MAGIC: THE GATHERING

RELEASE TOURNAMENT TECH MANUAL

By Falko Goerres

Welcome to the DCI’s guide on how to install and use the DCI Reporter Program.

This Manual will provide you with Step-by-step walkthroughs for everything from

installing the Reporter program to running and reporting your tournament on

paper if you do not have a computer.

Please take the time to do a test run with the DCI Reporter Software or some paper

score sheets (if you don’t have a computer in the store) to familiarize yourself with

how they work. If you have any questions about the software, score sheets, or

certain tournament mechanics feel free to ask at the Wizards.Com Message

Boards (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=656).

If you aren’t able to get your question answered ay the DCI message boards please

feel free to send us an email to: bz@wizards.com

Table of Contents

Appendix (A) – Installing DCI Reporter.................................................................................. 3 Step-by-step guide to installing the software included in this kit. Recommended that you install the software two weeks before your event. Appendix (B) – Working with DCI Reporter.......................................................................... 8 DCI Reporter is a software application that simplifies running and reporting tournaments greatly. A step-by-step with screen shots to help. We recommend trying the software after installing it. Appendix (C) –Working with scoresheets .......................................................................... 16 How to run a tournament without DCI Reporter. Read this section a week prior the event if you are not using DCI Reporter. Appendix (D) –Tournaments in a Nutshell (print this out to show to players) ... 19 A single page printout for players to read before they play in your tournament.

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Appendix (A) – Installing DCI Reporter The “DCI Reporter” software is included in your Tenth Edition Game Day kit. If the

CD does not work for you, you can download this program at the Personal

Information Center, located at http://webapp.wizards.com/dcimember/. Log in there,

go to the “downloads” section and download the DCI Reporter V3 Installation, DCI

Reporter Update, and the Pin34.MDB (zipped 82MB). If you need or have forgotten

your DCI number or password and thus can’t log into the Personal Information

Center, click the “forgot password?” link located on the login page.

To Install DCI Reporter on your computer you need to complete the following steps:

1) Please be aware that DCI Reporter was designed for the Windows XP operating

system. It does not run on Windows Vista, Linux, or Apple systems.

To run DCI Reporter, you need to install a Windows component called “Microsoft

.Net Framework 2.0”. It is normally preinstalled on Windows XP. For older

operating systems like Windows 98, you can download it on Microsoft.com.

(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-

4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&DisplayLang=en)

2) Open the file called <DCIReporterV3.zip> and run (double-click) the file named

<setup.exe>. Follow the on-screen instructions and choose an installation path.

The software will be installed to that path and will automatically create a shortcut

on your desktop and in your Window’s Start menu. The setup will also create a

directory on your c: drive, called <c:\dcireporteruser>.

3) Open the file called <v3_AdvancedUpdate.zip> and copy all files from this archive

to the newly created directory called <c:\dcireporteruser> (This is the folder

directly on your c: drive and NOT the folder you chose to install DCI Reporter to!).

In this directory you should now be able to see the following files <Penalties.txt>,

<Prizes.txt>, <ReadMe.txt>, <ReporterUser.txt> and a subdirectory called

<v3_AdvancedEdition>.

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4) Open the file <PIN34.zip> and copy the included <PIN34.mbd> to that same

directory, <c:\dcireporteruser>.

5) The DCI Reporter software is now installed completely. Please do not manipulate

any of the .txt files you copied or the program will not work properly.

6) If you now open the program, you should see the following screen

7) To set up your tournament, choose <Create New Event> option from the <File>

menu. You will see a list of selectable games.

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8) Double-click on “Magic: Sealed Deck” and choose <Proceed>. A screen should

appear, named “Create New Tournament”.

9) Enter “Tenth Edition Game Day - Sealed Deck” in the Tournament Name field. The

sanctioning number for your tournament will be emailed to you by the DCI. Enter it in

the appropriate field, including the dashes. Also enter the correct date as Start Date

and End Date (these should both be the same). Leave everything else as it is and hit

<OK>.

10) You will briefly see a “Tournament Creation Complete” window letting you know

that the default data files are ready; click “OK” to proceed.

11) You will now be looking at the main “Tournament in this Folder” window. Locate

the tournament you just created (by name) and double-click on it. You will now see

your tournament’s “Status” window.

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12) Choose <Connect to the DCI database” from the <File> menu. Hit <Connect>

and navigate through your computer’s directory structure to the folder

<c:\dcireporteruser>. You should see the <PIN34.mdb> file you have copied to there

earlier. Select it and hit <Open>.

13) The first thing to check is the <Tournament Setup> screen in the <File> menu.

It should have “Magic – Sealed Deck” chosen as the format in the center part of the

screen, and the rest of the information you entered before in the appropriate boxes.

Fill in your store’s address information, region, and zip code in the upper right part,

as well as your DCI number and your judge’s DCI number in the boxes in the lower

left part. With the DCI database connected, the program should automatically fill in

you and your judge’s name when you hit the <Convert> button. If not, fill in the

names manually. Do not enter any information for “Tournament Manager” and leave

all other checkboxes unchecked. Click the <Save and Close> button.

