A player has been disqualified from the DreamHack MTG tournament due to curled cards – such as Secret Lair copies of Collected Company – that could’ve given them an unfair edge.
Micheal McClure, 25, explained their disqualification from the weekend’s tournament on Twitter, saying “I did not use this to my advantage, but I do fully agree with the judge’s decisions, and I could have come to them when I believed there could have been a problem with my deck.”
The slight wrinkle in the story, of course, is that curling foil cards are a common problem that all Magic players know and loathe – and MTG Secret Lairs are particularly notorious for it. The dreaded ‘pringle’ problem. McClure is emphatic that the blame lies with them, saying “this is on me for not being more vigilant”, but naturally many players are expressing their annoyance that card quality could cause this kind of problem for pro players.
One Reddit user, Saapphia puts it succinctly, saying the issue is one Wizards of the Coast has caused, and “I think it’s pretty shameful that their cardstock quality is a genuine worry for players before competitive events.” Twitter user TDArt also echoes the comments posted by many, saying: “Getting dq’d for using official wizard product is a big problem”.
That said, not everyone had such a charitable take on events – with some on social media scrutinising McClure’s on-camera actions, and claiming foul play. McClure denies intentional cheating, but respects that “it looks bad”, and admits they would probably make the same accusations of cheating if they were scrutinising the game from the outside.
McClure responded to those supporting him, stating that the DQ was their own fault. “For the people using this to dunk on Secret Lairs, yes they are a problem,” they say. “The issue is that I knew that it was possible they could be a problem and did not do enough to fix it. This is primarily my issue for not doing more, not wizards’ for printing a product.”
DreamHack is an esports tournament held annually in Atlanta, USA. But it’s also home to Magic’s USA Regional Championships, which can see players earn up to $30,000, along with invites to the World Tour and Pro Championships.
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