I think it's a farce that anyone makes a living from playing competitive sports, let alone becomes a millionaire, so I'm probably an outlier.
Professional athletes ,at their core, are professional entertainers. Why do we pay any professional entertainer so much?
Good question. Almost without exception, it's wildly disproportionate. Millionaires are a damaging anomaly in basically any circumstance, though. Etc etc yadda yadda too worn out this month to write a 4 page diatribe.
The DCI has announced another banning: Jared Boettcher who won the "Rookie of the Year" title last year. He has been stripped of it now. He did the same shuffle cheat as Trevor Humphries, demonstrated on the previous page. He has been banned from participating in DCI sanctioned tournaments for 46 months.
Netrunner and other games are not so serious. There aren't huge cash prizes and whatnot. The same is not true for M:TG. Big tournaments are a big deal. At these big tournaments why do they even allow the players to shuffle their cards at all?
At big video game competitions they go through hell and high water to prevent cheating with delayed videos, sound-proof booths, etc. It would be very very easy to prevent such cheating in a card game. They already have a digital version of M:TG. They could trivially force it to be used for major tournaments. Now cheating is impossible.
Or even easier than that. When it comes to big games, you can't shuffle your cards at all. A judge comes and does all the shuffling. Fuck you if you complain.
The only other serious and competitive card games is Poker. In Poker there is a separate dealer, making it very difficult for a player to cheat. No reason it shouldn't be the same for M:TG. Then you don't have to worry about this sort of bullshit in the first place.
Too many people, I think. A "small" tornament usually has 200 folks in it. WoTC also doesn't actually run the majority of the tourneys, just the big, big ones, and the smaller event runners don't have the manpower to force a seperate dealer whenever a deck needs to be shuffled.
Automatic shufflers could work, but the problem comes with a rule that basically requires all cards to be sleeved (and in new ones at that). I don't know if commercially available card shufflers work with sleeved cards. There's also the issue of having enough for every pair of players.
Now I don't think this would be a problem when you get down to the quarter, semi, and finals, but during the rest of the tournament? Probably not going to work.
When it comes to forcing the use of digital M:tG, not everyone has a laptop, not everyone has the cards on the online version to make their deck, and then there's general logistical problems to consider. Again, when it comes to the last few rounds, this isn't as much of an issue.
Of course you only do it for the later rounds. In early rounds, it shouldn't really be much of a concern. If someone undeservedly advances out of the early rounds by cheating, they'll lose very quickly once they get to the cheat-proof rounds. But those early rounds still have all the current cheat protections as well.
I would never play a game where cheating was an issue. But let's say I was. Before playing any opponent, I would say to them. "Sorry to be a jerk. I don't think you're a cheater, but cheating is rampant. I apologize, but I'm going to watch you like a hawk and immediately call a judge if there are any strange card movements. I expect you to do the same. If you don't cheat, as I suspect is true of you and most players, then GLHF." Then I would do exactly that. It should provide pretty good protection until the late rounds.
In Netrunner, I be like "You forgot to let me cut? Whatevs. You know sleight of hand bro? We good. Ha, you mulligan anyway!"
Having Judges shuffle for feature matches has been tossed around as an idea, but it also kind of deprives the DCI of one of the major factors in the recent bans: Video evidence. Plus it is kind of odd.
It is also a simple matter of size. There isn't a judge of every player. In fact, it is more like a judge for every 30 players, making it nigh impossible for judges to shuffle every deck in every round, in addition to all other tasks they have to do during a round (create pairings, do deckchecks, observe players, answer rules questions, etc.). Shuffling machines are also not an option, as you will probably not want to trust into a machine to not destroy your $500 deck. Plus there is the issue with shuffling machines having trouble with sleeved cards.
And while there is a digital version of Magic, it also has to deal with software bugs and exploits. Switching to it for all major tournaments would also remove a lot of the feel of playing Magic, and remove legitimacy the cards themselves.
Netrunner and other games are not so serious. There aren't huge cash prizes and whatnot. The same is not true for M:TG. Big tournaments are a big deal. At these big tournaments why do they even allow the players to shuffle their cards at all?
At big video game competitions they go through hell and high water to prevent cheating with delayed videos, sound-proof booths, etc. It would be very very easy to prevent such cheating in a card game. They already have a digital version of M:TG. They could trivially force it to be used for major tournaments. Now cheating is impossible.
Or even easier than that. When it comes to big games, you can't shuffle your cards at all. A judge comes and does all the shuffling. Fuck you if you complain.
The only other serious and competitive card games is Poker. In Poker there is a separate dealer, making it very difficult for a player to cheat. No reason it shouldn't be the same for M:TG. Then you don't have to worry about this sort of bullshit in the first place.
You CAN request a judge Shuffle the deck, but you have to request that from the judge. having the judge shuffle a deck is more time consuming than having players shuffle decks, handing cards to third parties and having them hand it back to you is a logistical problem. From the MTR 3.9 If the opponent does not believe the player made a reasonable effort to randomize his or her deck, the opponent must notify a judge. Players may request to have a judge shuffle their cards rather than the opponent; this request will be honored only at a judge’s discretion. http://media.wizards.com/ContentResources/Wizards/WPN/Main/Documents/Magic_The_Gathering_Tournament_Rules_PDF1.pdf
I'll be attending GP Utrecht this weekend, flying there on Thursday. It's part of the Modern Masters GPs, the only major events featuring play with the Modern Masters 2015 set. There will be three Grand Prix Tournaments that weekend, one in Utrecht, one in Chiba and one in Las Vegas. The one in Chiba was capped at 4,000 players and sold out within 24 hours. The one in Utrecht is currently at about 3,400 preregistered players, and the one in Las Vegas is at 7,300 preregistered players. These events will be fucking massive and will also be covered 24/7 on Twitch.
