The Baltimore Pokemon TCG Regional competition saw a bit of controversy when professional player Isaiah Bradner was accused of cheating.
Now that the Pokemon World Championships 2022 are over, Pokemon Regional competitions have picked up steam again.
Now the first Pokemon TCG Regional competition in Baltimore, Maryland has officially closed, but not without a bit of controversy.
Professional TCG player Isaiah Bradner was charged with cheating during a match in the Swiss Round Four after using the Irida Trainer card.
Pro Pokemon TCG Player Accused Of Cheating
The situation arose during Bradner’s match against opponent Xander Pero, when Bradner played an Irida Trainer card.
For those who may not know, the Irida Trainer card allows the player who played it to search their deck for a Water-type Pokemon and an item card.
The player then reveals those cards to the opponent, places them in their hand and shuffles their deck.
However, Bradner chose two item cards instead: A Cross Switcher and Quick Ball. Although the commentators quickly realized what was happening, Bradner immediately played the Quick Ball card and placed it on his discard pile.
Irida’s text tells you to take an item and a Pokémon from your deck. What Isaiah did was take 2 items instead. After placing them in his hand, he showed his opponent one of the items and a Pokémon he had in his hand as if he had played the card correctly.
— Luke 🫐 | Reading about blue people (@lukemaybegay) September 18, 2022
Though Bradner goes through his cards one more time, Pero also noticed Bradner’s move and asked him to show the cards he had chosen.
Instead of showing both item cards, Bradner showed Pero the Cross Switcher card and a Palkia VSTAR card, to coincide with the Irida card rules.
Unfortunately, the match went on without the judge’s intervention, ultimately ending in a draw.
Still, both Pero and the match commentators weren’t the only ones to notice the incident as TCG fans took to social media to call out Bradner.
with the risk drama to start, you can clearly see Bradner grab two items from irida here, and when called, show a palkia vstar he already had in his hand, then use the other cross-switcher and the fast ball he grabbed with irida https ://t.co/GeIJuchO9l
— Jenny (@SolaceTCG) September 17, 2022
Cheating and unsportsmanlike conduct have no place in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Be diligent and never be afraid to call a judge. There should be zero tolerance for this kind of behavior.
— Andrew Mahone (@enjoifriend) September 17, 2022
At the time of writing, Pokemon has not made an official statement or statement about the situation. In addition, neither Bradner nor Pero have commented on the situation.
While Bradner’s move would likely only count as a “minor violation under Pokemon’s official punishment guidelines, it’s still something that needs to be officially reviewed.