[Player Management] Counterfeit cards

[UDEbot]

Counterfeit cards
from UDE's Player Management Forums

I was pondering the other day, what exactly is the procedure for dealing with a counterfeit card if found in a player's deck during the course of a tournament? It makes a certain amount of sense to declare it an illegal card and therefore an illegal deck and move forward with that procedure (replace the card, game loss, move on).

But, I wanted to get others' opinions on this topic. Is there any interpretation where this rises to the level of cheating? If the infraction truly is an illegal deck, should this be changed? Is the current penalty enough of a deterrent to buying and using counterfeit cards?

Also, what do you all think of having a counterfeit card workshop for judges? Perhaps this could be a 15 minute presentation at GenCon where Upper Deck would bring real and counterfeit cards and show off the differences and how to spot them. I know that I've been asked by a player to check if some cards they had bought off eBay were counterfeit and I felt ill-prepared to make that call.

Thoughts?


http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/community/forums/thread/1734690.aspx

 

[DarkLogicianOfCaos]

I'm reminded of the story the veracity of which I cannot attest, in which it is told that when bank tellers are trained in spotting counterfeits[/COLOR] that they do not parade the various counterfeits before them, nor discuss their techniques. Rather they are trained on recognizing and appreciating the various real moneys. Thus, when a fake crosses their path, it will be near instinctual to catch the fake, out of familiarity with the real.

I know that long before Konami cried foul at the alleged counterfeit cards surfacing in stores in America, several friends, who had much more familiarity with the intricate particulars of the cards questioned their validity. I figured it was just a misprint. Time told a different story; and that particular became a proof for the courts.

Now, when I find a fake, I casually ask where they got it and report it to Konami for investigation. Unless it becomes apparent that they knew it was a fake and used it anyway, an illegal deck penalty should suffice. Otherwise Unsporting-cheating may need to be considered.