This weekend, Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 took place and the event generated a lot of discussion. Bant Nadu’s total domination was extremely memorable and may well signal the need for an upcoming ban. Meanwhile, the Player of the Year award has been renamed the Kai Budde Player of the Year trophy, in honor of one of the greatest MTG players of all time.
Perhaps the most talked about incident this weekend was the disqualification of professional player Bart Van Etten. A major mistake was made during a match between Bart and Javier Dominguez that went unnoticed in real time. While some argued that it seemed like an easy mistake to make, Bart was ultimately given a disqualification after an investigation.
Bart has been criticized for cheating scandals in the past, so this on-camera scenario was definitely not a good idea. Let’s review the events that led to an investigation in the first place and the eventual disqualification.
The Goyf error strikes again
The events that led to the disqualification occurred in the third match of round 13. In the third round, Javier cast a copy of Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury from his hand. When he entered the battlefield, he targeted Bart’s Nethergoyf to deal three damage and gain three life. At this point, Nethergoyf was a 2/3, because two types of cards were in Bart’s graveyard.
With Phlage’s triggered ability on the stack, Bart cast Not Dead After All while targeting Nethergoyf. He then let Phlage’s ability resolve, returned Nethergoyf to the battlefield tapped, and placed an Evil Role token on the Nethergoyf. Obviously this was used to indicate that the Nethergoyf had died and returned to play via Not Dead After All.
The problem here was that once Not Dead After All resolved and was sent to Bart’s graveyard, Bart now had three types of cards in the graveyard. As such, Nethergoyf would be a 3/4, and would naturally survive the Phlage trigger. This means that Nethergoyf shouldn’t have had a Wicked Role token attached to it in the first place. This can be a big problem in the game, especially considering how much of Javier’s removal is damage-based.
Ultimately, it’s not really that unusual for such mistakes to happen, nor for them to be noticed mid-match by either player. Tarmogoyf’s math has led to plenty of judges’ calls over the years, usually when Tarmogoyf is targeted by a damaging instantaneous move like Lightning Bolt. With that in mind, it makes sense that no disqualifications occurred early on.
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decision
Although the incident occurred in round 13, the disqualification decision was not made until midway through round 14. The issue in question was not brought to the attention of the judging staff until round 14, well after the match had ended. However, this did prompt an investigation by the judges.
Typically, investigations are used to determine a player’s intentions. The reality is that Rules of Play violations (GRVs) happen all the time at major tournaments. Something as simple as accidentally drawing a second card for the turn when two cards stuck together would constitute a GRV. Most of the time, simple warnings are issued. From there, judges track a player’s GRVs, as repeated infractions can result in a harsher penalty. However, where things get dicey is if the judges determine that you committed a GRV intentionally in an attempt to gain an advantage.
This is exactly what happened in Bart’s case. While we obviously don’t know what happened during the backstage investigation, it’s very likely that the judges asked Bart and Javier for their version of events. By coupling this information with footage of the match itself, one can often come to a conclusion.
Some players speculate that Bart’s immediate willingness to attack for 4 damage with the Nethergoyf the next turn played a role in the final decision. The logic is that, by announcing an attack for 4, Bart would have clearly recognized the three types of cards in his graveyard next to the Wicked Role token, which should not have been attached in the first place. There is certainly more to this story, but the specific details have not been made public. What we do know is that Bart was disqualified due to his intention to commit a GRV, and that the result of the 13th round match was subsequently reversed.
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Player reaction
When the first footage of the inherent error surfaced, many players were quick to react to what they saw. From the initial video alone, it makes sense that many players believed this was just an honest mistake. However, part of the reason this video blew up on Twitter was due to Bart’s issues with cheating on camera.
A few years ago, Bart was apparently caught cheating on camera on Twitch. After cracking Mishra’s Bauble and seeing that he had a mediocre card on the top of his deck, he cracked his Bloodstained Mire on the opponent’s upkeep in response to the Bauble trigger. He then semi-shuffled his deck in a very clumsy manner, appearing to mess with the order of the cards himself. Then he didn’t offer the opponent the chance to cut his deck and then drew a copy of Terminate which helped him win the game.
This incident, along with others, has left many players skeptical of Bart’s intentions, believing that he should not be given the benefit of the doubt. Bart’s past issues likely played a role in the extensive investigation that took place, as well as the report that was made public. A disqualification report like this hasn’t been made since Yuuya Watanabe’s disqualification some time ago.
Cheating is unfortunately something that players and judges have to constantly monitor. It’s nice to see a written report being issued to keep people informed of the situation. This disqualification also shows that action can actually be taken long after the issue has occurred. Players don’t know if Bart really cheated or not, but whatever investigation took place ultimately led to his disqualification. Make sure you’re aware of your opponents’ bad intentions and don’t hesitate to involve the judges if anything seems suspicious.
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