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If you encounter problems at any time during the installation of the software or during

the set-up of your tournament, please visit the Wizards.com Message Boards.

(http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=656)

If you aren’t able to get your question answered ay the DCI message boards please

feel free to send us an email to: bz@wizards.com

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Appendix (B) – Working with DCI Reporter This section will deal with the use of DCI Reporter. It will show you how to sign up

players, pair rounds, enter results, and everything else you need to know for a basic

DCI tournament.

1) You should have set up your tournament according to the steps explained in

appendix (A) in this guide.

2) On the start screen of DCI Reporter, double-click on the line with the right

tournament name in it to open your tournament.

3) To enrol your players, choose <Players> from the <Edit> menu. Type in the

player’s DCI number and hit <Enter>. With the DCI database connected, the

player’s name should automatically appear in the appropriate field. You may have

to hit <Enter> twice for that.

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If a player has forgotten his DCI number, you can look it up, using the <DCI DB

Lookup> button on the lower part of the window. Enter the player’s last and first

name and search through the DCI database. Double-click on the matching entry

to transfer his or her number to the <Players> screen.

4) Repeat this step until you have entered everyone into the tournament, then hit

<Save and Close>.

5) Once deck construction is over, you can pair the players for the first round.

Choose <Paring> from the <Perform> menu and hit <Pair> on the appearing

window.

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After you confirmed the popup message, the program shows you the pairings for

round 1, with the table numbers displayed on the left border of the window

(Simply ignore the two columns marked “No.” – they are not relevant and are

NOT the table number). Gather your players and read out these pairings, along

with the table number, so that players can find their opponents and their seat.

If you have an odd number of players, one player will end up unpaired. This

player receives a “bye”; meaning they win the round automatically and get the

usual 3 match points for a match win.

6) Once everyone is seated and has found their opponent you can start the round.

As mentioned above, players have 50 minutes to complete their match. DCI

Reporter has a built-in alarm clock that can help you with the round timing. To use

it, choose <Round Clock> from the <File> menu. Enter “50” into the field “Minutes

Set” and hit <Start>. A sound will be played when the round time has elapsed.

Then, simply press “stop”.

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7) Once the round is over, you will have to enter match results. Choose <Results

Entry> from the <Edit> menu. Click on the appropriate table number in the middle

column of the window or type in the table number in the right part of the window.

Two player names are displayed in the right part of the window. Click on the

appropriate button below the two names to record the match result for them. The

result is now displayed in the middle column.

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Proceed with entering results until all have been entered. If you miss-click and

enter a wrong result, simply choose that table again and override the wrong

result; you will have to acknowledge a warning message to do so. Please double-

check the results with both players to make sure that every result gets entered

correctly.

8) If a player wants to drop from the tournament, choose <Players> from the <Edit>

menu. Select “drop” from the radio buttons, then click on that player’s name. Hit

<Enter>, then close the window with <Save and Close>.

9) Once all results and drops are correctly entered, hit <Save and Close> and repeat

steps 5-8 until all rounds for the tournament have been paired and properly

reported. When you announce the pairings for the subsequent rounds, also

announce the number of match points each player has. This way, players have

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another chance to check whether their results and their match points were

entered correctly (Remember, a win or a bye is worth three points, a draw one,

and a loss zero points).

10) If you discover that a result was entered erroneously and you have already made

pairings for the next round, cancel those pairings. To do this, choose <Pairing>

from the <Perform> menu again and click <OK> to delete the pairings. Hit <No>

on the following window and choose not to make new pairings (yet). Open the

results entry screen, correct the result and then make new pairings.

11) After the last round is over (4 for less than 32 players, 5 for more than 32

players), choose <Standings> from the <View> menu to display the players’

finishing order.

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12) Hand out the first wave of prizes and announce the top 4 players for the playoff.

On how to award prizes based on this finishing order, check the “Awarding

Prizes” section.

13) After you handed out the first wave of prizes, you will have to perform the Top 4

playoff. Make sure that the correct number of rounds is entered in the

<Tournament Setup> screen (<File> menu). You can change it by simply

overriding the existing number.

Save and close, then choose <Playoff Pairing> from the <Perform> menu.

Choose <4> and click <Enter Results>.

The player on top the standings will play #4 in the semis, and #2 will play #3.

Enter the results, pair the final and enter the results again according to steps 5-9.

14) Now that you have a winner and can distribute the second wave of prizes.

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If you encounter problems at any time during the installation of the software or during

the set-up of your tournament, please visit the Wizards.com Message Boards.

(http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=656)

If you aren’t able to get your question answered ay the DCI message boards please

feel free to send us an email to: bz@wizards.com

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Appendix (C) –Working with score sheets 1) When you start registering players, take one of the prepared score sheets and

write down their name and DCI number in the appropriate fields. Prepare one

score sheet for each player.

Use a medium size sheet of paper for each player, preferably note cards or other

thick, robust paper. These score sheets should have space for the player’s name

and DCI number, and five lines to enter information about each of their

opponents. These score sheets could look like this:

2) Once deck construction is over, take the score sheets and shuffle them face-

down. Then pick two of them and write down the other play’s name on the score

sheet as “Round 1 opponent”. Put these two score sheets away, together, and

then proceed picking pairs until all players have been paired. Announce all

pairings altogether.

