Sleeve Markings That Got A Magic: The Gathering Star Disqualified From Mythic Championship II Revealed

Wizards of the Coast

Over the weekend, Japanese Magic: The Gathering pro player Yuuya Watanabe was disqualified from Mythic Championship II in London after judges found markings on the sleeves of certain cards of his Modern Tron deck, and now, the photos of those markings have been revealed online for everyone to see.

Watanabe's sponsor Cygames has shared the photos of the sleeves that got him disqualified from the high-level Magic event and they clearly reveal the markings on the back corners of the sleeves used for Tron lands like Urza's Tower, Urza's Mine, and Urza's Power Plant.

Check out the images below:

The photos make it clear that the marks are intentional but some fans online are bringing up the possibility of someone trying to frame Yuuya. This would really be disappointing if Yuuya actually intended to cheat since he's one of the Magic players I looked up to. The MTG Hall of Famer is a two-time Player of the Year, a World Champion, and a World Cup Champion.

After the disqualification, Wizards of the Coast released a statement explaining the infraction:

"During a deck check in Round 15 at Mythic Championship II, the judge staff noticed an issue with Yuuya Watanabe's deck where the sleeves of his Urza's Power Plants were marked in a specific way. Three Urza's Mines and one Urza's Tower had a different marking, and three Urza's Towers and one Urza's Mine also had a different marking. No other cards in the deck nor sideboard had any of these marks. The judge staff determined that the odds of this happening by accident were close to nonexistent, and disqualified Watanabe from the event."

Yuuya has already released a detailed statement about his disqualification on Twitter, claiming that he did not notice the markings on the back of the cards.

Wizards of the Coast said that the MPL would further investigate this infraction but they haven't released an update yet.

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