Tournament Rules

Last of all, please join us on Discord and check out http://www.redbull.com/untapped for all relevant details.

Read the FAQ documents; they are an integral part of these tournament rules.

Finally, the official Digital Magic Tournament Rules and Digital Procedure Guidelines will be in effect. They can be found at the JudgeAcademy website.

Wherever rules contradictions, alterations or speficications occur, this website (as the event's fact sheet) will take precedence, followed by the FAQ, followed by the official document. If multiple languages of any document are made available, only the English versions will be considered.

Registration and eligibility

Signing up

All Red Bull Untapped qualifiers are free and open to all eligible players. There is no limit to the number of Qualifiers a player may play in, but each individual event may have its own limitations and restrictions (based on its type). Participants can sign up for Red Bull Untapped qualifiers through mtgmelee.com up until half an hour before the tournament(s) of their choice. Late registrations will not be processed.

International Qualifiers

International Qualifier events are open to all players worldwide. These events are not generally meant to be capped and are meant to be played over two days.

Online Country Qualifiers

Online Country Qualifier events are limited to a specific country; only players residing in that country can participate. This is detected automatically through your IP address when you sign up or play through mtgmelee.com. If you believe that you are incorrectly being denied entry, please contact us at untapped@play-mtg.com and we will try to help you. You are not allowed to use a VPN or similar tools to sign up if you do not reside in the country that the Online Country Qualifier event is serving. Doing so will result in your disqualification from the event. You will also be banned from any future Red Bull Untapped tournaments. Note that you must be able to provide proof of residence upon request by the organizer. This is something we will be doing for all who win prizes and may be doing for other participants if we suspect foul play.

Player cap and waiting list

Some events have limited attendance. These are generally single-day events, where the player cap was introduced to make the event run smoothly and finish at a reasonable time. Those events will take attendance in a first-come-first-serve manner. Once the player cap is reached, additional players are placed on a waiting list and may participate if registered players do not show up for R1, also on a first-come-first-serve basis. Players on the waiting list are recommended to submit their deck list and be logged into mtgmelee.com at least half an hour before the event.

Age restrictions

The minimum age to be eligible to play in Red Bull Untapped qualifiers is 18. If you play in the event and are found to be under the age of 18, you will be disqualified from this event. You will be able to play in future Red Bull Untapped events as soon as you reach the age of 18.

Exceptions

The Red Bull Untapped organization reserves the right to make any exceptions and changes to the above rules without prior or public notice.

Decklist submission

You are required to send in your decklist. This can be done via the Player Controller on mtgmelee.com and needs to happen at latest 30 minutes before the event starts. Players who have not submitted their decklist will be automatically dropped from the event, meaning they will not be allowed to participate. Be sure to check that you have correctly submitted your decklist. You will need to both IMPORT and SUBMIT your deck via the player controller on mtgmelee.com. We recommend doing this the day before entering the event, as we cannot make exceptions to this policy – playing with a loss in Round 1 is not an option.

Decklist sharing

Each round, your decklist will be shared with your opponent before your match starts - likewise, you will be given access to your opponent's decklist at this time. This is done through mtgmelee.com in the player controller.

Checking in

To prevent Round 1 from having a high percentage of no-shows, the Red Bull Untapped qualifiers will be using mandatory check-in. Check-in for an event opens 90 minutes before the start of the event. Players should check-in no later than 30 minutes before the start of their event to avoid being dropped from the event. To check into the event, go into your player controller and follow instructions on the prompt on the top of your screen. Like with deck lists, no exceptions can be made to this policy. Re-entering players who missed the check-in deadline is not possible.

Player responsibilities

Aside from the abovementioned decklist submission and player registration, there are additional responsibilities.

Hardware, connectivity, and software

Players are required to provide their own system with a working Arena client, connected to the internet. The organization does not provide these means.

Communication

Players are required to maintain communication with the organization at all times. Presence and reactivity on mtgmelee.com as well as Discord is required, as well as reading any official announcements on both platforms. Failure to answer a private message over Discord or mtgmelee.com in a reasonable time may result in your match scores being altered or guessed, or in you being dropped from the event. Players are required to share their screen via Discord's Go Live feature upon request by an admin or stream staff. To clarify: aside from facilitating the stream (see the section on feature matches), these measure mostly exist to ensure the smooth running of the event: verifying software or decklist issues, properly detecting and dealing with tardiness and no-shows, moving forward with the tournament at the end of the round when results are missing, etc. Admins will always try to contact you before making decisions that may negatively impact you, but it is your responsibility to stay be reachable.

Feature matches and screen sharing

Players recognize that they can be put in a feature match at any time. Details are listed in the section on feature matches. Failure to join may result in a loss for that round. We will contact you through Discord as well as mtgmelee.com. (Note that this policy will indeed be enforced if needed.)

