It’s really easy to talk about the AMAZING weekend that was in terms of 2 things: Mirio’s effect on the format, and Jose Norono’s dominant win. When I think about this RLE, there’s several things I CAN NOT wait to talk about… but 1 things has to come first.

Something happened on Saturday that I’ve never seen before. I’ve been official or judge in some capacity since I was 11 years old. I was a soccer referee for 14 years. I was a judge for Yugioh way back when Upper Deck was in charge all the way into the Konami era. I’ve worked with all kinds of judges at the highest levels, and one thing that gets lost more often than anything else… the letter of the law shouldn’t get in the way of the spirit of the law.

We ALL know the problems TCGs have had with webcam events. Cards leave view, and when they return they magically seem to be just the cards the player needed. So, how can we play this game through webcam if we can’t trust each other? Jasco has made it clear. We aren’t going to let cheaters win. If cards leave view, the punishment is a game loss. But what about when the integrity of the game stays intact and a penalty isn’t necessary?

The clip above (click the image) is my good friend TJ’s match. He’s one attack away from taking Game 1 when disaster strikes! He fumbles his hand and it leaves view for a few seconds; juuuust enough time to conceivably change a card. Easy ruling right? Game Loss. Most judges would hand this ruling out in 5 seconds flat…

Enter Nil.

I’ve never properly met Head Judge Nil, but her reputation precedes her well. I ran into Levi in Kansas City and he spoke in revered terms of her encyclopedic knowledge of the rules of Universus. We’ve all seen her casting, keeping up with the likes of some of the best players in the game on the mics, and even teaching them a thing or two. She clearly knows exactly what’s required of the judge in this position and also what liberties she can take to come to the best outcome.

Nil quickly confirmed the infraction with both players and the VOD of TJ’s stream… But, then she went the extra mile. With a little help from the players, she found a point in the stream (shown below) when TJ tipped his hand to the camera. While this is usually a common mistake in webcam play, it would prove to be his salvation. The tipped hand clearly shows the Heroic Strike that ended the game was sitting in hand the whole time, well before the infraction. After awarding a time extension, the match was allowed to proceed to Game 2 unchanged.

In literally every other game I’ve played, there’s no judge that would take the time to make sure the integrity of the board state was intact in that situation. Instead as judges, we’re taught to use the tools and judge tricks that we’ve learned to get the game to a playable state, and proceed. Just ask Jose Norono what happens he drew extra cards one too many times… Match Loss. In Top 16 at RLE Orlando, when Stephon Finley wrote the wrong side deck… Game Loss. Penalties are stiff, as they should be and judges have a tremendous amount of power to wield. It’s just nice when before they wield that power, they apply their best judgement and give the players the most fair, unintrusive result possible. Stories like this are what get me hype to say, I’ll see you on the tables!