This MTG Shuffle Cheater Actually Got Disqualified

[@svenyproud]

I was the finals player against him. He did so much more than just cheating in game. Of the tables he was manipulating players in conceiding for him pre game because he wanted to farm points for the cardmarket series. He also initiatited to the Top 8 to split prizes and then begged on his knees to not play quarters and semis against him cause of the points system lol

[@mrosskne]

crazy that people still play magic irl when it's like 99% cheaters

[@gafdl6365]

@@mrosskneArena boi sad

[@itskmillz]

Wtf is wrong with people. Cheating invalidates anything you accomplish so he's basically just gratifying a desire to dupe people.

[@itskmillz]

Or trying to steal money I just realized. Or both

[@thesphyrth]

So his cheating method was a multi-layered scheme.

[@Lovuschka]

Fun fact: If there was money at stake, he actually committed a crime under German law (where this tournament was held). So police could have been called, or a criminal complaint be filed for attempted fraud.

[@SizeMcWave]

And they took his boat.

[@refundreplay]

Does store credit count as money?

[@SpiritSquadMTG]

@@refundreplay IDK anything about German law, but anything that can have monetary value counts in America.

[@Lovuschka]

@@refundreplay Well, it is a word that refers to anything of financial value for yourself or another person.

[@robinconraths4180]

fun fact: If there was money at stake, the whole tournement whould be illegal under german law...

[@thms.pfl_]

Back in 2016/2017 i first ran into Sebastian. He used to play very frequently at a LGS in Regensburg, Germany. He won every Legacy tournament and i knew there was always smth off about him. He not only cheated in a classic sense but always tried to redeem decisions, talk you into bad moves and making you feel uncomfortable (He once called a judge to check if my cards were real to distract me). Very unpleasant guy in general, who did everything to win. He had a huge character break and almost acted insulted after loosing to my (back then) 16 yo brother‘s Budget Burn deck once.

[@gerard518]

Sounds like a typical German to me...

[@jonas_security_kolinski]

@@gerard518 Don't have to devolve into racism just because cheaters piss us off.

[@Zer0kx]

@@gerard518 Damn Germans ruined Germany! - a German

[@YoutubeIsRetarded689]

Its always the cheap garbage that takes down the competitive decks. Lava Axe is underrated.

[@WadeWilsonDP]

There was a guy at my local game store when I was a kid who was like that. He was so unpleasant, but he would join every tournament, for every game. I played Pokemon against him once and he claimed my deck had too many cards, I had 61, so technically I was breaking the rule, but I was also 11, so maybe cut me some slack and let me take out a card. I played against him a few years later in a Magic tourney and I wiped the floor with him in the first round with a cheap Elf deck I had just whipped together that day in the store.

[@travisgowen5044]

The audacity to celebrate your victory like that when you know full well that you were busted for cheating...

[@vanesslifeygo]

:(

[@konaqua122]

At the end of the day, he won. "Cheating is a skill to survive, unless you get caught." - Hajime no ippo It's the same as school. When you have exams, you go to your seat mate and copy the answers. If you didn't get caught, good. If you get caught but no one complained, good. If you get caught and someone complained, then bad. He is on the 2nd category. Got caught but never received an official complaint. The judge should've discarded that game and redo it from the start. They didn't so technically, that meant everything he did was legal in the eyes of the judge.

[@pascalsimioli6777]

What luke warm vanilla morality is that? Cheating is wrong regardless. If you cheat in school you learn nothing, you're missing the whole point: it's not about grades it's about actually retaining information. Not only you're wrong from a moral standpoint you're also wrong from a logical standpoint. Stop celebrating cheating and immorality as some kind of real life skill.

[@infamoussquire2955]

and the way he snatched his hand back to do his petty fist pump too

[@conker1847]

@@konaqua122 Except that he didn't win b/c he got disqualified. The judge probably wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and allowed things to play out and upon video review, saw the cheating and decided the correct result. Teachers might let a student finish the exam and the interview other students afterwards and determine that a certain student cheated and fail them, this is what happened, dude cheated, was slightly hard to tell, so they let it continue as if it didn't happen, after review, they found he cheated and caught him, stop it.

[@Waishwhw72i19sjx7]

My job is to deal with thieves. Every single day. I have seen that fake exasperated expression and hand gesture combined with anger at an accusation a thousand times at this point. I'd recognize it anywhere.

[@amberlee4536]

I used to work in retail and my eyes practically rolled into the back of my head when he did that. Tell me you did something dishonest and you're trying to make me too uncomfortable to keep questioning you without telling me you did something dishonest.

[@MedicineMan55]

The gesture and expression at 5:14? That's very interesting. Thanks for sharing your experience on this.

[@KH-tu3no]

Cheaters caught red handed like that should be ban for really, really long times. Meaning 10+ years. They're detrimental to everyone's experience.

[@mtgrandomstuff646]

For lifetime. Cheating is something no one should ever do. And if you are such an as**ole, no one wants to play with you.

[@suntzu6122]

As a grown-@ss adult? Lifetime ban. They know better. Unless youre literally 15 or below, there is NO REASON you should get a 2nd chance.

