A bizarre controversy is rocking the Japanese ONE PIECE CARD GAME community. A player who won an official tournament discovered his championship title was revoked without his knowledge, with official records claiming he had "voluntarily forfeited the win."
The story first broke when the player himself posted about the incident on X (formerly Twitter), drawing massive attention from fellow players and netizens. The confusing and contradictory responses from the tournament store and Bandai have only added fuel to the fire, leaving many wondering how such a straightforward issue became so complicated.
The player at the center of the storm, who goes by zoo (@nekohige_zoo) on X, posted on June 23rd that he had been waiting for his championship prize from a tournament held on May 12th. When he called the event organizer and Bandai to inquire about the delay, he was shocked to be told that he had "voluntarily withdrawn" from his championship position.
Stunned, he realized someone must have impersonated him to forfeit the win. What baffled and angered him most was that the entire process was completed without any proper verification, and the official record had already been changed to reflect his supposed withdrawal.
As the story gained traction online, zoo posted an update on June 24th, stating that he had called both Bandai and the tournament organizer, "Toreca Champion Ushikawa Store," to get to the bottom of the situation.
He noted that he wanted to explain the events as accurately as possible, hence the lengthy post. He also revealed that the latest explanations from both Bandai and the store contradicted what they had told him the previous day, deepening his confusion.
According to zoo, Bandai claimed their initial information was incorrect. After reinvestigating, they found that on May 13th and 14th, a person claiming to be zoo had called their customer service center twice.
This person allegedly stated that the deck he used in the tournament contained "marked cards" and other violations, and therefore he wished to forfeit his championship title. Bandai explained that since customer service cannot directly process a disqualification, they instructed the caller to contact the tournament store, which would then submit the forfeiture request. Bandai then received the notification from the store and proceeded to cancel the championship title. However, zoo emphatically stated, "I never made any of those calls."
Even more perplexingly, Bandai claimed to have complete call logs and insisted the calls came from the mobile number zoo had registered with them. Despite zoo's repeated denials, Bandai maintained, "We can confirm the calls were made from your phone number."
Worried his phone number had been spoofed, zoo contacted his mobile carrier. The carrier responded that there were no charges for any outgoing calls on May 13th or 14th, meaning no record of any paid calls existed. This led zoo to question, "If my own carrier can't find any call records, what exactly are these calls Bandai is talking about?" Bandai concluded by saying this was all the information they could provide and suggested he contact the store directly.
Next, zoo contacted the tournament host, Toreca Champion Ushikawa Store. The store confirmed they received a call a few days after the tournament from someone claiming to be the champion. This person said that after reviewing his deck with friends, he discovered some irregularities and wanted to forfeit his win.
The store said they asked for the caller's name and phone number. Since their internal system couldn't access player data, they passed the information to Bandai for verification. After Bandai confirmed the details matched, the store processed the forfeiture. This prompted zoo to ask, "Is a name and phone number really all it takes for identity verification?"
In a shocking twist, the store admitted they had only jotted down the caller's name and number on a piece of paper. Because that piece of paper was later thrown away, they can no longer confirm if the information they recorded actually matched zoo's details. Furthermore, the store revealed that the imposter even mailed the Top 8 prize card back to the shop, which is why they believed the person was legitimate. The store has since promised to report their latest findings to Bandai and ask them to review the entire identity verification process.
In addition to contacting Bandai and the store, zoo has filed a report with the police. The incident has sparked outrage among Japanese netizens, who are questioning the procedures of both the official organizer and the store.
Many argue that a championship title is a significant achievement and that the process to revoke it, based solely on a phone call, is far too lax. Others pointed out that if Bandai insists call records exist, they should release them to help clarify the situation. Conversely, if the phone number was indeed spoofed, the case escalates from a simple tournament dispute to a criminal matter involving identity theft and potential fraud.
Commenters also found it baffling that the store would simply discard the written record, arguing that any evidence related to a change in tournament results should have been carefully preserved.
As the story continued to spread online, zoo reported on June 25th that he had received a call from the store's manager. The store formally admitted to procedural failures, apologized for the oversight, and promised to conduct an internal investigation. They also pledged full cooperation if the police launch an official inquiry.
While the store has apologized, the community's main concern is the whereabouts of the championship prize. Many netizens speculate that Bandai had likely already sent the champion's card to the store, raising questions about what happened to it afterward.
Some are demanding that if the original prize has been lost or claimed by the imposter, Bandai and the store should issue a new one or provide equivalent compensation to make up for the real champion's loss. Others emphasized that beyond the physical prize, the official title and honor are just as important and shouldn't be erased by an act of impersonation.
On June 26th, zoo posted another update, stating that Bandai has finally begun to take action. The company is reportedly considering filing its own police report and has promised to provide an update on how it will handle the situation soon.
While zoo noted that he can't let his guard down yet, he expressed immense gratitude to the community, acknowledging that the progress made so far is thanks to the continued attention and support from fellow players and netizens.
Many players believe that Bandai and the store only started taking the investigation seriously after the story blew up online. The incident highlights a common trend where companies only act decisively once faced with public pressure on social media.
Some lamented that while it would be better for companies to handle such issues properly from the start, at least the situation is now moving in a positive direction. They noted that if the victim hadn't gone public and had only communicated with the companies privately, the case might have been dismissed with a simple "please understand our position."
Beyond finding the culprit, many players are calling for both Bandai and tournament stores to overhaul their identity verification procedures. Commenters argue that this case has exposed major loopholes in how title changes and forfeitures are handled. They are urging for more robust systems, such as requiring written confirmation or multi-factor authentication, to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The investigation is ongoing, and the community is eagerly awaiting a final resolution. However, as of June 30th, zoo reported that Bandai has not provided him with any further updates. Whether the police will formally intervene, whether the imposter will be identified, and how the championship title and prize will be handled are all questions that the player community is watching closely.
via： X@nekohige_zoo