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Tournament Operations » Post: Counterfeit Cards

Counterfeit Cards

Jan. 7, 2014 09:51:29 PM

John Brian McCarthy
Forum Moderator
Judge (Level 5 (Judge Foundry)), Grand Prix Head Judge

USA - Midatlantic

Counterfeit Cards

There was a post on another forum earlier today about a new set of counterfeits coming from China that are better than most previous attempts*, and so easily obtained that posters are considering cashing in their dual lands in anticipation of a crash. Given the possibility that we'll see these in tournaments soon, what's the appropriate procedure if a judge encounters a card that he or she, another player, or the TO believes to be a counterfeit?

The relevant part of the MTR appears to be 3.3:

Players may use any Authorized Game Cards from Magic: The Gathering expansions, core sets, special sets, supplements, and promotional printings. Authorized Game Cards are cards that, unaltered, meet the following conditions:

–The card is genuine and published by Wizards of the Coast.
(…)

Any other cards that are not Authorized Game Cards are prohibited in all sanctioned tournaments

In the case of a player who unwittingly brought a counterfeit card and had it discovered midway through the event, would the remedy be similar to bringing an unacceptable alter - we'd ask them to replace it with an unaltered card?

And in the case of a player who knowingly brought a counterfeit card, and didn't commit fraud by lying about it to a judge when asked midway through, what's the appropriate remedy?

*Here's a pic. I've seen more pics, but they're watermarked with the name of the site where the cards can be obtained, which I suspect folks would rather not have publicized. Higher level folks, happy to share via PM so you can see how close these are to the real thing if you give me the okay.

Edited John Brian McCarthy (Jan. 7, 2014 09:52:31 PM)

Jan. 7, 2014 10:06:34 PM

Scott Marshall
Forum Moderator
Judge (Level 4 (Judge Foundry)), Hall of Fame

USA - Northwest

Counterfeit Cards

Please have persons who note fraud (such as counterfeiting) sites to report them to OP.FraudInvestigations@wizards.com

If a judge, in their opinion, has a player using counterfeits, they should treat them as a player attempting to use their own proxies, and have the player replace them.

Do NOT attempt to confiscate counterfeits.

If a Wizards of the Coast representative is at the event, please get them involved immediately.

Thanks! - Scott Marshall, L5, Denver; Judge Forums NetRep