'Yu-Gi-Oh!' World Champion Banned From Competitions For Cheating

It looks like the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom is reeling from a bout of controversy. For those fans involved in the trading card game, they should know one well-known player has been barred from competitive tournaments for cheating.

Recently, the body behind Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG revealed a player known as Hitsuji has been barred from joining competitive tournaments. The decision came after the champion was investigated over cheating claims and found guilty on several charges. (via ANN)

As it turns out, Hitsuji managed to manipulate the order of his decked cards and avoid shuffling his stack during a match. The player was said to have drawn cards into their deck without shuffling, and the Hatti Grand Championship published these findings on its website. The tournament, which is one of the largest in Japan, confirmed it has banned Hitsuji from joining future competitions or any other tournaments related to the Hatti Championships.

In response, Hitsuji has said he didn't believe he was cheating. "Although it's true that the video shows me not doing a deck cut, I didn't deliberately change the top card on the deck," the player stressed via Twitter. However, Hitsuji to post an apology to fans and fellow players.

"Regardless of the results of the investigation into my illegal play, I apologize for causing inconvenience to the Hatti Championship organizers and to my opponent Ucchi."

For those of you unfamiliar with Hitsuji, the player is a well-known one within the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG community. The player, who is named Ryosuke Tsujimura, won the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships in 2017.

This may be the most recent controversy to strike the Yu-Gi-Oh! community, but it is far from the only one to drop this year. Earlier this fall, reports from Japan revealed an online card sale led to a counterfeiter's arrest. A fan chose to purchase an ultra rare card called The Symphonic Arsenal from a collector online for more than $3,500 USD. However, after the piece was delivered, the buyer realized the card was faked and helped police open an investigation leading to the criminal's arrest.

So, are you surprised to see the results of this investigation? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Yu-Gi-Oh! was originally created by Kazuki Takahashi for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, and ran from September 1996 to March 2004. The series follows Yugi Mutou, a young boy who solves an ancient puzzle and is possessed by the spirit of the Egyptian pharoah. Being skilled at deadly games, the Pharoah goes on to create and solve problems for Yugi based on deadly games of chance.