2013-2014 Magic Rookie of the Year Suspended

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

Wizards of the Coast Director Helene Bergeot announced on Thursday that Jared Bottecher, 2013-2014 Magic the Gathering Rookie of the Year, “may have engaged in in activities that violate Wizards of the Coast’s Code of Conduct and Magic’s tournament floor rules.”

As a result of the ensuing DCI investigation, those accusations were confirmed and Mr. Bottecher was suspended for a period of four years and his Rookie of the Year title revoked. Video and photo evidence can be found here as well as Mr. Bottecher’s reaction to his suspension, courtesy of David Levitt at [Boston] Examiner.com.

The Rookie of the Year title will pass to Raymond Perez Jr., who earned 33 Pro Points during that tournament season, qualifying him for Worlds 2014.

This comes during a time of apparent “scandal” – now being referred to as #shufflegate – in which two other high-profile player suspensions occurred, that of Trevor Humphries and Alex Bertoncini (see “Player at SCG Worcester Suspected of Cheating“).

What do you think of #shufflegate and the recent high profile player suspensions? Are these sentences appropriate? Does the overwhelming community outcry create a sense of a witch hunt? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Tags: Cheating, DCI, Jared Bottecher, Magic the Gathering, MTG, Rookie of the Year, Shufflegate, Wizards of the Coast
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