[@chasm9557]

Make an example out of cheaters. If someone is willing to destroy a tournament where people are playing for prizes, they should be permanently banned and fined either double their total tournament winnings or $5,000, whichever is greater.

[@KH-tu3no]

@@chasm9557 i agree, there should be a signed agreement about cheating putting everyone under a lawsuit if they are caught cheating.

[@Eddysamson1]

So detrimental I quit competitive magic many years ago. It hit me that a large % of my opponents were sketchy AF and always had what they needed when they needed. What really broke the camel's back for me though was how so many of these people were watching you like a HAWK to try to catch you cheating. Like you drop a card on the floor and they immediately call over a judge. Its really hard to be playing clean and have people constantly trying to 'catch' you in cheating. If only 14 year old me back then realized what projection was. They're so hyper focused on YOU cheating because they're doing it themselves.

[@EbonAvatar]

That Wasteland cheat was so brazen my jaw hit the floor. It's crazy to me that no one spotted it. I can understand why the opponent might have missed it since they were focused on their own plays, but how did no one on the commentary team or judging staff notice a cheat that obvious?? Especially since he had literally used a Wasteland the previous turn too?

[@MindGameArcade]

commentators were effing asleep I can't believe it, wasteland isn't a free spell lol

[@rudolphransom]

Someone I know got into the legacy finals some years ago. The commentators spent a big portion of the time talking about his skin condition (acne scars) than the game. Some commentators suck at their job.

[@AlphaLackey]

Why would they noticed what they have been conditioned to not care about?

[@AlphaLackey]

@@MindGameArcade There's a chance too that the commentators might be under pressure not to call out cheating if they witness it, because it would make the judges look bad.

[@tcsmagicbox]

I'm not experienced at all with the Legacy format, but even I was like, how did he just do that?

[@riccardocalosso5688]

PSA: do not cut your opponents deck after they shuffled. Shuffle it as well.

[@lasterman94100]

I do agree but now, as a legit player, I am always afraid that my opponent manipulate my deck while "cutting" it so that I draw extremely poorly, if you can manipulate your deck, you can manipulate your opponent's one even more easily, we've seen it on this channel before

[@RIPPEDDRAGON40k]

​@@lasterman94100if your opponent does anything more than a simple cut you are allowed to quick shuffle or cut your deck again

[@RIPPEDDRAGON40k]

@Burger_pants or the real purpose is to allow both players to keep randomizing a deck till both parties accept the outcome.

[@xboxgamer474246]

@@lasterman94100If you think your opponent is shuffle cheating you, ask them to cut. If they say no, call a judge to cut. Repeat until they cut your deck.

[@lasterman94100]

@@xboxgamer474246 Problem is that last time I did, I was against a lvl 2 judge (a total jerk that I knew, and knew was a judge) and he told me he wasn't obligated to do so, when I called for a judge, he came and they had a talk ending with "go and play the game"

[@LordofBroccoli]

Good on the viewers for catching it. But honestly, how the hell did no one catch the double land play? Everyone saw it and the commentators are just "Oh well, nothing to see here." I get why his opponent didn't catch it, he's focusing on himself, but the commentators, judges, and viewers?

[@abbygaleforcewind]

Sleight of hand and confidence are really powerful and always have been, that's why they're so a long lasting part of human history

[@spencerstanley4759]

It is truly the confidence. If you act like you've been playing for 25 years, it's really hard to question your knowledge of basic things like just using a wasteland.

[@nzephier]

Came to say this: he legit used his land like a kill spell for the other dudes land, IMMEDIATELY after playing a land!! Like what!?

[@keithstolz1106]

Sebastian was so sly that he only showed Raphael the back of the wasteland, and his lips never moved telling Raphael he was casting wasteland. Raphael and the announcers should have caught it being turn two and it was a third land. Sebastian made it look like he was casting a spell. I would love to see his other matches.

[@kristeenlivesay2664]

I totally noticed the wasteland but I never noticed the stacking of his deck in the finals. Watching the shuffle is not something I do. I also never cut(fortunately the biggest event I ever played at was prereleases and non standard set release drafts) so I never would have seen that coming.

[@ghostmeister8883]

What's the point in "judges" watching the game if they literally catch nothing.

[@bluey1695]

Easier for 1000 people to notice something with a birdeyes view than for 1-2 judges to notice something at an angle.

[@abbygaleforcewind]

I normally try to play as quickly as I can but when I see players like this one that are playing so frantically and constantly fidgeting things all over the place, shortcutting effects, etc. I slow waaaaaay down because they often are trying to do something like this.

