No wittiness here, and honestly a featured image is only being put up for consistency’s sake. We need to have a very serious discussion. As I’m sure most have heard or seen, some…issues went down during the Top 8 Match at San Jose Regionals between Danny Hype and William Moghanloo. While I will discuss the specific events, I will also discuss the underlying issues present that affect the community and game at large.

First off, before I say ANYTHING, I still want to thank Dusty O’Brien and George Machado for their work streaming San Jose Regionals and honestly all the work they do in the community. They work very hard to do right by everyone in the community. If at points, I seem critical, in no way am I condemning these two. If anything, there will be points I try to address that hopefully make it easier on them to perform their job and enjoy the events they proceed over. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we appreciate everything you two do. For those who haven’t, feel free to subscribe to Kitchen Table Meta as well. They deserve every bit of support they receive, as does Machado and Pro Play Games, even if you may not agree with some of their members.

Alright, down to business. We had a Top 8 Match between Danny Hype running a Red/Yellow SSJ3 Goku build (let’s just call it Zen-Oh Turbo) and Will running Mecha Frieza Apes. Danny was up 1-0 in the match heading into the late stages of Game 2. Then…in two consecutive turns, issues arose and I’ll go into each one as in depth as possible and discuss each one.

After some…EXTENSIVE work getting Chain Attack Trunks into Zen-Oh to resolve (Will had wisely made use of the extra counter windows that CA Trunks specifically has to avoid it for multiple tries), he finally succeeds and the shuffle began. In the process, Will accidentally picked up his energy and started to shuffle it back into his deck, but Danny caught it and got Will to stop very fast. Here’s where the troubles began. The stream obviously was calling for bloody murder and either a game loss, or have Will just scoop because he “obviously lost” (note that a couple of guys in the chat were aware that Will still had a good chance of winning due to how many resources Danny had to burn in order to live long enough to achieve the combo). The judges sought out Dusty’s help to runback the stream and check to see exactly what cards Will had as energy. Ultimately the gamestate was restored, and no warnings to either party were given out. The viewers however were immensely upset and feel that a game loss absolutely should’ve been delivered. Before we get to the second major issue that happened in that fateful game, I’ll go more in depth into this one.

https://clips.twitch.tv/CrazyFrailLobsterAMPEnergy

Stream Interaction

Basically what I want to discuss is the concept of streaming matches in general, and the “responsibility” that casters and viewers may or may not have to fix any issues seen within an ongoing game. This is actually somewhat similar to what a lot of major sports have gone through in the last couple of decades with the “replay” system, the NFL in particular, however there is a BIG discrepancy here. See, with nearly every major sport, the NFL in particular, every game is recorded and played live. Now every game may not be WATCHED by everyone at home (for various reasons, blackouts, markets, timezones and such), they are still always broadcast and recorded. Thus the call for technology to help fix mistakes on the field makes sense. It’s already being used in every game, it makes sense that you can use every possible resource to guarantee a fair game (how well it’s utilized…is another story entirely, and not one to discuss on here…especially by me, an Eagles fan who may have benefitted during this year’s Super Bowl…)

Where the difference is for TCGs, is that every game is NOT broadcast. No, usually it’s just one per round. Magic the Gathering can get up to 3 games. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to how many games that are played on the floor. So the question was asked (rather crudely, but still), “Is it fair that Feature Match players can get the benefit of replay or just general stream interaction while other players do not?”. And by stream interaction, I mainly mean the knowledge that the casters and viewers being used in some way to affect the ongoing game being played. Now MTG has somewhat avoided this issue by making sure replay is never used to affect their gameplay (I think they may use it after games to help with deal proper infractions, but that’s another subject). However at the same note it can make it frustrating when a judge may miss something and the stream and viewers at home can see it plain as day. Also, any player can freely refuse to be put into the Feature Match. By agreeing to be part of one, you can argue that you’re also agreeing to all the upsides and downsides present in a streamed game, including stream interaction. But, it can indeed be frustrating to know that games can be judged differently just based on if you’re on stream or not.

So there are three possibilities to discuss.

Continue as is. Feature Matches can be subject to Replay or various amount of Stream Interaction and it’s something that comes with the territory of playing the Feature Match. Maybe some small regulations put in, but that’s it. From now on, Feature Matches on stream are barred from all Stream Interaction. No replays, the casters cannot comment on potential mishaps as well. Just no more streaming altogether.

Now, I’ll admit, number 3 is a very extreme possibility. However, it is also likely the easiest solution to keep community outrage during an event to a minimum. I don’t think it’s the correct call personally, but I think all possibilities need to be mentioned and discussed so there it was.

Personally, I believe that if one has the technology to fix something that can be fixed, it’s their responsibility to help do so if able. However, I can also appreciate the call for equality among all games. After all, one of the ideals of Trading Card Games and their events, is how we come from all different backgrounds and situations but the second we sit down across from one another, we’re all the same. Especially during a big event, we all have the same opportunities. Even if I built the jankiest, most casual deck ever or the most optimal deck possible, my opportunities I’m allowed are no different than anyone else. We all become equals. I can see how Stream Interaction during Featured Match can put a crack in that ideal. I don’t think there’s an immediate right answer, but it’s one that needs to be discussed within the community.

