Suspected Cheating at GP New Jersey

My name is Ryan Normandin. The following is a record, to the best of my recollection, of the events that took place in Round 7 of GP New Jersey. After I walk through the games, I will discuss my thoughts and suggestions. But first, just the facts.

At GP New Jersey this past weekend, I went into Round 7 at X-2, so I needed to win the next two matches in order to make Day 2. My opponent in Round 7 was Daniel Zeiler.

Game 1

My opponent pressured me as best he could with creatures and planeswalkers while I focused on setting up a turn to go off with Nexus. During this game, my opponent passed the turn to me and, during my turn, noted that he hadn’t discarded to hand size. I assumed he’d forgotten, considered calling a judge, and then decided to just continue with the game. He discarded and the game resumed.

On the last possible turn, I successfully chained Nexus of Fates using Teferi and Azcanta. Because I’d used the one Karn in my deck as a pseudo-fog to distract my opponent from killing me, my win condition was milling, given that he showed no signs of conceding. As long as he was not drawing/discarding more slowly than was reasonable on his turn, there was, of course, no problem with that.

After exiling all his permanents, I passed the turn back to him. I was playing as quickly as I could and was focused only on things which would kill me (creatures), however unlikely that seemed. We passed back and forth, drawing and discarding, until my opponent played a Forest. He then cast Find off a single Forest, returning two creatures to his hand. Unfortunately, I did not notice this at the time. He passed the turn, I drew, discarded, and passed back. When I discarded, my opponent also placed a card into their graveyard without saying anything. I asked my opponent what he had just done. He stated that he was discarding to hand size.

At this point, I raised my hand and called for a judge. My opponent, who had thus far showed no sign of wanting to concede despite having no permanents (Teferi emblem) and no outs, said something to the effect of, “No, it’s fine, I’m just going to concede anyway,” and began scooping up his cards. I kept my hand in the air and the judge arrived. I explain the situation. My opponent confirmed that he had not discarded to hand size and wanted to correct it during my turn. He then claimed that I had also failed to discard to hand size. I was confused, as I had just discarded a card for the turn and showed the judge my seven cards. My opponent clarified that it was earlier that I had failed to discard to hand size. The judge asked my opponent if he had said anything at the time and he said no. While I do not remember failing to discard, and stated as such, it is certainly possible given the pace of my play.

The judge gave my opponent a GRV and we prepared to move to Game 2. While we were sideboarding, my opponent made a statement along the lines of, “Trying to rules lawyer me, huh? Well you chose the wrong player to rules lawyer. I’m going to rules lawyer you right back,” and other comments in that vein. I didn’t respond. The judge decided to sit down next to my opponent to watch the next game, presumably after hearing his comments and detecting that the atmosphere had become hostile.

Game 2

My opponent cast a Duress on their first turn of the game and took Discovery//Dispersal. “Wow, what a horrible keep,” he commented. Again, I do not respond.

I found another Discovery, milled two cards and found a sweeper, but my opponent Duressed the sweeper as well. Eventually, we arrived at a game state where my opponent had a Carnage Tyrant, a Vivien Reid with 7 loyalty counters, and a Vraska, Golgari Queen with 6 counters. I had six lands, a Nexus of Fate in my hand that my opponent knew about, and nothing on board. I was at 10 life and passed the turn, hoping to draw a Cleansing Nova or Settle the Wreckage during the following turn to deal with the Carnage Tyrant.

I saw my opponent quickly run through the sequence of drawing for turn, ticking up Vraska, sacrificing a land, and drawing another card. At this point, the judge stopped my opponent and asked what he just did. My opponent seemed to be confused. The judge clarified that he just saw my opponent tick up Vivien, draw a card, then tick up Vraska and draw a card. I looked back at Vivien; the dice representing her loyalty suddenly read 8. My opponent continued to appear confused and the judge decided to do a card count of both of us in order to determine whether my opponent had drawn an extra card incorrectly with Vivien. During this time, the judge also noticed that Vraska was on 9 loyalty instead of 8. Daniel claimed this was a careless mistake and quickly put it back to 8. After a card count, the judge determined that my opponent did not put a card into their hand with Vivien. Instead, my opponent apparently increased the die count on Vivien before drawing for turn. I want to just note here that Vivien emblems at 8, her emblem grants creatures indestructible, and one of my two outs was Cleansing Nova.

After conferring with the head judge (I presume, red shirt), the judge stated that my opponent tried to use Vivien Reid during his upkeep, failed/forgot to resolve the ability, and then drew for turn. As too much had already happened, the game state would be kept as is, with Vivien unable to be activated again, and my opponent would receive another GRV. This was a ~20+ minute judge call, and the reason why Round 7 at GP NJ went so far over time. We were given a time extension of about 17 minutes (on top of the 1 minute extension we had from the discarding call) and told to keep playing. There was some discussion over the time extension, as my opponent and I both agreed that the call had lasted for longer, but the decision was to simply create a new timer for our match, which would start at 21 minutes when there were only around 4 minutes left in round, giving us a functional 17 minute time extension.

