5. Tournament Violations

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.

4. Tournament Game Rules

4.1. Cards Allowed

All cards in a player's deck must be genuine Vampire: The Eternal Struggle or Jyhad cards or official V:EKN issued cards from the only authoritative source www.vekn.net as listed here:

• Danse Macabre
• The Unaligned
• Storyline Rewards 2015
• Anarchs Unbound

When using V:EKN issued cards they must be preferably color printed on standard paper and inserted into opaque sleeves before another Vampire: The Eternal Struggle or Jyhad card, this requires opaque sleeves for the whole crypt and/or library. These cards are not considered as proxies. See http://www.vekn.net/official-expansion-sets

If cards with distinct backs are used in the same deck (e.g., Jyhad and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle cards, or upside-down 3rd Edition cards and right-side up cards, or mis-cut cards, or cards without the Deckmaster logo) are used, in order to prevent a significant advantage, all cards from the different sets, printings, etc. must be of sufficiently mixed card type, unless they are all sleeved with opaque sleeves (recommended).

Banned List: The following cards are banned in all V:EKN tournaments:

• Anthelios, the Red Star (Promo)
• Dramatic Upheaval (V:TES)
• Edge Explosion (NoR)
• Gypsies (V:TES)
• Kindred Restructure (V:TES)
• Lilith's Blessing (Promo)
• Madness of the Bard (Dark Sovereigns)
• Memories of Mortality (Ancient Hearts)
• Protect Thine Own (Ancient Hearts)
• The Return to Innocence (Ancient Hearts)
• Rom Gypsy (Dark Sovereigns)
• Seeds of Corruption (Ancient Hearts)
• Succubus Club (V:TES)
• Tarbaby Jack (Black Hand)
• Temptation of Greater Power (V:TES)
• Terrorists (Ancient Hearts)
• Tsigane (Dark Sovereigns)
• Any cards that are usable only when playing for ante, including:
  • Cunctator Motion (V:TES)
  • High Stakes (V:TES)
  • Playing for Keeps (Dark Sovereigns)

Note that rules cards from Nights of Reckoning are legal for V:EKN play in both Constructed and Limited formats.

 

4.2. Card Interpretation

The head judge is the final authority regarding card interpretations. All cards are to be interpreted according to their most recent printing. If the head judge determines that a player is using older cards and/or misprints to create an advantage by using misleading text or artwork, that player will be subject to the appropriate provisions of the V:EKN Penalty Guidelines.

 

4.3. New Releases

New V:TES cards and rules (new expansions, new editions of the basic set, new rules released in expansions or basic sets, and promotional cards) are allowed in Constructed tournament play beginning 30 days after their retail release date. V:EKN announcements confirm the exact date that each new card set enters tournament play before the set is released.

New cards or rules are allowed in Limited tournament play immediately, including before the release date (for example, at a Prerelease tournament).

 

4.4. Card Elevation and Disposition

Players must keep their cards above the level of the playing surface. Revealing cards in your hand or uncontrolled area to any opponent is not allowed.

 

4.5. Proxy Cards

As long as the game is not under production, the organizer of an event that is neither a National Championship nor a Continental Championship can choose to allow proxy cards in his or her event. For events where proxy cards are allowed, several points apply:

• there are no limit to the number of proxy cards a deck can have
• every proxy card must be a color-copy of the original card, on standard paper
• the quality of the print must allow the reading of the illustrator's name
• the organizer must mark the event as 'allowing proxy cards' on the VEKN calendar"

Proxy-cards must be inserted in an opaque sleeve (along the rest of the crypt and/or library), before a regular VTES card.

Otherwise, the use of proxy cards is not permitted, unless a judge provides these cards. If a card becomes excessively worn through play or accidentally damaged in the current sanctioned tournament, or if the owner of the card must leave prior to the conclusion of a game, the judge may provide a proxy replacement card or (in the case of damaged or worn cards) require the player to sleeve all of his or her cards before play continues.

When a judge creates a proxy for a player, it is included in the player's deck. The original card is kept close at hand during the game, if possible. When the proxy is in play, replace it with the original. When it returns to the player's deck/hand, swap it with the proxy. This replacement method helps ensure that the opponent is able to clearly see the intended card and to avoid confusion.

The term "proxy" includes counterfeit cards or any card that is not a genuine game card. Counterfeiters will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

 

4.6. Card Sleeves

Players may use plastic card sleeves or other protective devices on cards. If a player chooses to use card sleeves, all cards in the player's current deck must be placed in the sleeves in an identical manner. If the sleeves feature holograms or other markings, cards must be inserted into the sleeves so these markings appear uniformly on the cards (all markings on the face or all on the backs, but not mixed). A player may choose to sleeve his library but not his crypt, or vice-versa, and the crypt and the library may be sleeved differently from each other.

Once a game begins, players may request that the judge inspect an opponent's card sleeves. The judge may disallow a player's card sleeves if the judge believes they are marked, worn, or otherwise in a condition that interferes with shuffling or game play. To avoid confusion, a card sleeve may also be used to mark a player's card if the card is in an opponent's playing area.

 

4.7. Locked Cards

If a card must be locked as a part of the game rules, it must be turned approximately 90 degrees from the normal position.

 

4.8. Play to Win

One aspect of sportsmanlike conduct is that players must not play toward goals that conflict with the goal of the game as stated in the V:TES rulebook (e.g., attacking certain players on the basis of their V:EKN ratings or overall tournament standing, etc.). For tournaments, playing to win means playing to get a Game Win if it is reasonably possible, and when a Game Win is not reasonably possible, then playing to get as many Victory Points as possible.

Neither the basic game rules nor the tournament rules enforce or regulate deals made between players. The tournament rules acknowledge deals, however, in that a deal which represents the best interests of the players involved at the time the deal is made is allowed to be honored, even when the normal play to win rule would indicate that a deal should be broken. This only applies to deal that are in the best interests of the players involved at the time the deal is made. That is, it applies only when making the deal is playing to win. (It is also allowable to break such a deal, of course).

During the finals, playing to win means playing to finish as tournament winner (as defined in 3.7.5).

Exception: when only two Methuselahs remain, the tournament rules no longer acknowledge any deals. Prior deals are voided, even if they were play to win when made. When only two Methuselahs remain, both Methuselahs must play to win based only on game state, without regard to any deals.

 

4.9. Infinite Loops

When a loop is detected (meaning game state has been completely restored to a previous state and could be repeated without limit except for the round's time limit), the activity cannot be begun again (until and unless game state changes). This includes actions, sequences of combats, rounds of combat, and everything else. Note that game state includes all players' hands, ash heaps, and libraries, as well as available maneuvers and presses from cards in play, and master: out-of-turn plays.