Well hopefully Jesse there gets a chance to see this response since I won't use the FB reply, but as I mentioned while I agree Cloud of Faeries is a strong card in MUC, you can't really ban it without completely destroying FissureStorm, which I can't see happening
My own laughing at FOW had nothing to do with its expensiveness and everything to do with what it countered. My Sudden Disappearance which was going to kill 3 centaur tokens. And my reaction I admit was born more out of exhausted hysteria than anything truly funny. (It seemed hilarious to me at the time.)
I think AJ's comment was probably more inline with what I should have said: The quote from your own last article about who will keep the spirit of the event and who will try to break it. It seemed you were foreshadowing your own determination to win at all costs a "casual" event. Which is just fine but rather funny in the context of your quote.
Our decks perhaps could have been a little better prepared but his 2x draw to 2 lands in both early games were not helpful and facing combo Aluren and then your own combo was not particularly fun. FOW just was the icing on the cake and its irrelevance is what I was laughing about. (He didn't have to cast it to win since his tokens did nothing anyway and you were going to win with 2x Kokusho on your turn.)
My apologies if my comments and genuine amusement were offensive to you. I tried to keep it from being an argument because it really wasn't. I think it is awesome Aya who is an innovator and who beat NP in the champs of the apoc this year can afford to bring FOW to a game. It isn't my intention to say people shouldn't. Bring them though perhaps as you say it isn't really the card to play in tribal. Planeswalkers fare better. Looking at his list I probably would have run +1 Jace 2.0 and some more wraths. 4 seems a little low. Chalice for 1 was also amusing because neither of us had any cards to cast at that cost but we kept our giggles in check on that count. It was probably a wise move vs the myriad of 1 cost hosers including the exilers, grafdigger's cage, elixir, etc.
We did roll over poor Mihahitlor and Bauchelain who just had no luck against our decks when AJ finally got a decent draw. Unfortunately for them they were playing "fair" decks too and our "fair" decks were luckier and had more removal. They were great sports though and made the event fun to play in.
If I were to do it again Id definitely choose AJ as my partner and we'd still play something funky and not necessarily fair but still within the bounds of the spirit of the contest. Because AJ rocks the weird tribes and makes my ideas seem better.
I think the discussion of money cards in relation to FoW is a bit off since it didn't do that great lol also perhaps a bit disappointed to not see more decks playing to a team theme as opposed to just putting two decks together
My history is just one among millions really. I might say 5 years helped, and sometimes they did (and this game did too), but it's very easy to go back to that moment. And there's definitely a before and after in my life, that's stronger than any other kind of crucial moment I could think of.
I will be glad to meet you online for some game or chat, Sebastian. Feel free to seek me. That's part of Erik's heritage we should keep going: bring people together.
I was judging at the event. Todd did give his opponent some of his winnings. He called over another judge to make sure he could do so without raising questions of bribery - the players had already agreed to draw, had signed the slip, and Todd just wanted to thank the player.
As for whether Tod and/or his opponent could draw in - players on the bubble never know for sure. Tiebreakers change based on the results of the final round. Your breakers may be good, but if all your opponents lose that final round, your breakers will drop. Estimating final standings is both a science and an art.
Wow, what touching articles today. I didn't know of Erik until today reading these, but wow how inspiring to see how many lives he's touched. I've had my fair share of problems recently, and reading about this great guy really has helped me put things into perspective. As someone who's lost a friend to suicide, I can definitely relate to the shock and grief of the community, especially those close to him. Reading about Erik has really inspired me to be more active in the Magic community and really appreciate everyone around me. Thank you for this article.
I do not generally comment in articles. I am even less likely to begin comments with the words Dear [insert name].
However, your words are very touching. It takes a lot of courage to share one's past and your eloquence has not only touched me, but also touched those who have read through the article and your comment.
I am sorry for your loss. Thank you again for your words. Let me know if you ever want to play a game.
I had guessed that was the reason the circumstances of Erik's death were kept secret all this time. I was hoping my guess was wrong, but unfortunately it wasn't.
I was in Tami's place 5 years ago. I know what she may feel, and I know anybody who didn't experience the same can't even remotely know.
