I was in a tournament the other day and doing very poorly, my only win due to a bye. I was paired up in my final round, and the prize structure was such that my opponent would likely get a prize if he won, whereas I would definitely not be getting one. In any event, I decided to stick it out because I was still having fun and I was there to play Magic — even if there was no chance for me to win prizes.
I won the first round; my opponent won the second round after time was called, leaving the match results tied. I decided to give my opponent a chance to win prizes, so I conceded to him at this point. This got me curious about how exactly the concession rules work. Per the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules:
If a game or match is not completed, players may concede or mutually agree to a draw in that game or match. A match is considered complete once the result slip is filled out or, if match slips are not being used, a player leaves the table after game play is finished. Until that point, either player may concede to or draw with the other, though if the conceding player won a game in the match, the match must be reported as 2-1. Intentional draws where no games were played are always reported as 0-0-3.
Why the 2-1 and 0-0-3 reporting?
Additionally, this implies the following odd scenarios:
If we had a drawn game or two somewhere in there (let's say the final result was 2-1-2 in my favor, and then I conceded), it looks like the match must be reported as 2-1 in my opponent's favor (without the draws being reported). Is this intentional? Why not have it be reported as 2-1-2 in my opponent's favor?
What is an intentional draw reported as when games were played? Using the same example, if the final result was 2-1-2, and then we decided to draw so we could both make top 8, how would it be reported? Per the rules, the "0-0-3" reporting is for "intentional draws where no games were played", which is not what this was. Would it be 1-1-2?
The information provided for conceded matches doesn't take into account draws. If you start off at 1-0-1 in the match and you want to concede, then the final result recorded would be 1-2-1 in your opponent's favor. There are very few reasonably likely scenarios in which you draw a game during a match and keep playing.
What the quoted text is saying, is that if you win a game then concede the match the game you played must be taken into account on the match slip, you are not allowed to pretend your opponent went 2-0 to improve their tie breakers. Similarly, if you played any games in your match before agreeing to draw, you need to acknowledge them on the slip. If you win the first match then want to draw, you would fill in the slip 1-1-1, because you have to concede the second game and draw the third to get a match result of a draw.
Also be careful not to confuse a drawn match with a drawn game. It is not easy to draw an individual game unintentionally other than going to time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I won the first round; my opponent won the second round after time was called, leaving the match results tied. I decided to give my opponent a chance to win prizes, so I conceded to him at this point. This got me curious about how exactly the concession rules work. Per the Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules:
Why the 2-1 and 0-0-3 reporting?
Additionally, this implies the following odd scenarios:
What the quoted text is saying, is that if you win a game then concede the match the game you played must be taken into account on the match slip, you are not allowed to pretend your opponent went 2-0 to improve their tie breakers. Similarly, if you played any games in your match before agreeing to draw, you need to acknowledge them on the slip. If you win the first match then want to draw, you would fill in the slip 1-1-1, because you have to concede the second game and draw the third to get a match result of a draw.
Also be careful not to confuse a drawn match with a drawn game. It is not easy to draw an individual game unintentionally other than going to time.