Yeah, i don't see that as a shadow in the slightest. It's a swift and quick move, so I can see the argument... but I think that extra corners are not shadows.
EDIT - watched the video Chaos posted... I can see even more why the 3-card position exists... esp since the 4th card seems to "pop" into view.
The reason the 4th card "pops" into view is that the video is so heavily compressed, and at such a low resolution, that the edges of objects can appear and disappear from frame to frame. However, in my experience it is much easier for this compression to cause objects that actually exist to be blurred into nonappearance than for objects that do not exist to pop out of nowhere.
Completely ignoring the shadows, compare the size of the top card(s) to that of the other cards in play. It's almost twice as wide as a normal card would be. Just off the width of it it's too large to be one card.
The reason the 4th card "pops" into view is that the video is so heavily compressed, and at such a low resolution, that the edges of objects can appear and disappear from frame to frame. However, in my experience it is much easier for this compression to cause objects that actually exist to be blurred into nonappearance than for objects that do not exist to pop out of nowhere.
This is the case.
In low-resolution scenarios (be it from compression, or from multiple "tapings over") things can get lost in translation. This usually means artifacting causing things to disappear entirely. I mean, re-watching it, it's clear that one of those cards is too large to be one card, and I'm not convinced that it's three cards.
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I think the Kira video is the worst for Bertoncini in all of this. Not because it is the worst of what he does (people will more readily remember the Sower of Temptation and double Explore examples) but it shows malicious intent. He shows accurate understanding of the interactions by sending his first Kira to the graveyard, but when the same process is repeated he sends it to his hand. That incident shows more intent than the others to me.
In low-resolution scenarios (be it from compression, or from multiple "tapings over") things can get lost in translation. This usually means artifacting causing things to disappear entirely. I mean, re-watching it, it's clear that one of those cards is too large to be one card, and I'm not convinced that it's three cards.
It's very clear that the top... thing... is two cards, based solely on the width. The question people have is whether the bottom thing is one card or two. I am about 80% sure that it is two cards, based on the video (posted earlier). That would make a total of 4.
I'm going on record right now and stating that before the end of 2012 we will see foil dual lands in booster packs (The real, Alpha dual lands). You can quote me on that.
Blatantly cheats in front of cameras... The funny thing is people cheat and alot of judges/tournament promoters turn their heads if it's their own guys. I've seen it first hand tapped a city of brass and died shot an incinerate to kill my homey he called a judge and before the judge gets there shuffles up his gamestate and calls game. Judge says nothing he can do... talked to another judge about it he asked me who it was then I pointed the dude out and he walked off on me and my friend. Come to find out he was a regular at the shop we were playing at...
Instances like this and the AB Case tarnishes shops and promoters reputation... SCG should do something about it and honestly AB needs to get beatdown. I don't care how nice people thinks he is... Being nice in the front of enemys then taking advantage of them is part of the Art of War and he's abusing his knowledge of the game/rules to win thousands of dollars. Nothing worse than a cheat and liar... if you do dirt and get caught man up and stop fronting.
The funny thing is...when he allegedly Brainstorms for four, he has Jin-Gitaxias in play. Does it really make that big of a deal whether you're +7 cards/turn over your opponent or +8?
I also noticed that the commentators were talking about how incredibly sloppy his decklists were both before the second Brainstorm (while the judges were sorting out the mess from the first Brainstorm) and after it (as they tried to find if he was running any basics). Cards written in no particular order, stuff like that. Could that be intentional to attempt to cover for some sort of play like the one he allegedly made with Sower?
The funny thing is...when he allegedly Brainstorms for four, he has Jin-Gitaxias in play. Does it really make that big of a deal whether you're +7 cards/turn over your opponent or +8?
Are you new to competitive MTG? "Character"? "Sportsmanship"? "Ethical Behavior"? Please.
Really, the fact is that with the lax rules enforcement and the $$ of the prizes on the line, high level competitive MTG players are practically incented to cheat. That level of play does not attract a personality type known for their ethical behavior. They care about winning, period.
