Cheating

Penalty: Disqualification

Definitions and Philosophy: The following conditions must be fulfilled for cheating to be the appropriate class of infraction:

At least one of the following:

• Breaking any rule defined in official tournament documents

• Lying to a tournament official

• Noticing a rule violation or infraction in their game/match but does not bring it to the attention of a Judge (i.e. does not make a Judge Call for it).

Plus, at least one of the following conditions:

• The player knows that their action/lack of action is against the rules or is illegal.

• The player is using the action/lack of action to gain an advantage within the tournament.

If a Judge determines that the above conditions are met, Cheating is the appropriate violation class. If there is any lacking criterion from the above categories (e.g. Lying to a tournament official, but without the intention of generating an advantage or without being cognizant that they are lying) then it is not cheating and the correct penalty should be identified under a different class or category. Most commonly, Cheating is performed as a Gameplay Error or through abusing a Tournament Error. Cheating should be always taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly, ensuring that the tournament’s integrity is maintained as well as possible.

Examples:

• A player intentionally modifies their deck prior to the first game in a match such that it deviates from the submitted decklist in order to gain an advantage.

• A player allows an opponent to place the incorrect number of damage counters on their champion and does not call attention to the mistake.

• A player knowingly performs an action they are not allowed to perform.

• A player lies to a Judge during a Judge Call regarding the context of an infraction investigation to lessen or avoid a penalty.

• A player notices that their opponent had not finished resolving all effects of a card (often with Class Bonus) and does not call attention to it.

• A player allows the opponent to make a mistake that results in them having an advantage over the opponent and does not call it out.

• A player intentionally looks over at their neighboring players during a draft process to see their choices.

• A player accidentally draws an extra card but fails to invoke a Judge Call to correct the mistake.