Never-Ending Match
from UDE's Player Management Forums
I was asked to pose this question in this forum, originally posted in the WoW Rules forum.
Basically, the question is, what happens when there is a match that might never end? OK, so here's the scenario. I played a deck this weekend that used Footsteps of Illidan and Xi'ri to combo out and kill the opponent. It used Concentration Aura to make the abilities instant and Antonidas Aegis to make them untargetable.
The deck had no way to deal damage to the opponent, other than a Xi'ri attacking, which is an almost impossible scenario in the mirror. I am curious what would have happened if I had played the mirror match, someone playing the same deck (there were at least 2 of us playing the exact same list).
95% of those games will end up a draw. If either player tries to combo off and get Xi'ri into play, then the other player will play Footsteps on your hero, and at the end of the turn both heros will be destroyed simultaneously.
Both players could refuse to put Xi'ri into play, but eventually one player will get near decking out, and will be forced to play his Xi'ri and get a draw rather than lose to decking.
One player COULD win, but only in rare scenarios.
So, what happens if this matchup occurs in a tournament? The round could literally last upwards of 4 hours before a player won. I asked a few judges. None seemed to know, but one thing they told me for sure is that it is illegal for players to use a randomization device (i.e. die roll) to determine a winner.
So, what can be done? From a tournament management standpoint, you can't let the round go for hours over time. The only possible entries for Mantis are one player winning or a double-loss. However, a double-loss seems awkward as no player has done anything violating any rules. Also, neither player is deserving of a penalty because this deck was not intended to make draws, it is just an anomoly that occurs while having a mirror match. So, what can be done?
http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/community/forums/thread/1816594.aspx
from UDE's Player Management Forums
I was asked to pose this question in this forum, originally posted in the WoW Rules forum.
Basically, the question is, what happens when there is a match that might never end? OK, so here's the scenario. I played a deck this weekend that used Footsteps of Illidan and Xi'ri to combo out and kill the opponent. It used Concentration Aura to make the abilities instant and Antonidas Aegis to make them untargetable.
The deck had no way to deal damage to the opponent, other than a Xi'ri attacking, which is an almost impossible scenario in the mirror. I am curious what would have happened if I had played the mirror match, someone playing the same deck (there were at least 2 of us playing the exact same list).
95% of those games will end up a draw. If either player tries to combo off and get Xi'ri into play, then the other player will play Footsteps on your hero, and at the end of the turn both heros will be destroyed simultaneously.
Both players could refuse to put Xi'ri into play, but eventually one player will get near decking out, and will be forced to play his Xi'ri and get a draw rather than lose to decking.
One player COULD win, but only in rare scenarios.
So, what happens if this matchup occurs in a tournament? The round could literally last upwards of 4 hours before a player won. I asked a few judges. None seemed to know, but one thing they told me for sure is that it is illegal for players to use a randomization device (i.e. die roll) to determine a winner.
So, what can be done? From a tournament management standpoint, you can't let the round go for hours over time. The only possible entries for Mantis are one player winning or a double-loss. However, a double-loss seems awkward as no player has done anything violating any rules. Also, neither player is deserving of a penalty because this deck was not intended to make draws, it is just an anomoly that occurs while having a mirror match. So, what can be done?
http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/community/forums/thread/1816594.aspx