Aaron, Abby, and Acton are teammates in a Team Sealed Grand Prix. It’s late in the round; Abby and Acton have finished their matches and are watching Aaron’s match intently. He finishes Game 1, shuffles, and presents for Game 2. At this point, one of the players on the opposing team calls for a judge and says, “I think Aaron was mana-weaving”, so you investigate, and get the following statements:

From Team Aliens:
Aaron: “At the end of game 2, I had about 10 lands in play. I didn’t want them to all get clumped up so I kinda just slipped them randomly into the rest of the deck. I did a few overhand shuffles, and presented… Oh, I can’t do that? Crap, I’ve been doing that all tournament!”

Abby: “I didn’t even know he was doing anything wrong. Aaron and I are playing in our first tournament ever! Our big brother Acton convinced Mom and Dad to let us play in this tournament with him. Acton’s so cool, he’s been on the Pro Tour!”

Acton: “Yeah, I saw him mana-weaving. But I figured, it’s his first tournament ever, why ruin his day by having him get mana-screwed. We weren’t planning on doing well in this tournament anyway.”

From Team Nobodies (the opponents):
Ned (Acton’s opponent): “I didn’t want to be the guy who called out a 9-year-old for mana-weaving. I saw it, but I figured I was going to win anyway. But he sure did beat me pretty handily Game 1!”

Nellie (Ned’s teammate): “I didn’t really see how Acton was shuffling before Game 1, because I was chatting with my opponent. I started watching as they were shuffling for Game 2, and that’s when I called you over.”

Are any of the players at fault here? If so, what is the Infraction/Procedure/Fix?

Judges, feel free to discuss this scenario here!

[expand title=”View Answer”]Here is the solution (and props to Aaron Huntsman for getting it right away):

With the new IPG, there is a new penalty called ”Unsporting Conduct – Cheating“. This replaced the old infractions, Fraud, Hidden Information Violation, and Manipulation of Game Materials. In order for an infraction to be USC – Cheating, it must fit the following definition:

4.8. Unsporting Conduct —Cheating
Definition
A person breaks a rule defined by the tournament documents, lies to a tournament official, or notices an offense committed in his or her (or a teammate’s) match and does not call attention to it.
Additionally, the offense must meet the following criteria for it to be considered Cheating:
• The player must be attempting to gain advantage from his or her action.
• The player must be aware that he or she is doing something illegal.

With that in mind, let’s examine each player’s actions and intent to see if he/she has committed Cheating.

Aaron intentionally ”mana-weave”d, but was not aware that he was doing something illegal. – Not Cheating (but instead, Warning for TE – Insufficient Shuffling)
Abby did not know Aaron was doing anything illegal. – Not Cheating
Acton noticed that Aaron was committing an offense, was attempting to gain an advantage from it, and knew it was illegal. – Cheating
Ned noticed Aaron was committing an offense, knew it was illegal, but was not attempting to gain an advantage from it. – Not Cheating
Nellie noticed Aaron was committing an offense, knew it was illegal, and immediately called a judge over. – Not Cheating

Because Acton was Cheating, he will be Disqualified from the tournament, and Team Aliens will be dropped as a result. Team Nobodies win the current match.

Thanks again, everyone![/expand]