A Tale of Possible Cheating and Definite Poor Sportsmanship at Vintage Champs

[Will]

So I played this weekend at Vintage Championships and had overall a great time with the exception of two blips. One was a minor issue with the strict penalties for tardiness which led me to get a game loss because I accidentally sat down next to rather than across from my opponent when time in the round started despite the fact that I was present on time. Despite that, I rallied and won that match.

The other issue was something that left me in a bad mood and really left a bitter taste in my mouth. In round 3 I sat down to play my opponent at 1-1. I summarily crushed him, the games were not remotely close and our match took about 15 minutes. After we finished playing I said to him "I'm sorry our games weren't fun" and he snapped back at me, "Don't apologize for winning! I hate when people do that!" While he was saying that I was cleaning up my playmat and putting my deck away and without asking me he filled out the match slip. Without really thinking twice about it I signed it and quickly got up to turn in the slip and get away from this poor sport.

Fast forward to round 6 and I'm 3-2 and sit down next to one of my best friends who says "You're not doing too well today huh?" I tell him that I'm 3-2 and my opponent and the people sitting around me all tell me they're 2-3. Up to this point I had been using the Twitter pairings which only show what table you are at, not how many points you have so I had no real idea that my points total was wrong. After checking the pairings I get the judge and they tell me that it has been far too long since the event occurred and there was nothing they could do.

Granted, I had already got my second loss and didn't feel like I should have been winning Vintage Champs, it was a real kick in the teeth when I ended up finishing 7-2 but my record reflected me as finishing at 6-3, placing me at 47th while my round 3 opponent finished in the Top32.

After talking with the judges at length about the issue they concluded that it was an honest mistake on his part, but given how upset he was and the fact that winning vs. losing round 3 in the 1-1 bracket means you are in or out of contention makes me question this. I did not approach my round 3 opponent at the tournament because I knew there was nothing to be gained from it and I would probably say or do something I would regret by letting my emotions get the best of me.

Overall, it was a valuable lesson for me to be more careful and to make sure that you actually get the wins that you earned and a note for other players to try and do the same.

[Smmenen]

Weird.  When I was 4-1, I faced an opponent who said he was 3-2, but everyone around us was 4-1.  I wonder of I faced him. 

I lost my match when, in game 3, I went to activate Oath to win the game (I had Time Walk in hand and he had no counters in hand), and I had no creatures in my deck!  Idiotically, i sideboarded out Griselbrands but had failed to put Chain and Maniac into my deck.  I tilted after that.

[Will]

Weird.  When I was 4-1, I faced an opponent who said he was 3-2, but everyone around us was 4-1.  I wonder of I faced him. 

I lost my match when, in game 3, I went to activate Oath to win the game (I had Time Walk in hand and he had no counters in hand), and I had no creatures in my deck!  Idiotically, i sideboarded out Griselbrands but had failed to put Chain and Maniac into my deck.  I tilted after that.

It's certainly possible. I know that Joel Lim beat him at 5-1. He was playing a strange URB Fish deck. All I saw out of his deck was Snapcaster Mage, Force of Will, Wastelands and a Gorilla Shaman.

[Smmenen]

Yup! That was him!  If not for a nail...

[Will]

Yup! That was him!  If not for a nail...

That makes me feel a little bit better. My only real reason for thinking that he may have filled out the slip wrong on purpose was that he was very upset when I beat him and then made the comments that he did about me apologizing for beating him in such lopsided games. Leaves me wondering what could have been if I had played someone else who was 2-1 rather than Jesse Martin who won the die roll and turn 1 killed me and then dismantled me in game 2 ending my run.

[Valorale]

I can understand from an individual's experience that the game loss for tardiness seems excessive especially when it is an honest mistake.

The only take away here is to understand that there is a sense of urgency on the part of the people running to the tournament. The final match didnt end to close to midnight. We as the participants need to do what we can to help the people running the show make it go smoothly.

Be ready to go when pairings go up. When you go to check your seat number make a note of your opponents name and confirm that with them when they/you sit down. Usually wrong seat problems are alleviated quickly when 3 people are awkwardly looking at each other and only 2 seats are available.

[Will]

Be ready to go when pairings go up. When you go to check your seat number make a note of your opponents name and confirm that with them when they/you sit down. Usually wrong seat problems are alleviated quickly when 3 people are awkwardly looking at each other and only 2 seats are available.

I don't think it would have been an issue if the person sitting next to me's opponent had showed up since I would have realized I was in the wrong seat, but he no-showed so I didn't realize until the slips were handed out that I was in the wrong spot and by then it was too late.

[psyburat]

Honestly Will, no one likes losing to you and your boyish looks.

[BC]

I had a somewhat similar experience at Vintage Champs last year.  Match slip got filled out wrong, just by accident and with no ulterior or shady motives by the benefiting player.  I noticed this as soon as the pairings for the next round were posted, and even then it was a HUGE pain in the ass to get the situation corrected.  I imagine that if I would have waited another round or more to notice that it would have been unresolvable.  But the lesson was well-learned.  I now double and triple-check every match slip that I turn in (which is for every match I win).

[Meddling Mike]

It's certainly sketchy, but mistakes like that do happen without malicious intent. I believe Carl Winter's Vintage World Championship win was aided by an improperly reported match result as well. At the very least you've learned a hard lesson about thoroughly checking match slips before turning them in.

[MaximumCDawg]

I don't know why you would go to an event like Vintage Champs if you were a sore loser.  Dude, you're playing against the Best of the Best.  You're gonna lose.  You're there to have a good time and get some cards autographed.

[Varal]

Was there any form of warnings given for badly filling a match slip? I could see someone doing it by mistake but I could also see someone doing it repeatedly to get more wins. Frequent offenders should definitely be noticed and be penalized for this behavior.

[personalbackfire]

@ Will
I don't have much to add other than I am sorry that it happened. I personally wouldn't jump to assumptions since I have accidently filled out match slips wrong before. Luckily, me or my opponenet have caught it everytime before handing it in, but it is entirely possible it was a honest mistake.

[Will]

@ Will
I don't have much to add other than I am sorry that it happened. I personally wouldn't jump to assumptions since I have accidently filled out match slips wrong before. Luckily, me or my opponenet have caught it everytime before handing it in, but it is entirely possible it was a honest mistake.

Initially I did, but after reading that Steve played against the guy who thought he was X-2 playing against an X-1 makes me unsure. I want this more to be about having people be aware that things like this can happen and for people to be more diligent, myself included rather than him being sour grapes about me winning and potentially fishing for a free win. Regardless, I learned my lesson and had a great time playing in my first Sanctioned Vintage Event!

[Godder]

Under the circumstances, changing the thread title is probably in order.

[warr]

I sat next to Stephen's match and overheard it was 4-1 vs. 3-2 as well and thought it was weird.  I thought there had to be at least SOME unintentional draws by that point in the tourney.