Pro Pokemon TCG player accused of cheating at Baltimore Regionals

The Baltimore Pokemon TCG Regional competition saw a bit of controversy as professional player Isaiah Bradner was accused of cheating.

With the Pokemon World Championships 2022 now finished, Pokemon Regional competitions have once again picked up steam.

Now, the first Pokemon TCG Regional competition in Baltimore, Maryland has officially concluded, but not without a bit of controversy.

Professional TCG player Isaiah Bradner was accused of cheating during a match in the Swiss Round four after using the Irida Trainer card.

Pro Pokemon TCG player accused of cheating

The situation occurred during Bradner’s match against opponent Xander Pero, when Bradner played an Irida Trainer card.

For those who may not know, the Irida Trainer card allows the player who played it to search their deck for a Water-type Pokemon and an Item card.

The player then reveals those cards to the opponent, puts them into their hand, and shuffles their deck.

However, Bradner instead chose two Item cards: A Cross Switcher and Quick Ball. Though the commentators were quick to notice what happened, Bradner immediately played the Quick Ball card and moved it to his discard pile.

Though Bradner begins going through his cards one more time, Pero also noticed Bradner’s move and asked him to show the cards he chose.

Instead of showing both item cards, Bradner showed Pero the Cross Switcher card and a Palkia VSTAR card, to coincide with the Irida cards rules.

Unfortunately, the match continued on with no interference from judges, which ultimately ended in a draw.

Still, both Pero and the match commentators weren’t the only ones to notice the incident, as TCG fans took to social media to call out Bradner.

At the time of writing, Pokemon has made no official statement or ruling on the situation. Additionally, Bradner nor Pero have commented on the situation either.

Though Bradner’s move would likely only count as a “minor infraction according to Pokemon’s official Penalty Guidelines, it’s still something that should be reviewed officially.