Judging Elective
Disqualifications and Escalations
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Hello there!
As always, I’m Jonah - the Program Director for the Star Wars™: Unlimited Judge program.
This is a short elective for all judges talking about the disqualifications and event reporting for significant incidents. Disqualifications are the hardest part about judging, because it compresses a lot of decisions into a small time frame, is emotionally intense, and your responsibilities to the rest of the tournament continue while you are handling this process.
While disqualifications and major incidents that require reporting will be infrequent, with hundreds of competitive events and thousands of players, these things will occur. This lesson isn’t required for any certification, but elements of the lesson may show up in L2 and L3 lessons, as they pertain to running larger and more competitive events. Later lessons will also include details of how to perform an investigation, determine advantage, complete card counts and more. If you’re going to be Head Judge of a larger event, but don’t have those certifications, this can be a good starting point to get those fundamentals locked in.
This lesson is intended to act as a basic primer and reference document, and will include links to a Player FAQ and a judge facing standard operating procedure document.
How to DQ a player
Disqualifying a player is never easy, even when the policy is clear and precise. When there is any uncertainty, it can become even harder.
When disqualifying a player, you do not need incontrovertible proof. You’re not composing a legal case. For cheating, you simply need to believe that the player did something illegal, knew that they weren’t allowed to do it, and did it to gain an advantage.
You can never be one hundred percent confident, and you never will be, except for the exceedingly rare case where the player confesses. And that’s okay - disqualifications are a judgment call - it’s part of the name of the job.
When disqualifying a player, it’s important that the player recognizes that you understand the gravity of the situation, and it’s important that the player understands it as well. However, even if a player cheated, even if they crossed the line with some other behavior that is not allowed or inappropriate, it is important to treat them with respect. Most people who cheat are people who took advantage of an opportunity and are not regular cheaters.
When you disqualify a player, you should do so away from other players or spectators - you should do what you can to allow the player to preserve their privacy. Ideally, you’re able to do this seated at an open table, away from other players - if they need time to process, give them that time. If they want to go collect their belongings immediately, allow them to do that as well.
When telling a player that they’re disqualified, you should use the specific term, and explain why you’re disqualifying them. “I’m disqualifying you from this event because it is my belief that you intentionally exhausted seven resources to play Superlaser Blast.” This should come after you’ve completed your investigation. They will likely try to appeal - to ask if there is any recourse they can have in the moment. You are the head judge, and your ruling is final. During the investigation, you will have heard their side of the story, their perspective and taken it into account. You can let them speak with the tournament organizer, but unless the organizer replaces you as Head Judge, your ruling will stand.
As you conduct your investigation, if you believe it is likely that you will be disqualifying a player, you should notify the TO or their designated representative that you are considering a disqualification. TO's duties include customer service at the event, and they need to be aware and should be engaged in all disqualifications, but do not make the determination to disqualify a player not.
What the Player Needs To Know
Once you’ve told the player that they’re being disqualified, there are a few more things that the player should know.
First, be clear that they’re removed from the event, will not be participating in it anymore, and will not receive any further prizes. Anything they’ve previously been given - such as participation promos or booster packs as part of a sealed portion of the event - are theirs to keep.
Second, being disqualified from one event does not necessarily prevent the player from playing in other events at that store or convention. Depending on the infraction the Tournament Organizer may also eject the player (usually for unsporting conduct, aggressive behavior, theft and similar infractions), but if the TO believes it was a genuine mistake and not likely to be repeated (a cheat of opportunity in a high-stakes event or an offer to split prizes) they may allow the player to continue playing in other events. Removing a player from the venue is always a TO decision and not a judge decision. While the judge can and should provide their perspective to the organizer, it is not their responsibility.
It’s also important that the player is aware that this isn’t the end of the process, and that Fantasy Flight Games will be looking at the disqualification statement from any involved parties, before taking any action.
Some of the possible outcomes include the player being suspended for a period of time, a permanent ban or the player receiving a warning letter, letting them know that they have broken the rules and that future actions are more likely to result in a suspension.
Player Responsibilities
Ensure that the player is able to provide a statement to FFG, describing their perspective of the events. A statement can be a defense or explanation of their actions, or in some cases it is a confession. While they can’t appeal your ruling, they can provide information that FFG may use while making their final determination. The player may decline to write a statement, or decline to write one immediately. If they do, let them know that if they change their mind, they can reach out to Unlimited@FantasyFlightGames.com directly.
Ideally, the player submits a statement at the event - this can be hand written, or can be submitted via email to the tournament organizer. It’s better to have the statement go directly to the tournament organizer, rather than the disqualifying judge, so that the judge can write their own statement without their narrative being influenced by what the player wrote.
A statement should include the players name, email address and SWU ID, followed by their version of events. That means that they should include timing of the disqualification - what round they were in, the match, all the pertinent details. Most importantly, the player should express their understanding of why they were disqualified and their perspective on their actions.
