> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://jh.gatcg.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://jh.gatcg.com/roles/floor-judging.md).

# Floor Judging

Floor judging is the most common form of judging at an event. Floor judging is typically termed this way because judges walk the floor of a tournament venue and circulate among players and tables to observe for fair play and attend calls that occur. As previously mentioned, floor judging is typically zoned during events where a judge will be responsible for attending a certain number of tables and players.

For floor judging, judges should monitor player actions and look for incorrect play patterns, poor sequencing, miscommunication, suspicious habits, and, between games, insufficient shuffling or improper sideboarding. For example, if players are taking game actions at the start of a turn before waking up legal units, a floor judge should point this out and correct the behavior to help maintain the game state. In this example, it may or may not be necessary to apply a penalty for an appropriate infraction. Unless there is a judge call, no intervention should be necessary unless there is an explicit violation for which an infraction can be called. Intervention should be seen as creating a judge call in the absence of one, rather than as giving gentle and brief reminders to players. A good floor judge may pick up on signs that a player has a high chance of making a gameplay error or another violation before it happens, so that it can be quickly remedied when it does.

For judge calls, it is rare that a judge will have been present for the entire interaction that led up to the judge call. As such, much information and context needed to arrive at the correct ruling will be missing. Judges attending calls where they were not immediately present might need to conduct interviews with each player, either with or without the other's presence, in situations where advantageous information might be shared. A judge should use their best discretion to ask about the pertinent and agreed-upon information within the game to gather as much objective truth as possible from a judge call. Sometimes, players' accounts of events and tracked information may conflict. Other times, a player may ask a question that cannot be answered, such as one that would constitute outside assistance if answered. It is up to the judge to use their best judgment to seek as many facts as possible and avoid answering questions related to gameplay that they cannot answer without damaging tournament integrity.

Especially in the case of questions broaching the subject of outside assistance, these are examples of suggested ways to circumvent awkward or undue situations:

* Ask the player to clarify their question or rephrase it
* A judge can tell that player that they can't answer that question
* Suggest a differently worded question to the player under the guise of "Are you asking (this interaction/clarification)..." and answer that question instead to see if the player is satisfied with the answer.

Sometimes, there are problematic players in the course of a tournament, either due to borderline behavior that may be unsporting conduct or due to unhealthy play patterns that may be malicious. Floor judges ought to monitor these players with greater frequency in the service of investigating potential issues with these players and maintaining tournament integrity.

Floor judges primarily will report to their direct Assistant Head Judge for a team, task, or zone, and will get any information from leadership through them. Floor judges are expected to report incidents and important calls to their immediate Assistant Head Judge, rather than the Head Judge. If any discussion occurs as part of the call, it should be reserved for the attending judges. The Assistant Head Judge can escalate further, if necessary. If an Assistant Head Judge does not exist (typically for smaller tournaments), escalating to the Head Judge directly is correct.

In brief, floor judges monitor and maintain the overall health of tournament integrity passively while attending judge calls as they arise.