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MTG Pro Rei Sato Will Not Be Suspended But His Invitation to $1 Million Mythic Invitational at PAX East Has Been Revoked


Wizards of the Coast

Magic: The Gathering professional player Rei Sato is one of the 32 players selected for the Magic Pro League but his recent disqualification from Grand Prix Prague just cost him his invite to the upcoming Mythic Invitational.

Today, Wizards of the Coast have announced that Rei Sato will not be suspended from the DCI but the Magic Pro League has revoked his invitation to the $1 Million Mythic Invitational at PAX East.

Photo: Wizards of the Coast

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"After a thorough review of the events leading up to his disqualification, the Player Investigations Committee determined that Sato's disqualification was valid, that the actions were opportunistic, but not premeditated nor intended to deceive his opponent," Wizards of the Coast explained. That said, players in the MPL are held to a higher standard in both play and conduct."

Head Judge Emilien Wild explained the decision to disqualify Sato from Grand Prix Prague: "Sato was planning what was going to be his last attack of the current game. He went to declare attackers and then noticed that he forgot to play his land for the turn, a land that he needed for his attack to work out. He didn't acknowledge this fact and didn't ask for permission to back up to his main phase, but instead, he just placed the land onto the battlefield and finished declaring his attackers.

During our investigation, we determined that Sato was aware that what he did was against the rules. Thus, he was disqualified from the event."

That's a harsh punishment, and with this and the recent lifetime ban on Alex Bertoncini, it looks like Wizards of the Coast are finally are going in a more "iron-hand" direction with their sanction system.

The Magic Pro League includes 32 of the best Magic players around the world, who are paid $75,000 US for participating in pro tours and for streaming Magic Arena.

Related: Magic: The Gathering Pro Ben Stark Quits Poker To Focus More on Magic

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