Following repeated statements from Yuuya Watanabe and his esports organization declaring innocence, a judgement has been made. The Magic Pro League completed an investigation into the cheating allegation of Yuuya Watanabe during the Magic: The Gathering Mythic Championship II. They announced that he has been found guilty of cheating and has been banned.
Statement regarding Yuuya Watanabe’s disqualification, the Magic Pro League, and the Hall of Fame: https://t.co/pFsawZhWEN
— Magic Esports (@MagicEsports) May 10, 2019
Yuuya Watanabe at Mythic Championship II
The original incident happened on day two of Magic: The Gathering‘s Mythic Championship II in London. While playing an opponent, a judge noticed some of Watanabe’s cards were marked in his Modern Constructed deck. He was suspended from the Championship tournament, but Watanabe denied cheating, listed makeshift reasons explaining the obvious proof, and claimed he might have been framed.
A few days after, he came out with a personal statement and the organization behind him came out with one too. Both statements read like reputation risk management outlines. He described his reputation and then listed his professional achievements. Then Watanabe said, “It doesn’t make any sense for me to throw it all away at this point in my career. There is too much at stake for me to be thinking about cheating.”
following an investigation into cheating from Wizards of the Coast, Magic hall of famer Yuuya Watanabe has been banned from competing for 30 months, been removed from the magic pro league, and has been removed from the Magic hall of fame pic.twitter.com/ryNlgGETnK
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) May 10, 2019
Magic Pro League’s final decision
“The sleeves in question were examined multiple times by multiple judges and tournament officials,” the Magic Pro League said in their statement. “We reviewed recordings of matches from Mythic Championship II as well as past tournaments… The result of that investigation is that, effective immediately, Watanabe is banned.”
The Magic Pro League (MPL) performed their own investigation and only came out with an announcement afterwards. They announced that Watanabe had been officially banned from all DCI-sanctioned events. Yuuya Watanabe had also been banned from the MPL and the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame. The ban from DCI-sanctioned events is listed as a period of 30 months.
What do you think about Watanabe’s ban from the MPL? Do you think he will still come back to the scene at the end of the 30-month ban? Keep up with all of the latest Magic: The Gathering news and content at Daily Esports!
