Isaiah Bradner · @IsaiahBradner
22nd Sep 2022 from TwitLonger
Baltimore Regionals 2022
I want to start by stating that I made a gameplay error in both of these situations. This post is not to absolve myself of any blame, but rather to explain that there was no malicious intent. While I am aware that this statement will not change the minds of many who quickly labeled me as a cheater, I want to give the community a chance to hear my perspective. I’ll start by talking about round four on stream against my friend, Xander Pero.
During the event, I was not in a good headspace. I was exhausted, dealing with sinus congestion and migraines, and extremely anxious because of events that happened during my first week of college.
During a point in game two on stream, Xander asked me to play a little faster - which was completely within his rights - but that comment caused me to worry about being called for slowplay. I started playing at a much higher pace than usual, not taking time to think about my plays.
During game three, I had an advantageous board state, and used Drizzile to grab Irida, intending to take Drizzile and Quick Ball, and then Drizzile for Cross Switcher. However, I skipped over taking the Drizzile and illegally took Cross Switcher and Quick Ball off of Irida. If you look on stream, you can see that I laid the two cards on the table and that me and Xander both stared at them for a few seconds - my mind was elsewhere.
When asked by Xander what I took, I looked at my hand and saw the first two cards were a Palkia VSTAR and Cross Switcher. In the mentally rushed state I was in, my brain jumped to the conclusion that that’s what I grabbed, and so I showed them to Xander and continued on with the game. You can find this clip at the link below.
https://twitter.com/Jace_TCG/status/1571231202941587456
I had no ill intent in this action, and I am sorry to Xander for making this mistake against him. Thankfully, my mistake did not impact the match result at all. For those who don’t know, the judges assessed the film and penalized me with a double prize penalty for the situation. It was ruled as a gameplay error minor (skipping a step) that was escalated because it occurred on stream.
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The second incident occurred in round two against Joey Rojas. The stories and claims about this round have quickly escalated from what happened with many inaccuracies. Again, I am not sharing this story to absolve myself of blame, but to make it clear that I did not intentionally cheat.
Against Joey, the matchup was Palkia vs Regigigas. Joey effectively draw passed for his first three turns, and I played an Irida on my second and third turns. My first Irida grabbed a Palkia and Capacious Bucket, and my second Irida grabbed a Palkia VSTAR and a Capacious Bucket.
After I played the second Irida, I took my second KO on his only Regidrago in play, leaving him with two Registeel (one from Echoing Horn) and a Regieleki. Joey drew, and used Static Shock for 100. I then used Drizzile to search for Melony. During this search, Joey looked through my discard pile and realized that there was only one Irida when I played two.
At first, I disputed this, because I only saw one Irida in my discard. However, I quickly realized that he was right, and began to freak out as I looked around for the Irida. I moved my bag and checked on the floor and around the table, but couldn’t find it. I then offered to take an Irida out of my deck, because the first possibility that came to my mind was that it was swept into my deck before shuffling. Joey then asked me if I had an Irida in my nearly 15-card hand. I looked, responded that I did, and he asked me if I would discard that to fix it. I discarded the Irida, and then offered to call a judge on myself, but he insisted that there was no need for me to. Joey and I both now agree that calling a Judge was the right course of action, and I wish I had done so.
I finished my turn by taking a KO on his Regieleki. Joey drew his card, and then proceeded to concede. Everything up to this point should be the same from Joey and I’s perspectives.
Looking back now, I believe the Irida was picked up into my hand accidentally as I picked up the Palkia VSTAR and Water Energies off of my second Irida. I generally place the Water Pokemon and Item I grab near the bottom of the Irida, and it must have gotten caught up in those cards as I picked them up. At this point, I was already two prizes ahead, had access to my entire deck in my hand, and he had nothing established on board. This Irida was never illegally played.
I am sorry to both of my opponents, everyone else in the event, and the entire Pokemon community for playing sloppily, not calling a judge, and allowing these situations to happen in the first place. To everyone who believes in me - I promise that this will never happen again.
Thank you all for reading this far and listening to my side of the story.
Isaiah