Judges are trained in investigations, etc, and they have far more capability to ask the appropriate questions of the players to determine if the player cheated or made an honest mistake. If the player made an honest mistake (most likely) the judge will know the proper way to fix it. If the player cheated (i.e. the players breaks the rules *intentionally*), then that's not a player that you want to play with anyways.
So, I'll just repeat it again for sake of thoroughness... call a judge.
This. You ask them to pause their match & call a judge. The judge can decide whether to tell them.
It's worth noting, when you call a judge over... don't blurt out the problem you see to the judge. Talk to them away from the table. I've had helpful spectators do this with something that isn't an issue, and they accidentally wind up giving away very strategic information. Always easier to play it safe and take two steps away, then accidentally screw something up.
In single-elimination events, if a match is still going on at the completion of the five additional turns... the game continues with an additional state-based effect of "The player with the lower life total loses." I would apply that.
GSZ is not a replacement for Chord; Chord is a replacement for GSZ if you can't run GSZ for whatever reason (e.g. bannings).
Not quite true; GSZ can only fetch green creatures, and is Sorcery speed. Chord costs GG more, but it's instant, has convoke, and can get any color creature, which is critical for fetching all but one piece of the Melira combo. I think even if GSZ were legal, Chord would get the nod.
or instead of getting a binder made for something that isnt cards, get a side loading binder like the one i was talking about. I could literally frisbee my binder across the room and not have a card damaged at all, try that with a 3 ring you're gonna have a bad time.
I switched from a zip-up binder to a side-load binder, and it was the best thing I've done in a long time. Just don't load multiple cards into a slot, that tends to stretch the slots and then the cards won't stay in like you're describing.
For completeness sake, there's a couple other shops. Rainy Day Games is out in Aloha, Alternate Universe Games in Tigard, Epic Gaming in Milwaukie, and Other World Games in Hillsdale. I haven't been to Alternate Universe or Other World Games, though I've been intending to. There's also the Bat Cave if you cross the river in Vancouver - though I haven't been there since I moved back to the area (last I was there was... somewhere around 2003).
Also, Cascade Games still operates in the area (no physical storefront, just a TO), though they don't get the prereleases or PTQ's any longer since those were handed over to the stores. He does still get events like the upcoming Grand Prix: Portland (next month) and the State Champs events.
My opinion; bust those decks out for a game or two, but get ready to build decks that are competitive but fair in the environment. One of my favorite playgroups I joined was very similar to the one you're describing... about six players, all very new to the game, etc. I stomped 'em all a couple times, then I made a goofy Grixis deck (though it wasn't called Grixis yet) revolving around setting a creature's P/T to 0/2 (Sorceress Queen and the blue timeshifted version), and then playing various effects that would swap a creature's P/T. It was fun, and in that environment fair, and it made everybody want to keep playing the game more and more. Aside from myself, out of that (small) playgroup, one person is an L2 judge now, another is an L1, and one has been to the Pro Tour.
Ran into an issue where my opponent picks his deck up and looks at the top few cards during my turn while he thinks I'm not looking. I called him out on it and the TO have him a match loss.
My question however is this: is there a rule stating that you cannot pick your deck up without performing a deck search function? It seems like there would be a rule against lifting your deck up if you are not searching the deck or shuffling it. Just looking for some clarification.
Could you clarify what you mean when you say he picked up his deck and looked at the top few cards? Was he looking at the backs, while they're sleeved? Or was he looking at the faces (as in, he could actually tell it was a mountain, a squire, and a storm crow)?
Evolve actually has what is known as an "Intervening if" clause. That is, the gamestate has to be true both when the trigger would be placed on the stack, AND when the trigger would resolve. So, if we played Fists of the Ironwood, making two 1/1 Saprolings, you would get two Evolve triggers. The first trigger would check, and see that Cloudfin Raptor still has 0 power, less than the Saproling, and the Raptor would become a 1/2 flier. Then, when the second trigger would resolve, the game sees that the Raptor NO LONGER has less power or toughness than the saproling, and the second trigger is removed from the stack without resolving.
Aurelia's Fury does not stop spells already cast, it only stops non-creature spells from being cast for the rest of the turn. It's not a counterspell, it's more like Silence.
Sam I Am, for all of those examples you listed, there are reasons you may not want to use the trigger (or finish resolving the spell). There's never a (practical) situation where you would choose to not put a +1/+1 counter on your creature, or to gain a life.
Patent troll cases rarely go to court... most are settled out of court because of the extreme legal fees that a company faces. It's always nice to hear about a patent troll losing, but so far... this is only the second patent troll I've heard about losing (there was this, and one a guy on a TED talk spoke about.)
Judges are trained in investigations, etc, and they have far more capability to ask the appropriate questions of the players to determine if the player cheated or made an honest mistake. If the player made an honest mistake (most likely) the judge will know the proper way to fix it. If the player cheated (i.e. the players breaks the rules *intentionally*), then that's not a player that you want to play with anyways.
So, I'll just repeat it again for sake of thoroughness... call a judge.
It's worth noting, when you call a judge over... don't blurt out the problem you see to the judge. Talk to them away from the table. I've had helpful spectators do this with something that isn't an issue, and they accidentally wind up giving away very strategic information. Always easier to play it safe and take two steps away, then accidentally screw something up.
Not quite true; GSZ can only fetch green creatures, and is Sorcery speed. Chord costs GG more, but it's instant, has convoke, and can get any color creature, which is critical for fetching all but one piece of the Melira combo. I think even if GSZ were legal, Chord would get the nod.
I switched from a zip-up binder to a side-load binder, and it was the best thing I've done in a long time. Just don't load multiple cards into a slot, that tends to stretch the slots and then the cards won't stay in like you're describing.
Also, Cascade Games still operates in the area (no physical storefront, just a TO), though they don't get the prereleases or PTQ's any longer since those were handed over to the stores. He does still get events like the upcoming Grand Prix: Portland (next month) and the State Champs events.
Could you clarify what you mean when you say he picked up his deck and looked at the top few cards? Was he looking at the backs, while they're sleeved? Or was he looking at the faces (as in, he could actually tell it was a mountain, a squire, and a storm crow)?