How to catch and stop cheaters in webcam tournaments - Magic the Gathering cEDH - Path to the Peak

[@ElderDrunkenHighlander]

You can find the Path to the Peak signup link in the video description. HUGE thanks to Memo and Freedomwaffle for providing footage of actual cheaters from tournaments.

[@DutchPenquin]

This went way more in depth than I thought. About halfway through and just wow! Great work Josh! With the cEDH boom in the past year+ and the rise of Mox Masters and new events like Alex's Path to the Peak, this is just super vital.

[@ElderDrunkenHighlander]

Appreciate the feedback! We went super hard for this one so I’m glad it’s useful :)

[@Teknomahge]

This is helping me get over the apprehension of playing cEDH online with the stories of cheating

[@ElderDrunkenHighlander]

Every story of cheating means one less cheater in the community at least since it means they got caught.

[@tcgdude]

Cheers to the Alaskan joining the tournament. And thanks for the insights on the cheating. Not that I would want to expect folks to do so, but being prepared helps.

[@coop6524]

As someone who competes in 60 card competitive formats (Pioneer, Modern) I really don't understand the appeal of cEDH, the only reason I can think of is the use of proxies which makes it an affordable option for competitive Magic. I do find your perspective on cheating being more prevalent IRL to be interesting. I'd imagine Webcam games actually introduce more opportunities for cheating than a paper tournament.

[@ElderDrunkenHighlander]

Proxies are indeed a massive appeal for me. I got introduced to cEDH when I didn’t have much disposable income so the accessibility was a huge factor for sure. I enjoy 1v1 formats, I still dabble in standard from time to time but cEDH presents a unique deckbuilding and gameplay experience that I can’t really find anywhere else. I just love it.

[@superladfingergun8579]

I’m curious about this tournament…did it have judges or were any complaint just reviewed by video? Also what is the cost of putting on a tournament on a webcam platform?

[@ElderDrunkenHighlander]

The tournament did indeed have judges who were called when needed. The cost for doing so is a Command Tower subscription ($5) and then paying one or more judges (idk how much they were paid for Path to the Peak but generally it’s a few hundred dollars given its 6+ hours of work) and then any equipment needed for the stream setup, and then paying tournament staff like the TO, casters, and other members of the stream team which can vary depending on length and size of the event, after that’s figured out what is left becomes your prize pool basically. For context I was considering running a 32 person event myself, at ten dollar entry fee we can pay a judge 150 bucks which is kinda low tbh and then have 170 left to pay a TO and do prize support. If the prize is 50 for 1st and 25 for 2-4th the TO (me in this case) gets 45 dollars and I can’t stream the event unless people wanna do it for free. I kinda want to do a video on tournament entry fee/prizing/staff pay logistics one day because it’s super interesting but for now I have written this super lengthy comment. Hope that satiated your curiosity!

[@superladfingergun8579]

@@ElderDrunkenHighlander I appreciate your reply! And agreed, it is extremely interesting and makes me personally question what makes a tournament “good.” Because I have been to some rather costly tournaments that I felt were sub-par while popped into an LGS and paid 5 bucks and had a great time. I would watch a video about the logistics of tournament construction. (This is not me saying that tournaments costing more is bad, just highlighting how difficult tournaments can be to put together)

[@dylanmahoney4889]

I don’t like to cheat let the rng ruin you’re life.

[@TheBorzoi]

Most of the players I go against don't ever cut when I present my deck so I do 4 piles and ask one opponent in turn to pick a pile. I still offer for cutting afterwards.

[@SeriosSkies92]

in tournament play?

[@ElderDrunkenHighlander]

In most online tournaments cuts are required, but in casual most of the people I play with don’t cut either

[@TheBorzoi]

@@SeriosSkies92 I've not played in a tournament.