UPDATE: Grand Prix Paris Standings Under Review

Monday, February 17th, 2014

In a vague posting on DailyMTG.com, Wizards of the Coast announced that the final standings from last weekend’s Grand Prix Paris are currently under review, with an update from Wizards of the Coast to follow when available.

“Results from Grand Prix Paris are under re-examination. Update to follow.“

Twitter is currently abuzz with the news, circulating  the following video that allegedly shows eventually Grand Prix Paris champion Javier Dominguez cheating on camera by supposedly keeping an extra card after casting a Brainstorm. It is currently unclear who originally brought this video to light.

We’ll keep you posted as more details become available.

UPDATE 2/18/14 at 4:48 PM:

Currently, nothing new has emerged as yet from Wizards of the Coast. In the mean time, outrage on Twitter has continued using the hashtag #gpparischeat. In addition, a new Facebook account has emerged as well called “All GP Paris 2014 against stolen,” (poorly translated from Spanish).

We’ll continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.

UPDATE 2/18/14 at 10:10 PM:

Apparently, Drew Levin, writer at Star City Games and Legacy enthusiast, wrote an apology regarding his very vocal condemnation of the situation in question that occurred this past weekend at Grand Prix Paris 2014. Here is Mr. Levin’s apology in it’s entirety:

“Before you read this, know that I was not asked to write this by anyone. I spent much of today thinking about my actions, talked with a close friend, and came to the conclusion that this needed to be written.

I was wrong to make the following tweets:

https://twitter.com/drewlevin/status/435443059061317632
https://twitter.com/drewlevin/status/435443468177911808

It would have been enough to watch the video and think, “Wow, that looks bad.”
It would have been enough to watch the video and think, “Hey, people would probably find this interesting.”
It would have been enough to watch the video, share it, and not ascribe a narrative or guess at Javier Dominguez’s motivations.

It was too much to watch it, share it, and make not just one but two tweets ascribing the worst of intentions to an interaction that I was neither part of nor know the players involved in. It was classless and it embodied the worst part of the Internet’s power to communicate. It would have been easy to watch the same video and come away with the conclusion that Javier made a mistake.

I was similarly wrong to approach the situation with Alex Bertoncini in the way that I did. I should not have been nearly so public or personal with my actions, and I regret my immature and hasty decisions. I made many of them for the wrong reasons, and I apologized too little. I am sorry for encouraging — embodying, even — a strain of hastily judgmental public commentary on the actions of strangers.

I should have been more aware of my credibility to call out cheaters as someone who has participated in several DCI investigations that led to bannings of domestically-successful players. I should have been more aware of how much people take me at my word when I call someone a cheater. I did not measure my words nearly so thoroughly as is my responsibility, and I am sorry.

I’m sorry to Javier Dominguez, a man who barely two days ago won a Legacy Grand Prix, the highest-level tournament for a format that I love dearly. His accomplishment ought to be unmitigated by these accusations. Here is why:

Either Javier did or did not cheat. The DCI, an organization with far greater access to information and trained judges of character and Magic players’ intentions, will serve as the arbiter for that possibility. If Javier cheated, I have merely contributed to a degradation of public dialogue surrounding Magic players’ intentions during the meteoric rise of video as an implement of entertainment and access to gameplay. Even if this were the only outcome, I would owe the community a serious apology.

If Javier did not cheat, I have done something far worse. I have used my platform in the community to unilaterally castigate a stranger who is presently guilty of nothing more than winning a Grand Prix. If that is all that Javier remains guilty of in four months’ time, my actions are heinous. My words will be used to cast doubt on his accomplishments, and they should never have that power. No one’s words should have that power except for those written by the DCI.

If Javier Dominguez is banned for cheating, I will be glad that the DCI took steps to address the presence of cheating in sanctioned Magic.

Regardless of whether Javier Dominguez is banned for cheating, I have done him and the community wrong.

I apologize for my role in this. I will endeavor to do better by this community.”

 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community  forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

Tags: Brainstorm, Breaking News, Cheating, Grand Prix Paris, Magic the Gathering, MTG, Wizards of the Coast
Posted in Blog, Card Games, Featured Post, Magic: The Gathering, Popular Posts | 4 Comments »