This document discusses unporting conduct (USC) at Magic tournaments and how to address it. It defines minor, major, and aggressive USC infractions and provides examples. It emphasizes preserving tournament integrity, dealing with conflicts by using active listening and resolving the issue before assessing penalties. It also notes the importance of remaining impartial and avoiding USC in one's own responses to infractions.

1. UNSPORTING CONDUCTUNSPORTING CONDUCT
François Grossi, L2, France
Judge Conference GP Lyon
November 2nd
2012

2. IntroductionIntroduction
● Preserve integrity of your tournament
● Anybody can act unsportive
● Focus on USC Minor, Major and Aggressive
behavior
● Why I chose to talk about that : it's hard to detect
● Goal : set common ground to know how to deal
with
● Beware : USC can be verbal or non verbal

3. Not fair play vs UnsportingNot fair play vs Unsporting
● Unfair to you may not be unfair to the rules
● « Legal tricks » : dealing with derived informa-
tion
● → In doubt : Head judge interpretation
● Example : The Missed Trigger IPG rules

4. Golden rulesGolden rules
● Unsporting conduct disrupts the
tournament
● Deal with the situation...
● THEN assess the penalty
● The player must correct his/her be-
havior

5. I/ The infractions themselvesI/ The infractions themselves
● Minor : « excessively vulgar or profane »
language used
● Fishing for penalties
● Leaving Excessive trash
● Argument with judges
● Anger or excessive joy

6. ExampleExample
● Players shout excessively during deck registra-
tion at limited PTQ events
● At what time do you intervene ?
● How much noise is acceptable ?
● Perception of disruption ? ?

7. USC Major : definitionUSC Major : definition
● Fails to follow a direct and specific instruction
Warning : different than TE-Failure to follow...
● Insults a « protected » class (religion, gender...)
● Aggressive behaviour not directed at another
person or property
● Argument with the HJ after being asked to stop
● Spectator who doesn't leave the play area after
being asked to

8. USC : Aggressive behaviorUSC : Aggressive behavior
● Threats of aggression
● Direct aggression
● WARNING : Verbal or not verbal
● Threats against a judge
● Tears a card from another player

9. ExamplesExamples
● Player calls : « Judge ». Judge is coming.
Then « Can I have a judge of my country answe-
ring my call ? »

10. Examples (2)Examples (2)
● Player calls : « Judge ». Judge is coming.
Then « I'm sorry can I have a Level 2 judge
answering my call ? »

11. Examples (3)Examples (3)
● A player is disappointed of his results (3-3 drop
despite he earned 3 byes at a local GPT).
● After his drop he claims that his sealed pool was
horrible take one mythic rare and tears it.
What do you do ?

12. Examples (4)Examples (4)
● A player gets a GL for USC Major. After the ru-
ling he comes to you and claims « My op-
ponent did the same thing and he got no pe-
nalty ! ». What do you do ?

13. Additional remarksAdditional remarks
● The TO may ask the player to leave the area
even if he is not DQ
● Care to not escalate the situation
● Ignorance is no excuse for this infraction
● Odd cases : instruct the player to stop. If he
doesn't then you may penalize with USC -
Major

14. Dealing with the conflictDealing with the conflict
(GL&DQ)(GL&DQ)
● Identify the root causes : gap between
expectations and outcomes
● Show empathy but don't tell you're sorry →
mitigate the conflict
● Immediate intervention : cut off the
communication between players. « Tell me what
happened ». You are now the listener. → Active
and reflective listening
● Same process than an investigation

15. Active and reflective listeningActive and reflective listening
● Listen to both players and tell them before you
will do this
● Active listening : eye contact, direct and follow
up question. Do not show disbelief (his truth)
● Reflective listening : rephrase what he says in
your own word.
● Aim : reduce the conflict, establish some respect
and authority for you, then you can explain
your ruling and they listen to you

16. DiplomacyDiplomacy
● Embarassing situation. You may want to deliver
the penalty first to the player who committed
the act
● Struggle between time management and conflict
resolution. Too quick : they are still angry (at
you), too slow : the entire tournament is de-
layed and worse, they may come to see and
empower the drama.
● « This is my final ruling, I am open to discus-
sion » (From th HJ it is a powerful tool)

17. ConclusionConclusion
● Not so common, but leads to awkward situations
● Remember the golden rules :
● To recognize : does it disrupt the tournament
(not necessarily individuals) ?
● To handle : resolve the conflict before any penal-
ty
● Take care of missteps : you have to stay above
the conflict, focus only on the behavior
● You must not fall into USC yourself !