Also, the Utrecht and Las Vegas events are doing giveaways whenever they hit a certain threshold of preregistered players. A friend of mine won a Mox Jet, the lucky bastard. That card is worth 700 to 800€, so basically he and his girlfriend essentially got flights, rooms, and attendance at the event covered with that.
I still need like 60 planeswalker points on the season to get a first round bye in Utrecht and for the entire next year. Hopefully I can make that up on events that will be on Thursday at the GP, which is unusual because normally those kinds of events are only held the Friday before but with this many people they basically added another day. It already helped a lot that I managed to win another PPTQ last weekend, thus also allowing me to attend a Regional PTQ in Vienna at the end of June with the Chance to win an invitation and flight to a Pro Tour in Milwaukee, and receive another PTQ Promo Liliana of the Veil card (worth about 140€). I'm also considering attending GP Copenhagen in late June, and I'm definitely going to GP Prague at the end of August.
Here's an article from last year about how he plays given his condition. His mother holds and physically moves the cards on his command. She has no knowledge of the game and actively avoids learning the game as not to have any influence. They are granted a special exception by the DCI (the body governing Magic tournament play) for this.
Comments
Netrunner and other games are not so serious. There aren't huge cash prizes and whatnot. The same is not true for M:TG. Big tournaments are a big deal. At these big tournaments why do they even allow the players to shuffle their cards at all?
At big video game competitions they go through hell and high water to prevent cheating with delayed videos, sound-proof booths, etc. It would be very very easy to prevent such cheating in a card game. They already have a digital version of M:TG. They could trivially force it to be used for major tournaments. Now cheating is impossible.
Or even easier than that. When it comes to big games, you can't shuffle your cards at all. A judge comes and does all the shuffling. Fuck you if you complain.
The only other serious and competitive card games is Poker. In Poker there is a separate dealer, making it very difficult for a player to cheat. No reason it shouldn't be the same for M:TG. Then you don't have to worry about this sort of bullshit in the first place.
Automatic shufflers could work, but the problem comes with a rule that basically requires all cards to be sleeved (and in new ones at that). I don't know if commercially available card shufflers work with sleeved cards. There's also the issue of having enough for every pair of players.
Now I don't think this would be a problem when you get down to the quarter, semi, and finals, but during the rest of the tournament? Probably not going to work.
When it comes to forcing the use of digital M:tG, not everyone has a laptop, not everyone has the cards on the online version to make their deck, and then there's general logistical problems to consider. Again, when it comes to the last few rounds, this isn't as much of an issue.
I would never play a game where cheating was an issue. But let's say I was. Before playing any opponent, I would say to them. "Sorry to be a jerk. I don't think you're a cheater, but cheating is rampant. I apologize, but I'm going to watch you like a hawk and immediately call a judge if there are any strange card movements. I expect you to do the same. If you don't cheat, as I suspect is true of you and most players, then GLHF." Then I would do exactly that. It should provide pretty good protection until the late rounds.
In Netrunner, I be like "You forgot to let me cut? Whatevs. You know sleight of hand bro? We good. Ha, you mulligan anyway!"
It is also a simple matter of size. There isn't a judge of every player. In fact, it is more like a judge for every 30 players, making it nigh impossible for judges to shuffle every deck in every round, in addition to all other tasks they have to do during a round (create pairings, do deckchecks, observe players, answer rules questions, etc.). Shuffling machines are also not an option, as you will probably not want to trust into a machine to not destroy your $500 deck. Plus there is the issue with shuffling machines having trouble with sleeved cards.
And while there is a digital version of Magic, it also has to deal with software bugs and exploits. Switching to it for all major tournaments would also remove a lot of the feel of playing Magic, and remove legitimacy the cards themselves.
From the MTR
3.9
If the opponent does not believe the player made a reasonable effort to
randomize his or her deck, the opponent must notify a judge. Players may request to have a judge shuffle their
cards rather than the opponent; this request will be honored only at a judge’s discretion.
http://media.wizards.com/ContentResources/Wizards/WPN/Main/Documents/Magic_The_Gathering_Tournament_Rules_PDF1.pdf
Also, the Utrecht and Las Vegas events are doing giveaways whenever they hit a certain threshold of preregistered players. A friend of mine won a Mox Jet, the lucky bastard. That card is worth 700 to 800€, so basically he and his girlfriend essentially got flights, rooms, and attendance at the event covered with that.
I still need like 60 planeswalker points on the season to get a first round bye in Utrecht and for the entire next year. Hopefully I can make that up on events that will be on Thursday at the GP, which is unusual because normally those kinds of events are only held the Friday before but with this many people they basically added another day. It already helped a lot that I managed to win another PPTQ last weekend, thus also allowing me to attend a Regional PTQ in Vienna at the end of June with the Chance to win an invitation and flight to a Pro Tour in Milwaukee, and receive another PTQ Promo Liliana of the Veil card (worth about 140€). I'm also considering attending GP Copenhagen in late June, and I'm definitely going to GP Prague at the end of August.
Here's an article from last year about how he plays given his condition. His mother holds and physically moves the cards on his command. She has no knowledge of the game and actively avoids learning the game as not to have any influence. They are granted a special exception by the DCI (the body governing Magic tournament play) for this.