The Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 took place this weekend and the event generated a lot of discussion. Bant Nadu’s complete dominance is extremely memorable and may very well signal the need for an impending 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 attention-grabbing incident of the weekend, however, was the disqualification of professional player Bart Van Etten. A big mistake was made in a game between Bart and Javier Dominguez that went unnoticed in real time. While some argued that it seemed like an easy mistake to make, Barth was ultimately handed a disqualification after an investigation.
It should be noted that Bart has come under fire for cheating scandals in the past, so this issue happening on camera certainly doesn’t look good. Let’s look at the events that led to the investigation in the first place and the eventual disqualification.
The Goyf error reappears
The events that led to the disqualification occurred in the third game of Round 13. On turn three, Javier cast a Spear 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 2/3 as two types of cards were in Bart’s graveyard.
With Phlage’s ability triggered on the stack, Bart cast Not Dead After All, targeting the Nethergoyf. He then let Phlage’s ability resolve, returned the Nethergoyf to the battlefield bugged, and placed a Wicked Role token on the Nethergoyf. Apparently this was used to show that Nethergoyf had died and was brought back to play via Not Dead After All.
The problem here was that after Not Dead After All was resolved and went to Bart’s Graveyard, Bart already had three types of cards in the Graveyard. As such, Nethergoyf will be a 3/4 and 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 deal in the game, especially considering how much of Javier’s removal is damage-based.
After all, it’s not uncommon for mistakes like this to happen, nor for them to be spotted mid-match by any player. Tarmogoyf’s math has led to many ref calls over the years, usually when Tarmogoyf is targeted by a damaging moment like Lightning Bolt. That being said, it makes sense why a disqualification didn’t happen to begin with.
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The solution
Despite the fact that the incident occurred in round 13, the actual disqualification decision did not come until midway through round 14. The issue was not actually brought up to the refereeing staff until round 14, long after the match had already ended. However, this prompted an investigation by the judges.
Investigations are usually used to determine player intent. The reality is that game rule violations (GRVs) happen all the time at major tournaments. Something as simple as randomly drawing a second card for the turn, as two cards stuck together would make up a GRV. Most times simple warnings are issued. From there, umpires monitor a player’s GRV, as repeated offenses can result in a larger penalty. When things get dangerous, however, judges determine that you committed GRV on purpose to try to gain an advantage.
This is exactly what happened in Bart’s case. While we obviously don’t know what happened during the investigation behind the scenes, it’s very likely that the judges asked Bart and Javier for their sides of the story. By connecting this information with footage from the match itself, a conclusion can often be reached.
Some players have speculated that Bart’s immediate willingness to attack for 4 damage with Nethergoyf on the next turn played a role in the final decision. The logic is that by declaring an attack for four, Bart would have clearly recognized the three types of cards in his graveyard along with the Wicked Role token that shouldn’t have been attached in the first place. There is definitely more to the story, but specific details have not been made public. What we do know is that Bart was disqualified for intending to commit GRV and that the result of the Round 13 match was subsequently overturned.
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Player reaction
When footage of the inherent bug first surfaced, many players were quick to react to what they saw. From the initial clip alone, it makes sense why many players would believe this was nothing more than an honest mistake. Part of the reason this clip blew up on Twitter the way it did, however, was because of Bart’s previous run-ins with cheating on camera.
Years ago, Bart was caught cheating on Twitch cam. After busting Mishra’s Bauble and seeing that he had a mediocre card at the top of his deck, he busted his Bloodstained Mire on the opponent’s support in response to Bauble’s trigger. He then half-shuffles his deck in a very awkward manner, appearing to mess up the order of the cards himself. He then didn’t offer the opponent a chance to cut his deck, then drew a copy of Terminate which helped him win the game.
This event, along with others, caused many players to be 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 thorough investigation that took place, as well as the record that was released to the public. A disqualification report like this hasn’t been made since Yuuya Watanabe’s disqualification a while back.
Unfortunately, cheating is something that players and referees must constantly be on the lookout for. It is good to see a written report released to inform people of the current situation. This disqualification also demonstrates that action can indeed be taken long after the problem initially occurred. Players aren’t sure if Bart actually cheated, but whatever investigation took place ultimately led to his disqualification. Make sure you are aware of any bad intentions from your opponents and don’t hesitate to get the judges involved if anything looks suspicious.
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