The Non-Cheat Sheet
Here is the latest version of my judge cheat sheet, updated for the new Penalty Guidelines that take effect on September 20.
 
It's slightly smaller than credit-card-sized, to leave a little room for lamination and still fit in your wallet. To print ideally, download, use a duplex color printer and select the print option to center on the page.
Random Thoughts
- On the bottom of the side with the Penalty Guidelines is a little guide to writing your penalties down for optimum entry into DCI Reporter, right down to the oddity of the judge's name being "First Last" and the player's name being "Last, First".
- The other side consists of a couple of synopses of key sections of the rules, things that I've found are the most common things that judges refer to when they look for the Comprehensive Rules. In particular, layers + copying handle a lot of the most common questions in current formats (Hello, Snakeform!).
- Is it really cheating to carry easily-looked-up reference material around? Not really. It's common practice at higher level tournaments for judges to have their own version of the penalty guidelines in their pocket, and in some cases, the head judge will even bring copies to provide to floor judges. While it's important to know the rules and guidelines yourself, having a reference can help with the ultimate goal—getting the rulings right. As a bonus, actually looking things up quickly can increase your credibility with players without costing much, if any, time.
- This is not, and should not be construed to be, a full reference. It's intended to be a quick reminder that will only make sense in the full context of the rules (for example, there are more details than can be summarized entirely in a small space, and some detailed points are left out of the synopses). Having access to a quick reference is not a sufficient substitute for a real understanding of the rules, and if you haven't taken the time to refresh yourself on the full rules lately, it's worth the time to do so.
- Don't let your references get stale! It's very common for people to hang onto these things for too long, and it's important to remember that the state of the art in DCI policy keeps changing, and there are adjustments that are made to the Penalty Guidelines every three months. Remember to check for the quarterly updates to the Penalty Guidelines and make sure to update or discard your cheat sheet if it isn't up-to-date anymore.
Wrapping Up
If you have any issues with the cheat sheet, whether it be content, printing, or anything else, feel free to post in the forums and I'll do my best to help. Suggestions are also welcome, and I'll do my best to fulfill customization requests as well.
Next month: Initial thoughts as we all venture into the brave new world of the Wizards Play Network, and how it affects Prerelease Tournaments.
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Nicholas J. Fang
DCI Certified Level 3 Judge—Redmond, WA
mtgjudge@live.com
Agbaar and Ag|Work on EFnet's #mtgjudge
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