Five years ago, my girlfriend took her own life, right when we were going to take our relationship into someplace serious. She had a type of bipolar disorder nobody in our circle of friends knew about (her family lived in another city, I never met any of them until after her death). She was living two different lives, and the one with me and our common friends was the fictional one, where she had invented a past, studies, life experiences who weren't real. She told me her father had died many years ago, giving me lots of details; I would meet her father afterwards, and he was shocked to learn that his daughter "killed" him in her mind. I never thought our relationship was fictional too; I think that what we had, and all her fantasies, were her way to fight her illness, a battle that she lost in the end. It's always a matter of a battle that has been lost, and you should never, never blame someone only because they lost their battles, or this world would be even more cruel than it is.
I think we all saw the way Erik chose to fight his battle. We saw it on the forums and websites, we heard it on the podcasts, we had it before our eyes with everything he did for the Magic community. That was his way, one of his ways to fight the battle. And it was a great way. It's not his fault if, in the end, he lost. Good games, man.
I never met Erik online. That's something I terribly regret now. I read all his articles since I was in MTGO, it was an appointment for me every Friday, just like for many of us. But I sadly have no memories of interactions with him to share.
I want just to tell this. You never know. You never know who's on the other side of your connection and what his or her real life is like. You can't guess the pain or the troubles from a screen. So pay respect. Always. Pay respect to your fellow players, that's in a nutshell the lesson I can learn from Erik. From what he wrote, and from the stories I'm reading by people who knew him, I think Erik was, among other things, a deeply respectful person. That's the key for a community. So, please, do what Erik would do while interacting with others. If they're noobs playing bad, ridiculous cards, pay respect. If they're degenerate spikes who just want to win with net decks, pay respect all the same. And if you badly lose, and they are sore winnners, or vice versa, pay respect. Not being able to do that is being human, but doing that is being a better human.
Like, I'm entirely sure, Erik was.
Thanks for the nice write up.
Death of someone you know is always harder then people can think it is, unless they have dealt with it first hand.
Hammy will always be a part of the Mtgo community for me and from the short time that I knew him as a friend and someone I played Magic with online, I will never get over you not being here my friend.
Thanks again to everyone who has and will help with Bruce's Fund. - Joe
As with many people, Erik's weekly presence on here encouraged me to be more involved with puremtgo.com and he made me excited to hear his voice along with AJ's and Seb's. It was during some of my own lows in the game that Erik would encourage and re-interest me. As I mentioned in Sebastian's article I also have had hard battles with inner demons and his positivity was often crucial to me. That he died so young and with a wife and son really hurts a lot but the loss of his selfless and determined existence is even more painful.
He was generous too. He gave me a 10th edition Wrath of God foil for helping him with a deck. Also gave me a foil Dark Banishing for participating in the comments of this site. I think he was truly trying to get us to be more like family and to reflect a greater harmony that he envisioned through little things like participation prizes and deck building contests.
I think his attitude about uplifting and making the community better is what I carry the most of him still. It is not easy for me since I am contentious and bellicose by nature. Despite my ideals I have often alienated people just because I am such an imperfect vessel. Erik set the example for us to follow.
I am thankful to Erik for pointing the way most of his life. I mentioned in my eulogy and in my comments on Seb's article how his death affected me. This is how his life affected me.
Thanks guys for talking about Erik and giving us this tribute and advice. I hope we can inspire the world to be more like Erik while at the same time giving some small succor to those who like him are overshadowed by the darkness in their hearts. A little bit of hope perhaps.
All this time I bit my tongue not knowing whether or not Tami wanted us to talk about the circumstances of Erik's death. Thanks for sharing and for letting us know we have permission to discuss this without hurting the family. Erik's suicide really hurt personally because I have battled those kind of inner demons and fighting them became a little harder knowing someone so important, vibrant and great had left us. Beyond the loss of Erik himself his death really made me think hard and long about my own circumstances and life and what it all means.
I think the process was eventually good for me. I shared my feelings with my Sister and my Dad and step Mom and I talked about how influential Erik was. How I couldn't believe such a winning personality could turn around and feel just the way I do or worse apparently. Or how it must have ravaged him on a daily basis.
I was the one who pointed the FB message out to AJ and Josh. I think we were all stunned that such a thing could be posted on Face Book. It seemed obvious someone had hacked his account and done something terribly malicious. AJ and I discussed whether to call and whom to call and finally I decided to ring the store. When I talked to the person there, she said he wasn't expected in at all that day and couldn't really help me any more than that.