[@blaze556922]

💯 I think the people announcing the game should have noticed at least some of the things he was doing. It's not notice any of it is downright disturbing

[@kingginger3335]

That wasn't smooth at all! Lol his opponent didn't even get to see what was destroying his land until it was in the bin. He probably thought dude cast a spell. That's what it looked like on camera. Idk how he wasn't caught instantly

[@ich3730]

Not to be rude to his opponent, but when someone casts 0 CMC sinkhole on my land, i would atleast ask to see the cracked card he just used xD

[@jamesvereker4638]

@@ich3730 I think it was more he didnt realise a land had already been played, not that he didnt know it was a wasteland

[@stanislav328]

everyone knows that when your nonbasic gets targeted by a colourless card in legacy, it's wasteland. The reason this works is that the cheater didnt play wasteland as a land, and just directly targetted the opponents land as if the wasteland was a spell. It also helps the cheater was down a land, and at the end of the sequence they were equal in lands, which makes it looks like things happened they way theyre supposed to.

[@Mirthful_Midori]

Could've caught the cheater right then and there. It was just the cost of not paying attention.

[@mrosskne]

so he thought he was casting a spell, but never wondered why he didn't tap any mana for it?

[@parkermacinnis3977]

Imagine a cheaters league where all the known cheaters are gathered together to play underhanded against one another.

[@Chukijay]

I’d rather watch this than any pro tour, honestly.

[@screenname7905]

There's an anime on Netflix all about this. Also season 0 of YuGiOh

[@BeetleBuns]

the Roids League, every sport needs this

[@matttran7161]

Invitation only. Would be really funny to see their faces on the tournament attendee reveal

[@reidleblanc3140]

two ways to lose: losing the game normally, and being caught in the act

[@DjVortex-w]

If I were in charge of MTG tournament rules, I would categorically forbid drawing 3 cards in one single motion with brainstorm, and putting 2 cards back likewise in one single motion. It's IMPOSSIBLE to see if someone is cheating in that situation if they draw all 3 cards at the same time and put 2 cards back at the same time. All 3 cards should be clearly drawn one by one, clearly displaying that it's just 1 card each time, and the 2 cards should be clearly put back one by one, showing that indeed 2 cards are being put back. I'm actually baffled why that isn't a rule.

[@DudeMcAwesome]

Hell I thought he drew 4 cards.

[@NecroBurt]

Shuffle-cut fatigue has been enabling cheating for a very long time. Stay strong, don’t get bored. Yes it’s tedious to shuffle your opponents deck every time they fetch, but if you don’t this is what you can expect. There’s a reason beyond “deck thinning” people run so many shuffle effects.

[@questionblock8949]

2:57 " does anyone else see what's going on here?" Nope, i have no clue what is happening lol

[@KingCtm]

We once caught a cheater at my LGS. He would purposely keep a very messy board state and I caught him a few times trying to tap mana he didn't have. He complained to the store owner that I asked him to count his mana when he made plays after that

[@Tenshiyo]

"Essay ahead. In short, time for reading." Shuffling the opponents deck instead of simply cutting it is a bit of a superstition. Your cut isn't gonna be the exact same every time so it's basically impossible to stack the deck and still account for the opponents cut. If you get the feeling that they're stacking to the middle cut the deck awkwardly. If you feel like the cards might be marked from your perspective cut the marked one you see from your angle towards the bottom as a precaution (judges aren't gonna just walk up and stop the game if you call one over and declare they're stacking or have marked card unless it's finals or something). As a player it is within your right to shuffle the opponents deck but the grand majority of players would prefer that you don't handle their deck (for theft and damage reasons) so if you can help it you really should avoid doing it out of courtesy to them. Which is why you rarely see someone shuffle the opponents deck over cutting in other games. Shuffling is most common in MTG because stacking any one of their many lands on top of their deck can win games and you don't have to know their strategy or their cards in hand to know that any Land is probably a dead draw. Though one thing you *can* do to reduce stacking is request a judge cut. Your opponent always gets the final shuffle/cut of your deck, even if you're concerned they're cheating, so if you think the opponent is stacking your deck simply call a judge over and ask them to shuffle/cut your deck which takes away your opponents right to handle your deck. Pro tip to detect cheaters: If they're shuffling your deck for a *really* long time they're almost definitely Land stacking you. So when they give your deck back, shuffle it again very briefly and present it back to them. If they spend the same long amount of time shuffling your deck again its probably time to ask for a judge cut.

[@joshuhasteele7666]

You know, opponents would more likely catch cheaters in the act if they stopped shuffling their damn hands and focused on what the cheater is doing.

[@blaze556922]

Absolutely I noticed many people just wait for their turn to play instead of watching what your opponent is doing. I don't take anyone's word for anything unless I know them well.

[@vanesslifeygo]

this is the police's job lol they should be the one doing it, getting all the tax money hahaha or mtg police like nikachu

[@bostycraiova]

@@blaze556922 Sure, but in this case this was the finals of a competitive tournament with many rounds + top 8. I think it's understandable that the opponent didn't have the same energy and hawk eyes to notice.

[@Sapreme]

Hey, I knew i recognized your name! You played against shoktroopa in a league a long time ago (merfolk vs u-tron). He miraculously pulled out a mindslaver lock with 2 minutes left on the clock, and instead of running the clock on him, you just concede instead. That was probably nearly 8 years ago, so it left a great impression haha

[@NikachuMTG]

Wow, that was a long time ago

[@rileymcphee9429]

You can see that final deck shuffle at 9:30 he once again, didn't present the deck for cutting to his opponent.

[@vanesslifeygo]

so he's been doing it for the whole tournament

[@Elmarias777]

At my lgs commander play day this weekend, I noticed one of the guys in my pod doing the same sort of shuffle and not oresenting his deck for cutting. I told him "I would like to cut before you resolve your draw for turn" since he had pulled a fetch at eot. He got huffy and the other guys, who usually play with him, suddenly acted as though this was new behavior for the guy. He made a fuss about "this is a casual game, what does it matter!?" and one of his friends told him to calm down and just cut the deck, "it doesnt matter if you shuffled anyway." He moved the deck to one of his friends, ignoring me wanting the cut, and the friend moved it back to me to cut. The look on his face was priceless and he targeted me down the rest of the game, full shuffle cutting my deck each time he got the chance. Still pulled out my necron victory against his angels deck with a well timed boardwipe and cauldron of souls trigger. I wonder what compels people to cheat even during casual games? What is there to gain except a victory in a social format?😂

[@NikachuMTG]

You caught em! Whatever they stacked to the top got buried in the middle.

[@Elmarias777]

​@NikachuMTG yeah, and I love how it just turned to insta-rage and spite. Had to eat o-ring, swords, path, wrath of god, day of judgement, silence and even a RIP. Was able to remove and survive it all. The other two kind of stayed to themselves during to see how it went. It was delicious. I kind of hope I get to play with him again to see if he tries again so I can be sure to cut his deck again lol

[@albi8074]

One way to work out if someone cheats, or is just a sloppy/bad player, is to look at whether or not their misplays only ever advantage them. Bad players will make mistakes which sometimes hurt them. Cheaters usually don’t.

[@vincentnoonan549]

I stopped playing against 3 specific people that would pod up to 4(me) due to the fact they never allowed/discouraged deck cutting. All 3 kept close watch while others shuffled which was odd since they always kept their eyes focused on their decks while shuffling, very slow shuffles as well. I always made conversation to make them break the shuffle focus but to no avail. Even after their shuffling i would call out "let me cut" or "so no cuts?" and they would say "well im not cheating" and that they don't need to cut mine cause they're watching to make sure im not cheating". I always offer a cut and they would say no so i would cut it myself right infront, on their playmat, they would get pissed saying im cheating or i should scoop for cutting. The biggest upset is that 2 of them apparently are/were judges and all 3 run decks with the most expensive, powerful cards in magic. I never won a game against them, i know why. It would be embarrassing if my low level cheap deck obliterated a $500+ deck. They also highly discouraged proxies.

[@NikachuMTG]

What a weird group, especially if they are actually judges.

[@vincentnoonan549]

@@NikachuMTG i thought the same when i found out they're judges. One of them had 20 blank cards in his deck and would pull the cards up on the mtg companion app and show what they were. That's when i brought up proxies because the one guy said the cards are too expensive to play with, damage, but the card look up for blanks isn't cheating?!?!?! They said no cause they know what it should be. BS!!!, there is no way your opponents are going to believe that nonsense. He could make up any card to benifit him at any point, so i scoop. He said "see you next time", and i simply said "no i wont". Whats even more sad is that all 3 are married w/kids. I hope karma hits hard when their kids find mtg cards to color on 😁😎

[@DerekLippold]

@@vincentnoonan549 I had the same problem with proxies back in the day - the kids would just stick a piece of loose leaf paper in the sleeve and hand write SOMETHING on it and I'd be like "uh...." and they'd be like, "it's ok I know what it is and what it does." So, how is that supposed to work for me though? I'm not a MtG encyclopedia. How am I supposed to play against that >.>

[@itskmillz]

YESS!!! More cheating coverage, the content I joined the channel for! I love your explanations of how these scumbags cheat, please do more like this if you find the content!

[@Uryvichk]

I feel like he also knows roughly where the camera's field of vision is and is trying to pull his deck back as close to himself as possible to maybe not have his shuffling be in view (or at least as close to it as won't be noticed). But he's also holding it at an angle which gives it away even if the cards are half offscreen. (I don't know how you'd manage to cheat while holding your deck flat with the plane of the camera, but I'm sure a sufficiently skilled cheater could find a way.)

[@bashkillszombies]

These people all look exactly like what I always thought a weird Chinese cartoon card game people would be like.

[@bruceludlow1326]

created by an american and published by an american company but neat sinophobia

[@HereticCorvus-ph3qy]

back when i used to play tcg's competitively i would always force my opponent to slow down and even stop play to cut their deck when i had the chance, and to verify plays. had a few complain to judges and all the judges said was "it is his right to do that. he isn't stalling it is in the rules you have to give him the chance to cut your deck and verify what you are playing." only warnings i ever got was along the lines of just don't take like 3 minutes to cut or read the card.

[@TOOLandNINfan]

Cut my opponents' deck? Never. I shuffle it up myself after presented the deck.

[@NikachuMTG]

That's even better!

[@SleepyStreak]

Then I shuffle it again and present it for you to cut. If you shuffle it again I'm calling a judge to cut it. Don't shuffle other people's decks, you're not allowed to. And it presents the chance for you to cheat against them by stacking their deck.

[@ForeverLaxx]

It's so strange how complacent and oblivious high level Magic players are. They're so focused on their gameplan and outs that they don't even notice blatant cheating from the guy 3 feet across from them.

[@bostycraiova]

Sure, but it's also unfair to place the onus on them to spot it when the blame should 100% go to the actual cheater. Remember that this was the finals of a high level tournament with many rounds + a top 8. In this case I think it's understandable that the other player wouldn't be so aware as to notice the cheating.

[@davidtrame8280]

I'm really happy that you kept the phrase "underground dojo keyboard cagefighters" alive. Cheers!

[@oscarsantillan6487]

the extra land problem has happened to me before, I once played like 2-3 horizon canopy in a turn and sack them because in my min was "i am just cycling them", the land drops were not processed in my mind, until my opponent pointed it out.

[@NikachuMTG]

lol, wow.

[@oscarsantillan6487]

@@NikachuMTG it was an fnm or something similar in size, my opponent knew me so he didn't assumed cheating, we just rolled it back, But I felt awful at the time.

[@lecoutcritique8854]

at 9:27 when he reshuffles, he stack his deck AGAIN (although more subtly only the top card doesn't move and isn't cut either) just look how wary of being caught he is ^^ (nervous eye up and down to gauge if his opponent is cautious or not)

[@TechnicolorMammoth]

“Underground dojo keyboard cage fighters” Is the best term for Twitch chat ever. Twitch chat to the rescue!

[@LC-wv7tz]

How do you not notice the wasteland thing? I never understood how twitchty and fidgety people are with Magic. People are always like that, cosntantly shuffling their hand like they haven't looked at the same 5 cards for the past few minutes and they might change. Nevermind, it's your deck. YOU built it. You should know exactly what cards you have in hand and what your gameplan is. When I play magic, I look at my hand, see my cards, then I place my hand in a small stack face down on the table and watch my opponent play out his turn so I can see everything he is doing and try to see how his plan develops. Usually, I have my next turn or two played out already, of course draws and opponents reactions depending, but I have an idea of what I will be doing and what plays I will make in the event of at least a few outcomes.

[@KenseiRaptor]

Autism

[@BaldurtheImpious]

TWO VIDEOS IN THE SAME MONTH!?!?! We are having christmas early boys!!! ❤❤

[@irishsakura1]

And girls😉

[@Pers0n97]

God damn that wastland "play" made me laugh out loud. What an insane and ballsy move, and the best part? IT WORKED! Even on camera, with a pair of commentators, a judge and an opponent, nobody saw it!

[@tr0798]

it's a symptom an expectation that you play games fast, requiring you to just "trust" that everything your opponent is doing is totally legal and sound. Just slow the fuck down, count everything, don't assume anyone's knowledge or intent, and check every card... the rushed nature of the format and tournaments basically invites cheating.

[@tr0798]

it's a symptom of the expectation that you play games fast, requiring you to just "trust" that everything your opponent is doing is totally legal and sound. Just slow down, count everything, don't assume anyone's knowledge or intent, and check every card... the rushed nature of the format and tournaments basically invites cheating.

[@Pers0n97]

@@tr0798 Agreed. I hate that trend of fastplaying where both players basically pretend to know wtf the other is doing and just react to their calls without much questioning it. NO. I want to know WHAT you just did EXACTLY, thank you.

[@fjeppesen]

Oh please keep doing this. It amazes me how much cheating is going on in magic.

[@Funkytrip73]

I'm surprised not more people are caught at the pro level. There's a lot of Shin Lim's out there and extremely easy to manipulate decks, misdirect and do some NLP on opponents. If a good magician really wants a tarmogoyf on top, there is almost nothing you can do to stop him.

[@LightCloak]

All card games have this lol There's plenty of less subtle ways to cheat as well. This dude was blatant and terrible at it.

[@mrosskne]

@@LightCloak you mean more subtle? I don't think you could get any less subtle than this

[@anthonybalista7421]

I was expecting him to drop the wasteland under another land and then blow it up later so that people may have not caught it but he just straight up made that as obvious as possible. How did they miss that???

[@Canuck_Retro_Gaming]

they give cheaters a slap on the wrist and the judges are useless and depend on chat to catch cheaters..... wtf is the point in even playing in tournaments?!

[@Thanatos6669]

remember everyone you must cut your opponents deck in comp play

[@Mirthful_Midori]

Do it all the time, not just tournaments. Cutting your opponent's deck is just a good habit to get into.

[@Soulless_Oni]

I remember whatching this match live and the chat going crazy.

[@GusLandt1]

I cannot understand players who don’t cut their opponents decks. How is that not an ingrained habit?!? Great to see a cheater get caught though!

[@johnjohnston974]

I do it out of habit. But FNMs...a lot of people dont. Not only does it save time when you need to play 3 games of possibly grindy formats (cough LCI discover cough), but its also "casual". I would never not cut/shuffle my opponents deck. But then as seen on this channel, an opponent like this could stack the top of your deck with lands.