Really, without bothersome ethics to get in the way, given the way things are set up, it's dumb not to cheat. It's really hard to get a lengthy ban for cheating, so if you can't win without cheating, you cheat, if you get caught, you lose the match you were going to lose anyway (no downside) and if you get away with it you can get thousands of $$ in prizes (all upside)
Thats why people need to start punching cheats in the teeth.... After a cheater is brushing their teeth with bandaids they will stop cheating lol.
The funny thing is...when he allegedly Brainstorms for four, he has Jin-Gitaxias in play. Does it really make that big of a deal whether you're +7 cards/turn over your opponent or +8?
They were in a counter-war when he played the brainstorm, so there was no guarantee the Gitaxias would be in play and he'd get all those draws. And he had played a force of will meaning he might have wanted to exile a card he just brainstormed.
They were in a counter-war when he played the brainstorm, so there was no guarantee the Gitaxias would be in play and he'd get all those draws. And he had played a force of will meaning he might have wanted to exile a card he just brainstormed.
The 'four-card' Brainstorm was on the following turn. His opponent was already down to zero cards, and his grip was full. The first Brainstorm, which took place during the counter-war, was the one where he allegedly forgot to put two cards back.
Ah, in that case perhaps he was looking for an answer he did not have yet. A full hand doesn't matter if you don't have what you need. He might have figured, since he was drawing so much with Jin, he could easily get away with throwing in one extra card.
Sometimes cheaters don't make the most 'logical' decisions when they cheat. They want to act as innocuous and natural as possible, and in cheating "on auto" they might do something small they feel they can get away with... like a kleptomaniac stealing some tic-tacs.
The extra Glass-Spinner didn't end up mattering either, but he still did it. Probably cheated because he panicked over being behind and losing. Habits have a way of being impulsive.
It's interesting how overly-expressive is when he's cheating. Putting his shirt over his mouth, shaking his head, acting nervous. Then if he is accused of cheating/misplaying, his defensive/emotional response would be less suspicious and out of place.
Another possibility as to the 4 card brainstorm, is he was trying to recover his confidence as a cheater. You have to be very cool when you are cheating, and be confident you are good enough to not be caught. What better way to regain your confidence in your skills, than to do a simple sleight of hand extra draw after being called out for an ancestral brainstorm?
I'm sure this will be handled quickly and tastefully by the DCI. Its not like they let the UB brothers get away with spoiling a set, the French guy making lewd comments, or Saito slowplaying. Everything takes time.
Ah, in that case perhaps he was looking for an answer he did not have yet. A full hand doesn't matter if you don't have what you need. He might have figured, since he was drawing so much with Jin, he could easily get away with throwing in one extra card.
Jin wasn't in play yet, he was looking for another force of will to get it into play.
The extra Glass-Spinner didn't end up mattering either, but he still did it. Probably cheated because he panicked over being behind and losing. Habits have a way of being impulsive.
It was his only out at that point. He didn't know that his opponent had another jace. If instead his opponent had a spell snare or something then he could have clawed back into that game.
They both made sense with the gamestates, they just didn't pan out to win him the games.
In other news, for the first time ever, Cheatyface is being printed in black border with all new art! See the exclusive preview image here.
Seriously, though. I hate scumbags like this. Assuming you actually catch them, and assuming that it's something you can obviously show a judge, they'll usually only get a warning for it. For every warning they eventually get, there's probably another 40 times they've cheated someone else that either didn't notice or didn't call a judge for it.
But even ignoring all of that, saying "call a judge" just doesn't cut it, and doesn't even come close to solving the issue. When you know you're playing against someone that is either cheating or known to cheat, you have to actively watch every play they make to make sure they're doing it properly. There are a ridiculous amount of things that you need to be mindful of if you're watching an opponent; did he tap his lands correctly? How many cards does he have in hand? Does he have all of his colours? Is he shuffling legitimately?