The next day Sunday, a close family friend of Erik's called me and told me the grim news.
I said last year in his Eulogy, I never met Erik face to face and our interaction while sometimes daily on MTGO never delved into personal matters. He always seemed very energetic, positive, and encouraging. He was a bonfire of hope to all of us. His death stole a lot of warmth from the game.
May 4th (I think?) is Erik's birthday and I would rather we remembered him that way than with the day of his death. His power to bring the community together was legendary and I think it would be great if there were some annual event to celebrate this.
Thanks for posting this article Sebastian. I can't tell you how often I think about Erik and it's hard to go on the WOTC forums without seeing his name on old posts or things he did. Erik was a great guy and there has been a huge gap in the community since he left.
my point wassent that you have to jam your deck full of cards for just rites. my point was that there are a plethora of commonly played answers to this stratgy.
its good and strong, but nowhere near bannable. its a teir 2 or 3 stratgy in standard, and will most likely stay there with a 4 cmc to power out.
Doom blade is a perfect answer vs Elesh Norn, but terrible vs Sheoldred (or any Black Fatty). It is all about coming prepared and drawing what you put in your deck because you built it to be prepared.
Go For the Throat is great vs most threats except Wurmcoil, and the very occasional Simulacrum or even more occasional Battlesphere.
Wrath of god effects are usually reasonable turn 4 answers to a turn 3 fatty, if you are on the play.
The thing is knowing what you will be facing. If you can't figure that out then your plan may be doomed to failure. That is why some people like toolkit decks like pod. Because they come prepared for most things and can adapt via sb vs other more rare match ups as well as deal with hate from others expecting them.
Thus is the meta game. The game outside of the game.
Hey whiffy slight correction. Though we Americans do cherish freedom of speech it is not protected on privately owned sites. Though thankfully it is somewhat encouraged here. :)
Nice article. But I think that Invigorate reads more like this "Pay 0: Target creature gets +8/+8". For life purposes at least.
This times a thousand.
Great comment, Kuma.
Well hopefully Jesse there gets a chance to see this response since I won't use the FB reply, but as I mentioned while I agree Cloud of Faeries is a strong card in MUC, you can't really ban it without completely destroying FissureStorm, which I can't see happening
My own laughing at FOW had nothing to do with its expensiveness and everything to do with what it countered. My Sudden Disappearance which was going to kill 3 centaur tokens. And my reaction I admit was born more out of exhausted hysteria than anything truly funny. (It seemed hilarious to me at the time.)
I think AJ's comment was probably more inline with what I should have said: The quote from your own last article about who will keep the spirit of the event and who will try to break it. It seemed you were foreshadowing your own determination to win at all costs a "casual" event. Which is just fine but rather funny in the context of your quote.
Our decks perhaps could have been a little better prepared but his 2x draw to 2 lands in both early games were not helpful and facing combo Aluren and then your own combo was not particularly fun. FOW just was the icing on the cake and its irrelevance is what I was laughing about. (He didn't have to cast it to win since his tokens did nothing anyway and you were going to win with 2x Kokusho on your turn.)
My apologies if my comments and genuine amusement were offensive to you. I tried to keep it from being an argument because it really wasn't. I think it is awesome Aya who is an innovator and who beat NP in the champs of the apoc this year can afford to bring FOW to a game. It isn't my intention to say people shouldn't. Bring them though perhaps as you say it isn't really the card to play in tribal. Planeswalkers fare better. Looking at his list I probably would have run +1 Jace 2.0 and some more wraths. 4 seems a little low. Chalice for 1 was also amusing because neither of us had any cards to cast at that cost but we kept our giggles in check on that count. It was probably a wise move vs the myriad of 1 cost hosers including the exilers, grafdigger's cage, elixir, etc.
We did roll over poor Mihahitlor and Bauchelain who just had no luck against our decks when AJ finally got a decent draw. Unfortunately for them they were playing "fair" decks too and our "fair" decks were luckier and had more removal. They were great sports though and made the event fun to play in.
If I were to do it again Id definitely choose AJ as my partner and we'd still play something funky and not necessarily fair but still within the bounds of the spirit of the contest. Because AJ rocks the weird tribes and makes my ideas seem better.
I think the discussion of money cards in relation to FoW is a bit off since it didn't do that great lol also perhaps a bit disappointed to not see more decks playing to a team theme as opposed to just putting two decks together
I feel compelled to post but I don't know what to write.
