It's not made entirely clear what happened. Did Hans put Golden Archer's recruit on the chain and not immediately replace the resource, then after the Alfred/Reign on Shape resolved put Shape in thr row, or did he immediately put the Answer the Call in the row before Alfred searched out Reign then switch them around afterwards?

The Metagame report on what happened and what A-Rod says are told a little differently. The A-Rod report makes it sound like he did it and then it was noticed later, but the metagame report makes it seem like he was caught in the act. Which one is true will affect the "Is he a dirty little cheater?" argument.

When Hans recruited Golden Archer he immediately played a card-face down to replace Archer as a Resource (since he's a reservist). However, the option to do that is placed on the chain, meaning he should've waited for the chain to come back to that in order to play the resource.
Meaning, this is cheating by the sense of he played the card face-down (Not revealing it), then changed it. That's the way the judges saw it, and you're not supposed to do that. So, Hans was DQ'd. However, I still believe it was a misplay, since he shouldn't have been allowed to play the card face-down in the first place since that effect would resolve near the end of the chain.

So if you recruit a reservist from the resource row you have to decide what card (if any) will replace it when the recruit is declared? Or are you able to decide what card to place when the recruit is resolved and Hans just jumped the gun by placing Answer the Call?

Given there is now an official report, I just want to remind you guys that cheating is not limited to things like drawing extra cards or stacking your deck.

Doing something you know full well to be illegal, which the actions described certainly were, is cheating. Hans Hoh is not an intellectually stupid player and understands the rules. You do not make top 8 of a PC after using a new set for your constructed deck and then drafting it on day 2 without knowing how the accompanying rules work.

According to the metagame article, Hoh played golden archer, replacing it with answer the call. His opponent then used alfred, got reign of terror and bounced Shape. Hoh then switched a resource in play with the card he had just had returned to hand.

Not only is this an illegal thing to do in the first place, it is doubly suspect because Hoh had new game information since the time he had placed Answer the Call down (reign of terror giving him Shape), not to mention having Shape itself (which was in play at the time he placed down Answer the Call).

Is it possible that he did not understand the rules? Of course. Another scenario however is that he thought he would 'have a go' and see if he could get away with something that he knew to be technically wrong, but if caught he could easily feign ignorance over.

The last point is what I believe the issue should be. I have played other games in tournaments where the aim was to win by trying to do as many small illegal things as possible and hoping your opponent did not catch you. I don't mean drawing extra cards, I mean things like not losing force for Visage of the Emperor in SWCCG at the end of a turn, or not adding three threats when you moved to site 5 in LOTR. Even though the game rules and the cards stated that these actions were mandatory, the tournament rules meant that if one player didn't catch the other at the specific time the action had to happen, it was ruled not to happen at all.

Believe me, it is no fun for anyone involved. UDE has decided to enforce a higher standard on their players. This means you must look at every "technically" illegal action you take and realise that if you try to 'have a go' you risk being thrown out entirely.

I'm not ascribing motive to Hans; only he knows what he was thinking. But I have played top level TCG tournaments around the world for almost a decade now and have some knowledge of how these things work. And I imagine the UDE judges do too. They will not have taken this decision lightly.

Flat out, you should NEVER replace a card in your resource row without making it clear why you are doing it (i.e, for a card effect.)

If Hans recruited Golden Archer and put Answer the Call in the row, and then after Reign of Terror, switched the cards, EVEN IF HE THOUGHT HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GO BACK AND SWITCH, he should have asked a judge, or announced what he was doing. Obviously Horn did not realize what had happened until later in the turn, when Hans played Answer the Call from the hand.
To replace cards in your row at times your are not supposed to should always be met with a severe punishment, as that is a HUGE area for potential cheating.

You're supposed to do it at the end of the chain, since the effect of replacing a resource is put on the chain. Well, in the case reported by metagame, that's how it would be handled.

That is true, and it looks like Golden Archer's recruit is still on the chain when he puts the Answer the Call in the row. I'm just a little confused on how this works. Does he have to immediately put a resource down? Can he wait until other effects have been played, or can he choose to immediately put the resource down, therefore not being able to put the Shape in the row after the Reign occurs?

This sums up the problem very well. If one is unsure, one asks a judge or announces what he is doing. If one is trying to get away with something, one tends to try to not draw attention to it. I imagine this played some part in UDE's decision and is a reason why the 'he didn't know the rule' argument has questionable validity.

The reminder text for Reservist takes care of the timing issue---Since "recruiting a character" is synonymous with "playing an effect," you've done so when the card is on the chain, costs are paid, etc. If you're going to put down a new card, you do so before anyone even gets priority again.

Additionally, the Reservist glossary entry expands on things pretty explicitly.Answer the Call was originally placed in the row properly, and the time to put a card in the row had passed by the time Reign of Terror was played, let alone resolved.

Assuming that his opponent had recruited the 4-drop Dr. Doom, however, rather than the 6-drop Dr. Doom, Answer the Call could have been usefully played from the resource row while Reign of Terror was still on the chain.

Like A-Rod, I have no idea of the motives of either Hans or the judges involved, just clarifying the timing.

In my experience they've said they enforce a higher standard but actually do so only occasionally.

After thinking it over, I've changed my position. I'm going to wait until the true situation is revealed.
In-the-Act: Misplay
Down-the-line: Cheating

Still weather or not he cheated i dont care (i dont think he did tho) I still have much respect for him and i still look up to him in a way which i do with all the top 8ers

i don't. he's a cheater which means in all those top 8's he probably took the spot of a well deserving, honest player

Man, this has put the game into serious scrutiny !

I know cheaters who play yugioh !! but that's not for money so know one gives a toss but this is serious !

I think disqualifying him with no pay was not the right thing to do. They should have just let him carry on anyway, he was going to lose that game anyway.

Did he win the first game against Horn ?