Result submission

Both players are required to submit and/or verify the result of their match on mtgmelee.com and, upon request by an admin verify that result in direct communication.

Match check-in

Unrelated to checking into the tournament, which is mandatory, you are also required to check into your match at the start of each round using the player controller. This is needed to receive your opponent's Arena ID; it also serves as a way for staff to verify that you're still in the tournament. If neither player has checked into a match and we have no result at the end of the round, we will set your result to a draw and drop both players automatically. This is also what we use to verify that you aren't around when your opponent tells us so.

Tournament structure

Single day tournaments

Single day qualifiers with a player cap of 216 players will use the appropriate amount of swiss rounds (up to a maximum of 8) and play a top 8 single elimination bracket on the same day, as soon as the swiss rounds are over. Exceptions to this will be specified in the Event Type section.

Two-day tournaments

Two-day qualifiers will have 8 swiss rounds on Day 1, with an appropriately sized single elimination top cut bracket played on Day 2. This top cut size depends on the number of players that have entered the event (*) and is as follows:

• Up to 216 players: top 8
• 217 to 448 players: top 16
• 449 to 896 players: top 32
• 897 to 1793 players: top 64
• 1794 to 3624 players: top 128
• 3625 or more players: top 256

(*) In theory, the number of people who entered the event is the number of players paired in round 1, but some factors may influence this, such as late adds due to a mistake by staff or similar exceptional events. In case we are very close to a cut-off point, the top cut size will be announced at the time round 2 starts, otherwise it is announced at the beginning of the tournament.

Play-Draw rule in single elimination portion

As laid out in the digital Magic Tournament Rules, the highest seed after swiss rounds will be choosing who plays/draws in each match of the single elimination portion. The procedure on doing so will be explained via Discord at the start of these rounds.

Tournament issues

Disconnections

Players are fully and solely responsible for the presence and stability of an internet connection, which is required to play in the event. Players are also responsible for stability of the system running MTG Arena. Players disconnecting from their game are likely to end up forfeiting the match, but the following procedures will be in place to provide leniency where possible:

• If a player disconnects from an ongoing game and can reconnect before timing out, they can continue playing that game.
• If a player disconnects from an ongoing game and loses that game in MTG Arena, but the match would not have been over with that loss, players should contact an admin (via Discord or mtgmelee.com) as soon as this happens. Admins will try to resolve those situations as best as possible. The ongoing game will be inevitably lost, but it may be possible to continue the rest of the match, at the admin's sole discretion. If players do not contact admins immediately, no attempts will be made by the admins to continue the match.
• If your opponent disconnects from the game or loses a game due to a time-out, you should contact an admin immediately (via Discord or mtgmelee.com). You may not submit a result before having done so and gotten verification by an admin that you may submit your result, even if that game was the last game of your match. Any results submitted this way without prior verification by an admin are subject to being voided and/or changed at their sole discretion.

Software crashes

The organization cannot be held responsible for MTG Arena crashes and any resulting match results. Players' ability to provoke crashes or disconnects make it impossible to apply any exceptions other than those stated above.

Software bugs

The organization cannot be held responsible for any bugs encountered in MTG Arena. Players are encouraged to report bugs to MTG Arena customer service and read the Known Issues List.

Bribery & wagering

As per the Magic Tournament Rules, bribery and wagering are not allowed. Reach out to us as soon as anything of this nature happens.

Outside Assistance

The Digital Magic Tournament Rules will be followed in this event. Specifically, this means that:

• it is not allowed to view the stream of your opponent;
• the burden for avoiding Outside Assistance is on the players themselves; players are personally responsible for ensuring they cannot be put in a position where they may receive Outside Assistance from their stream audience, for example;
• players are required to immediately report any (accidental) outside assistance they may have received. It is highly recommended that players streaming their event use a delay of at least two minutes. Disabling the chat for streams is another recommended countermeasure.

Tournament procedures

Connecting to your opponent.

When you receive pairings via mtgmelee.com, you will immediately see a chat box in which you can talk to your opponent. Be sure to say hi! You can also use this function to resolve any issues in making a connection.

Generally, players need to initiate a Direct Challenge with each other in MTG Arena. Both players will also need to use the same game mode for that challenge (see below).

Add your opponent as a friend

Red Bull Untapped recommends adding your opponent as a friend in MTG Arena. This makes challenges easier as only one of two friends need to initiate a challenge, with the other receiving a notification. This reduces the amount of errors significantly and should be tried if directly challenging does not seem to work.