I failed to find an answer for Carnage Tyrant and conceded during my next turn.

Game 3

The judge who had been watching my opponent needed to leave, so another judge came to watch instead. Several turns into the game, my opponent had a Wildgrowth Walker and a Merfolk Branchwalker on-board. The Wildgrowth Walker had a single +1/+1 counter on it. My opponent played a second Merfolk Branchwalker and resolved the Explore trigger, but missed the Wildgrowth Walker trigger. He Duressed away a card from my hand, then moved to attacks. As my opponent turned his Wildgrowth Walker sideways, in the same motion, he subtly turned the die from 1 to 2 without saying anything.

“Judge,” I said, “my opponent just turned the die up on their Wildgrowth Walker.”

Even though he had not said anything aloud, including the fact that there’s a “gain 3 life” that comes with the counter, my opponent claimed their action was taken because, “It’s supposed to have two counters from the Explore.” The judge accepted this and told him to be more careful. I pointed out that my opponent had not said anything, did it subtly, and that this was yet another instance in a pattern of my opponent manipulating dice illegally. The judge stated that this is common among FNM players who are sloppy. While I understood that to be true, my opponent did not strike me as an FNM player at his first GP. Mtgeloproject.net confirms this; Daniel Zeiler’s first GP was GP Richmond in 2014. GP New Jersey was his eighth GP. Based on my impression of him and the situation so far, I appealed, calling the head judge back over. The judge upheld the floor judge’s decision after I explained my concern that my opponent was displaying a pattern of changing dice.

I died a few turns later, shook my opponent’s hand, and left the table.

After Game 3

As we were the last match going, pairings were posted for Round 9 almost immediately. When I left the table, a friend of mine who’d watched my match against Daniel mentioned that he cast Find with one mana. I remembered it happening, was shocked that I could’ve missed it, and began to wonder what else I missed. I sat down for Round 9 and called another judge over. I let the judge know about the additional instance of Daniel violating the game rules and suggested that they might want to watch him.

Opponent’s Next Match

A friend of mine watched part of my opponent’s next match. During that match, Daniel played a Vraska, Relic Seeker while his opponent had an Immortal Sun in play. Daniel ticked down his Vraska targeting The Immortal Sun. His opponent said that he couldn’t do that. Days said, “Oh, yeah,” and returned their Vraska to 6. No judge was called, and the game resumed.

Summary

-Opponent failed to discard to hand size twice

-Opponent tried to concede when a judge was called

-Opponent became aggressive and confrontational toward me when a judge was called

-Opponent cast a Find with a single mana

-Before drawing for turn, opponent moved the die on their Vivien from 7 to 8, where she could create her emblem, granting indestructible when one of my only two outs was Cleansing Nova

-Opponent moved the die on their Vraska up from 6 to 9 instead of from 6 to 8

-Opponent subtly, without speaking moved the die up on their attacking Wildgrowth Walker after having missed the trigger in the previous main phase

-Opponent attempted to destroy The Immortal Sun with Vraska, Relic Seeker

Thoughts and Suggestions

Based on the evidence above, I believe that Daniel Zeiler intentionally cheated against me. I recognize that some may disagree with my naming him in this article. Like many others, I find the frequent witch hunts that result from someone making a mistake on camera pointless and bad for the community. As such, I would not make such an accusation unless I were reasonably sure that they were guilty. Too often, after cheaters are finally caught beyond a reasonable doubt, others come forward with their stories. It’s only after the DQ that it’s discovered just how long they had been cheating. Then, everyone asks, “How did they not get caught? How were they able to do this for so long without anyone saying anything publicly?” If Daniel Zeiler is eventually caught in such a manner, I do not want to be one of the those coming forward and saying, “Yeah, he cheated against me too.” I’m sick of this trend, and I want to do what I can to prevent cheating as soon as it happens instead of trading whispers and rumors about the “sketchy players” that only get aired after they’re caught. It is my hope that naming him will lead to him getting caught faster. I respect that some may disagree with my decision, but I feel that I have an obligation to name Daniel, given that I am reasonably certain that he was cheating.

To my knowledge, I have never had someone cheat against me before. When I read about people discussing the additional mental tax that comes along with playing against cheaters like Alex Bertoncini, I could never have imagined what that felt like. Now, unfortunately, I can. After missing multiple shady moves from my opponent during the first two games, I spent much more energy the third game watching my opponent’s hands than I did thinking about how to win. It’s lucky I did, or I wouldn’t have spotted him move up the die on his Wildgrowth Walker in Game 3, as the judge sitting right next to him missed it themselves. But there’s another element that’s harder to explain, beyond just an additional mental tax. There’s a sinking, uncomfortable feeling in your gut when you’re playing against someone who is actively trying to cheat you while simultaneously trying to make you out to be the bad guy. The weird mix of doubt (Is he really cheating? Am I reading too much into a bunch of mistakes?), helplessness (I’d called judges over, like I’m supposed to, and nothing had happened), and paranoia (What’s he going to try next? What should I be watching? What should I be doing? Is he cheating in other ways that I’ve missed?) makes it incredibly difficult to play a competent game of Magic. While I’ve had plenty of salty opponents in my day, this was my first time being in a match that felt outright hostile. There are a couple things I’ve taken away from this experience that I want to share.