Anyway, moving onto the very next turn within that fateful game. Will had survived the combo turn and decided to go on the offensive himself. He activates March of the Great Ape and has not declared his Energy usage nor if he’s using Mecha Frieza’s ability to lessen the Energy Cost in exchange for a Life. Before any such declaration (and it’s still unclear whether Danny just jumped the gun, or Will left him out to dry) Danny goes to activate Crusher Ball, obviously intending to stifle the offensive. Will, still without tapping anything for March, goes to use Bad Ring Laser, Takes a Life, Then Discards and THEN decides to do all his Energy tapping. Let’s just say there are many things wrong here.

https://clips.twitch.tv/HomelyBrightLapwingUncleNox

First off, it is the case that you present a card prior to paying its Energy Cost. However, once you present it, you still must pay the Energy whether using MF’s ability or not, and do so before the opponent has any chance to respond with a potential counter. Danny however, played Crusher Ball (tapping properly) before such a thing happened. In normal cases, that would only constitute a warning for both parties, Will for not tapping his energy properly and Danny for jumping the gun potentially (both were obviously tense considering what happened the previous turn). That would be the end of it…if that was all that happened.

After the Crusher Ball, Will goes to play Bad Ring Laser, takes a life before discarding and THEN decides to adjust ALL of his Energy accordingly, and only goes on to tap down 3 Energy (obviously implying that he used his MF ability on March, and as such was immensely late). First let me address one thing. At first I believed along with many others, that you have to discard before adding a life with Mecha Frieza. After research through the official Q&A, I have determined that to not be the case. See, with Mecha Frieza, you reveal the card, add the life to hand THEN pay for the card with any associated costs that are left. Thus, even though Bad Ring Laser has an additional cost to play the card, it still gets paid at the same time the energy would be paid which is AFTER the life is added.

However, Will’s order of events was still incorrect. He deliberately chose to tap his energy for both cards after he knew that both would resolve and Danny didn’t have another Bad Ring to fire and then tapped his energy optimally. This, to me, is an egregious case of misconduct. The question though isn’t even so much what he did was wrong, it was whether it was intentional or not. The question is…what happens if that is the case? And that leads to the second major point I want to discuss tonight.

The Case of Judges and Infractions in the DBSCCG

We got a problem guys. We all talked about it jokingly at first, but I’d argue this game made evident a big issue. The current Judge Test was simply too easy and nowhere near comprehensive enough. Or to be more blunt, whether through our own fault or Bandai’s, the current crop of judges are just not as qualified as we should be and are underdeveloped. That needs to change and better standards need to be introduced. It was understandable at first to make an easy Judge Test, in order to quickly fill up the community with Judges that could be called in at a moment’s notice for a game in its infancy. But now change needs to happen and we must increase our quality control. For example, there actually IS some criteria for penalties and infractions in the game. I wonder how many judges have actually read the manual on them? And I’m not blaming them for doing so, it’s very easy to miss its existence as it doesn’t exist in the normal play manual. Bandai barely required any study of it, which means penalties are thrown out on personal preference.

To wit, after studying the Floor Manual, the initial infraction for the Energy Shuffle issue would be a “Notice”. A Notice in DBSCCG could be considered equivalent to a “Warning” in most other TCGs. Generally a “Do It Again, and a Game Loss will happen”. Will absolutely should’ve been issued a Notice for it, but nothing else. But then the next turn, the Energy and Stack mishap takes place. Under normal circumstance, this would also just be a Notice for both players (note, both infractions would be considered “Failing to Observe Game Rules”). HOWEVER, since Will should’ve also been dealt a Notice for the previous turn, he can and honestly should’ve been upgraded to a Game Loss and Danny awarded the match. However I only had solid proof of this after having to actually research the Floor Manual while writing this blog post, something I barely had to look at previously for the Judge Test and thus it’s no surprise that most other judges would lack this knowledge.

We have to change guys, simple as that. We need an upgraded Judge Test. Those who have their certification can keep it but, but say as a “Level 1”, basically as the filler judges to help out at bigger events. But to be a Head Judge or the Judges assigned to both Feature Matches and Top Cut Matches (all Top Cut Matches have a Judge present), a better Judge Test needs to be administered to make sure we have qualified judges present. After all, it’s fine to have more general judges on the floor, as long as there’s competent higher levels of judges present in case an appeal needs to be made. It makes sure an event has a certain degree of legitimacy and order. I place very little blame on the judges who were present at that game making the decisions that they did, based on the knowledge that they had. It’s time that we make sure that we can give ourselves a better standard.

I know this was an IMMENSELY lengthy post, but there was a lot that I needed to get off my chest, and that needed to be discussed. Ultimately, again, I want to make clear that I did not intend this writing to be a condemnation of the streamers, of the judges, or of the players. Again, the KTM team does a wonderful job, the judges do all they can with the information they have, and both Danny and Will played masterfully outside of that two turn cluster. Note that they never would’ve gotten to that point in the game, if Will didn’t beautifully take advantage of the weakness of Chain Attack Trunks, something most players were unaware of, so this smear campaign of Will’s ability within the game is immensely uncalled for and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt of his actual intentions during the two big infractions. Top 8 of the biggest DBS Regional, stress runs extremely high and his infractions happened during the two most stressful plays of the entire game. Instead, I want to use these moments to both inform the community and hopefully, we can all improve together. Improve our regulations for streaming, and improve our quality of judging. We can do this, we just have to stop and think before we act.

Until Next Time, Keep Fighting Because If You Don’t, Who Will?