Thank you for the article and comments everyone.
Ivo.
Thank you!
My history is just one among millions really. I might say 5 years helped, and sometimes they did (and this game did too), but it's very easy to go back to that moment. And there's definitely a before and after in my life, that's stronger than any other kind of crucial moment I could think of.
I will be glad to meet you online for some game or chat, Sebastian. Feel free to seek me. That's part of Erik's heritage we should keep going: bring people together.
I was judging at the event. Todd did give his opponent some of his winnings. He called over another judge to make sure he could do so without raising questions of bribery - the players had already agreed to draw, had signed the slip, and Todd just wanted to thank the player.
As for whether Tod and/or his opponent could draw in - players on the bubble never know for sure. Tiebreakers change based on the results of the final round. Your breakers may be good, but if all your opponents lose that final round, your breakers will drop. Estimating final standings is both a science and an art.
Wow, what touching articles today. I didn't know of Erik until today reading these, but wow how inspiring to see how many lives he's touched. I've had my fair share of problems recently, and reading about this great guy really has helped me put things into perspective. As someone who's lost a friend to suicide, I can definitely relate to the shock and grief of the community, especially those close to him. Reading about Erik has really inspired me to be more active in the Magic community and really appreciate everyone around me. Thank you for this article.
Sorry I meant online...here in fact. I didn't get to go to Minn. :/
Thank you Paul for sharing.
I wish I had been at his Eulogy. Your words ring very true.
Sebastian Park
Dear Mr. Aicardi (AKA Kumagoro42),
I do not generally comment in articles. I am even less likely to begin comments with the words Dear [insert name].
However, your words are very touching. It takes a lot of courage to share one's past and your eloquence has not only touched me, but also touched those who have read through the article and your comment.
I am sorry for your loss. Thank you again for your words. Let me know if you ever want to play a game.
Thank you,
Sebastian Park
I had guessed that was the reason the circumstances of Erik's death were kept secret all this time. I was hoping my guess was wrong, but unfortunately it wasn't.
I was in Tami's place 5 years ago. I know what she may feel, and I know anybody who didn't experience the same can't even remotely know.
Five years ago, my girlfriend took her own life, right when we were going to take our relationship into someplace serious. She had a type of bipolar disorder nobody in our circle of friends knew about (her family lived in another city, I never met any of them until after her death). She was living two different lives, and the one with me and our common friends was the fictional one, where she had invented a past, studies, life experiences who weren't real. She told me her father had died many years ago, giving me lots of details; I would meet her father afterwards, and he was shocked to learn that his daughter "killed" him in her mind. I never thought our relationship was fictional too; I think that what we had, and all her fantasies, were her way to fight her illness, a battle that she lost in the end. It's always a matter of a battle that has been lost, and you should never, never blame someone only because they lost their battles, or this world would be even more cruel than it is.
I think we all saw the way Erik chose to fight his battle. We saw it on the forums and websites, we heard it on the podcasts, we had it before our eyes with everything he did for the Magic community. That was his way, one of his ways to fight the battle. And it was a great way. It's not his fault if, in the end, he lost. Good games, man.
I never met Erik online. That's something I terribly regret now. I read all his articles since I was in MTGO, it was an appointment for me every Friday, just like for many of us. But I sadly have no memories of interactions with him to share.
I want just to tell this. You never know. You never know who's on the other side of your connection and what his or her real life is like. You can't guess the pain or the troubles from a screen. So pay respect. Always. Pay respect to your fellow players, that's in a nutshell the lesson I can learn from Erik. From what he wrote, and from the stories I'm reading by people who knew him, I think Erik was, among other things, a deeply respectful person. That's the key for a community. So, please, do what Erik would do while interacting with others. If they're noobs playing bad, ridiculous cards, pay respect. If they're degenerate spikes who just want to win with net decks, pay respect all the same. And if you badly lose, and they are sore winnners, or vice versa, pay respect. Not being able to do that is being human, but doing that is being a better human.
Like, I'm entirely sure, Erik was.
Thanks for the nice write up.
Death of someone you know is always harder then people can think it is, unless they have dealt with it first hand.
Hammy will always be a part of the Mtgo community for me and from the short time that I knew him as a friend and someone I played Magic with online, I will never get over you not being here my friend.
