Theron "Metagame Madness" Martin will have a new tormentor at the DCI suspended player's meetings; Mouth "Joe" Kambourakis. The Boston native and long-time member of Team Academy brought the hammer down on himself this past weekend in Brighton, Massachusetts.

Mouth was caught adding cards to his sealed deck at Saturday's (3/23/02) PTQ. The cards in question were a Faceless Butcher and a Crippling Fatigue.



When judge Mike Canu came over to check Mouth's deck, Mouth gave a look to friend Jill Costigan, and in Mouth's own words, "she was like 'oh shit!'"

The head judge, Nat Fairbanks asked Mouth how he could account for the cards and Mouth tried to dance around the subject, claiming that they must have gotten mixed into his deck by accident because he "had a lot of cards in [my] box."

Two hours later, well after Fairbanks disqualified Mouth, he finally confessed to adding the cards. After looking at the length of suspension he could face, and realizing that Fairbanks was very sure of his guilt, Mouth finally gave in, hoping to help himself out.

Mouth surrounded himself with friends, which were clearly waning, for the rest of the PTQ. Close friends Costigan and Jeff Magid showed their support.

"If they ban you, I'm quitting," said the popular Boston-area gamer, Costigan.

Magid offered, "If you need someone to vouch for you, ya' got me."

The rest of Team Academy couldn't do much for support. Andy Stokinger was in Barcelona, Spain for the Grand Prix, Tony Patronick was celebrating his 21st birthday, and was not in attendance, while Mouth had just defeated the team doctor, Rich Douglas the previous round; an incident which Mouth "felt very bad about and certainly regrets."

Chris Zantides has already contacted Mouth about the incident, though no certain terms have been laid out yet. Mouth is looking for community service, most likely in the form of volunteer judging in the Boston area in lieu of some of his potential suspension time.

On a side note, this adds to compouding trouble that 5-Color players and representatives have been having this past year.

Current World Champion Bob Maher, Jr. was suspended for six months in January, while in the same incident, Jason Mougney, former Madison resident and 2000 World Champion took a five year suspension.

Ed Fear was already suspended when he took third at the 2001 World competition, and founder of 5-Color, yours truly, was involved in a little "misunderstanding" in Tampa, Florida last month.

Mouth represents the East Coast and is an active member on the voting committee, the players who ban and restrict cards in the format.

When asked about Mouth's pending suspension, teammate and friend Tony "Godfather" Patronick said, "The world has lost a true hero."

It seems Team Academy can do nothing right in 2002. Will Andy Stokinger attempt to one-up teammate after Mouth topped my GP-Tampa DQ? Will Rich Douglas actually smoke a joint during a match? Will Tony Patronick sloppily devour a judge during sideboarding?

Mouth is looking forward to "actually studying" during his time off, but still plans to attend the upcoming Grand Prix-Milwaukee as a writer for the Sideboard Online; a popular weekend job for Team Academy members who are increasingly unable to play in major events.

Kurtis "Fat Man" Hahn
Team Academy

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Theron "Metagame Madness" Martin will have a new tormentor at the DCI suspended player's meetings; Mouth "Joe" Kambourakis. The Boston native and long-time member of Team Academy brought the hammer down on himself this past weekend in Brighton, Massachusetts.

Mouth was caught adding cards to his sealed deck at Saturday's (3/23/02) PTQ. The cards in question were a Faceless Butcher and a Crippling Fatigue.



When judge Mike Canu came over to check Mouth's deck, Mouth gave a look to friend Jill Costigan, and in Mouth's own words, "she was like 'oh shit!'"

The head judge, Nat Fairbanks asked Mouth how he could account for the cards and Mouth tried to dance around the subject, claiming that they must have gotten mixed into his deck by accident because he "had a lot of cards in [my] box."

Two hours later, well after Fairbanks disqualified Mouth, he finally confessed to adding the cards. After looking at the length of suspension he could face, and realizing that Fairbanks was very sure of his guilt, Mouth finally gave in, hoping to help himself out.

Mouth surrounded himself with friends, which were clearly waning, for the rest of the PTQ. Close friends Costigan and Jeff Magid showed their support.

"If they ban you, I'm quitting," said the popular Boston-area gamer, Costigan.

Magid offered, "If you need someone to vouch for you, ya' got me."

The rest of Team Academy couldn't do much for support. Andy Stokinger was in Barcelona, Spain for the Grand Prix, Tony Patronick was celebrating his 21st birthday, and was not in attendance, while Mouth had just defeated the team doctor, Rich Douglas the previous round; an incident which Mouth "felt very bad about and certainly regrets."

Chris Zantides has already contacted Mouth about the incident, though no certain terms have been laid out yet. Mouth is looking for community service, most likely in the form of volunteer judging in the Boston area in lieu of some of his potential suspension time.

On a side note, this adds to compouding trouble that 5-Color players and representatives have been having this past year.

Current World Champion Bob Maher, Jr. was suspended for six months in January, while in the same incident, Jason Mougney, former Madison resident and 2000 World Champion took a five year suspension.

Ed Fear was already suspended when he took third at the 2001 World competition, and founder of 5-Color, yours truly, was involved in a little "misunderstanding" in Tampa, Florida last month.

Mouth represents the East Coast and is an active member on the voting committee, the players who ban and restrict cards in the format.

When asked about Mouth's pending suspension, teammate and friend Tony "Godfather" Patronick said, "The world has lost a true hero."

It seems Team Academy can do nothing right in 2002. Will Andy Stokinger attempt to one-up teammate after Mouth topped my GP-Tampa DQ? Will Rich Douglas actually smoke a joint during a match? Will Tony Patronick sloppily devour a judge during sideboarding?

Mouth is looking forward to "actually studying" during his time off, but still plans to attend the upcoming Grand Prix-Milwaukee as a writer for the Sideboard Online; a popular weekend job for Team Academy members who are increasingly unable to play in major events.

Kurtis "Fat Man" Hahn
Team Academy

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!