Secondly just wanted to share... I provided some feedback a few days ago, through the link on the article about the MOCS & PTQs. As always I tried to make my feedback email not be a rant.
Today I had a nice surprise... an email from Worth saying "I wanted to write to you to thank you for sending your feedback. Especially as delivered in a constructive, actionable manner."
He also arranged for my account to get a free draft set of boosters as a thank you!
I'm sharing this as it's on topic to your opinion section on giving feedback. Not to brag (well, maybe a little!) but to encourage others to definitely provide feedback on what WotC is doing right and wrong, but to make sure it's written in a constructive way.
Do it because your feedback should be in that form to be easier to read. Or do it because it's much more likely to lead to the result you want. Or heck, do it because you might get free stuff!! :-)
The guy taking those pictures deserves what he got. Bullying is simply intolerable.
That said, hygiene is a serious issue in the community. Many other competitive sports and games have dress codes at the high levels of play, and I think this would be appropriate for magic as well. I'm not saying everyone should be expected to wear collared shirts and slacks or anything. Something like requiring belts with pants, no obscene shirts, no obviously ill-fitting clothes/exposed ass/midriff would be a good start. Smell is an issue but I think a rule about this needs to be enforced only in extreme cases and should also apply to heavy cologne/perfume. These rules should apply to GPs and Pro Tours. Other tournaments can be at the TO's discretion.
All of this falls under sportsmanlike conduct and respect for the game, and I'm honestly surprised that it hasn't been done already.
I would take copious notes whilst playing and then wing a report from there. This isn't the first time they've knocked replays out.
Deck clinics can be fun (Sean is certainly not the only one who does that sort of thing) but then you may need to figure out what the goal and scope of such an article is. Are you tuning a deck for tourney play? Is it for 1v1? How will the changes help in multiplayer? Etc. Which in the end may be more work. And you need a setup article as you indicated with some rules for submissions (trust me you want a few rules via Attachments etc)
The banning was apt. Bullying even in the guise of "being funny" is not acceptable. Being narcissistic (lacking all empathy for fellow human beings) is not an excuse. Yes visually seeing people with weight issues sit in folding chairs is not pleasant. However no one should be looking at that as their focus of attention during a 4500 player tourney. No one who came there to win anyway. If you aren't there to win then why are you there? To make fun of obese players who did come to win? To be a jerk/asshat to people you've never met because you think they are somehow wronging you? Eighteen months was lenient, imho.
OK next subject: The failures of WOTC with software. Duh? Glad they are still hiring people in an attempt to get things working. You make some very valid comments Pete, via commenting on this subject matter. It is easy enough to rage and rant and being hyperbolic because who ISN'T just the tiniest bit frustrated with this long running comic tragedy? I am not sure it isn't helpful to list out what you think needs doing even if this is already "known" by those that read these comments. Sometimes things bear repetition and sometimes people need to have things spelled out in great detail, again and again before something clicks.
I agree that saying "This is upset-making, stop doing this" is probably not the most encouraging comment to receive. But it does indicate that people care. Which is imho important.
The buttcrack picture guy should not be banned or be getting in trouble in any way. They should be bannning the huge tubs of lard that are so fat they dont even know when they are showing 4 inches of crack.
The main reaon I quit paper magic was the stench and overall disgustingness of the other magic players, with the majority coming from the neckbearded fatties shown in the buttcrack picture series.
Ban anyone with noticably poor hygiene from attending tourneys and the attendance will go up and everyone will be happier (except the stinky people).
So replays are down on MTGO. This really hoses me and this column in a lot of ways. I don't really have the ability to do live recordings most of the time. I can't even do my old school reporting of turn-by-turn game play because I used replays for that. And based upon how Wizards is about this kind of stuff I can't depend on replays coming back any time soon.
So a couple options:
1. I can do a deck tech video of new decks, and then do 1 paragraph recaps of a couple of games just based off memory. Not really sure I like this, mainly because my memory is bad, and there isn't really a whole ton of info conveyed in a paragraph without actual game play.
2. Deck doctoring. Yes, I know this is pretty much exactly what the Dear Azami guys do over at Starcitygames. But I have done a little bit of it in the past, and I'm more than willing to do it again. This would mean that people would actually have to send me decks, so that's up to you guys.
3. I can write about Commander related stuff that you guys are interested in! I have 1 or 2 ideas already in the hopper, but I need additional thoughts and ideas. If there's something about Commander that you want help with, or have questions about the format, let me know!
4. Go on hiatus. Booo, no one likes that option.
Of course all of this becomes moot if replays come back, but as I said, I doubt this will happen. So help a brother out and let me know what you want to read!
