[Jason Lemahieu brings us another fine Feature Friday effort, though Pro Tour San Diego scheduling needs have conspired to bring it to you early. Enjoy. -Seamus]
Magic Online has been an amazing addition to the world of Magic. If it wasn't for Magic Online, I would have never gotten back into the game after my several year hiatus, and I'm sure I am far from alone in that. When Magic Online has become such a large part of the game, it's important for both players and judges alike to take advantage of what our beloved game's digital counterpart can teach us about Magic back in the cardboard realm.
Learning About Formats
I play quite a bit of Magic. I tend to play with friends a couple of times per week, and online even more. However, I understand that not all judges have the time to play this much. We have jobs, classes, kids, dogs, and believe it or nothobbies outside of Magic (gasp). Luckily for us, Magic Online lets us easily keep up with current formats. Replays from currently running premiere events are available as soon as each game is done, and the top eight matches are saved for weeks in a conveniently sortable spreadsheet. Got an Extended PTQ coming up this weekend? Sort by format and watch the last couple of Extended top eights.
For both players and judges alike, this is a great way to know what to expect in tournament play. You can refresh yourself with cards you don't remember, or perhaps never really knew. Adding a couple of newer sets to Extended can bring older sleeper cards into a new light. Judges, when players ask you how something works, you'll be prepared by knowing current Oracle wording as well as how it interacts with other cards quickly. (Magic Online updates all card images to use current Oracle wording.) See a deck running a particularly confusing card? Now would be a great time to refresh yourself on exactly how it interacts with the other popular cards of the format.
I'm serious when I say I spend more time replaying matches on Magic Online than I do watching television. Usually they even end up being so entertaining that I'll be telling people about some of the highlights at work the next day.
Learning About Rules
To say Magic is a complicated game would be quite the understatement. That is why it shouldn't be much of a surprise to learn that Magic Online does occasionally run into problems with cards, rules, or interactions It is to the advantage of both judges and players to know when Magic Online has been doing something incorrectly that may have an effect on the format. Even in the current Standard format, there are a couple problems with heavily played cards that have left many players confused.
For example, according to the rules for dependency (see rule 418.5c.), when both an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and a Blood Moon (or Magus of the Moon) are in play, all nonbasic lands are Mountains (and none are Swamps). Magic Online, however, has been having trouble with this, and instead decided that timestamps should apply to these effects, which is incorrect.
On the road to the Northern Regionals tournament a few weeks back, head judge Chris Richter [Who? -Seamus] and myself discussed this interaction and the issues with it online in depth. Before the event started, we were asked about this interaction countless times, with many of the players referencing the online behavior. The two of us knowing about the bug insured that we were better prepared for the questions, and thus better prepared for the event as a whole.
In the short term, this bug is basically just a nuisance. However, in the long term, it is a learning experience for a lot of players, as well as judges. Before the problem online, I would guess that less than 1% of players had ever even heard of 'Dependency.' I, for one, certainly used the bug as the perfect opportunity to refresh my own knowledge of the interaction of continuous effects.
Another Magic Online bug that affects the current Standard format is that a player controlling no Swamps who plays or unmorphs a Vesuvan Shapeshifter as a Korlash, Heir to Blackblade will see their 0/0 Korlash put into the graveyard before the Legend Rule is checked, which should also put the 'real' Korlash into the graveyard at the same time. Magic Online has trouble with the "simultaneous" part of checking state-based effects. Again, a few players need to request a few refunds, and everyone learns a valuable lesson about state-based effects.
Learning About Players
It's important to realize that in today's Magic scene, Magic Online players and real world Magic players are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I'd venture that most of the players that attend PTQ level events do most of their playing online. With that being that case, being familiar with the online aspect of the game will really help you understand players' intentions and misunderstandings during rulings and investigations.
A prime example of this is Magic Online's default priority stops. At our Regionals, two players called me over to their match because one of them wanted to play something in his own end of turn step after his opponent played and resolved a Sulfur Elemental. One of them said, "you can't do that on Magic Online," and I knew immediately where the confusion was coming from. Online, your own end of turn step is not a time you receive priority by default; you have to explicitly tell the client you want priority there. Sometimes, just explaining the rules to a player doesn't help them understand it as much as putting the situation into the context they're more familiar with. By telling them quickly how to be able to do it on Magic Online, their knowledge of priority, a fundamental part of the game, is strengthened.
In addition to the types of bugs that pop up, get fixed, and disappear into the aether are some other types of rules problems. I remember a match back in Kamigawa block when Player A attacked with Yukora, the Prisoner for what would be lethal damage. With combat damage on the stack, Player B played Shining Shoal to redirect the damage back to Player A. In response, Player A used Kiku, Night's Flower to have Yukora commit seppuku in an attempt to make Player B unable to choose it as a damage source for the Shoal. They called a judge, and when Player A told me why he did what he did, he said he did something similar on Magic Online the other night and that's how it worked. The problem stems from the fact that Magic Online has an incorrect implementation of rule 419.8a, preventing players from choosing objects that don't exist in play or on the stack as sources of damage.
Here again, my familiarity with Magic Online helped me explain my ruling to the players in a way they were sure not only to understand, but also trust to be correct. A lot of players have the belief that Magic Online is the authority on rules, and it's important for them to realize that this is simply not the case.
To summarize, Magic Online is a great way to help you stay on the top of your gameeven if your part of the game is judging it. You can stay up to date with current formats and rules issues, as well as develop a better understanding of and rapport with your players who are used to playing online.
Pro Tour travelers, I'll be down in sunny San Diego this weekendso swing by Side Events and drop a line!
Jason Lemahieu
Jason@legionevents.com
MadtownLems on MTGO
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