[@lastofusclips5291]

especially in the finals of a tournament

[@ericfaulk2204]

I shuffle my opponent's deck every time it is presented, no matter how casual the format. Build good habits.

[@N3gativeR3FLUX]

In my 30 odd years of mostly casual playing. I've played in two fnms and one tournament. All three had shuffle cheaters. The two fnms were the worst. One particular guy, not only spent more money than anyone and had the best decks, but kept trying to cheat on top so he could get the extra packs at the end. So unbelievably selfish. Especially because it was a grown man playing against mostly kids and he single handedly ruined the game for a whole generation of kids in the area. He killed that awesome LGS with his greed and was also training to be a judge... Absolutely despicable.

[@yutosaki7771]

My dumbass Yugioh brain legit went "Oh MST" at 1:05

[@Jinzo50]

I used to play competitive yu-gi-oh! And man, something all the "top" players had in common is that they would eventually get permanently banned for cheating.

[@NikachuMTG]

Sounds like Yugioh was cleaning up house!

[@tonydiazist]

Did he switch his lands? He had a dual and another blue red land then flipped the land upside down and switched it for a fetch land? 3:38-3:52

[@NikachuMTG]

He played a card called Daze which can be played for free by returning an island back into his hand. I probably should have had a graphic for the card to reduce the confusion.

[@tonydiazist]

@@NikachuMTG man that's why I hate watching cheaters cause I be suspecting every shady move they make

[@GabrielGarcia-wg9bl]

Hey @Nikachu, one question, what is the current most reliable source for card price viewing, i just bought a booster box from the LOTR set, and want to know if i got anything valuable, but i dont know where to check for prices, i haven been away from buying MTG for almost 12 years, and am lost, thank you in advance :) have a nice day!

[@NikachuMTG]

There's 2 ways I would do it. I like using MTGstocks.com for a general idea what something is worth. If you want to go deeper and see what people are selling the cards for, try looking them up on TCGplayer.com if you're from the US or cardmarket.com if you're from Europe.

[@GabrielGarcia-wg9bl]

@@NikachuMTG thank you very much, this is exactly what i was looking for, glad to see you are always helpfull and responsive on old videos :) I am from Venezuela so i think i will check on TCG which is closer than europe

[@jester4643]

The moment I see or am playing against someone constantly fidgeting their cards I just assume they’re doing something sketch. Seen a friend play against someone in yugioh years back & dude was playing a deck that involved revealing cards in his hand and he’d make a mission to show it at lightning speed so you didn’t exactly see it. He couldn’t fathom our issue with not seeing the card.

[@drmajalis1583]

The only thing cheaters ever prosper with is getting dq'd for cheating

[@abbygaleforcewind]

I wish that were true

[@dgarrard100]

That overreaction, though. You'd think he'd try to play it off, to be like "Sure, I have nothing to hide, cut my deck." Seriously, if you have randomized your deck, why get that animated about someone cutting it?

[@CalastantNight]

I'm not sure if Legacy is full of cheaters, or that's where they all go because they feel they have to cheat since their cardboard is worth so much, or that's just where it gets pointed out the most.

[@NikachuMTG]

Well, the format has a lot of cantrips and shuffling. Cheats are more blatant when caught.

[@Eddysamson1]

Back in like 2005ish I was playing a ton of legacy (called vintage back then), limited, and standard(called type 2 back then) events. The bigger limited/standard events ALWAYS had the sketchiest people. Where as the legacy events were full of chill older nerds who wouldn't cheat. Weird to see how that's changed

[@gamblorthemonster]

I mean he's literally wearing an Iron Cross ring (0:15) which has a large tie to Nazi Germany, I am not surprised he's a villain lol, the fact he is German and they have very strict laws makes me surprised he didn't get in more trouble.

[@TCBabcock]

This is so evil. This guy deserved to be banned for life. No more magic for you.

[@buddybowen1908]

What I don't understand is every game these days being filmed at this level why do people think they can still get away with cheating, just don't do it or you will never be able to play at these events ever and no one is going to want to play against you because they know that you are a known cheater

[@magerr98]

that guy should have been disqualified the second the judge knew he cheated

[@NikachuMTG]

I think the judge was just taking the word of Twitch chat at the time and then did their own investigation after the fact to confirm if it was actually malicious.

[@matthewmckay3457]

Hate that players fidget their hands like that it's the sketchiest of all tells

[@OLHAMA]

The most bizare thing is that you can see cheating DOES make part of Sebastian's game. He is not just trying once to cheat and doesn't know how to do it BUT he clearly knows how to suffle fast AND adding top cards to his deck. That's practicing. Truly sad people trys to win at any cost. and even livestream...

[@Mr.Doss91]

Nerds are terrible liars😂😂😂 The second that judge walked over. He started flapping those arms like the Wacky waving inflatable arm tube man😅

[@overflowlootbag5566]

Wacky waving inflatable arm “flailing” tube man… js

[@GD0nly]

"Can I check your graveyard/exile?" is a fair and legit question. If you suspect more than the fair amount of any card has been used in a turn, ask your opponent to recount their actions. Asking for a recap is not accusing your opponent of cheating, but if you do accuse your opponent of cheating, have a valid reason to suspect that and evidence from their game actions to back it up.

