at almost every premiere event.
Detailed? Yes. Lengthy? Occasionally. Necessary? Only because one tends to be asked the same questions over and over if things are covered early on. We want everyone to be on the same page.
Deck Construction Parings
For any sealed event there should be seperate parings for deck construction. I'm not quite sure if the new software allows this, as I have not played around with it much, but this is a must so that players who are constructing their decks are not playing one another the next round. It should never be a problem if friends or family members are paired against one another or across for the construction period (however it should be stressed about not allowing trading as mentioned above).
Deck Checks
Deck checks are not a necessity ALTHOUGH I stress the importance of doing them after players have constructed their decks (for Prereleases checking the list to the cards, counting the extras to check to see if it adds up to the magic number of 54) and during the beginning/ending of rounds randomly. We tend to be a bit more thorough about this and I'm sure different TOs/Judges have different standards/policies.
Prize Card Penalties
Here is the current Prize Card Penalty:
Is a judge allowed to issue a prize card penalty to a player inbetween rounds? That's a gray issue and is dependant fully on a case by case basis. I interpret the Prize Card Penalty to be used for in-game mistakes for the game state when it adversely affected the opponent. If I should issue a Prize Card Penalty to a player inbetween rounds I would be giving his next opponent an unfair advantage. Again, this is my interpretations based on the wording in the Penalty Guidelines.
No player should ever be required to draw for a Prize Card Penalty given to their opponent if they wish not to.
Overall
Prereleases are casual fun events, where the cards are new to everyone and, to some, the entire game/tournament scene. Major penalties should be avoided at all costs in favor of teaching players the correct things to do. However some situations make this unavoidable.
Whatever rulings and decisions that were made at the event are obviously not going to be overturned. Any appeals should have been made onsite, but I'm sure if you address whatever problems you might have to the tournament organizer, head judge, and POP that things will be cleared up.
Announcements
Prereleases are the most common and frequently scheduled (sealed) premiere events. As such they are usually the first tournament experiences for many Pokemon Players. There is never a time that I find it more important to talk about the rules of the game and the event itself than at Prereleases. So many multiple questions can be answered with detailed announcements and that is the reason they are done. Not to annoy those who already "know it all" who are in the vast minority. This is the standard announcements guide that I have and that is used at almost every premiere event.
Detailed? Yes. Lengthy? Occasionally. Necessary? Only because one tends to be asked the same questions over and over if things are covered early on. We want everyone to be on the same page.
Deck Construction Parings
For any sealed event there should be seperate parings for deck construction. I'm not quite sure if the new software allows this, as I have not played around with it much, but this is a must so that players who are constructing their decks are not playing one another the next round. It should never be a problem if friends or family members are paired against one another or across for the construction period (however it should be stressed about not allowing trading as mentioned above).
Deck Checks
Deck checks are not a necessity ALTHOUGH I stress the importance of doing them after players have constructed their decks (for Prereleases checking the list to the cards, counting the extras to check to see if it adds up to the magic number of 54) and during the beginning/ending of rounds randomly. We tend to be a bit more thorough about this and I'm sure different TOs/Judges have different standards/policies.
Prize Card Penalties
Here is the current Prize Card Penalty:
Is a judge allowed to issue a prize card penalty to a player inbetween rounds? That's a gray issue and is dependant fully on a case by case basis. I interpret the Prize Card Penalty to be used for in-game mistakes for the game state when it adversely affected the opponent. If I should issue a Prize Card Penalty to a player inbetween rounds I would be giving his next opponent an unfair advantage. Again, this is my interpretations based on the wording in the Penalty Guidelines.
No player should ever be required to draw for a Prize Card Penalty given to their opponent if they wish not to.
Overall
Prereleases are casual fun events, where the cards are new to everyone and, to some, the entire game/tournament scene. Major penalties should be avoided at all costs in favor of teaching players the correct things to do. However some situations make this unavoidable.
Whatever rulings and decisions that were made at the event are obviously not going to be overturned. Any appeals should have been made onsite, but I'm sure if you address whatever problems you might have to the tournament organizer, head judge, and POP that things will be cleared up.
Last edited:
