The Most Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi Website

Hearthstone Streamer Disqualified From Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix Las Vegas Makes A Statement


At the Limited-format Grand Prix tournament in MagicFest Las Vegas this past weekend, professional Hearthstone streamer and Magic: The Gathering player Jason "Amaz" Chan almost made it into Top 8 of the event but he was disqualified for a non-game offense, and now, Amaz has shared a statement on Twitter.

click to enlarge
Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Over on Twitter, Amaz shared his statement about his disqualification. After nearly making it into the Top 8 of the Modern Horizons Limited Grand Prix, the judge disqualified Amaz over an incident, and Amaz explained why he was disqualified (from his perspective) and why he tought it was unjustified.

In his statement, Amaz said that he decided to cut through the play area on his way to the pairings board for his 15th round but a Magic judge who told him to "walk the long way around" stopped him and questioned him after an alleged bump.

"Realizing my mistake, I said I'm sorry, I'll go the other way," Amaz wrote. "When I was turning away he stopped me and further questioned me saying, 'who in what world would push someone like that?'. I said 'Once again I said I'm sorry, but it already happened and I can't take it back. What would you like me to say?'."

Amaz said that he was issued a a warning for unsportmanshiplike conduct after Kubo allegedly called another judge for further investigation, and according to Amaz, he was issued a warning for unsportmanshiplike conduct.

Amaz went ahead and played his Round 15 match as the investigation with the head judge continued. His statement claims that he was further questioned by the head judge and Mashi Scanlan from Channel Fireball (the official event organizer for MagicFests). After Amaz shared his side of the story, the head judge decided to disqualify him from the Grand Prix for aggressive behavior, according to Amaz, "explaining that physical contact by definition is considered to be aggressive."

Amaz admits that it was his mistake for trying to pass through the play area but he doesn't feel like this interaction resulting in a disqualification is right.

"I really think that the situation could have stopped after the apology," Amaz wrote. "I also think that linking physical contact to aggressive behavior is a reach. I'm so scared of accidentally touching a judge now after this incident."

Many on Twitter and Reddit have expressed their sympathy to Amaz but according to one Redditor, Amaz's story doesn't line up to what he witnessed.

"I literally watched him do it," the Reddit user wrote. "I was shocked and couldn't believe he did it. I don't know if he was tilting or what, but he full on floor checked this judge (who was a bigger guy)." The Reddit user went on to describe what he witnessed: "Like shoulder tucked + elbow like right into the side of his chest. It wasn't a casual "excuse me" accident. It was a full on floor check. And the worst part was the judge didn't even do anything to initiate it. And this asshole is getting all kinds of sympathy because he's famous I guess."

Wizards of the Coast or Channel Fireball haven't issued an official statement or responded to Amaz's statement on Twitter yet but it looks like they will have to look at three sides of the story if they want to investigate further: Amaz, the judge Amaz bumped to, and the head judge.

MagicFest Las Vegas turned out to be a memorable event thanks to the success of the Command Zone but it also shared its fair share of lows with the alleged cheating of an Old School Championship player.

Related: 2 MTG Cards Banned in Modern & 1 Gets Unbanned in New Ban & Restricted Announcement

For more articles like this, take a look at our Magic: the Gathering page.