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If you have an odd number of players, one player will end up unpaired. This

player receives a “bye”, wins the round automatically and gets the usual three

match points. Write down “—bye—” in the “Round 1 opponent” column of his or

her score sheet and mark the three match points.

3) Once everyone is seated and has found his or her opponent, you can start the

round. As mentioned above, players have 50 minutes to complete their match.

Make sure to have a stop watch (or cell phone) ready to remind you of the end

time for that round.

4) Once the round is over, you will have to enter match results. Take each player’s

score sheet and mark down the result in the appropriate field, and also note the

resulting match points (Remember, a win or a bye is worth three points, a draw,

intentional or not, one point, and a loss zero points). Please double-check the

results with both players to make sure that every result gets entered correctly.

If a player wants to drop, cross out the lines for the remaining rounds and put that

score sheet away. You will need it again only at the end of the tournament to

determine the players’ finishing order.

5) Then, sort all score sheets according to the player’s current match points. To pair

the next round, take the pile of score sheets with the highest match points, shuffle

them and pick pairs from these to make pairings. If a pile contains an odd number

of players, take the remaining player’s score sheet and shuffle it into the next-

lowest pile. Precede making pairings in that fashion. With an odd number of

players in the tournament, only a player out of those with the current lowest

number of match points can get the bye, and none can get it twice. When you

make pairings this way, make sure that you do not pair two players who played

against each other in a previous round. If you encounter such a case, put one of

the cards back into the pile and choose another opponent at random, even if this

means taking one from the next-lowest pile of score sheets or un-pairing another

pairing. (Announce all pairings altogether when you have paired all players to

avoid confusion in case you have to un-pair a pairing this way).

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6) Repeat steps 4-6 until all rounds for the tournament have been paired and

properly reported. After the last round is over, sort all scorecards by match points

again (including those from dropped players) to announce the players’ finishing

order.

7) If you have multiple players with the same amount of match points after the last

round, you will have to break these ties to determine the finishing order. The first

tiebreaker you use is called “Opponents’ Match-Win Percentage” (OMW). A

player’s Match-Win Percentage is that player’s accumulated match points divided

by 3 times the number of rounds in which he or she competed, or 0.33, whichever

is greater. Thus, to determine the OMW for a player, calculate the “Match-Win

Percentage” of each of his opponents from the Swiss rounds and then form the

average of those values. This tiebreaker will benefit those players who played

against stronger opponents, as reflected by the results of those opponents.

Example Player F’s record in a five-round tournament is 3–2–0 (wins-losses-draws). Her

opponents’ match records were: 4–1–0, 5–0–0, 3-2-0, 0-5-0, and 2-2-1. Thus, her

OMW is:

(12/15 + 15/15 + 9/15 + 0/15 + 7/15)/5 =

(0.8 + 1 + 0.6 + 0.33 < raised from 0> + 0.46)/5 =

3.19/5 = 0.638.

Player F’s OMW is 63, 8%.

After determining each player’s OMW, sort the score sheets by match points,

placing tied players in order of their OMW.

8) Award the first wave of prizes according to the procedure described in the

“Awarding Prizes” section and determine the top 4 players who will then play the

playoff.

9) For the semi-finals, the player in first-ranked player from final standings will play

against fourth-ranked player, and the second-ranked player will play against the

third-ranked player. The semi-finals’ winners will play the finals.

10) When you have a winner, you can hand out the second wave of prizes.

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Appendix (D) – Tournament in a nutshell

For those of you who play their first Magic tournament, all these new procedures may

seem a bit overwhelming. To make it easier for you, this handout will brief you on

how the tournament will work.

Deck building

Before the first round can start, you need a deck. You will be given five booster packs

and you then have 30 minutes to construct a deck out of these cards. The deck has

to contain at least 40 cards, including basic lands. The judge or the tournament

organizer will provide you with basic lands. Please use only cards from your own

boosters to construct your deck – you are not allowed to trade with friends or use the

special version of Reya Dawnbringer you received.

During the tournament, whenever you’re not happy with the cards in your deck, you

may swap those with other cards from your booster packs. Remember that your deck

has to have at least 40 cards at all times, though!

Tournament Structure

During the day, you will play a number of rounds in the so-called “Swiss System”.

Each of those rounds lasts 50 minutes, and you will face a different opponent in each

of them, playing a match with best-of-three games against him or her. The one who

first wins two games wins the match. Whatever the result is, you will be able to play

on and are not eliminated from the tournament. However, you can drop from the

tournament whenever you want.

A match win earns you three match points, and a loss zero points. If you draw your

match (for example when you didn’t finish inside the 50 minutes), you will earn one

match point. In each round, you will play against a similarly strong opponent, one

who has earned the same amount of match points so far.

After the Swiss System rounds are over, the four players who performed best will be

playing a playoff for additional prizes.

If you have any questions about the tournament or Magic rules, don’t be afraid to ask

the judge or the tournament organizer!

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