In a landmark legal ruling, Wizards of the Coast were yesterday forced to pay nearly $50,000 in damages to a disgruntled player. The player, David Sanderson took up the lawsuit after a glitch in the new Magic Online version 2.0 software caused the tournament he was playing in to be cancelled.

The claim was originally made in the small claims court for the $18.45 cost of enterring the tournament. However, the case was moved to the high court when Sandersons lawyer put in additional claims of:

• $79 for the boosters he could have potentially won.
  
• $450 for a television he smashed in frustration.
  
• £2,000 for medical bills to patch up his mother after she told him it was 'only a game.'
  
• £5,000 as compensation for the emotional stress caused by not being able to play Magic Online for 2 hours during the server downtime.
  
• $40,000 for the long term stress caused by Wizards employee Dan Myers who told him to 'get a life' following the 20 calls Sanderson made to his personal cell phone.

In the 7 hour long hearing, the jury heard how David had changed from being a normal socially inept geek into a schizophrenic gibbering wreck who had heart seizures every time he saw an 8th edition card. Eventually the jury unanimously declared Wizards to be guilty of 'nerd neglect' and the judge ordered them to pay the Sanderson everything except the $79, which he felt was 'irrelevant as the plaintiff is a scrub'.

When interviewed after the trial, Sanderson seemed to be mostly pleased by the verdict.

'I am slightly disappointed about the $79. I really felt I was going to make the top 8 in that one, I had a Rhox' said David who has recently got his rating back over the 1550 barrier.

'However with the money I can buy over 4,000 draft sets. I really believe with that much practice I can be on the pro-tour by this time next year' added David before going off on a tangent about how Dragon Breath is the most underrated card in Scourge.

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In a landmark legal ruling, Wizards of the Coast were yesterday forced to pay nearly $50,000 in damages to a disgruntled player. The player, David Sanderson took up the lawsuit after a glitch in the new Magic Online version 2.0 software caused the tournament he was playing in to be cancelled.

The claim was originally made in the small claims court for the $18.45 cost of enterring the tournament. However, the case was moved to the high court when Sandersons lawyer put in additional claims of:

• $79 for the boosters he could have potentially won.
  
• $450 for a television he smashed in frustration.
  
• £2,000 for medical bills to patch up his mother after she told him it was 'only a game.'
  
• £5,000 as compensation for the emotional stress caused by not being able to play Magic Online for 2 hours during the server downtime.
  
• $40,000 for the long term stress caused by Wizards employee Dan Myers who told him to 'get a life' following the 20 calls Sanderson made to his personal cell phone.

In the 7 hour long hearing, the jury heard how David had changed from being a normal socially inept geek into a schizophrenic gibbering wreck who had heart seizures every time he saw an 8th edition card. Eventually the jury unanimously declared Wizards to be guilty of 'nerd neglect' and the judge ordered them to pay the Sanderson everything except the $79, which he felt was 'irrelevant as the plaintiff is a scrub'.

When interviewed after the trial, Sanderson seemed to be mostly pleased by the verdict.

'I am slightly disappointed about the $79. I really felt I was going to make the top 8 in that one, I had a Rhox' said David who has recently got his rating back over the 1550 barrier.

'However with the money I can buy over 4,000 draft sets. I really believe with that much practice I can be on the pro-tour by this time next year' added David before going off on a tangent about how Dragon Breath is the most underrated card in Scourge.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!