First, always call a judge. I know, you’ve heard this a thousand times before. I’ve heard it at every level of competition, from Prereleases and FNM’s to GP’s and the Pro Tour. I’ve told this to newer players time and time again. As a grinder from the Northeast, I have internalized this mantra to the same extent as every other competitive player. And yet, I was still willing to disregard the first instance of my opponent failing to discard to hand size. Why? Because it seemed like such a small thing, such an easy mistake to make, and I was sure my opponent didn’t mean anything by it.

While this is true ninety-nine times out of a hundred, it’s also irrelevant. If, as is likely, the player just made a careless error, the presence of a judge and the awarding of a GRV are going to be far more effective at reminding them to be careful than you just letting it slide. And, on the off-chance that your opponent actually is a cheater, this is how they get caught. Sometimes cheaters get caught on camera, but most matches aren’t recorded. The recording of a pattern of GRV’s is the single best way that we as a community can fight cheaters at Competitive/Professional REL. Only if every single player calls a judge for any kind of game rule violation can a pattern be established. In the very next match, Daniel’s opponent made the same mistake that I did; had he called a judge, he would’ve discovered that Daniel already had multiple GRV’s that day for advantageous “mistakes,” that judges were watching him already thanks to an additional conversation I had after the match, and maybe he even would’ve gotten a cheater banned.

Second, and an extension of the previous point, always call a judge if you see something sketchy happen in another game. At Competitive REL, you’re allowed to ask the players to pause while you call a judge over. At Professional REL, you can’t communicate with the players, so should just call the judge and explain the situation as quickly as possible. Even if it turns out that you’re actually the one who is mistaken and has missed something in the game state, you’re not going to be punished. Again, just always call a judge. You’d want someone to do it if they spotted a mistake in your match, so do it for other players too.

Third, be on the lookout for cheating in your own matches. I think my account, in all its excruciating detail, is valuable in illustrating what cheating can look like. It’s not always manipulating decks and playing extra lands; sometimes it’s manipulating dice and performing a pattern of convenient, advantageous “mistakes” on the board. If, during a match of Magic, you begin to feel the way I described, call a judge immediately (if you haven’t already) and discuss your concerns. If someone is cheating against you, you’ll rarely be one hundred percent sure. But don’t let those doubts stop you from talking over your concerns with a judge. It’s the judge’s job to figure out where to go from there.

Fourth, I have enormous respect for the judge community, and all my interactions with them have been positive. I honestly believe that all of them are doing the best that they can at every event, and they do a terrific job. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel let down by them this time. I understand the reluctance to accuse someone of cheating. But I have a really, really hard time understanding why my opponent did not get anything more than a GRV for moving the die up on his Vivien Reid when I passed the turn. There was no announcement of activation and there was no execution of the ability. After ticking up the Vivien, my opponent drew their card for turn as though nothing had happened and then proceeded to tick up Vraska and continue. He did it in a way that was subtle enough that I was surprised and confused to see that Vivien was suddenly at 8 loyalty instead of 7. Even when, in the context of the game, Vivien being at 8 instead of 7 gave my opponent an enormous advantage.

When I see that situation, the judge’s explanation, “He must’ve tried to activate Vivien during their upkeep by mistake, and then also forgotten to resolve the ability, and then when he drew, didn’t realize that he had just messed up by activating a planeswalker in their upkeep,” just doesn’t cut it. Mechanically, that is what happened in the game. Realistically, it’s a convoluted justification for something that has a much simpler explanation: my opponent was trying to cheat to gain an advantage. Additionally, there was no conversation had with my opponent about walking a line very close to lying to a judge when the judge asked him what had happened. Then, nothing again when my opponent executed the exact same subtle, silent dice-changing on the Wildgrowth Walker that is attacking me.

Daniel was displaying all the hallmarks of a cheater: trying to concede when a judge was called, displaying a pattern of the same kind of advantageous “mistake” repeatedly, and making his “mistakes” with quick, subtle hand movements while not verbalizing what he was doing. (His communication while he was not making “mistakes” was otherwise clear.) I’m not sure what advice to give to judges who come across situations like this. I know that it can be hard to distinguish between a sloppy player and cheater. I know that everyone wants to always assume good intentions. I know that we don’t want to ostracize newer players who make mistakes at their first GP. But what happened to me shouldn’t have to happen to anyone else. I hope that any judges who read this will share it with their peers and have a serious discussion around this issue.

Finally, to Wizards: you’ve heard your players. Cheaters should be banned, and that’s the end of the story. You have everyone’s support on this decision, so please, come down hard on people who are making a mockery of your game.

Thanks for reading.