Locations
Original Story: Word came out at approximately 11:30 EST from Evan Erwin's twitter account that US Team member, Charles Gindy had been disqualified from Worlds for 'Fraud.'
Charles Gindy first reached major attention for Magic by winning Pro Tour Hollywood in 2008. He has remained on and active on the Pro Tour since, parlaying his success into playing competitive poker as well. He placed high at the US National competition earning a spot among the top 3 and a slot in the US Team for the 2009 World championships in Rome.
News of his disqualification led to much anger and upset from the Magic twitterverse with one twitter user saying they had lost all respect for him, and several more decrying the fact that this was the end of the US chances to win the team competition.
Again this is alleged and unconfirmed at this time, we're waiting for an official report to be issued. The Disqualification has been confirmed, but the ruling and reason has not yet. We will update as we receive more information.
The official rules for 'Fraud' are as follows:
Definition
A person intentionally and knowingly violates or misrepresents rules, procedures, personal information, or any other relevant tournament information. Note that Fraud, like most cheating, is determined by an investigation and will often appear on the surface as a Game Play Error or Tournament Error.
Additionally, it is Fraud if a player (or teammate) notices an offense in their match and does not immediately call attention to it.
Examples
- A player enters a tournament under an assumed name and/or using a different DCI number in an attempt to manipulate ratings.
- A player alters the results of a match after the match is over.
- A player lies to a tournament official to gain or keep an advantage.
- A player lies to his opponent about his life total.
- A player observes his opponent or teammate make an illegal play but does not call a judge because it is to his advantage.
- A spectator gives false or misleading information to a tournament official that helps another player to cheat.
Clearly some of these examples are not applicable, and the official report has not been announced but it is believed that Gindy was guilty of misrepresenting game state. Fraud, at all Rule Enforcement Levels is a disqualification, and this was clearly even more important.
Update 2:
Based on the official write up from Wizards website here is our understanding of the events and what went on.
- Gindy used his Master of the Wild Hunt and wolf tokens to tap and deal 5 damage to target creature his opponent controlled, killing it.
- His opponent Antoine Menard did not assign the reciprocal lethal damage to any of the wolves and Gindy did not respond or act in any way to alert his opponent about the missed action. The Master's ability is not a may, and thus cannot be passed over.
- After the game he asked his opponent why he had not assigned any damage, representing his own knowledge that it should have happened and providing proof that he realized it had been missed.
Another example provided by DCI Judge Sheldon Menery:
