Disqualification of Tomoharu Saito at GP Florence

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Posted by Luis Scott-Vargas

November 28, 2010 

As a professional Magic player and editor-in-chief of this site, I’d like to address the recent disqualification of Tomoharu Saito from Grand Prix Florence. I, as well as the rest of us here at Channelfireball, am very disappointed in this turn of events. Cheating undermines the integrity of the game and is one of the most harmful actions possible to both the tournament experience and public perception of the game. While we here at Channelfireball in no way support cheating of any kind, we have received a statement from Tomoharu regarding the events in question. These events, regardless of the circumstances behind them, reflect poorly on both Tomoharu and professional Magic in general, not to mention this very website.

Here is the translated statement that Tomoharu sent us:
Regarding my Disqualification at Grand Prix Florence
Here is the link from the official coverage.
As some of you know already, I was recently disqualified from Grand Prix Florence.
First of all, let me apologize to those who have always supported me. This disqualification is the realization of the worst possible consequences and is inexcusable.
The stated reason for the ruling was that “After confirming that there was not very much time left in the round, it appeared that this player intentionally stalled.” I do not deny the comments and observations of other players claiming they observed the same thing; all I can say is that at the time I truly did not believe that I was stalling.
Disqualified players write a report to the DCI concerning what happened and what they were thinking during the circumstances leading to the disqualification. I wrote a report and submitted it to the DCI in Florence and now await the results of their investigation.
-Tomoharu Saito
After considering the above statement and the events in question, we feel that we must unfortunately part ways with Tomoharu, and we will no longer be running his content on the website. This isn’t a decision we make lightly, but it is in everyone’s best interests. I will please ask that the discussion stay civil, though I understand that this is a very touchy subject; trust me, no one here at Channelfireball is happy about this situation.
LSV


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More on Saito: From an Undisclosed, but Personally Vouched for Eyewitness

Anonymous:

“I personally watched this and it was outrageous.  He should have been DQ’d immediately.

Play was proceeding normally as Saito was winning.  There are 6-7 minutes left.

Kid then cunning wishes for Tsabo Decree and decrees Merfolk.

Saito tanks for 45 seconds then reveals his hand of 2 merfolk.  He bins his 2 in hand and 2 in play.

Kid untaps and casts Jace.  Saito then counts kid’s sideboard, reviews graveyard and says ok.  Kid fateseals and leaves a daze on top. He activates factory and attacks.  Saito spends 45 seconds debating wasteland before taking 2.  He rereads Jace again.

He untaps and draws daze.  He reviews both graveyards and spends 30-40 seconds before saying go.

Kid fateseals and leaves a land.  He activates factory and attacks.  Saito repeats his 45 seconds fingering wasteland before taking 2.  He then stops to read Jace.

Saito draws the land and reviews both graveyards.  He spends 30 seconds before playing land.  He then stops to read Jace for 20 seconds.  He then fidgets with wasteland and then fetchland for 20 seconds before saying go.

Kid fateseals a land to top.  He then activates factory.  Saito reviews kids graveyard and finally takes 2.  Kid casts pernicious deed with 4 mana up.  Saito considers dazing it until time is called.

Rest of game takes under 1 minute.”

Slightly reformatted to make it clear this is a second hand account.


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There is some more information posted on his blog: http://harurumtg.blog41.fc2.com/blog-entry-155.html

"About the Florence GP DQ
I still feel strange about this. About ten years ago, with my second disqualification I was suspended. When that was over I started playing again and I was strongly aware I needed to straighten up my play. Yet, I am facing the same thing again.
In round 6, I was warned for slow play as there was little time left in the round. Later in the game, I was called to the judge station and I was told 'After we confirmed with you that there was only 3 minutes left, your play slowed'. It is true that my play was slow after I was warned about the time, but that has nothing to do with how much time was on the clock.
For several turns, the battlefield was calm and there were not many attacks. My opponent left one creature behind and attacked with the rest (He had 10 creatures on the board, I had 5 creatures, a tumble magnet and a contagion clasp) and I was thinking really hard about how to deal with the attack. I was told that I had played faster before the remaining time hit zero, but it was just that prior to the attack decisions were easy to make.
My intent was definitely never to play slower for the last 3 minutes. But according to the judge, 'I was watching and it appeared intentional, in this case even if there was a reason and regardless of who it is its a DQ. The fact remains his play slowed as the clock was running out.' I was told that and accepted it.
My luck was terrible that in that game the most difficult moment of the game happened during the last 3 minutes of the game and my thinking through that situation caused my DQ. If I could do it again, I think all I could do is be aware that there is a risk of seeming suspicious when the time is slow and to try to keep that in mind that I need to play it faster. However, I can't ignore the reality that it was the most difficult, most important play of the day.
As I stated in the beginning, it feels really strange. I guess this kind of thing happens suddenly like that.
Stated again, it was the worst timing for the most difficult situation to happen and in truth I was seriously thinking when I was accused. I swear to Magic: The Gathering and all of the people involved in the game that that is the truth. I am not pleased by the ruling but the ruling of the Head Judge is absolute and as a pro player I fully appreciate the importance of maintaining a large tournament."
All of the accusations of cheating aside, we don't know what game this was. If it was game 2 and he had won the first game, he could potentially stand to benefit from stalling. But we don't know what game it was and if he was up or down a game. It seems that it was a very complicated game-state and that anyone would need time to think through the decision, would they they not?
It is a shame that he was DQ in that situation. I know many of you think he cheated in the past and are perhaps biased to think that he would be stalling in this situation, but I don't think anyone could disagree with the complexity of the described board state.