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My friend had this question. Aside from disqualification, are there any penalties tied to ripping someone else's cards?

Assume the following:

You do not own the cards being ripped
There is a clear owner to the cards
You have not stolen the cards (for instance, you ask an opponent to let you look at a card)
There is absolutely no physical violence involved
The other person clearly did not intend for his cards to get ripped
The act is clearly intentional 

There's no rules in Magic to handle this, because it's destruction of someone else's property. The fact that it's a magic card doesn't really matter for anything. You'll probably earn a DQ for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Dec 27, 2012 -- 1:06PM, Bowshewicz wrote:

The fact that it's a magic card doesn't really matter for anything.

His argument was that it does, because pieces of cardboard hold no real value and suing the perpetrator for vandalism would be contempt of court. (just like suing someone for eating one chip from your bowl would be interpreted as you mocking the judicial process with an insignificant claim)

Is this true?

Dec 27, 2012 -- 1:07PM, Esterdi wrote:

Dec 27, 2012 -- 1:06PM, Bowshewicz wrote:

There's no rules in Magic to handle this, because it's destruction of someone else's property. The fact that it's a magic card doesn't really matter for anything.

His argument was that it does, because pieces of cardboard hold no real value and suing the perpetrator for vandalism would be contempt of court.

Is this true? 

If I set fire to a Picasso, the argument "It's just some canvas with pigment on it" isn't going to hold up.

If I tear someone's black lotus, the same applies.

Things can have monetary value regardless of what they're made of. And vandalism remains vandalism even if the vandalised thing lacks monetary value.

EDIT: You can sue for damages, and they can be prosecuted for vandalism. However, unless it's a money rare, it's unlikely that anyone would bother.