Modern Mastery: Fighting a DCI Suspension

I am proud to be a member of Team Casual Net Gaming, and I am very excited to share that my appeal to the suspension in May was granted. My suspension as officially rescinded; I can return to competitive, sanctioned tournaments. I missed some PTQ's and GP's, but I was able to fight my disqualification, and won.

It's no secret that I've been suspended since May for my disqualification during the Modern season. There's a lot you learn from getting disqualified and the ensuing events. I would like to pass on this information to those who feel they may have been disqualified unjustly. First, I would like to state that getting disqualified for your first time is gut wrenching. I wasn't only representing myself, but my team as well. I felt like I let them down. Our chance to shine was dulled by my error in the spotlight.

The Errors:

For those of you who are not familiar with the whole situation, I will briefly explain the errors. I was piloting Eggs in a Modern PTQ, a combo deck oriented around drawing your library very slowly with artifacts. The artifacts either draw cards when they enter the battlefield or when they are sacrificed and hit the graveyard. You return them to the battlefield using Second Sunrise and Faith's Reward in order to 'go infinite' and draw your entire library. This creates an infinite loop that you kill your opponents in any number of ways using infinite mana.

I was attempting to go infinite when I accidentally left one of my cards after using a Second Sunrise. When I tried to use it, my opponent halted me asking how I did that. I had explained to him that the way this sort of error gets fixed is that it will just return to play anyway. He didn't think so, but I had already started to use the effects of my Conjurer's Bauble. I used the artifact's first effect to put Second Sunrise back into my library and did not yet use the second effect of drawing a card; this would eventually be a point of tension between myself and the judges. The Head Judge was called over and asked me what happened. I explained to the Head Judge that I had forgotten to bring all my cards back from the graveyard, and that this was a simple fix. I told him that I attempted to use my Conjurer's Bauble from the graveyard, but I did not. I was explaining the Head Judge in fewest words that I did not draw any extra cards. I figured this was the only penalty that could be handed down to me: a Drawing Extra Cards (DEC) penalty. So I was defending myself against that possible game loss. You can't be penalized for DEC if the DEC is directly correlated from a Game Rules Violation (GRV). I had obviously broken the rules and would have received a GRV for leaving my bauble in the graveyard. I did not know the DEC was inapplicable in this instance and I dug myself a hole with the judges.

The investigation was more of the same and I explained to them the same story I had said at the table. I didn't believe I had lied to the judges, but during the investigation, the Head Judge seemed to think so. I was told that lying to them was grounds for disqualification and I told them that I understood and reiterated the the first clause on Conjurer's Bauble and that I had not drawn any extra cards from the second clause.

The Analysis:

The investigation took 15+ minutes to complete, and I believe this weighed heavily on the judge's decision to disqualify me. If there is significant 'disruption to the tournament,' you may be disqualified. However, the time they used for my defense in the investigation was around 2-3 minutes between the table and the two times I had been called back in the investigation. If the judges allowed me to continue playing from there with only a warning, it would have looked bad. I am using a bit of conjecture here, but my suspension has been lifted, so I have a bit of freedom to speculate.

The Conclusions:

There are may things I learned through this process and I'd like to be clear with everyone reading this. Judges are not present to make sure justice is served, nor referee your match. They are present to make sure the rules are followed when they are called upon. While my disqualification was somewhat liberal within the rules, in the end, their decision is theirs. You must defend yourself with knowledge and honesty. I didn't know enough about the rules, nor how judges go about investigating the rules. I was as honest as I could have been with the judges and learning more about the process has shown me that I dug my own grave.

Things Everyone Should Know:

• When there is an error of any kind, call a judge over to fix it. Don't fix it yourself.
• Judges are vague on purpose. They don't want to disqualify you, but will allow you to hang yourself. This is how investigations are handled. They will ask cryptic and vague questions to see if you're honest.
• Be honest with the judges; leaving out information they know exists (no matter how insignificant) may get you disqualified and/or suspended.
• The suspension process is straightforward. If you were guilty, you'll get suspended. However, if you believe you have been disqualified in error, or suspended in error, be as thorough as possible in your submissions to the committee. More information helps you in your defense.
• Don't contradict yourself.
• It never hurts to get to know the judges in your community. Learning from them will help you stay out of trouble.
• The subsections of the Infraction Procedure Guide (IPG) that get you disqualified cannot be downgraded to game/match losses. It is one or the other. If you are nice and a cheater, it doesn't matter how nice you are, they have no choice.
• Disruption of the Tournament is incredibly vague, and can disqualify you.
• Always be kind to those who have power over you. I have been nothing but kind to those in this process, and it (finally) reaped rewards of justice. 

I'd like to openly thank everyone for their support and kind words during the time since my disqualification. I am excited to be back in the fray. I can't wait to see you guys at the next PTQ in N. Miami; my home town hosted by my LGS. Until then, thank you for reading.

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-Stephen Poindexter