It's not fair to expect people to have to watch out for these things and call a judge when they come up, because as a result you end up not focussing enough on your own plays, and lose to mistakes instead of them cheating. Either way, they've got an advantage over you, and it's disgusting that someone caught blatantly cheating on VIDEO is currently getting away with it. To hell with you, scumbag, and take all your cheating friends with you.
Let's keep posting till the first freaking google hit on Alex bertoncini is a thread on him cheating. Enjoy that 20 k, it won't last you long if you can't get a job.
Let's keep posting till the first freaking google hit on Alex bertoncini is a thread on him cheating. Enjoy that 20 k, it won't last you long if you can't get a job.
Blatantly cheats in front of cameras... The funny thing is people cheat and alot of judges/tournament promoters turn their heads if it's their own guys. I've seen it first hand tapped a city of brass and died shot an incinerate to kill my homey he called a judge and before the judge gets there shuffles up his gamestate and calls game. Judge says nothing he can do... talked to another judge about it he asked me who it was then I pointed the dude out and he walked off on me and my friend. Come to find out he was a regular at the shop we were playing at...
the damage from city of brass uses the stack. So, your friend didn't really get cheated.
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Niiice. Keep going crazy guys. Hi res captioned images for the win. Anyway I'm confident the dci will be doing something. I'm sure they are just debating the length of ban/ drafting the announcement.
Anyway I'm confident the dci will be doing something. I'm sure they are just debating the length of ban/ drafting the announcement.
Banning this guy isn't going to solve things, because there are two problems here.
The first is the actions of 1 person, which is easily solved by removing him from organized play.
The second, and far more important, issue is that cheating is likely far more rampant than most people thought before this week. The judging staff at major events is simply not good enough at catching cheaters. In other words, the integrity of the game itself has been called into question. Banning one person doesn't fix this. Surely there are many out there with enough self-control not to cheat when there's a camera pointed at them. Sure, this isn't anything new. But due to these events people are more aware now.
Having people doubt your game's integrity is very dangerous to the long-term viability of the game. I expect to see some significant policy changes out of this — whether it's hiring more judges for big events, sticking cameras at every match at PTs, or something else.
Though I suppose it's also possible that WoTC could try to portray this as a problem limited to SCG events. Things could get ugly.
I'm not sure what more I can add past "I agree with everyone else", but it seems worth saying that I think this d-bag should receive at least a 3 year ban from the DCI as well. I have never seen such blatant cheating on so many occasions (on video no less) go unpunished before and this sort of thing is completely unacceptable. And he's not even half as good as Mike Long either
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Paper Pauper
RBUG The Pauper Perfect Storm GUBR
BRUW Affinity WURB
B Mono Black Control B
GR Eldrazi Ramp RG
UW Caw Blade WU
R Goblins R
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EDIT - watched the video Chaos posted... I can see even more why the 3-card position exists... esp since the 4th card seems to "pop" into view.
SCG REALLY needs to address this...
This is the case.
In low-resolution scenarios (be it from compression, or from multiple "tapings over") things can get lost in translation. This usually means artifacting causing things to disappear entirely. I mean, re-watching it, it's clear that one of those cards is too large to be one card, and I'm not convinced that it's three cards.
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i checked the stills and watched the vids and he storms for 4.
Instances like this and the AB Case tarnishes shops and promoters reputation... SCG should do something about it and honestly AB needs to get beatdown. I don't care how nice people thinks he is... Being nice in the front of enemys then taking advantage of them is part of the Art of War and he's abusing his knowledge of the game/rules to win thousands of dollars. Nothing worse than a cheat and liar... if you do dirt and get caught man up and stop fronting.
I also noticed that the commentators were talking about how incredibly sloppy his decklists were both before the second Brainstorm (while the judges were sorting out the mess from the first Brainstorm) and after it (as they tried to find if he was running any basics). Cards written in no particular order, stuff like that. Could that be intentional to attempt to cover for some sort of play like the one he allegedly made with Sower?
