The IPG: Philosophy & Penalty Structure

The IPG exists so that the same mistake is handled the same way at every Competitive event worldwide. Penalties are not punishment — they exist to:

1. Educate the player,
2. Deter carelessness, and
3. Protect the integrity and pace of the tournament.

When you give a penalty, you also explain the infraction and how to avoid it. A Warning is primarily a tracking tool: repeated identical Warnings can escalate.

The IPG groups infractions into three families:

• Game Play Errors (GPE) — mistakes in playing the game (e.g. Game Rule Violation, Missed Trigger, Looking at Extra Cards, Hidden Card Error, Mulligan Procedure Error, Failure to Maintain Game State).
• Tournament Errors (TE) — procedural problems around the game (e.g. Tardiness, Slow Play, Deck/Decklist Problem, Marked Cards, Communication Policy Violation, Outside Assistance).
• Unsporting Conduct (USC) — behavior problems (Minor, Major, Cheating, Bribery, Aggressive Behavior).

• Warning — the most common. Educational and tracked.
• Game Loss — the player loses the current game; applied at the start of a subsequent game if none is in progress.
• Match Loss — uncommon; used mainly for serious Unsporting Conduct.
• Disqualification (DQ) — removal from the event, used for Cheating and the most serious conduct. A DQ requires investigation and is reported.

The IPG strongly prefers partial fixes and moving forward over rewinding the game. A backup (rewinding several actions) is only allowed in narrow circumstances, because rewinding leaks information and can create new problems. When a prescribed fix exists for an infraction, apply that fix — do not invent your own.