A hard moral question

[Moxlotus]

Just out of curiosity, what do people think about swapping decklists prior to the top 8 to try and mitigate the advantages that teams and scouting can bring? This has been used at some big T1 events - should it become standard practice?

I don't like giving out decklists as then there is 0 element of surprise.  I liked what SCG did for one tournament which was giving the deck archetype (Slaver, Stax, Dragon...).

[sundering jerk]

i usually just walk around and watch people play. i like being around the game so i don't think its really unethical to just watch people playing.

once again, I don't consider this immoral scouting. I'm talking about when people have runners do the dirty work and make lists of the previous top 50 players.

It sux to have someone pull out a stack of paper find your name and look at your deck list. especially when they have pithing needles and meddling mages in their deck.

[kirdape3]

That's why we have teams.  Eliminated teammates have a responsibility to go and find out what everybody at the top tables is playing (unless all are eliminated).  That's how you maximize your winnings, which most often stay as a reserve for those teammates lacking all the cards (at least, that's how it normally works for us).

For us, the point of tournaments is to come home with as many pieces of power as possible.  Maybe for others it's different, but if you want to win, do everything WITHIN THE RULES you can.

[Bram]

For me, the point of tournaments is to have something to do on sundays when my girlfriend is away. Oh, and to justify not selling my power and making a ridiculous amount of money. Maybe that's why I dislike proxy tournaments so much

[ashiXIII]

Just out of curiosity, what do people think about swapping decklists prior to the top 8 to try and mitigate the advantages that teams and scouting can bring? This has been used at some big T1 events - should it become standard practice?

I don't like giving out decklists as then there is 0 element of surprise.  I liked what SCG did for one tournament which was giving the deck archetype (Slaver, Stax, Dragon...).

There's no easy answer to whether or not to do decklist swaps. Believe me, it's talked about a LOT by judges during constructed season. Doing them gives some players an advantage (as mentioned above, players with Meddling Mages, Pithing Needles, etc., as well as other players) and not doing them gives other players an advantage. (players with teams to scout, or players playing very fast decks who have more time to scout during rounds than others playing slow control decks.) So, it's a very debated topic, and there isn't an easy answer one way or the other. As for giving deck archetypes, that would only work for unsanctioned Vintage events, and even then, I think it's a really, really bad idea. Especially when you get decks that are new, or rogue, or difficult to classify.

[Apollyon]

There's no easy answer to whether or not to do decklist swaps. Believe me, it's talked about a LOT by judges during constructed season. Doing them gives some players an advantage (as mentioned above, players with Meddling Mages, Pithing Needles, etc., as well as other players) and not doing them gives other players an advantage. (players with teams to scout, or players playing very fast decks who have more time to scout during rounds than others playing slow control decks.)

The general feeling is that giving everyone the lists makes everyone equal. At the higher end, everyone knows everyone else's list, so giving them their exact list doesn't really give anyone a major advantage. I support the decklist swap for GPs and PTs.