Wizards of the Coast has lifted the suspensions of ten Magic: The Gathering judges involved in the leaking cards in the upcoming MTG: Oath of Gatewatch set and others, the company announced today.

In the original decision on December 21, 2015, twelve Magic judges were suspended from involvement in Magic organized play for three months for “collecting, accessing and disseminating Wizards’ confidential and proprietary information before it was officially made public.”  The leaks involved the Kozilk the Great Distortion and Wastes cards from the Oath of Gatewatch set.

Nearly all of the judges were from the USA-Southeast Region of Organized Play for Wizards of the Coast. At the time of the suspension, concerns were raised that stores in that region would be unable to staff events such as the Oath of Gatewatch Prerelease (see “Second 'M: TG' 'Zendikar' Block Set Announced”) because of a lack of sufficient staffing that would be necessary for Wizards’ Organized Play requirements.

Two heavily trafficked judge resource sites shut down their services in protest of the suspensions.

The three-month suspensions were lifted after 23 days and will not be considered a part of the judges’ permanent record with the DCI (Duelists’ Convocation International), an element of Magic: The Gathering Organized Play.

Elaine Chase, Senior Director of Global Brand Strategy and Marketing for Wizards, is officially framing the dialing back of these punishments and the response from the community as “learning opportunities” for both Wizards’ and its customers, urging understanding of the severity of the situation and how it can affect attendance at events such as prereleases.

The suspensions arose out of “an ongoing legal investigation regarding a leak of proprietary and confidential information,” Chase said.  Multi-year suspensions were handed out to three additional judges in December, according to SuperNerdLand, although whether those were connected to the 12 shorter suspensions has not been confirmed.