As esports continues to grow in popularity, more and more games are getting a shot in the limelight, including the long-standing collectible card game Magic: the Gathering – which saw a shocking moment unfold during a streamed match.
Magic’s 2019 Mythic Championship III tournament series bears witness to fierce competition, throwing down at the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay from June 21 – 23 – a venue that likewise sees such action from Fortnite and even the Evolution Championship Series fighting game gathering.
While the Mythic Championship’s Day 1 run saw some intense battles, a different kind of struggle likewise took place during the competition – which had viewers, attendees, and players alike in shock.
Competitive Magic: the Gathering players are gathering for Vegas’s Mythic Championship III tournament series, which boasts a $750,000 prize pool.
Team Liquid Magic pro Jeffrey ‘sjow’ Brusi was in the middle of a match against fellow player Kai Budde when he put his head in his hands, appearing to struggle with either his strategy or an oncoming headache.
However, Brusi wasn’t suffering from a heachache, at all; a few moments later, he went into what appeared to be a seizure on stream, causing a concerned look from his opponent and some confused speculation from the commentators – who initially thought he was jamming out to music in his headphones or suffering from acute stress.
[WARNING: the clip below may be distressing to some viewers.]
“Look at this – sjow’s getting into it!” One commentator said.
“What is he listening to?” the other asked, laughingly. “What’s even happening back there?”
However, both commentators appeared to notice that something was wrong – a fact that sjow later spoke on in a Tweet after the match.
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Magic: the Gathering pro sjow appeared to suffer a seizure on stream, prompting a slew of concern from fans.
While he made no mention of a seizure, sjow confirmed that he had, indeed, suffered a health issue during the game, revealing that he was able to keep playing despite the concerning moment.
“Thanks to everyone who is concerned about my health,” sjow Tweeted. “Didn’t feel too well during my match on stage. I feel better now.”
Thanks to everyone who is concerned about my health. Didnt feel to well during my match on stage . I feel better now.
— Jeffrey Brusi (@LiquidSjow) June 21, 2019
Despite sjow’s impressive comeback, commenters across the net are taking issue with the matter, claiming that medical staff should have been placed on-site to deal with such an emergency.
“Medical staff needs to be on hand,” one viewer wrote. “Commentators thought he was listening to heavy metal music or something… wow.”
“It upsets me [that] nobody in there knew he was having seizures,” another said of the issue
Commentators were quick to take issue with the Mythic Championships, wondering why there hadn’t been medical staff on hand to deal with such emergencies as sjow’s apparent seizure.https://www.reddit.com/r/LivestreamFail/comments/c3ew3d/magic_player_has_seizure_during_tournament/
Sjow has since recovered and continues to take part in the competition, although fans across the net are still concerned for his health going forward into the weekend.
