Hi,
Just wondering, at a competitive REL, am I allowed to call a judge at start of the turn and ask him/her to keep track of the storm count while I go off?
Yes you are. The judges are allowed to watch and keep gamestate if they see a mistake. So while he isn't going to walk you through it he will watch and count and if he sees that you are off he will chime in and let you know if you asked ahead of time. If they see a mistake but they were not asked and players don't notice they most likely won't chime in.
It is not the judge's responsibility to keep track of the game state. That burden lies with the players. If there is a discrepancy about how high the storm count is, the judge may then be called to solve the dispute, but the judge is not supposed to be doing these kinds of things just because.
Judges don't have enough time to keep track of each tables' game state without a good reason. If I got that judge call, I would tell you to use pencil and paper to keep track of your storm count and mana if the situation is too complex for both players to track otherwise.
One thing to remember is that judges are there to help players. While that doesn't mean we'll play for them, it does mean that if possible we will help if it's within our means.
So lets go back to the original question, can you call a judge and ask them to keep track of the storm count? Yes, you are always free to ask. As to whether they actually do so or not will depend on the situation at the tournament. If it's really busy and they are taking alot of calls then probably not. If the tournament is overstaffed then a judge might agree to this.
If I was called to a table and I had time I'd probably do it the first time, but then inform the player that counts like will be their responsibility in future games/matches. I would demonstrate a method (either with dice or pencil and paper) they could use for the future so they can keep track of it themselves.
Just as a note, what spells have been cast that turn and mana in a players mana pool is free information. Because of that judges can assist players in obtaining this information (unlike derived and private).
Just wondering, at a competitive REL, am I allowed to call a judge at start of the turn and ask him/her to keep track of the storm count while I go off?
Generally speaking, storm count is probably going to fall under the free information section of the Player Communication policy (MTR 4.1) as it will nominally be under the "Details of current game actions and past game actions that still affect the game state", since the number of spells that have been cast in the current turn is going to affect the number of copies generated by the storm trigger.
As noted within the policy...
Judges are encouraged to help players in determining free information, but must avoid assisting players with derived information about the game state.
...and helping players is usually doing such things as answering reasonable questions about the information. Such as the name of a visible object, or clarifying some situation that is going on. But, actually tracking that information still falls to the responsibility of the player. Especially in terms of making any decisions about potential actions. Or even just maintaining the count, and then potentially making a mistake that affects the game in progress. Really, at Competitive REL, that's something the player should be doing for himself.
Maintaining information for a player, while it may seem reasonable, does cause a judge to intervene significantly in the game in progress. And that is something that judges should be very careful when doing. There is plenty of guidence in the MIPG about how and when a judge should intervene in a game. And this seems a pretty clear line for a judge not to cross.
As such, while I would be happy to explain various ways that the player can appropriately, correctly, and efficiently track this information, having a judge actually track that information is, to me, beyond the scope of what a judge should provide to a player in the form of assistance at Competitive REL. Especially since this is not a request I could entertain from every player in the event; and providing this to only a single player seems rather poor.
So, no, I would not honor such a request.
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Just wondering, at a competitive REL, am I allowed to call a judge at start of the turn and ask him/her to keep track of the storm count while I go off?
It is not the judge's responsibility to keep track of the game state. That burden lies with the players. If there is a discrepancy about how high the storm count is, the judge may then be called to solve the dispute, but the judge is not supposed to be doing these kinds of things just because.
So lets go back to the original question, can you call a judge and ask them to keep track of the storm count? Yes, you are always free to ask. As to whether they actually do so or not will depend on the situation at the tournament. If it's really busy and they are taking alot of calls then probably not. If the tournament is overstaffed then a judge might agree to this.
If I was called to a table and I had time I'd probably do it the first time, but then inform the player that counts like will be their responsibility in future games/matches. I would demonstrate a method (either with dice or pencil and paper) they could use for the future so they can keep track of it themselves.
Just as a note, what spells have been cast that turn and mana in a players mana pool is free information. Because of that judges can assist players in obtaining this information (unlike derived and private).
Generally speaking, storm count is probably going to fall under the free information section of the Player Communication policy (MTR 4.1) as it will nominally be under the "Details of current game actions and past game actions that still affect the game state", since the number of spells that have been cast in the current turn is going to affect the number of copies generated by the storm trigger.
As noted within the policy...
...and helping players is usually doing such things as answering reasonable questions about the information. Such as the name of a visible object, or clarifying some situation that is going on. But, actually tracking that information still falls to the responsibility of the player. Especially in terms of making any decisions about potential actions. Or even just maintaining the count, and then potentially making a mistake that affects the game in progress. Really, at Competitive REL, that's something the player should be doing for himself.
Maintaining information for a player, while it may seem reasonable, does cause a judge to intervene significantly in the game in progress. And that is something that judges should be very careful when doing. There is plenty of guidence in the MIPG about how and when a judge should intervene in a game. And this seems a pretty clear line for a judge not to cross.
As such, while I would be happy to explain various ways that the player can appropriately, correctly, and efficiently track this information, having a judge actually track that information is, to me, beyond the scope of what a judge should provide to a player in the form of assistance at Competitive REL. Especially since this is not a request I could entertain from every player in the event; and providing this to only a single player seems rather poor.
So, no, I would not honor such a request.