How about a watch?

Bascially it's everyone's responsibility--both the players and the judges. Michael is right about the clock--there isn't one where feature match players can see it. But he apparently also didn't ask, so he's not completely without fault here.

The best solution is to have a clock in plain view of the players. Whether or not there should be time limits in the top 8 of a PC is a separate issue (I don't think there should be) but the players should be able to see a clock while they play.

As far as I remember, PC Top 8 time limits were introduced as a direct result of the devil-spawned abortion that was the X-Stall mirror in the quarter-finals of PC:LA 2K4. It's possible it could be revisited, but there definitely should be some kind of clock or round timer easily visible to all players in the Feature Match area.

The problem with keeping an exact time count is that it makes shady clock management WAY too easy for the players -- if you know EXACTLY how much time is left, you can use up JUST enough to make sure the game will end on your init (or whatever). In my quarterfinal match, time was called just as game 3 ended (and game 1 took almost an hour). In Vidi's semi match, neither player ever asked for a time check. In both matches, Jacob was repeatedly told that he would need to speed up his turns due to time constraints.

What about using chess clocks for the top 8 at PCs?

what a baby, if his vs. resume is so expansive then shouldn't he be aware of the timing rules in vs.? then to say 2 losses in unloseable games, apparently they werent unloseable since you lost right.

I do understand that it is easy to lose track of time but in basketball if you lose track of the shot clock thats not the refs fault. When I'm in the ring, and its getting to the end of the fight then I know its time to turn up the heat, simple as that. VS is no different, part of being a pro is being at least somewhat aware of the time, if you lose because of time outs that was an error on your part, simple as that.

Especially if, as Kim mentioned, he had received multiple warnings to speed up his pace.

so... he lost 3 games to time?
think he would have learned after the 1st.

its obvious that you are far too slow of a player. stop #####ing.

lemme get this straight, YOU forgot to keep check of time,. YOU forgot to ask for time checks, YOU are a professional VS player who should know to do these things. You are the only one to blame for those losses. Dont take the blame of losing a few matches on the refs...YOU should be happy you topped 8 in 10ks and so on and so forth. be happy you made it as far as you could and work on it next time big fella...

If you're going to play a deck where you yourself take up most of the time needed for playing a match, then you need to be aware of that and play as fast as you can. This is a game about cards, not a game of manipulating the clock to your advantage.

It don't know if it can be made to really work, but some kind of chess-like clock for both players would be a great way to keep track of time as well as keep time usage more fair. Having one player eat up the majority of time simply because his deck is harder to play is not a good excuse. It's really unfair to the other player who ends up getting less time to make his decisions.

If you take a lot of time and then lose on time, that's your own fault. Next time maybe think about a deck that isn't so difficult to play.

Isn't this kind of like an NFL Quarterback marching his offense down field after the 2-minute warning and then because of poor clock management loses the game when the referee blows the final whistle??? Much respect for MJ's play ability but that's a bad excuse. I'd rather hear that he drew bad hand after bad hand and couldn't bring it together.

In the NFL the play clock and game clock are fully visible from both sides of the field.

I've lost big games on time and it is frustrating. I started carrying something to keep the time with me, minimally a watch so I know roughly how many minutes are left or ideally something with a stop watch on it.

Speaking of time, I really hate how fast they start rounds after they post pairings. From 10K's to PC's, they often start rounds before a lot of people even make it to their seat. After shuffling & die roll, players often lose 2-3 minutes.

Now, I understand that Hobby League is a whole different ball of wax, but we have a house rule at my venue that makes good sense.

Firts, we establish that the round will go X amount of time. Then, when that amount of time is up, we finish the init that is being played, and THEN play one more. This way, if a player is "stalling out" for time, it doesn't matter, as the other player will get a turn with init before the game truely ends.

Yeah, it might make the game go a little longer than planned, but it does keep everyone honest. If there is no incentive to milk the clock, no logical person would do it.

Yeah, but among all the adrenaline and tempo they still have to make a conscious effort to check the time.

One thing I will have to say, is that after the judges to the deck checks they don't give you enough time to shuffle up your deck for the top-8 and what not.