Magic Pro League Has Banned Yuuya Watanabe After Cheating

When news first broke during this year’s Mythic Championship II tournament that beloved Hall-of-Famer Yuuya Watanabe was disqualified due to marked cards, the player agreed with the discipline openly on social media. 

Less than two weeks later, Watanabe and his management team went on to refute the ruling by the tournament judges on the day, and made it very clear that he would never, under any circumstances cheat. The public statement read as an attempt to diffuse any idea that in not arguing on the day, Watanabe was admitting to cheating. 

The message seems to have fallen on deaf ears, however, as the Magic Pro League released another update to the situation today, and outlined the consequences to the actions. 

According to the official statement by the league, Yuuya Watanabe will be banned from any DCI-Sanctioned Event (this includes Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, Star Wars, and more) for 30 months. That’s two and a half years. 

On top of this 30-month ban, Watanabe will also be removed from the Magic Pro League, and stripped of his induction into the Magic Hall-of-Fame. 

This is the first notable expulsion from the scene since the Magic Pro League began, and there’s no doubt now that they have a very small tolerance for cheating in their professional circuit. 

It has yet to be seen what his Team Cygames management squad has to say about the punishment laid down by the league, but in their defensive public statement, they seemed to be very much in Watanabe’s corner writing: 

“Yuuya is a player that has never once incurred a penalty due to cheating across his long career. He’s a model player that has forged his reputation with both time and accomplishment. Because of his achievements, he gained the support of many MTG fans worldwide, and was inducted into the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame in 2016 with a ballot-support rate of more than 90%.”

As for Watanabe himself, he posted to Twitter less than an hour ago with a statement saying that he is confused and sad he is. 

I’m confused by Wizards' decision. We asked for evidence that proved I did something wrong, but when we talked with them, instead they just told us their verdict. I can’t express how sad this result is. I hope they provide a proper explanation with evidence.

— 渡辺雄也/Yuuya Watanabe (@nabe1218) May 10, 2019

We will update the story if and when Cygames releases any information, or if Wizards of the Coast respond to Watanabe’s allegations of the group not providing evidence.