[@Cocytus127]

I caught it instantly. There is nothing in magic that just destroys a land from the hand without using mana for it. Then I see you just discarded a wasteland to try to do it. Immediate judge call and hopeful DQ or at least a game loss.

[@MrRaposaum]

And this is why judges should participate in finishing every shuffle.

[@riggsvsoliver]

It’s honestly kinda interesting, i play the pokemon card TCG, and ive seen a share of similar cheats while playing, watching videos like this honestly helps keep your eyes more sharp and aware of possible anomalies, it’s amazing what people will do UNDER A HUGE CAMERA STARING AT THEIR PLAY

[@lieroushenry3959]

Did anyone else notice Sébastien untapping that land there and trading it for another tapped land

[@tr0798]

It's a good thing you give some public accountability for these cheaters. Hopefully you aren't getting cease and desist letters, though this would definitely qualify as journalism, which should give you some protections. No one wants to play with cheaters, it's pathetic

[@RaphaelCosteau]

Ive never seen someone do it so overtly on cam

[@frankcrowley5756]

You don’t have to cut your opponents deck, but you do have the right to do so after opponent shuffles their deck

[@jackatlus666]

Calling anything this guy does in the video "Sleight of hand is too much of a compliment for him" lmfao

[@rudolphransom]

I remember that event when this cheater did his work and even got confrontational with the judge. It was so satisfying to hear about the disqualification shortly after.

[@trashmyego]

A German wearing an Iron Cross ring definitely gets an eyebrow raise from me.

[@Theproclaimed]

Why?

[@trashmyego]

@@Theproclaimed Read a history book.

[@vulf3244]

gonna cry?

[@xboxgamer474246]

Wrenn and Six? In a wasteland format? It’s more likely than you think.

[@NikachuMTG]

Shortly later Wrenn would get banned. That combo was way too strong.

[@CivisMilitarum]

Nikachu! Thanks for the New upload man! Always a good day to see that👍🏼 Btw, I will always shuffle my opponents deck as well.

[@NikachuMTG]

Yeah, at least cut, at best shuffle and cut.

[@CivisMilitarum]

@NikachuMTG When I play with ppl I don't know I'll present my deck and clearly tell them to shuffle it. That imo sets forth the expectation that I WILL shuffle their deck regardless. If I loose I can always say it's because they gave me a bad shuffle. Lol jk jk

[@jonathanmartin8113]

Just to be clear here. With Young Pyromancer on the board. As soon as you cast an instant or sorcery, YP's ability is put on the stack, thus Sven being able to create a 1/1 elemental creature even though his opponent destroyed YP as an answer to the Lightning Bolt. Thus being able to block (and save 5 points off his life total) the 5/5 creaure.

[@NikachuMTG]

He was able to create a token and block. I did edit through a turn of nothing which might have made it look like Sven took the damage anyway, but he did in fact save himself 5 with a block.

[@deleteman900]

This is the definition of 'just act like you know what you're doing and nobody will ask questions'

[@SublimeSublemon]

These videos are the best. Thank you for the time and hard work you must put into these. They are very entertaining.

[@jaydavidrn82]

I'm in this weird state where I just recently became active on arena mostly on standard, but also played a lot about 20 years ago and almost none in between so I don't know all the cards on your streams but they are very entertaining.

[@NikachuMTG]

Welcome back! You'll learn fast!

[@p0ck3tp3ar]

I was rank 1 in my province in the nineties. Everyone mana shuffled and did a few overhand shuffles and presented their deck to me. Most people would cut and hand it back but I'd riffle shuffle about 15 times. Their decks would be randomized to an extent which they had never experienced and a lot of the time they'd get mana screwed because they were playing low amounts of lands. I'd do the same to my deck and had losses this way too, but this is the proper and fair way to play. Cheaters in all forms of competition are pathetic losers not fit to be champions, needing to exploit others to somehow skulk their way onto a pedastal and parade as a true competitor. No matter how many dollars, trophies, points, etc you steal I firmly believe you lose a large part of your integrity and self worth, the consequences will plague you throughout your life in unforeseen ways.

[@MagusDouken]

Stupid question time: If you are suspicious of an opponent manipulating your deck on a "Cut" where they just shuffle and not cut, could you cut your own deck afterwards?

[@NikachuMTG]

No, but you can call a judge to reshuffle or cut the deck. You cannot be the last person to shuffle or cut your own deck in MTG.

[@MagusDouken]

Fair enough. I was just thinking such a move would signal to the judges or opponent that you feel something is up with their cut.

[@Crazimir]

The one guy who thumbed the vid down has to be Sebastian Wibner. Love your vids on cheaters!

[@DblOSmith]

I have no earthly idea what you're talking about, but I love the enthusiasm and all in your video.

[@NikachuMTG]

😊 thanks

[@Lihrok]

Idk why Sven refuses so badly to cut

[@svenyproud]

simple. the guy was "friends" and a known person with a bunch of higher level players I knew as well, I talked to him during the entire tournament whithout knowing what was up. In the finals we already played 10 hours of MtG so youre fully concentrating on gameplay and dont really think about "cutting" your deck because your opponent might cheat. big mistake!