I do like Sword of Vengeance. If only costed 1 mana less either to cast or equip, it would be seen more. The Warhammer/Sledge are probably better. (Maybe in that deck, a couple Basilisk Collars would have been even better for you Dark Confidant problem?). I think in a vacuum the Warhammer is better than the Sledge, because it maximizes trample, and the Sledge can't be equipped on Mirran Crusader. :)
justcanceled was running Price of Progress. I know because I lost the crucial game against him while I was about to win, this way: I was at 4, had only 1 nonbasic land in play, he had 1 card in hand. I draw Overgrown Tomb, play Overgrown Tomb (tapped!) without even thinking about it, ready for the final assault. He plays Price of Progress, wins.
And that's how I learned not to play nonbasic lands against red if it's not strictly necessary.
I'm running Loxodon Warhammer to neutralize the drawback of Dark Confidant, due to its Lifelink factor together with a single copy of Whip of Erebos. If I didn't need any extra Life, I would prefer to add a Sword of Vengeance instead, to increase both attack & defense stability.
The core of this deck is actually coming from a BGW Hate deck type that Classic players are well familiar with. Here is my version, I had played at Blippy's Ham on Wry II & 2013 CQ League QT 1 : http://www.gatherling.com/deck.php?mode=view&id=13383
AJ, actually I was expecting to see some Price of Progress or Blood Moon variants around. And I adjust my land base as slightly for them. Not much, but better prepared than not.
I did ask that when he went mystic into sledge in our game this week. There's certainly an argument to be made for the Loxodon Warhammer family being the next step down, and +2/+2, lifelink and trample is the most 'sword-like' ability line out there, one benefit from either colour, the same power and toughness boost, just no proection.
I was amused to have last week's discussion with Kuma so thoroughly vindicated with Rom's deck choice, though. The best cards money can buy regardless of elegance, an expensive and intensive mana base, off tribe creatures in just for being efficient lumps of creature or utility. Can't argue with what works, but it can be tempting to go the blood moon/magus of the moon route. Worth noting that that wouldn't help against the winner, though. Tough call.
I still don't quite get the purpose of the singleton mystic and singleton sledge in Rom's deck. It seems like a double sledge would serve the same purpose without the off-tribe guy. Also is Behemoth Sledge the best equipment left after the swords/batterskull have been taken off the table?
:)
Firstly great article as always.
Secondly just wanted to share... I provided some feedback a few days ago, through the link on the article about the MOCS & PTQs. As always I tried to make my feedback email not be a rant.
Today I had a nice surprise... an email from Worth saying "I wanted to write to you to thank you for sending your feedback. Especially as delivered in a constructive, actionable manner."
He also arranged for my account to get a free draft set of boosters as a thank you!
I'm sharing this as it's on topic to your opinion section on giving feedback. Not to brag (well, maybe a little!) but to encourage others to definitely provide feedback on what WotC is doing right and wrong, but to make sure it's written in a constructive way.
Do it because your feedback should be in that form to be easier to read. Or do it because it's much more likely to lead to the result you want. Or heck, do it because you might get free stuff!! :-)
The guy taking those pictures deserves what he got. Bullying is simply intolerable.
That said, hygiene is a serious issue in the community. Many other competitive sports and games have dress codes at the high levels of play, and I think this would be appropriate for magic as well. I'm not saying everyone should be expected to wear collared shirts and slacks or anything. Something like requiring belts with pants, no obscene shirts, no obviously ill-fitting clothes/exposed ass/midriff would be a good start. Smell is an issue but I think a rule about this needs to be enforced only in extreme cases and should also apply to heavy cologne/perfume. These rules should apply to GPs and Pro Tours. Other tournaments can be at the TO's discretion.
All of this falls under sportsmanlike conduct and respect for the game, and I'm honestly surprised that it hasn't been done already.
What about the fiscal analysis for Scars Block? Could we have it next week, please?
Or Insane Clown Posse/Justin Beiber... we haven't decided :D
Sure Kansas will be next i guess.
I would take copious notes whilst playing and then wing a report from there. This isn't the first time they've knocked replays out.
Deck clinics can be fun (Sean is certainly not the only one who does that sort of thing) but then you may need to figure out what the goal and scope of such an article is. Are you tuning a deck for tourney play? Is it for 1v1? How will the changes help in multiplayer? Etc. Which in the end may be more work. And you need a setup article as you indicated with some rules for submissions (trust me you want a few rules via Attachments etc)
The banning was apt. Bullying even in the guise of "being funny" is not acceptable. Being narcissistic (lacking all empathy for fellow human beings) is not an excuse. Yes visually seeing people with weight issues sit in folding chairs is not pleasant. However no one should be looking at that as their focus of attention during a 4500 player tourney. No one who came there to win anyway. If you aren't there to win then why are you there? To make fun of obese players who did come to win? To be a jerk/asshat to people you've never met because you think they are somehow wronging you? Eighteen months was lenient, imho.
