Tournament basics: OPL, roles and events

Almost every judge question depends on three things: what kind of event it is, how strictly it is run, and who is in the room. The Tournament Rules define all three in the 200 section.

OPL. OPL stands for Organized Play Level, and it is shorthand that helps communicate expectations to players and judges (TR 205). Its purpose is to define how strictly deviations from the rules, policy and procedures are treated as violations, and what penalty they warrant (TR 205.1). There are three levels. Casual is low: most competitions are casual, focused on fun and social interaction rather than rules enforcement (TR 205.2). Competitive is high: these competitions have significant rewards, which may include invitations or advantages at the Professional level (TR 205.3). Professional is high too, with significant rewards and prestige, and the strictest penalties (TR 205.4 and TR 205.4.c). So "low OPL" means Casual, and "high OPL" means Competitive or Professional. Players are expected to know most of the Core Rules at Casual, the Core Rules and the Tournament Rules at Competitive, and both completely at Professional (TR 205.2.a, TR 205.3.a and TR 205.4.a).

Events. Competitions come in three types: a Premier competition is run by Riot Games or an official organizer and has a unique name and features, a Qualifier is any competition whose rewards include access or advantages for premier events, and a Local competition is neither (TR 201.1, TR 201.2 and TR 201.3). A limited competition provides all the product needed for play, and in a constructed competition players bring decks prepared beforehand (TR 202.1.a and TR 202.1.b). Swiss rounds pair players who have not played each other and, if possible, share the same record, while a playoff pairs players by standing and eliminates them by losses (TR 202.2.a and TR 202.2.b). A game and a match are defined in the Core Rules (TR 203.1 and TR 203.2), and a round cycle is the duration, in turns, that contains the standard turn for all players (TR 206).

Roles. Every attendee has at least one role: player, spectator, or one of the officials. The Competition Organizer handles logistics such as sanctioning the event and providing the venue (TR 204.3.a and TR 204.3.b). The Head Judge is the final authority on competition rules and regulations (TR 204.4). Floor judges answer questions and rule on violations brought to them (TR 204.5.a and TR 204.5.b). The scorekeeper generates pairings and standings (TR 204.6.a and TR 204.6.b). The Head Judge and floor judges are the judges (TR 204.2), and one person can hold several official roles (TR 204.1.a).

Worked example. At a Local Swiss event, a player calls a floor judge about a possible violation. The floor judge rules on it (TR 204.5.b), and at Casual OPL the penalty is generally lower than the same error would earn at a Professional event (TR 205.2.c and TR 205.4.c). If the player disagrees, they may appeal to the Head Judge once a full ruling has been made (TR 413.1 and TR 413.3), and the Head Judge is the final authority (TR 204.4).

Common mistake. "OPL is the event type." It is not: Premier, Qualifier and Local describe who runs the event and what it rewards, while OPL is about how strictly the rules are enforced (TR 205.1).