Subject: Simple solution to infringements Date: 07 May 98 17:02:10 +0100 From: "David Eastman" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com If the players feel that cheating is unavoidable, then the use of a neutral system to play the game on could be tried. Instead of playing with cards at the pro-events, play the entire game via a PC using whatever networked MTG software works best. None of Nates Clarkes examples could possibly get past any decent software. Is this over the top? Well if players feel that rules infringements that favour them are 'OK', i.e. they cheat, then it will come to this. The other alternative is to state categorically that the floor rules allow for isolated infringements to be ignored. In this case, judges are not required to correct these errors and cheating can then be incorporated as a standard floor rule. And yet I can't help feeling that other sports may provide a more natural solution. Nate Clarkes example opponent is suffering from tactical incompetence, wheras Mr Clarke himself suffers from moral incompetence. Perhaps a league system that physically prevented 'pros' from ever playing 'gentlemen' competitively could stop these mismatches from occuring. David Eastman