Case sensitivity of Arena IDs

When adding or challenging your opponent, be aware that the Arena ID is case sensitive and has a 5-digit discriminator as well as a handle. For example: MyArenaID#35791 is a valid Arena ID, but MyArenaID is not. Furthermore, there is a different between myarenaid#35791 and MyArenaID#35791. When challenging your opponent, be sure to use the Tournament Match (best-of-3) mode in Arena.

Troubleshooting connections

If, after trying double-checking spelling and having added each other as friends, you still have connection issues, reach out to each other in the chat. Make sure you both cancel ongoing challenges, then have one person add the other as a friend, then have that same person initiate a challenge while the other player waits to receive it. After having tried this, please reach out to us via Discord or mtgmelee.com.

What if you started a Best-Of-1?

If you did everything correctly, you should be playing in a Romano-Greek coliseum setting if all is well. If your playing field is different, you have likely started a best-of-1 game. Play out that game, then initiate another challenge afterwards (this time using the correct mode). The loser of the first game should concede in that match.

Decklist issues

If you notice that you and/or your opponent is playing an illegal deck or a deck that doesn't match the decklist, contact an admin (via Discord or mtgmelee.com) as soon as you discover the problem. If the problem is your opponent's deck, be prepared to provide a screenshot. Playing a deck that does not match the deck list you have submitted before the event may result in penalties, at the sole discretion of the tournament admins. These penalties will depend on the exact situation, and may include a warning, game loss or disqualification (in case of cheating).

Tardiness

Players are expected to start their games within 5 minutes of pairings being posted, but leniency will be given up to 10 minutes into the round. If you haven't started your game and your opponent has not been in contact with you after 5 minutes, you are encouraged to contact an admin so that we may reach out to them or let you know of any ongoing issues we are aware of. If you still are not playing and have not been in contact with your opponent 10 minutes into the round, contact an admin for verification and resolution. Please be ready to provide screenshots that show you have reached out to your opponent via mtgmelee.com. You may not submit any results without verifying with an admin.

Early start

Should a round end early (due to all matches being done before the round is over), we may start the next round earlier than planned. The earliest moment at which tardiness will apply in that case is at the announced time of the end of the previous round.

Round length

Each round will last 55 minutes. That is the usual 50 minutes given to any match plus an additional 5 minutes to connect to your opponent and resolve any issues you may encounter. This round time is separate from the in-game timer in Arena, which also applies.

Arena Timer

When a player's timer runs out in Arena, they will lose that match and the score should be reported. To ensure that the tournament goes smoothly, the round time limit of 55 minutes will also be enforced in addition to the in-game timer.

End of Round procedure

When the round ends and your match is not finished, reach out to ad admin through Discord or mtgmelee.com, letting them know the status of your match (current score and the time each player has left). At their sole discretion, the admin may decide to let you play out the entire game or decide the match is a draw.

• If you are not in contact with an admin at the end of the round and neither player has checked into the match on mtgmelee.com, your game score will be set to a draw and both players will be dropped from the event.
• If you are not in contact with an admin at the end of the round and we do not receive a result within 5 minutes after the end of the round, your game score will be set manually by an admin and the next round will be paired soon after. To clarify how we intend to operate: if it is reasonably possible to finish the match without impacting the overall tournament speed, we will let you do that. However, what is “reasonable” is at the admin's sole discretion to determine and may vary from match to match.

Playoff timing

Playoff matches will use the same timing rules as outlined above, with the exception of the finals, which will be untimed.

Outside Assistance

If you receive or believe your opponent has received Outside Assistance, you are required to immediately contact tournament admins.

Streaming and feature matches

Players are encouraged to stream their event. When streaming, we ask that you include #RedBullUntapped2020 to the title of your stream. It helps with the overall event hype… and who knows, you may end up reaching throngs of viewers by being featured in the official Red Bull stream at some point. Streamers are recommended to delay their stream by at least two (and up to ten) minutes and are required to take precautions to avoid outside assistance by their viewers.

Feature match procedure

If you are selected for a feature match, we will reach out to you on both Discord and mtgmelee.com. An admin will then give you access to the Feature Match Instructions channel, containing all information on how to go live, guiding you through the process. You will also get access to a private voice channel on Discord where you can use the Go Live feature. Nobody except staff can see this stream. Being in a feature match is not optional; when you are asked to share your screen, you must do so or will be subject to losing the round. Note that we will be selecting multiple feature matches each round but will only be streaming one of them at any point. That means you may not end up on stream. When you are on the livestream, your entire Arena screen will be shared, including the contents of your hand. We will be delaying the stream however, so your opponent will not have access to any real-time information. The normal delay will be 10 minutes, though individual events may deviate from this.

12:30 CEST Registration closes, check-in and decklists are due

13:00 CEST Start of event, pairings for R1

1st - $2000 and qualification for the finals

2nd - $1000

3rd/4th - $500

5th-8th - $250

untapped@play-mtg.com