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by Da Sarge MtG: Cheating This month will be a change of pace from my usual "Bang WOTC" article. This article is based on what happened last month and is now being called "The Mike Long Incident". It all boils down to this... Do you cheat? Here's the story: Mike Long (Pro-Tour Regular) was caught with a 59-card deck and a Cadaverous Bloom between his legs. He was given a DQ and was tossed out. His actions rebounded all across the planes of the Internet, Pro-Tour, Dominia, and the fabled (perhaps even Mythical) world of DCI. But this article is not to judge whether Mr. Long was cheating or not. This article is about you…Do You Cheat. Well, do you cheat? Be honest... it does not matter where or who you are playing. Nor does it matter how you cheat. The question is do you cheat? I don't think I am being too bold for asking either. I don't play in any of the big tournaments because of military duty. I would like to, I have always wondered how I would do. But at the same time, and this is based on letters from readers like yourselves, alot goes on at tournaments that are pretty bad. Bad judges, marked cards, terrible sportsmanship (fan and player alike), and of course cheating. But did you expect anything less???? I didn't. In fact I expected it. I'm more surprised that players and the DCI are taken by surprise by the fact that this is going on. To be honest, I don't know which is worse. People surprised by the fact that all of this going on, or DCI's lack of laying the law on those people. People, you all better understand something. No one likes to lose. I don't care who you are. Second sucks. The point is not if you like to lose, but how you act during the game and when you lose. Face it, everyone loses at one point or another. But how you lose separates the real player from the chump. When I lose, I don't say the other guy got lucky. I shake his hand, say great game and that I hope to return the favor someday. If I know the guy or gal real well I may bust his ego and then say he got lucky. But I will only do this if I know the person real good. I will get more angry with myself, simply because I pride myself on the fact that I feel I make good decks. I always try to take a great many things into account when making a deck. But you can't cover everything. For example, I lost a tournament in Tucson Arizona one time because I forgot to add a Feldon's cane to my deck. My opponent and I were both playing similar decks. Two millstone decks with minor regenerating creatures and. It was two out of three and we were tied at 1 game apiece. I pulled a demonic tutor and went through my deck looking for a Feldon's. I forgot to add it and lost the game. When I lost we both shook hands and joked about the fact that both decks were just about the same. Yet take the same situation and add a different player, and you get a different result. Face facts, magic is a competitive, ego-pumping game. Think about it. You make your own deck, you make your own decisions during the game, and when you lose it's your fault. No subs allowed if you screw up, and no coach to go to when the going gets tough. Just you and your deck. Granted, there is luck involved. But I defy anyone to show me a game that at some point is not decided by luck. Luck is part of the game, Deal with it. Magic is one of the few games in the world where everyone has even footing. You don't have to be big and strong, you don't have to run fast, you don't have to train everyday, and it does not matter what language you speak. All you have to do is love the game. Anyone in the world can play anyone else in a T-2 game and both players are even based one the cards they are allowed to use. They both have equal access. The problem begins and ends with WotC and DCI. In a very real way they created a monster of Godzilla like proportions, and now they can't control it. I really don't know who makes the decisions at WOTC/DCI. But somebody better step up to the plate fast. If you don't start to clean it up now, there won't be anything too clean up later. Look at the problems that face the Magic world. Rankings fraud is running wild. Cheating is becoming a regular thing at all levels of play. Judges at the higher level of play are scared to enforce rules to certain players, and at the same time DCI seems to be just watching and waiting for all of this to clean itself up. If you're wondering why this is happening it is very simple. Pride and money. No more and no less. People want to be known that they are the best. This is enough for certain people to bend the rules. But when you add in money and or cards. You have now raised the stakes. At a majority of local tournaments most times the prizes are cards or decks. As you go up into higher levels of tournament play the prizes are worth more and more until you get to the Pro-Tour where the big money is. If you're both lucky and very good the possibility of making a lot of money at one tournament is possible. Plus the ego boost for being called the best could (arguable) be worth more then the money. So what is DCI to do? Well, I happen to be an active umpire for the city, region and state of AZ. I have umpired high school football, baseball and volleyball. I have also umpired Army Softball, basketball and Flag-Football seasons in the USA, Korea, and Europe, and that ain't easy. I have also refereed many Magic tournaments. So I have experience in people trying to "Bend the Rules" shall we say. So since DCI seems to be too afraid to do anything, I will be more then happy to offer a few suggestions to help them.
They are both the peacekeepers and police of the tournaments. Their word is final. They have to be fair. This means handing out the same punishment to both friend and stranger alike. The true test of the judge is when he has to make a ruling against a person who is a friend or very popular player in the area. The final test of the judge will be if he has to DQ, or remove that same player from the tournament if his actions deem it necessary. The judge has to be held to the highest standard. He must be fair but firm. If a person can't enforce the rules the same way to all players he has two choices, grow a pair or get rid of him.
They help pick the judges, set up the tournaments, and more importantly back the judges up. The worst thing that can happen at a tournament is for a judge to make a decision then have the tournament directors not back him up. The tournament directors have to meet with the judges before the tournament and square away all the rules. Before the tournament starts they have to ensure that the players understand the rules and that they will back up the judges. The tournament directors should be walking around the tournament and getting a feel for the crowd and by doing this ensuring that the fans and onlookers are not getting to…what's the word I'm looking for??? Oh yea, STUPID!!!!! Magic is for all ages, so the tournament directors need to enforce a language law. This is not the judge's job. If the judge is doing his job he better be watching the game. The worst thing that can happen in a tournament is for the tournament directors to be sitting there bored or complaining about how loud certain fans or players are. Or worst yet, how bad a judge is doing.
You didn't really think that I would let them off the hook did you??? In the words of a certain WWF wrestler DCI needs "TO LAY THE SMACK DOWN ON YA". DCI needs to start questioning both themselves and there actions. DCI has to assume that if you are caught breaking the rules, accident or not, you have to pay the price. As in the "Mike Long Incident", some have said it was an accident. It does not matter. You have to pay the price. If it looks like you cheated, and it can be proven that what you did is wrong. You have to pay the price. Whether that means you lose the game or get tossed from the tournament. You have to pay the price. But it has to be enforced fairly. It can't matter on how popular a player is. Fair is fair. In essence it comes down to this. DCI has to get their act together or re-structure themselves. DCI has to start talking to the fans and players both in person and on the Internet on what they plan to do. Then they have to do it. To be honest I really don't have too much faith in WOTC or DCI. But they are all we have. DCI has to start with the Pro-Tour. If you are caught doing questionable things at tournament, you get tossed. If you get caught doing it again, suspend the person, and not for just one or two tournaments. Third time, well, three strikes your out….So DCI what are you going to do, or do you need to grow a pair??????????????????
Dem'd My Views and I'm.......
All commentaries are the opinions of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Beyond Dominia
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