Effective immediately, Claudio Kirchmair, Vice-President, Players for United Gosus has terminated Simon He. Simon may still appeal this decision to our Board of Directors to have himself reinstated.
A very clear pattern of behavior was revealed after reviewing the events that lead to He's disqualification at this weekend's WCQ: European Championship, in consultation with then-seemingly disconnected bits of information gathered over the past year and a half. The specifics of this pattern align with conduct unbecoming of a UG member and thus Kirchmair's decision.
Claudio would also like to take this time to remind all players to thoroughly review their sleeves for subtle marking between games. We have no further comments at this time.
As some of you may not have known, Simon He was kicked off of United Gosus. Read on; he's not the only player to be disqualified and banned from events:
Head Judge Jerome Mchale supposedly saw Adam Corn stacking a malicious and a mirror force together between games during his top 4 match. He was DQ'd on those grounds, and his opponent auto-moved to finals. And while he hasn't been put on the suspended players list yet, DQ'd players usually get banned within the month.
Adam Corn was a prominent duelist in real life events; most importantly he topped many events during the Perfect Circle format with something called "Cornarchs". Of course, it was always rumored that he could have been cheating, and eventually this was found out to be true.
Jason Holloway was a prominent duelist up until around Light of Destruction and a little past that; rumor has it he had Des Koala in his side. Why would you have a card like that in the side? For time battles, and an alarming amount of his matches went into time, which he would proceed to win by his opponent attacking a Des Koala and taking life point damage. Whether he cheated? We'll never really know.
Currently, on Konami's website, there are 112 players listed as having cheated on the suspended players' list. There are varying reasons that you can get banned from tournaments, but keep in mind that this figure is only a fraction: Remember, lots of cheaters never get caught.
As a Head Judge for tournaments, I know that a huge majority of individuals in my area don't cheat. The reason I know this is because of the way people act. There are a few signs that people give off, a nervous tic, and no one around here really has the chance to practice cheating on a regular basis.
PRACTICE is what makes these cheaters good. In order to be good at something, you have to practice doing it. What Simon He and Adam Corn are capable of doing is extraordinary, but they only got there because they did it for so long. Sometimes you get too much confidence, and you fall. It happens. You think you won't get caught, but eventually you do. I am going to tell you right now that everyone makes a mistake. The difference is when your mistake happens. If you are noticed, it's over for you.
The point of this article isn't on how to cheat, or encouraging people to cheat. It is an opinion on luck versus cheating. This game, right now, is considered to be very lucky. However, it's not uncommon for a few individuals to know the format and do well in it. Even though Adam Corn cheated at an event, there are countless times where he did well at other events, and a majority of them could easily have been legitimate. Billy Brake was so good in plant format you saw him top twice in a row. Some people in this game have to be lucky to win. Some people are simply very talented players who understand the meta and can win no matter the luck of the draw.
I am of the opinion that this format still requires a certain amount of skill. Recently at a box event an individual went 1-4 with Spellbooks. That really is unprecedented given the deck's ability.
Cheating, rather obviously, takes away from the game's integrity and your reputation as a duelist. If you are cheating to win matches, you probably shouldn't be playing this game. The prize structure is nothing that it used to be and the rewards for cheating aren't worth the benefit of doing so. Only at a Regionals event or higher would you ever want to cheat, and even then cheating to go to Nationals is not worth it. Nationals is a thousand-dollar trip, easily, depending on where you live.
Konami Rules wrote:Maliciously harassing or disparaging of your opponent.
Spending an excessive amount of time on a turn. Players accused of or caught doing this may be penalized.
Spending an excessive amount of time shuffling and/or swapping in/out cards between decks.
Changing the contents of your deck(s) such that they differ from the submitted Deck List.
Willful misinterpretation of card effects.
Unless part of a card effect, playing any cards that have been removed from play earlier in the duel.
Talking and/or exchanging advice/information other duelists, spectators, or other third parties during a duel.
Having any "Forbidden" cards, and/or more than the maximum number of limited/semi-limited cards in your deck.
This is only half of the rules that Konami lists as inappropriate behavior. The ones I have taken out are more for real life dueling.
There are many ways to stop cheating, but the primary one is to pay attention. Watch what your opponent does. If they are glancing over your deck and trying to peek at the cards on the bottom, odds are they're trying to stack you. Watch what your opponent does with their deck. Pay attention to the match, keep your eyes on your opponent's actions. If you suspect them of stacking, you may ask a judge if they would shuffle your deck. The point is, there are lots of ways you can prevent cheating.
Make sure your opponent makes moves in a timely manner, and if you suspect them of changing their deck in the middle of a tournament you should report them to a staffer. In the case of DA Regionals I will have decklists; you can't change your decklist in the middle of a Regionals.
You can't ask for help on how to play your cards unless you are just learning the game, and never in a tournament match. Make sure your opponent side decks within a couple of minutes, and shuffles for just one more so you're not having to wait for a long period of time, which is considered stalling.
Lots of these things don't really happen in DN matches, because the match can take as long as necessary. In real life you're only given 40 minutes so you have to make it count!
Keep in mind: LOTS OF PEOPLE YOU ARE PLAYING AGAINST ARE JUST LIKE YOU - HONEST. Don't immediately brand someone a cheater in your mind, let their actions do the talking.
Have fun, and DON'T CHEAT.
Jin Kazama
and needless to say i learned a lot from this in a very strange way :/