What do you do in a tournament when someone is using a team over the point build set

[Joe Kerr]

.. by the judge.

We were just talking about what to do when this happens again. After the tournament my friend brought up a point about someone's team in the tournament, so we pulled out my figures real quick and added them up. What do you know? It was over the 300 point limit set as the tournament rule.

So I brought it to the judge's attention and we've been talking about it for awhile. With a tournament coming up soon we were trying to figure out what we should do. He was talking about making the guy loose one of his figures and play like that or kicking him out.

What is the common rule of thumb here?

[gaidin]

I have no hard fast rule of thumb.
If I know the person to be a win at all cost type and feel that they did it purposely than they are disqualified from the tournament and possibly from more ( on repeated offenses)

If it is a younger player than they just rebuild and play with that. And have them required to have me check their team every tournament before they can play for a while. (Or certain people that I trust can check as well if I am busy)

If it is noticed after the tournament has started they get a loss for that round and rebuild army for remaining rounds. ( It should be noticed by the first round because the points earned should add up to over 600 between the two people so that can't be unless there is something wrong (OR aRCH nEMESIS)

So as you can see it should be dealt wiith harshly so it doesn't happen again, but the severity should be based on the discretion of whether it was intentional how big a mistake (3 points is a mistake 30 is just wrong)
You have to play it by ear and feel of the player and his reputation as a poor winner poor sport or just a goof that anyone can make.
Gaidin

[Mr. Pilkington]

Fielding a team over the tournament point limit is grounds for disqualification. If the judge thinks it was an honest mistake and is feeling nice he or she could have the player drop a figure in order to meet the point maximum, but the point limit is one of the only things that really tries to keep the playing field level. You will rarely play against people who have access to the exact figures that you do (or vice versa), but you do know that both of you can only have a maximum of points in your force as set for the tournament. It is harsh to disqualify someone if they did their math wrong, but getting a DQ due to points will most likely teach the person to check very carefully the next time. A difference of one or two points can be big. For example: with a two point overage you could put rookie Batman and rookie Robin in a 100 point team. That is significant, as Batman normally could not get as effective of a team member as Robin in a 100 point game.

It is up to the individual judge, but the issue should be dealt with. It is on the same level as having altered combat dials, which can be accidental as well. It is a tough call, but the judge has to consider the other players as well as the player with the illegal team total. How many of them would have a different team if they just had a couple more points?

The best advice is to double-check your own teams. Add them up a few times. Compare the collection number on the bottom dial to the one on the top (you can find the collection number on the last KO click, the one just before the starting position line). Make sure you add up the numbers from the tops of the dials instead of from a list. You never know when someone might have typoed the cost of a figure on the list you have. Get all of your own ducks in a row and you won't run the risk of being on the receiving end of this issue.

[gaidin]

I don't know if I came off as being light but at the bare minimum you lose a game or two (if it is caught later than the first round) at the maximum you can be banned from the venues tournaments. And yes I know that I would have permission from the manager of the store to do this.

You should always double check your math and I as a judge look at the score sheets handed in and if they are above the point possibilities I ask why and if the answer is not arch enemies (or sentinel/sinestro) than I know there is a problem to be fixed.
Gaidin

[ChicagoAvenger]

Luckily, it was a fairly small tourney at a con. There were three players, and one of them I had run into at a few other tourneys and had been a little annoyed with. After the first round got under way, I decided to be thorough and was going over the team sheets that everyone turned in. Well, I found his team added up below the total. Added it again and went, "What the?" I had the players read off the team on the board and it added up over. So, what happened was he added the team to three hundred, threw it into a bag with an extra fig, and didn't write down all of the figs on the sheet.

Hey, he did sloppy math, so he plays short for the tourney. He put an extra figure, not on the sheet, on the board in the first match so I forfeited his first match.

That's what I did.

Hope this helps.

[shin-goji]

When I run a tourney, I walk from player to player and add up their teams with a calculator before the tourney starts. No one complains about it and all the players encourage it. That prevents any monkey business before it starts. My players know I trust them, but mistakes can be made.

[DS-00-0, FSD]

Calculator!

Just have one handy. Have everyone double check their teams beforehand. If anyone does go over, his team should be adjusted accordingly.

If it's a mistake, the player should be more than happy to correct his mistake. Making him drop a fig and not be able to readjust is almost as wrong as allowing him to continue with a team over the build total, IMHO.

[Mr. Pilkington]

While I can understand your objection, DS, allowing someone to pick another figure that will fit can be unfair as well. If the point total is spotted before things start then the player can rebuild as needed. But if it is caught after the tournament has started then the player with the illegal team has some knowledge of his competitor's team. This will invariably effect the figure chosen to replace one taken out. While you might not have a lot of options (only rookie thug can fit in 6 points, etc.) you could have some and it could make a difference. The choices that I see in that case are DQ from the tournament or play down a figure, possibly forfeiting the current/previous rounds. The player should never be possibly rewarded for fielding an illegal team (which picking another figure after the start could end up doing).

[Joe Kerr]

But how often does it happen, in tournament play, that someone adds up their team wrong? My friend and I go over our teams the day of the tournament and make sure we have the best team we can get. I help him a lot at choosing figures. In this process you do a lot of adding and subtracting to see if your team meets the 300 point guideline. I know we are not alone in putting thought into a team and with that thought, I don't see how mistakes happen when you are over 8 points.

There are kids who play at the event. I can understand if maybe they just rounded up and might be a little bit over. I can see that as being a mistake. The person in question I'd say is 25 or 26.

And this same guy was telling people the wrong rules during the game making him even more shady.