# False Start Violation **Penalty: Warning** **Infraction Sub-classification: Minor** **Definitions and Philosophy:** When a player fails to follow correct tournament procedures at the beginning of the round. Specifically, this covers when players begin the first game of the match (they have placed a Lv 0 Champion onto the field and drawn an opening hand) before the round timber has begun. The round timer exists to provide all players with both an everpresent clock to maintain a timely pace of play in addition to serving as a fair constraint for all players. Abridging tournament procedures to gain more time in the round may give an unfair advantage to some competitors and strategies. To ensure that all players compete under a fair environment, the round time and start of round time should be respected. It is only acceptable to being manipulating cards to the extent that it is only the spirit champion card that has been put into play as long as no further cards have been seen or considered. **Upgrading:** After multiple warnings, it is acceptable to penalize a player with a game loss. Remaining ignorant to the proper guidelines of a tournament in an attempt to gain more play time than is allowed for other players in the round is not fair for other competitors. The timed rounds serve to moderate the time allowed to each competitor and provides a fair play environment and condition. **Examples:** * The first turn player draws an opening and begins considering their cards before the round timer has formally been started. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://ipg.gatcg.com/tournament-errors/minor-tournament-errors/false-start-violation.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.