Disputes with the judge - how much is too much?

[Khahan]

I'll start this by saying, "this will be a tough one because its so dependant on each judge."  I'm going to ask to just get different judges opinions so I can gauge, as a player, what some of the limits are.

Situation:

Magus of the moon is in play on my opponents side. I tapped tolarian to cast tinker and sac'd a mox emerald. We both pass priority, I search and find Triskelion. We get ready to move and my opponent is looking at his board figuring out how to deal with this threat and notes the magus. He tells I couldn't have had U which I agree. The judge is called. He listens to both of us.  Both players indicate it seemed to be an honest mistake and both players agree the game state can easily be fixed by putting the emerald into play and shuffling the trike into my library which had been random to begin with (no other library manipulation such as brainstorm had occurred).


The judge concludes that it is an irrepairable game state and issues a game loss to me. He allows me a chance to respond, is unconvinced and states the penalty holds.  I tell him that is fine, I'm not arguing against since he ruled, but ask a few questions about the philosphy behind the decision. The judge (by the way, no other judges) answers them.  And we move to game 2.
He indicated its a game loss because I received unfair information about my library due to being able to search it as a hidden zone. Nevermind the fact that I could recite my deck card for card and this was game 1 so there had been no sideboards. Nevermind the fact that an opponent could simply ignore the play until it was too late then call judge (which would be cheating...though I do not believe my opponent did this) knowing he'll just get a game win. These were the 2 reasons given for the game loss and the responses to them.

All in all, it was a frustrating, but cordial exchange. The judge was professional and friendly, but I felt his decision was unnecessarily harsh. On my end, I did not raise my voice, treated him and his ruling respectfully and felt I was treated the same in return. 

So, my question is this: How hard do you push in this situation as a player and how much do you let a player push as a judge?  Personally, I felt the decision was way too harsh and simply uncalled for.  The theory behind the decision was sketchy at best and for each reason to give a game loss there was reasonable information to show those theories did not hold water.  I feel I backed off too easily and should have stood my ground more.   

Please try to stay on topic of answering the questions asked and not dissecting the example. It is given with detail as an illustration, but it is over and done with. Whether the judge was proper or not, at this point, is irrelevant. I'm more interested in knowing how similar situations are viewed by other players and judges and how they are handled. Perhaps this should go in the Magic Community forum? If so, I'm sorry and please move.  (and Mr or Mrs Judge: I purposefully did not give your name because this is not about making the ruling right or wrong. Its about player/judge interaction).

[Anusien]

So, my question is this: How hard do you push in this situation as a player and how much do you let a player push as a judge?  Personally, I felt the decision was way too harsh and simply uncalled for.

It seems to me that the answer to that is pretty well defined.  If you disagree with the ruling a judge gives, feel free to appeal to the Head Judge.  If you disagree with the ruling the HJ makes, tough.  I mean, feel free to say, "Well, it seems like it should be <X> infraction in the PG which carries with it <Y> penalty and <Z> remedy." but if the HJ makes a ruling, it's final.  As a judge, if a player disagrees I will generally explain in some more depth, and if they still persist, invite them to appeal to the Head Judge.  One other thing that works well is saying, "I'd be glad to discuss this with you after the match ends."  The judge doesn't want to hold up the match, and therefore the tournament, discussing philosophy.

As a player, your best recourse is to know the rules, including the Penalty Guidelines.  If you're familiar with the philosophy of that document, you can resolve things fairly easily.  In this case it seems like the judge is issuing a penalty, instead of an infraction.  (This is me speaking as a person, not a Judge or Rules Adviser).  It seems to me that you could ask the judge, "What is the infraction committed?"  This roots things back in the Penalty Guidelines.  It also prevents Reverse Engineering, since if they say, "It's X", then the Penalty given might not match the infraction, or the situation might not match the infraction.