Judge Desk
What the enforcement levels mean, the documents that govern play, and common infractions and their remedies.
Educational reference only. At sanctioned Competitive and Professional events, the head judge and the current official documents are the final authority.
Rules Enforcement Level (REL)
Regular
JARCasual and store-level events. The goal is fun and education; remedies are simple and forgiving. Governed by Judging at Regular REL.
Competitive
IPGEvents with meaningful prizes (e.g. larger store events, RCQs). Precise rules enforcement; the Infraction Procedure Guide defines infractions and penalties.
Professional
IPGThe highest level (premier events). Same IPG framework as Competitive, applied most rigorously.
Common infractions
A quick orientation. The exact remedy depends on REL and the current documents — always defer to those at a real event.
Missed Trigger
Handled differently by REL — at Regular it's usually just resolved late if reasonable; at Competitive the IPG defines whether it can still be put on the stack.
Drawing Extra Cards
A Game Play Error at Competitive with a defined remedy in the IPG; at Regular the judge fixes the board as fairly as possible.
Game Rule Violation
An illegal game action that's been noticed. The IPG describes backing up vs. leaving it; at Regular the judge uses judgment per JAR.
Looking at Extra Cards
Seeing cards you shouldn't. Remedy involves shuffling the unknown cards back per the IPG at Competitive.
Tardiness
Arriving late to a round. Tournament policy (MTR) sets the game-loss thresholds.
Judge Assistant — coming soon
An AI ruling helper for corner cases that reasons step by step, cites the Comprehensive Rules, and grounds answers in official Oracle rulings. The harness is built; it stays off until every ruling can be verified against the rules it cites.
