Monday we reported that Hall of Famer Seth Manfield had won a second MTG World Championship. Now, however, there appears to be an asterisk on his historic win that cemented him as one of the all-time greats. This is due to a controversial judge decision to allow a take-back during his match with Ken Yukuhiro. In fact, there were two different take-backs allowed but one was certainly more controversial than the other.
The first was when Manfield played It’ll Quench Ya! to counter a Broodspinner but Yukuhiro had used the second ability on Cavern of Souls to make his spider unable to be countered. This made it an illegal target for Manfield’s counter. In noncompetitive play, this would have been handled immediately and no one would have questioned Manfield’s take-back. The issue for most people is the idea of a professional level Magic player needing to do a take-back in the first place.
When Manfield attempted to counter Yukuhiro’s Broodspinner in game two, the spell was never actually cast before the error was made. At lower levels of Magic, the take-back would have been automatic. The bigger issue is the second take-back on the next game which involved Manfield casting Boomerang Basics. In that instance, the spell was cast and sat on the table for 27 seconds before Manfield finally called the judge over.
When the judge arrived, Manfield told him that the spell was already cast and the judge allowed him to take it back. Had Manfield been denied a take-back, Boomerang Basics would have removed Monument to Endurance from the battlefield and Manfield would have milled himself to defeat.
According to Magic Tournament Rules (MTR) 4.8 and the Infraction Procedure Guide (IPG), in any level of competitive play, players are allowed take-backs with the consent of the judge with some guidelines. The judge determined that in the 27 seconds after the spell was cast, Manfield learned no new information that would give him an advantage and thus allowed the take-back. While many argue whether or not competitors playing at a high level should even allow take-backs, the bigger controversy comes out of whether or not Manfield learned any new information.
When Manfield played Boomerang Basics, Yukuhiro acknowledged the play. It’s important to note that Ken Yukuhiro doesn’t speak English and thus may have acknowledged it believing that priority had passed to him. If Yukuhiro had priority and allowed the play to stand, that gives Manfield the information that he either has no counter or at least had no plans to counter. That would absolutely qualify as “new information.”
Ultimately, Manfield would officially go on to win all 9 games he played on Sunday becoming the third player in history to win the MTG World Championship more than once. Some could argue that it wouldn’t have ultimately changed the outcome. Still, Izzet Lessons was a prominent deck played by multiple players and it struggled against Yukuhiro’s Gruul deck. A loss for Manfield very well could have changed the outlook on the rest of the day.
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