Other than that, the player does not need to take any action and may be contacted by FFG requesting additional information or informing the player of the outcome of their investigation. A player is not required to submit a statement, but not submitting a statement makes it less likely that the player gets a positive outcome.
Judge Responsibilities
Once you’ve informed the player that they’ve been disqualified, it’s time for a lot of paperwork and communication.
You want to ensure that the disqualified player has been informed of what they need to know and has the information they need to begin writing their statement. If they decline to write a statement, do your best to get their email address and SWU ID (although these should be available through Melee) so that you can forward them to FFG in the event they want to reach out to the player. If possible, assign a judge to stay with the player, to make sure they aren’t disrupted, to answer any questions, and to bring them and the statement to the Tournament Organizer once they’ve finished. Select a judge who was not involved in the investigation so that they can be perceived as more of a neutral party than someone who was involved in the disqualification.
You’ll then want to make sure that the player’s current opponent is informed that the player has been disqualified and that they have won the match. If the player asks, you can provide some basic information, but you should not discuss disqualifications publicly. If you believe the opponent has an important perspective, have them fill out a statement as well, getting their name, email address, and SWU ID. This is most often pertinent when a player commits a gameplay error and their opponent catches them. If the opponent wasn’t involved in the call, such as a disqualification for intentionally marked cards caught during a deck check, you do not need to collect their statement.
Sometimes, a floor judge or spectator is involved - get the relevant statements from them, as well as write your own statement. Ideally, all of these statements are written as soon after the incident as possible so as to best preserve the memories of the event. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the individuals writing the statements should do so without consulting each other - it should be their own perspective (which can include conversations or insights from other people), but not a coordinated narrative.
You’ll also need to ensure that the penalty is correctly entered into Melee, the player is correctly removed from the event, and that the opponent (if there was one) receives a win for the round. The Tournament Organizer should know before you’ve disqualified the player that you’re going to, but once everyone else has been given direction and other responsibilities have been taken care of, it’s a good idea to have a brief conversation with the organizer, about the decision that you made and how you came to that conclusion. This helps prepare them for a conversation with the player should the player want to talk with them.
On top of all that, you still need to ensure that your event is running smoothly with the standard logistical tasks. If necessary, delegate other judges or members of staff to assist with some tasks, such as announcing the next round of pairings and getting the round started. Don’t make the event wait on you.
Finally, and equally important as all of the rest - take care of yourself. As mentioned at the beginning of this lesson, disqualifying a player can be a difficult and intense experience. If you need a moment to sit and collect yourself or drink water, do that. Disqualifying players is an inherently contentious social interaction, which is something people by and large don’t enjoy. Ensure that you have the support you need before you return to the floor.
Tournament Organizer Responsibilities
Now we’re stepping out of the realm of the judge’s responsibilities - everything up to this point has been directed by the judge, but now you can step back and let someone else handle a few things.
The Tournament Organizer is responsible for maintaining the sanctity of the play space, and so they’re the ones who need to determine whether or not the player should be ejected from the venue. Sometimes a player will be disqualified, but be allowed to stay. Other times, their behavior is so far past the line of acceptable that they will be removed from the store or location, and not allowed to return that day, or in some cases for an extended period of time. To reiterate, this decision is one made by the organizer, and not by the judge.
Some stores may also have a list of players who they do not allow to play in their events, independent of suspended player lists from any publisher who they may run events for.
The Tournament Organizer is also ideally the one who collects all of the statements from judges and players and sends them on to Unlimited@FantasyFlightGames.com as soon after the conclusion of the event as possible.
Fantasy Flight Games’ Responsibilities
While a judge is a pillar of their local community, and the LGS the home to that community, it is not the responsibility of any individual, judge, or organizer to maintain the whole of the game’s ecosystem and community.
It is the responsibility of Fantasy Flight Games to do the same. Once the Organized Play team has the information about the incident, they’ll be able to take action. Sometimes this will mean reaching out to the individuals involved to get more information - it may be further questions or clarifications.
Then they’ll make a determination and take action. That action may not be publicly visible, as there are privacy laws in place, but players may be suspended from play and not allowed to play in sanctioned events.
It’s also possible that the team will determine that the judge was incorrect - it is not FFG’s responsibility to educate judges, but they can pass the feedback along to Cascade, and we can provide additional education and resources to the community at large.
Other Incidents
For other serious incidents that don’t warrant disqualification, but are likely to have high visibility online or in your local community, you can use these steps as guidelines - collect statements, inform the appropriate parties, and pass the information along to the Organized Play team at Fantasy Flight Games.
This can include disruptive behavior from individuals not involved in the event, errors in logistics or scorekeeping that cause significant delays to the tournament’s progression or misunderstandings of tournament policy.
That’s all for this lesson! This was a pretty heavy one, and relatively dense. Attached below and available on the Nexus resources page are links to documents you can print out to help you or players better understand the process - a form for Statements, an FAQ for players, and a checklist for disqualification procedures for judges.
Investigations as well as other elements of disqualifications and penalties will be covered in lessons targeted for L2 candidates and judges. Good luck and have fun!