Current Events > WotC (MTG) is apparently keen on banning people for awful reasons now

(+) Yeah! (+)

There's a video on this that's pretty comprehensive but here's the gist:

WotC decided to move all tournaments online, which changed the format (rule set and what cards people can use) which people agree is a smart move. The problem is that they told a bunch of their pro-players that have NDA contracts with WotC well in advance, and they could then use that information to get familiar with the online system, practice decks and get used to the format.

A player that didn't have an NDA was told about this somehow, and felt it was an unfair advantage so he tweeted out about the planned change. WotC then sent him an e-mail saying they'd like to know how he learned about the information, and he replied back saying he wouldn't tell, and they banned him. The player that was banned has had all tournament invitations revoked, and is no longer eligible for any new tournaments. They sent him a follow-up e-mail saying that the only way they'd consider looking at his punishment was if he told them his source.

This is a super scummy thing to do, and 10 days since that e-mail and WotC still hasn't communicated anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8hNqK9n0jY

Don't fuck with Hasbro, bro.

WOTC has notoriously been leaning toward the SJW side so I guess this is to be expected

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Wizards has been in the "what's the dumbest thing we can do" camp for years now. I had been playing and judging since 1995/2004, but I had enough and retired about a year ago.

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This news is like 2 weeks old.

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refmon posted...

WOTC has notoriously been leaning toward the SJW side so I guess this is to be expected

Lmao what the fuck kind of brainworms nonsense is this post

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Should've just said the source was anonymous

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refmon posted...

WOTC has notoriously been leaning toward the SJW side so I guess this is to be expected

lmao what

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FabIemaster posted...

This news is like 2 weeks old.

The fact that it's been 10 days without a response is also part of the news from my perspective. I can't imagine there's anyone applauding them, so the fact that they feel comfortable sticking to their decision and staying silent is telling.

I understand your point though, that this doesn't need to be re-posted every day as news.

core set spoiler season starts soon, right?. they probably figure everyone will forget about it when the shiny new cards start getting shown.

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Vivec posted...

Lmao what the fuck kind of brainworms nonsense is this post

..in...in.....INCELS!!

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MrToothHasYou posted...

lmao what

it made me actually laugh out loud. actual sjw types absolutely despise wotc, and wotc doesnt give a shit and has a long track record of protecting terrible people as hard as possible

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That's a fair ban, honestly.

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What sjw types despise wotc lol

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Oh shit so I can become a world class player without leaving the house now?

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Vivec posted...

What sjw types despise wotc lol

People have been eternally and unsuccessfully attempting to boycott DnD 5e because Zak Smith was involved in it and the mtg community constantly gets dragged for the amount of homophobic/transphobic people in it (which is bizarre because the mtg community is incredibly diverse)

i dont agree with any of this particularly but those circles don't like wotc at all and wotc doesn't particularly give a shit about them more than any other corporation likes to pay lip service.

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Apparently WotC is SJW because they include LGBT representation in their cards?

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Online only tournaments?

I watched an online arena tournament final and watched a dude get mana fucked 6 turns in a row.

That was the end of arena for me.

Wizards is a dumb company.

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Eleventyish posted...

There's a video on this that's pretty comprehensive but here's the gist:

WotC decided to move all tournaments online, which changed the format (rule set and what cards people can use) which people agree is a smart move. The problem is that they told a bunch of their pro-players that have NDA contracts with WotC well in advance, and they could then use that information to get familiar with the online system, practice decks and get used to the format.

A player that didn't have an NDA was told about this somehow, and felt it was an unfair advantage so he tweeted out about the planned change. WotC then sent him an e-mail saying they'd like to know how he learned about the information, and he replied back saying he wouldn't tell, and they banned him. The player that was banned has had all tournament invitations revoked, and is no longer eligible for any new tournaments. They sent him a follow-up e-mail saying that the only way they'd consider looking at his punishment was if he told them his source.

This is a super scummy thing to do, and 10 days since that e-mail and WotC still hasn't communicated anything.

This isn't the first (or probably last) time that WotC has banned/suspended someone for propagating leaked information even if that person wasn't the source of the leak.

The basis for "This is unfair to tournament integrity that they were told two weeks ahead of time!" about a format change to the most common tournament format is unfounded. Standard is fluid enough (especially since everyone knew bans were imminent) that additional time to prepare that far out isn't even worthwhile. I would even say that would be true even if they had switched to an obscure format but ymmv.


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Anteaterking posted...

This isn't the first (or probably last) time that WotC has banned/suspended someone for propagating leaked information even if that person wasn't the source of the leak.

The basis for "This is unfair to tournament integrity that they were told two weeks ahead of time!" about a format change to the most common tournament format is unfounded. Standard is fluid enough (especially since everyone knew bans were imminent) that additional time to prepare that far out isn't even worthwhile. I would even say that would be true even if they had switched to an obscure format but ymmv.

It was brought up in the video, so I didn't want to parrot it, but becoming familiar with how MTGA works is also a consideration. You have to put holds/stops on phases ahead of time, and can't just declare things. Additionally, not every MTG tourney player is going to have a computer that can run MTGA, so as much advance notice as possible should have been given once they decided on a course of action.

it was also not known at the time that everyone was going to be given full playsets. so it also appeared to be a two week headstart on collecting the necessary cards.

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Medussa posted...

it was also not known at the time that everyone was going to be given full playsets. so it also appeared to be a two week headstart on collecting the necessary cards.

How much do you think that impacts the players of the MPL, most of which or all already play in large arena events where you need a collection?

WotC has never cared about the degree of difficulty of getting cards for a Pro Tour. Did you win a limited GP and qualify for a Modern pro tour? Too bad, guess you're out $700-$1500 for an actual good meta deck unless you want to play Burn.

Eleventyish posted...

It was brought up in the video, so I didn't want to parrot it, but becoming familiar with how MTGA works is also a consideration. You have to put holds/stops on phases ahead of time, and can't just declare things. Additionally, not every MTG tourney player is going to have a computer that can run MTGA, so as much advance notice as possible should have been given once they decided on a course of action.

The top 24 pros in the MPL already had to know those things to compete in the MPL skewed Arena only events.

Like some of these arguments sound more like "Here's why seven weeks notice is better than five (for everyone)" rather than "Here's why it was bad that these people got two more weeks".

If you're serious enough about Magic to qualify for such a tournament, something like learning the interface or having a computer that can run MTGA should be givens.

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Have they freed the Asscrack Bandit yet?

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