very recent news

[Mattao19]

I guess that's true I guess I'm more forgiving (I am Canadian after all lol) but it did upset me a lot and I can see a lifetime ban but that seems so harsh to me.

[Dudecore]

He's top 8'd and won many SCG events in the past few years. He's essentially defrauded SCG and the DCI for a long time. I don't think people like that get second chances because he's already had so many opportunities to quit it. A lifetime ban is a good idea.

[LadyGrixis]

^This.

Cheating makes me madder than a {Hornet Nest}! I really just don't understand jackholes that do this. I get that you want to money, just for the love of Pete.......have some decency about yourself.

[rarehuntertay]

Almost sounds like another player who was banned from the Pro Tour Hall of Fame...

[cltrn81]

I say screw this guy.  Lifetime ban hammer seems reasonable.

[Dudecore]

I know who your talking about!

Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen... Right? He was number 1.

Trevor Humphries. There is video evidence of him doing it as far back as 2009.

The reality is, he may be a suboptimal Magic player that just cheats to win. The mechanics grip he uses to shuffle is an ancient deck stacking technique that magicians use to, you guess it, stack decks. He's not even particularly good at it. It's just one of the more effective ways (minus marking cards) to order a deck. It could be overcome by asking them to cut the deck after they've shuffled.

That being said, I don't blame him for cheating - money is on the line and he broke the rules to gain an advantage. I expect him to pay the consequences for violating the code of conduct and expect him to be banned for life.

In a game of such high degree of variance it's amazing anyone is "good" at it. It makes you look at pros like Luis Scott Vargas and Jon Finkle and be amazed that they're as good as they are under any circumstances. LSV wins like crazy in Magic Online which enforces the proper rules and no cheaty things.

[MuggyWuggy]

Screw him. Permaban. No need to let cheaters know they can come back.

[Kaylesh]

Sick. Compare it to using stimulants in sports. You don't get too come back there too. Unless you're proven to be clean. Same here I'd say, though you can't rly prove you don't cheat. Ban

[Dudecore]

Advanced metrics could have outed him also. The kinds I like to look at in Baseball. If the judges kept track of how many mulligans a certain player takes, then looks at the opponent they're against to corrolate who may be stacking decks.

It's just a little aside for how advanced statistical analysis can take a large group of people and find the anomolies.

[Remillo]

Advanced metrics could have outed him also. The kinds I like to look at in Baseball. If the judges kept track of how many mulligans a certain player takes, then looks at the opponent they're against to corrolate who may be stacking decks.

It's just a little aside for how advanced statistical analysis can take a large group of people and find the anomolies.

The only problems are these - We don't record how many mulligans take place during a tournament; and if a series of player wanted to 'troll' a specific player may decide that they all take excessive mulligans against that player.  It'd be a flawed system, although the statistics themselves could be interesting.

[LadyGrixis]

This has literally made me want to ask a Judge to shuffle/cut my deck after every opponent shuffles mine.

If my opponent simply cuts my deck, that's fine; but from now on, if they shuffle it up.......it's getting cut by a judge. This is just nuts.

[Remillo]

Shuffling is standard procedure for competitive play, and you'll literally be asking for a judge every single game, not to mention mulligans and fetches.  Just keep an eye on the grip your opponent uses to shuffle, if they shuffle their own cards differently than yours, and if they're glancing down at your deck while they shuffle.  You can ask them to shuffle in a different way (or have a judge do it for them), and if they see any of your cards, that's a game rule violation.

[particle]

Shuffling is standard procedure for competitive play, and you'll literally be asking for a judge every single game, not to mention mulligans and fetches.  Just keep an eye on the grip your opponent uses to shuffle, if they shuffle their own cards differently than yours, and if they're glancing down at your deck while they shuffle.  You can ask them to shuffle in a different way (or have a judge do it for them), and if they see any of your cards, that's a game rule violation.

can you really see your opponent shuffling your cards, and then ask the judge to reshuffle them? i mean i know you can have the judge shuffle instead, but once your opponent hands your your cards back can you go "i dont like how you shuffled, Judge! please shuffle my deck again!

[LadyGrixis]

Shuffling is standard procedure for competitive play, and you'll literally be asking for a judge every single game, not to mention mulligans and fetches.  Just keep an eye on the grip your opponent uses to shuffle, if they shuffle their own cards differently than yours, and if they're glancing down at your deck while they shuffle.  You can ask them to shuffle in a different way (or have a judge do it for them), and if they see any of your cards, that's a game rule violation.

I won't be calling a judge every time, seeing as most people just cut and move on. Those that take my deck and reshuffle it are the ones I'm leery of. If I've gone to the trouble to table shuffle and hand shuffle my deck thoroughly, then you don't need to take it upon yourself to shuffle the hell out of it and put it back in order. Just cut the damn thing and play.

That's something I've never understood about competitive play. It's enough to cut someone's deck. Reshuffling it over and over and over just seems redundant.

[LadyGrixis]

Shuffling is standard procedure for competitive play, and you'll literally be asking for a judge every single game, not to mention mulligans and fetches.  Just keep an eye on the grip your opponent uses to shuffle, if they shuffle their own cards differently than yours, and if they're glancing down at your deck while they shuffle.  You can ask them to shuffle in a different way (or have a judge do it for them), and if they see any of your cards, that's a game rule violation.

can you really see your opponent shuffling your cards, and then ask the judge to reshuffle them? i mean i know you can have the judge shuffle instead, but once your opponent hands your your cards back can you go "i dont like how you shuffled, Judge! please shuffle my deck again!

You can definitely call a judge and ask them to shuffle your deck for you.