Subject: All this talk about cheating... Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 17:03:30 -0700 From: Frank Gilson To: "'fkusumot@ix.netcom.com'" CC: "'dcijudge-l@oracle.wizards.com'" I did not attend Origins. I did not witness the events concerning Mike Long. These disclaimers said, however, I wanted to address some points I have been thinking about. Many have said that 'dropping' a card in your lap in order to cheat isn't that effective because it is, after all, only one card. You must draw all the others that you need. However, that isn't always true. Let us assume you wanted to cheat in an effective manner. What kind of deck should you use, such that minimal effort to cheat on your part would result in maximum benefit? Use a combo deck such as Prosperous Bloom or some other such deck. Why? Because if you are able to obtain a key card through cheating (say, Cadaverous Bloom in your shirt sleeve or taped to your thigh) you gain enormous benefit. You don't have to draw/tutor/impulse for that part of the combo anymore, just the others (from a 59 card deck also). The DCI needs to establish and implement additional safeguards and monitoring procedures to catch this and other types of cheating. Proper methods of investigation and subject (i.e. player) questioning need to be used (perhaps imported from methods used by police detectives). I am actually confident that if WotC judging staff at a tournament had concrete and sufficient evidence of cheating, they would indeed disqualify and eject the person involved, no matter who they were. However, methods of catching and reporting cheating rarely provide conclusive proof. This is what we must focus on and improve.