Slow Play (Article)
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| Author | Philipp Daferner, Alejandro Raggio |
| Date Published | 2011-06-03 |
| Original Site | Judge Wiki |
| Link | This article is only available on the wiki; see below. |
| Language | English |
| Tags | tournament procedures, MIPG, slow play |
| Recommended for Level | judge candidates, 1, 2 |
| Notes | This article is based on the seminar by Philipp Daferner and Alejandro Raggio at Pro Tour Amsterdam. View the summary of that seminar here. |
| Abstract | Philipp defines slow play, discusses what differentiates it from Stalling, and provides advice on how to apply slow play penalties. |
Introduction
Usually Magic Games are determined by factors not including timing (unlike hockey for instance, where the result after a specified time counts), but by reaching certain states made up by gameplay. Therefore a Magic Game can theoretically continue until one of those game states occur. When looking at tournaments, where many players are involved, waiting until every Game or Match has reached those winning conditions will take long and very unpredictable for both players and organizers. Therefore Magic tournaments introduce a time limit for each Match to restrict the timeframe of the tournament. Beside the positive effects this time frame has on the planning and operation of tournaments, there are also some problems related to it. Both players should have a fair chance to finish their games within the time frame. If one of the players is playing so slowly, that it limits the chances for the other player to finish in time, the integrity of the tournament is in danger. And that's the point where Slow Play and Stalling (if Slow Play occurs intentionally) are invoked.
Slow Play vs. Stalling
Any form of playing slowly is damaging the tournaments integrity – as it is the case with actually any violation of game or tournament rules. Despite that fact unintentionally committed errors may happen very easily. These errors can be addressed and resolved very easily, and once they are brought to the players attention the danger for the tournament's integrity is basically removed. If a player on the other hand is violating game or tournament rules intentionally, like in Stalling, this player has damaged the tournament's integrity on purpose and therefore has to be declined further playing or prizes.
So, keep in mind that Slow Play may occur unintentionally, which is a minor disruption for tournament integrity and should be addressed like that. Stalling occurs intentionally and therefore is an intended undermining of tournament integrity and should be penalized seriously.
What is Slow Play?
Slow play is an action (or lack thereof, mostly) that consumes a significant amount of time over the course of a match, thereby minimizing the opponent's chance to finish the match in time. Sometimes it is necessary for players to think over a situation a little longer. This will usually occur when the opponent's action just destoyed the player's plan how to win a game, and that player therefore needs to come up with a new plan. Therefore it is totally acceptable for a player to take a bit longer to make up his mind. Though after the player has finished his plan, the game should move on significantly faster. If the player is taking longer repeatedly, that player is playing slowly and should be penalized accordingly.
It sometimes happens that a player can not decide on which plan to follow to achieve his goal of winning the game. In that case the player has stopped thinking forward, but instead thinks in circles. This situation can sometimes be caught when a player examines the same information several times. When a player is not evolving his plan but is rather stuck on a certain decision or thinks in circles that player is engaging slow play.
Types of Slow Play
Together with the information above I'd like to categorize Slow Play in three types:
- Shuffling Slowly
- Continuous Thinking
- Stop Thinking
Shuffling Slowly
There are certain games (well to be observed with recent Extended Zoo decks) which take more time on shuffling after searching for a land than playing. Though randomizing ones deck is important, it is not necessary to shuffle a previously randomized deck for several minutes after finding the land the player was looking for as the bottom card of his deck. To shorten shuffle times some players also shortcut this by doing several searches in their turn at once before doing a final shuffle. That's actually a valid shortcut and players should be encouraged to use it. Important is that the deck gets a final shuffle before the next draw.
Continuous Thinking
As already described continuous thinking often occurs when players face a complicated game situation they are evaluating every turn. Especially in limited games it happens that the In Game Zone is filled with creatures on each side, and players count every turn whether an attack is worth it. Though the players are not taking too long for each single turn, totally this situation may eat up the player's time to finish their game. Those players basically are engaging slow play (mostly both of them), and they should find a method or take notes so that they need not evaluate the whole board on every single turn.
Stop Thinking
In fact this name is a bit misleading, as the player engaging this type of Slow Play does not really stop thinking, but rather stops thinking forward. So the player's thoughts will often circle and be the same. This type of Slow Play often occurs when players are afraid of making a decision about their gameplay or do not find a plan how to win a game. In contrary to Continuous Thinking this kind of Slow Play can be observed in a single turn, whereas for Continuous Thinking to be observed the judge has to watch the game several turns.
Handing out Slow Play penalties
The biggest problem regarding Slow Play is that the player receiving the penalty will not feel guilty. When a player made a misplay, when a player is Stalling or otherwise cheating or when a player has marks on his sleeves, the player can see that he has done something wrong and will therefore feel guilty and accept the penalty for his mistake more easily. When engaging Slow Play the player herself will not feel like she was playing slowly, because she was thinking about a difficult situation, or needed some time to evaluate something for a decision (and if she does I'd investigate for Stalling). Therefore handing out Slow Play penalties is one of the most difficult tasks a judge has to perform. As a side note, I advised the judges at Austrian Nationals 2010 to be specifically aware of Slow Play – and the result were a lot of Slow Play penalties for exceeding pregame time limit. The reason for that in my opinion is that exceeding the pregame time limit can easily be evaluated by judges, wheres Slow Play during the game can't. I usually recommend giving the players a verbal caution before handing out a Slow Play penalty, especially since the seminar at PT Amsterdam has shown that the perception of time differs from person to person and from situation to situation. So, what you might think is a long time frame might be perceived as short by theplayer. By telling the player that he's taking too long you give the player a fair chance to go on with game play. If the player doesn't react to that caution within a few seconds, it's time for the judge to act! When handing out the Slow Play penalty it is better not to tell the player that he is playing too slowly, but rather explain to the player that if he keeps on playing at that speed his opponent doesn't have a chance to finish the match in time, and that would be unfair. By not accusing the player personally that he did something wrong, but rather stating that he takes away fair play from his opponent, the player will rather accept that penalty even though he “was doing something all the time”.
What is not Slow Play?
In the past the rules stated that it is acceptable if a player takes a longer time to think if a great shift in the game has occurred. For all other scenarios the situation didn't arise suddenly but was rather evolved slowly. I'd like to add that when playing Magic a player usually has plan how to win. When his opponent plays something that nullifies that plan, the player has to create a new winning plan obviously – and for this process it is acceptable if the player takes some time. So I wouldn't consider Slow Play if a player is taking slightly longer once (though slightly longer should not be excessive) and continues playing fast afterward. This nullification of the game play does not necessarily have to be a great shift in the game state – it might as well be a 3/3 flyer entering the battlefield in limited when your plan was to kill your opponent with your 2/2 flyers. After that the player definitely needs an alternate winning condition, and it's acceptable to think a bit about it.
Also, if the player is facing death it's acceptable for that player to think about options to avoid this loss of the game. Sometimes players play combo decks that involve a lot of actions which are not repeated (like the Elves Combo in former Extended). It is legal to play that deck, as long as you perform those actions in a fast manner.
Summary
Each player should have to option to win his Match within the time limit. So thinking longer once is not a problem – as long as it's not too long – but thinking longer continuously becomes a problem and should be handled as such.
