Magic The Gathering’s Can of Worms

Jeremy Hambly
He was permanently banned from Magic the Gathering events and Magic the Gathering Online.

Update: TheQuartering YouTube Channel has been shutdown. Hambly is still uploading to his Unsleeved Media Channel, though there is no telling if that will be next.

At the beginning of December 2017, Jeremy Hambly received a lifetime DCI ban from Wizards of the Coast for alleged harassment according to Kotaku’s Adam Wells.  The DCI is a sanctioning body for Magic: The Gathering and other collectible trading card games.

Hambly’s entire Magic the Gathering Online collection was also seized.

Things took an interesting turn however when a guest post on Niche Gamer revealed that the situation wasn’t so cut and dry.

Lou Colagiovanni brings to light possible double standards on the part of those who were irritated by Hambly’s words in the past. Examples include mentioning Lucas Florent’s lifetime ban over threatening a WoTC employee only to have it lifted months later as well as Twitter user The Mana Leek calling for the removal of toxicity in the MTG community while utilizing harsh and negative commentary in other venues.

Though considered controversial, Hambly does have his supporters.

There is a Change.org petition asking Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro to reinstate both him and Travis Woo, another controversial figure. The petition is currently shy of 17,000.

As a result of the ban, an interesting development has taken place as well.

A proverbial Pandora’s box may have been inadvertently opened with accusations of misconduct on the part of WoTC and Hasbro staff. Included among those allegations are claims of game judges being convicted of possession of child pornography and in some cases, sexual misconduct against minors.

Wells’s Kotaku piece mentions none of this.

This wouldn’t be the first time that such accusations have been levied against those participating in particular niches. Ed Kramer, co-founder of DragonCon, is another prominent example. Finding such things in popular culture isn’t new, and only time will tell if anything results from the videos published on Hambly’s TheQuartering YouTube Channel.

Hambly has also claimed that both he and his wife were harassed.

Michael Alber
He was reported to law enforcement for posting pictures of Hambly’s house and his wife.
ToxicMTG Thret
Another twitter user also had some not so kind things to say.
ToxicMTG Threat 2
More inflammatory commentary.
ToxicMTG Threat 3
They also claim to be what others fear….
ToxicMTG Threat 4
Clearly, they are not a fan of Hambly’s.

 

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