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Andrea Mengucci Receives Game Loss For Registering Wrong Card at Magic: The Gathering World Championship XXVI


Magic: The Gathering professional player Andrea Mengucci received a game loss today at the Magic World Championship XXVI for an error during the registration portion of the Theros Beyond Death Booster Draft.

The event was hosted on Magic Arena and Arena doesn't offer pod-drafting (only with bots) so they drafted with paper cards and today, they will import those decks into Arena to play today. Mengucci registered his cards from the Draft to be uploaded into Magic Arena for competitive match play, but judges discovered that he wrote a wrong card by accident.

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Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Mengucci admitted the mistake on Twitter, but that doesn't erase the fact that the Italian Mythic Invitational winner will start the tournament with a game loss.

"I just received a Game Loss because I registered a wrong card from my Draft," Mengucci tweeted. "It kinda stings because I acknowledged it in the checking process after decklists were handed. But as the Latin says: ‘Dura Lex, Sed Lex'. #MTGWorlds 0-0-1."

According the MTG tournament rules, a player may receive a game loss if the decklist is altered after tournament play has started, but the penalty Mengucci received seems harsh.

"Decklists are used to ensure that decks are not altered in the course of a tournament," the MTG rules noted. "Judges and other tournament officials should be vigilant about reminding players before the tournament begins of the importance of submitting a legal decklist, and playing with a legal deck. A player normally receives a Game Loss if their decklist is altered after tournament play has begun."

This wouldn't have happened if Magic Arena can support eight-person draft. Tournament organizers should have done the deck registrations since there are only sixteen competitors anyway, and the fact that they had to draft in paper then import those decks in Arena made it just more complicated.

The Magic World Championship XXVI is taking place in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 14-16, and will stream live on Twitch.tv/magic. The total prize pool is $1 million with the winner getting $300,000 and a trophy.

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