Went to another venue yesterday and played there for a second time. Never had a problem there the first time with rules before or pretty much anywhere else before. I know some venues have house rules, the judge is always right and so on. I didn't really go out of my way, but I did have to point out some of his rulings were in correct and pointed it out in the PAC, Rulebook and the Final Word. Not to embarrass him in his venue.

1) He said that "Special Objects": All 3D objects are considered BLUE objects. His reasoning of this was they all have BLUE tabs on the cards so ALL the special objects are BLUE ringed and ignore the RED and YELLOW color around the object. Couldn't get him to budge on this. Rulebook Page 18

2) My opponent tried to use Barry Allen's HSS attack into hindering terrain and make his free attack granted by HSS. I told him he can't do that since he was a runner and his movement stops once he enters Hindering and so does his action. Page 12

3) Told a player that he can use Flurry and Exploit Weakness during a Hypersonic Speed attack. After I explained to him and showed him in the Rulebook & PAC. I told him the differences from each of the 5 actions and how you could add something to, for example Running Shot you could use Pulse Wave or Psychic Blast together. He then pulled back on this a little and didn't even go and correct the player. Page 8 & 9

4) Completely ruled GSX Prof X wrong. This was one of the characters that gave us fits in our venue so I printed the Final Word on him. After I pulled out this page and showed him that this was the ruling/errata on how he is played. He totaly dismissed it.

Then after the final round was almost done we were just talking rules, sets and HeroClix in general. Then all of the sudden he went on a rant about how he has been playing since the first set came out and he stopped following the erratta on the fifth revision of Energy Explosion. That he only uses the PAC & Rulesbook that are in hand and nothing else other than the character cards too.

I like playing as much as possible as the next guy, but I guess you have to figure out how a judge works within each venue if you want to play there. I was helpful with each opponent trying to help them rules and how things are played during the game, not trying to be rude or anything just wanted them to understand how things work.

I want to keep going back, schedule permitting. But should I prepare myself/team for the judge, the game or both?

Personally, I wouldn't go back at all. If you do, then you will continue to get frustrated. Life's too short. I'd play online before I went back there.

I don't think I'd ever go back to a venue that's so inconsistent/inaccurate with the rules. A game is very hard to enjoy when players are just blatantly ignoring or just not aware of the rules. Having a judge that supports that such activity can really suck the life out of a game.

The judge at my venue is great. He knows all the rules, explains them clearly, and makes sure everyone enjoys the game.

I feel your pain. As the judge at my venue, I try to keep up on all the rules, and think I do a pretty good job.

However, I've made a trip to another venue a couple of times recently. Yikes The one guy who plays there was the judge at a couple of venues years ago. He's played the game since day 1. He's passed on his 'knowledge' to the guy who works there, and that guy is now the judge. Some of his 'knowledge' includes:

- Outwitted powers don't stay Outwitted if they come back to the dial again after taking Damage

- You can go on top of blocking terrain just as if it were elevated terrain

There were a few more things that went on in some of the other games (can't remember them off the top of my head) that had me shaking my head as well.

Bottom line is that you can either accept it (I usually crush the guys that play there anyway, without playing cheese) and move on, or stop playing there. Do your best to point them in the right direction, but don't be too surprised/upset if they don't take heed of what you say.

This paragraph is what makes me laugh.

None of those things above (depending on what the actual Prof X question was) needed to go anywhere but to the Rulebook and PAC.

The answers were in the material which he claims to use, but he still can't get it right.

I'd go back and play, but before entering the tournament, I'd check his pulse. If he questioned me I'd say "Well, based on how you ruled things last time, you are clearly brain dead. I just wanted to make sure that the rest hasn't followed suit."




That said...where is the rules question?

I'd go back, for sure. Use his bad rules against him. If he wants to use HHS and flurry together see if you can push for HHS and P/TP or Running shot and RCE. Just play the way they play and abuse it, use the fact that you know what the real rules are. That can give you an advantage to abusing his rules.