YES?! One card can make or break a game.
Thats why people need to start punching cheats in the teeth.... After a cheater is brushing their teeth with bandaids they will stop cheating lol.
They were in a counter-war when he played the brainstorm, so there was no guarantee the Gitaxias would be in play and he'd get all those draws. And he had played a force of will meaning he might have wanted to exile a card he just brainstormed.
The 'four-card' Brainstorm was on the following turn. His opponent was already down to zero cards, and his grip was full. The first Brainstorm, which took place during the counter-war, was the one where he allegedly forgot to put two cards back.
Sometimes cheaters don't make the most 'logical' decisions when they cheat. They want to act as innocuous and natural as possible, and in cheating "on auto" they might do something small they feel they can get away with... like a kleptomaniac stealing some tic-tacs.
The extra Glass-Spinner didn't end up mattering either, but he still did it. Probably cheated because he panicked over being behind and losing. Habits have a way of being impulsive.
It's interesting how overly-expressive is when he's cheating. Putting his shirt over his mouth, shaking his head, acting nervous. Then if he is accused of cheating/misplaying, his defensive/emotional response would be less suspicious and out of place.
Another possibility as to the 4 card brainstorm, is he was trying to recover his confidence as a cheater. You have to be very cool when you are cheating, and be confident you are good enough to not be caught. What better way to regain your confidence in your skills, than to do a simple sleight of hand extra draw after being called out for an ancestral brainstorm?
My Trade Thread!
Zero crates for Bertoncini...
Jin wasn't in play yet, he was looking for another force of will to get it into play.
It was his only out at that point. He didn't know that his opponent had another jace. If instead his opponent had a spell snare or something then he could have clawed back into that game.
They both made sense with the gamestates, they just didn't pan out to win him the games.
Seriously, though. I hate scumbags like this. Assuming you actually catch them, and assuming that it's something you can obviously show a judge, they'll usually only get a warning for it. For every warning they eventually get, there's probably another 40 times they've cheated someone else that either didn't notice or didn't call a judge for it.
But even ignoring all of that, saying "call a judge" just doesn't cut it, and doesn't even come close to solving the issue. When you know you're playing against someone that is either cheating or known to cheat, you have to actively watch every play they make to make sure they're doing it properly. There are a ridiculous amount of things that you need to be mindful of if you're watching an opponent; did he tap his lands correctly? How many cards does he have in hand? Does he have all of his colours? Is he shuffling legitimately?
It's not fair to expect people to have to watch out for these things and call a judge when they come up, because as a result you end up not focussing enough on your own plays, and lose to mistakes instead of them cheating. Either way, they've got an advantage over you, and it's disgusting that someone caught blatantly cheating on VIDEO is currently getting away with it. To hell with you, scumbag, and take all your cheating friends with you.
Also I couldn't help myself:
I upgraded your image quality and text.
Here's the original, go nuts.
the damage from city of brass uses the stack. So, your friend didn't really get cheated.
—Dr. Cox, Scrubs
Banning this guy isn't going to solve things, because there are two problems here.
The first is the actions of 1 person, which is easily solved by removing him from organized play.
The second, and far more important, issue is that cheating is likely far more rampant than most people thought before this week. The judging staff at major events is simply not good enough at catching cheaters. In other words, the integrity of the game itself has been called into question. Banning one person doesn't fix this. Surely there are many out there with enough self-control not to cheat when there's a camera pointed at them. Sure, this isn't anything new. But due to these events people are more aware now.
Having people doubt your game's integrity is very dangerous to the long-term viability of the game. I expect to see some significant policy changes out of this — whether it's hiring more judges for big events, sticking cameras at every match at PTs, or something else.
Though I suppose it's also possible that WoTC could try to portray this as a problem limited to SCG events. Things could get ugly.
Practice for Khans of Tarkir Limited:
Draft: (#1) (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5)