5.1. Cheating
Cheating will not be tolerated. The head judge reviews all cheating allegations, and if he or she determines that a player cheated, the head judge will issue the appropriate penalty based on the V:EKN Penalty Guidelines. All disqualifications are subject to later V:EKN review, and further penalties may be assessed.
Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following intentional activities:
- Receiving outside assistance or coaching
- Looking at opponents' card faces while shuffling or cutting their decks
- Collusion to alter the results of a game
- Misrepresenting rules or card texts or errata
- Using marked cards/sleeves (see section 4.6)
- Drawing extra cards
- Manipulating which cards are drawn from your deck or from an opponent's deck
- Stalling to take advantage of a time limit
- Misrepresenting or obscuring public information (pool totals, number of cards in deck, and so on)
5.2. Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Unsportsmanlike conduct is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at any time. Players who engage in unsportsmanlike conduct will be subject to the appropriate provisions of the V:EKN Penalty Guidelines and will be subject to further V:EKN review. Judges, players, spectators, and officials must behave in a polite, respectable, and sportsmanlike manner. In addition, players must not use profanity, argue, act belligerently toward tournament officials or one another, or harass spectators, tournament officials, or opponents. See also "Play to Win" in section 4.8 above.
5.3. Slow Play
Players must take their turns in a timely fashion. Whereas taking a reasonable amount of time to think through game strategy is acceptable, playing excessively slowly or stalling for time is not. If a judge determines that a player is stalling for time or playing excessively slowly at any point during the tournament, the responsible player will be subject to the appropriate provisions of the V:EKN Penalty Guidelines.
5.4. Marked Cards
A card is considered marked if it bears something that makes it possible to identify the card without seeing its face, including scratches, discoloration, unnatural bends, and so on. If a player's cards are sleeved, the sleeves are considered part of the cards, so:
- For cards placed in clear sleeves, both the sleeve and the card must be examined to determine whether a card is marked.
- For cards placed in opaque-backed sleeves, just the sleeve must be examined to determine whether a card is marked or not.
If the head judge determines that a card in a player's deck is marked, that player will be subjected to the appropriate provisions of the V:EKN Penalty Guidelines.