Thanks again to everyone who has and will help with Bruce's Fund. - Joe
dont know what to say, feeling really bad at this moment :(
As with many people, Erik's weekly presence on here encouraged me to be more involved with puremtgo.com and he made me excited to hear his voice along with AJ's and Seb's. It was during some of my own lows in the game that Erik would encourage and re-interest me. As I mentioned in Sebastian's article I also have had hard battles with inner demons and his positivity was often crucial to me. That he died so young and with a wife and son really hurts a lot but the loss of his selfless and determined existence is even more painful.
He was generous too. He gave me a 10th edition Wrath of God foil for helping him with a deck. Also gave me a foil Dark Banishing for participating in the comments of this site. I think he was truly trying to get us to be more like family and to reflect a greater harmony that he envisioned through little things like participation prizes and deck building contests.
I think his attitude about uplifting and making the community better is what I carry the most of him still. It is not easy for me since I am contentious and bellicose by nature. Despite my ideals I have often alienated people just because I am such an imperfect vessel. Erik set the example for us to follow.
I am thankful to Erik for pointing the way most of his life. I mentioned in my eulogy and in my comments on Seb's article how his death affected me. This is how his life affected me.
Thanks guys for talking about Erik and giving us this tribute and advice. I hope we can inspire the world to be more like Erik while at the same time giving some small succor to those who like him are overshadowed by the darkness in their hearts. A little bit of hope perhaps.
Winter.Wolf on MTGO.
Ban Lil Kim!!!
Srsly though, Surgical Extraction makes Unburial Rites cry.
All this time I bit my tongue not knowing whether or not Tami wanted us to talk about the circumstances of Erik's death. Thanks for sharing and for letting us know we have permission to discuss this without hurting the family. Erik's suicide really hurt personally because I have battled those kind of inner demons and fighting them became a little harder knowing someone so important, vibrant and great had left us. Beyond the loss of Erik himself his death really made me think hard and long about my own circumstances and life and what it all means.
I think the process was eventually good for me. I shared my feelings with my Sister and my Dad and step Mom and I talked about how influential Erik was. How I couldn't believe such a winning personality could turn around and feel just the way I do or worse apparently. Or how it must have ravaged him on a daily basis.
I was the one who pointed the FB message out to AJ and Josh. I think we were all stunned that such a thing could be posted on Face Book. It seemed obvious someone had hacked his account and done something terribly malicious. AJ and I discussed whether to call and whom to call and finally I decided to ring the store. When I talked to the person there, she said he wasn't expected in at all that day and couldn't really help me any more than that.
The next day Sunday, a close family friend of Erik's called me and told me the grim news.
I said last year in his Eulogy, I never met Erik face to face and our interaction while sometimes daily on MTGO never delved into personal matters. He always seemed very energetic, positive, and encouraging. He was a bonfire of hope to all of us. His death stole a lot of warmth from the game.
May 4th (I think?) is Erik's birthday and I would rather we remembered him that way than with the day of his death. His power to bring the community together was legendary and I think it would be great if there were some annual event to celebrate this.
So crazy. I still feel awful for his family and can't believe it.
FWIW, Wurmcoil has seen some Legacy play in Stax builds, but Stax is really a fringe deck that sees minimal play.
my point wassent that you have to jam your deck full of cards for just rites. my point was that there are a plethora of commonly played answers to this stratgy.
its good and strong, but nowhere near bannable. its a teir 2 or 3 stratgy in standard, and will most likely stay there with a 4 cmc to power out.
Doom blade is a perfect answer vs Elesh Norn, but terrible vs Sheoldred (or any Black Fatty). It is all about coming prepared and drawing what you put in your deck because you built it to be prepared.
Go For the Throat is great vs most threats except Wurmcoil, and the very occasional Simulacrum or even more occasional Battlesphere.
Wrath of god effects are usually reasonable turn 4 answers to a turn 3 fatty, if you are on the play.
The thing is knowing what you will be facing. If you can't figure that out then your plan may be doomed to failure. That is why some people like toolkit decks like pod. Because they come prepared for most things and can adapt via sb vs other more rare match ups as well as deal with hate from others expecting them.
Thus is the meta game. The game outside of the game.
Hey whiffy slight correction. Though we Americans do cherish freedom of speech it is not protected on privately owned sites. Though thankfully it is somewhat encouraged here. :)