[@ogre589]

So just a quick question: Nikachu did you mean to use the Annoying Dog theme during the DQ explanation? I can't help but notice that the person who wrote it also happened to be named Tobi. Its not the Undertale creator's actual name(his ends with a Y instead of an I) but the coincidence of it all is uncanny.

[@NikachuMTG]

It was a pure coincidence that was also noticed by a few users.

[@Corvid_Games]

At the shuffle around 800 one could argue the top few cards of his deck dont really change so if the cut happens he has zero chance to redraw the 3 cards he saw.

[@TehFoamy]

In your buildup to the clip, I thought that the cheat would be something more subtle, like "Untap, draw, shortcut by pointing a Wasteland at your dual directly from my hand and drop it into the graveyard without even putting it into play, cast Ponder, look at my top three for several moments, put them back, draw for Ponder, shuffle cards in hand a bit, play fetchland, crack fetchland to shuffle away the other cards from Ponder" But no, he just went "play a Trop, immediately Wasteland your dual" 🤣

[@PaulissVegan]

Sometimes the things that look natural at first sight aren’t natural and legit

[@LodanSD]

I still remember shuffling my deck in a certain way because I knew my friends would always cut my deck in a certain way! Then claiming everytime that I believed in the Heart of the Cards!!!

[@AesopRock77]

Damn, I can't imagine being such a lowlife that I'd intentionally cheat my friends. But hey, you do you.

[@fredt1983]

Sebastian's pupils turned into an anime character when he realized he was caught, wow... I didn't know that was a thing..

[@heypistolero]

What's up with the Like/Dislike ratio on this? Only 5k likes and almost 1k dislikes

[@nfc14g]

Needed to get to 4:10 faster or show this first. The earlier instances had me thinking surely there is better evidence of cheating, and nearly clicked of the video before seeing this good stuff

[@gregdoh]

I remember being a 5 year old and cheating at games and then realized how not fun it made the games. This guy cares about nothing but money. No respect for MTG, for himself, or for anyone else.

[@isambo400]

This is one of the reasons I don’t go to big events.

[@depapa701]

Because yo don't want to get caught? 😂

[@tysonk-t2130]

It would have been so much better seeing his reaction for getting disqualified rather than seeing his reaction for winning the finals.

[@ShieldedLoL]

I love these videos and I love Nikachu's reactions, always a treat to watch!

[@Julian-me8lp]

thanks for the coverage!

[@kyleblack1206]

I have never even purchased a MTG card or even understand the game. But this showed up on my KZbin. Why do people think they’re gonna be able to cheat shuffling when they’re on camera

[@jakubs.5966]

When we were kids, I would do sleights of hand against my cousin. His decks were so good..I did tell him after years. He did forgive me. But man. Taking it into tournaments is another level.

[@TyPhenirW0LF]

The problem is that if you object to people who are demanding rapid play in an attempt to confuse... You get accused of running down the clock. It's very hard to deal with a commited cheater, because they use the rules.

[@AlphaLackey]

This is why I have said since the first day that Magic Online dropped, that the only hope the game has to get rid of its cheaters is to be played head-to-head on a computer client. Just imagine how much cheating and legerdemain there'd be in the World Series of Poker if the players were allowed to shuffle and deal the cards themselves, right?

[@jfast8256]

When players do shuffle the cards, there are specific card handling holds that you need to watch out for because it usually signifies a manipulation. In those instances you have to ask them to shuffle a different way.

[@MrThomasCWest]

This is why I don't play in major events like this. I don't like cheaters and I will call them out.

[@kirkprospector4958]

Why does that mean you can’t play in major events?

[@Cocytus127]

9:55 I don't get it. >Angler attacks > Bolt on Wrenn and Six > Pyromancer trigger on stack to make a 1/1 > Hydroblast to destroy Pyromancer > Pyromancer destroyed by blast > Bolt kills Wrenn and Six > Pyromancer trigger still resolves to give a 1/1. Last I checked, a creature's triggered ability still resolves even if the creature is gone when the trigger is next on the stack. Why does the 1/1 go away and Stolz still take 5? Even if Pyromancer is killed, its trigger still resolves and gives him a 1/1 to block angler with. If he does block, why is Stolz down to 9 from 14? Did Angler hit him anyway? Is this really how high-end tournaments are played?

[@NikachuMTG]

The elemental did block, I just cut through a turn for time. Good eye though!

[@Crushanator1]

The shuffle at ~4:00 is the most sketch thing ive ever seen. Grabs a card a few from the bottom, stops searching and puts that block on top, then does a few shuffles leaving like 1/4 inch from the top each time.

[@KenS1267]

I remember the days when WotC claimed their organized play system was going to prevent cheating because the mere threat of a ban from their tournaments would be enough to deter cheating.

[@Hanz_Haze]

Shoutouts to our boi Jamin from cardmarket, commenting! Grat work dude! 👍