Unfortunately, Magic: The Gathering is not without cheating scandals. Some of the most high profile cases are incredibly long and drawn out cases of cheating where repeat offenders are allowed to negatively impact the professional scene and often unite the community against them.
This latest case occurred during the 4Seasons Modern tournament in Bologna, Italy, and saw Italian pro Biagio “Rudokant” Cantone allegedly break the rules by controlling which card would end up at the top of his deck after a land search. Video evidence has been submitted and prompt action has been taken by the tournament organizer.
Accusations fly as video evidence is reviewed
What Cantone is specifically accused of is using a fetch land, Misty Rainforest, to identify a copy of Endurance and then ensure that the deck is shuffled in a way where Endurance ends up on top of the deck. It is then alleged that Cantone did not offer the shuffled deck to his opponent to cut, something Cantone has denied.
This has led people to effectively say that he cast a “free copy of Vampiric Tutor”, a card that allows you to legally find a card and place it on top of your shuffled library.
When the first video surfaced, social media scrutinized the footage further and believe there are more instances of cheating in the match. For those familiar with personal play, Cantone's movements are highly suspect at best, but his response after the incident sealed his guilt for many.
He would go on to blame the lack of a cut on his opponent trusting him, while noting that the card on top of his library, Endurance, wasn't very good against the opponent's archetype, something that was immediately questioned by the community.
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The track hammer is swung, “Rudokant” steps away
Less than 24 hours after the incident was flagged using live stream evidence, the 4Seasons X account announced a 2026 ban for Biagio Cantone, and the ban also applies to Bøøse Team events.
However, while fans continued to use this incident to ensure that Cantone would also be banned from official Wizards of the Coast events, he instead chose to issue a statement that he is stepping away from the game.
Crucially, there does not seem to be an admission of guilt in this statement; instead, he says he's “sorry for what happened”, and that it was never their intention. It's also quite strange that he says he hopes nothing like this happens again, because only he has control over that, right? It reads more like a statement of “sorry I got caught” as opposed to one taking full responsibility.
We've seen this situation before with other punished cheaters stepping away from the game, only to return when the heat has died down. Events like this will always follow a player, no matter what, as the community is rightfully unforgiving of cheating. Only time will tell if Cantone tries to make a comeback once his 4Seasons ban has ended, or earlier by participating in events run by other promoters.
- Franchise
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Magic: The Gathering
- Original release date
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August 5, 1993
- Number of players
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2+