OK next subject: The failures of WOTC with software. Duh? Glad they are still hiring people in an attempt to get things working. You make some very valid comments Pete, via commenting on this subject matter. It is easy enough to rage and rant and being hyperbolic because who ISN'T just the tiniest bit frustrated with this long running comic tragedy? I am not sure it isn't helpful to list out what you think needs doing even if this is already "known" by those that read these comments. Sometimes things bear repetition and sometimes people need to have things spelled out in great detail, again and again before something clicks.
I agree that saying "This is upset-making, stop doing this" is probably not the most encouraging comment to receive. But it does indicate that people care. Which is imho important.
I was able to obtain a new comment, but not new news, on the Tribal Wars return here: http://community.wizards.com/comment/50327166#comment-50327166
I love the album cover backgrounds. Will you only be using albums from bands with geographically themed band names (Boston and Asia so far)?
The banning over crackgate was 18 months, not 6.
Ha! I forgot how lame 8 card packs were back then.
The buttcrack picture guy should not be banned or be getting in trouble in any way. They should be bannning the huge tubs of lard that are so fat they dont even know when they are showing 4 inches of crack.
The main reaon I quit paper magic was the stench and overall disgustingness of the other magic players, with the majority coming from the neckbearded fatties shown in the buttcrack picture series.
Ban anyone with noticably poor hygiene from attending tourneys and the attendance will go up and everyone will be happier (except the stinky people).
You didn't change not to now before copy-pasting the PE Top 8 Change section.
So replays are down on MTGO. This really hoses me and this column in a lot of ways. I don't really have the ability to do live recordings most of the time. I can't even do my old school reporting of turn-by-turn game play because I used replays for that. And based upon how Wizards is about this kind of stuff I can't depend on replays coming back any time soon.
So a couple options:
1. I can do a deck tech video of new decks, and then do 1 paragraph recaps of a couple of games just based off memory. Not really sure I like this, mainly because my memory is bad, and there isn't really a whole ton of info conveyed in a paragraph without actual game play.
2. Deck doctoring. Yes, I know this is pretty much exactly what the Dear Azami guys do over at Starcitygames. But I have done a little bit of it in the past, and I'm more than willing to do it again. This would mean that people would actually have to send me decks, so that's up to you guys.
3. I can write about Commander related stuff that you guys are interested in! I have 1 or 2 ideas already in the hopper, but I need additional thoughts and ideas. If there's something about Commander that you want help with, or have questions about the format, let me know!
4. Go on hiatus. Booo, no one likes that option.
Of course all of this becomes moot if replays come back, but as I said, I doubt this will happen. So help a brother out and let me know what you want to read!
Oh crap replays are off!! Ughh...
Good stuff Pete, thanks for reporting.
I am probably sadder about replays than most. I hope they are back soon!
I considered it, but I ran with Price/Magus of the Moon last regular week, and I prefer to mix it up so as to be harder to plan for.
I do like Sword of Vengeance. If only costed 1 mana less either to cast or equip, it would be seen more. The Warhammer/Sledge are probably better. (Maybe in that deck, a couple Basilisk Collars would have been even better for you Dark Confidant problem?). I think in a vacuum the Warhammer is better than the Sledge, because it maximizes trample, and the Sledge can't be equipped on Mirran Crusader. :)
justcanceled was running Price of Progress. I know because I lost the crucial game against him while I was about to win, this way: I was at 4, had only 1 nonbasic land in play, he had 1 card in hand. I draw Overgrown Tomb, play Overgrown Tomb (tapped!) without even thinking about it, ready for the final assault. He plays Price of Progress, wins.
And that's how I learned not to play nonbasic lands against red if it's not strictly necessary.
I'm running Loxodon Warhammer to neutralize the drawback of Dark Confidant, due to its Lifelink factor together with a single copy of Whip of Erebos. If I didn't need any extra Life, I would prefer to add a Sword of Vengeance instead, to increase both attack & defense stability.
The core of this deck is actually coming from a BGW Hate deck type that Classic players are well familiar with. Here is my version, I had played at Blippy's Ham on Wry II & 2013 CQ League QT 1 : http://www.gatherling.com/deck.php?mode=view&id=13383
AJ, actually I was expecting to see some Price of Progress or Blood Moon variants around. And I adjust my land base as slightly for them. Not much, but better prepared than not.
I did ask that when he went mystic into sledge in our game this week. There's certainly an argument to be made for the Loxodon Warhammer family being the next step down, and +2/+2, lifelink and trample is the most 'sword-like' ability line out there, one benefit from either colour, the same power and toughness boost, just no proection.
I was amused to have last week's discussion with Kuma so thoroughly vindicated with Rom's deck choice, though. The best cards money can buy regardless of elegance, an expensive and intensive mana base, off tribe creatures in just for being efficient lumps of creature or utility. Can't argue with what works, but it can be tempting to go the blood moon/magus of the moon route. Worth noting that that wouldn't help against the winner, though. Tough call.
I still don't quite get the purpose of the singleton mystic and singleton sledge in Rom's deck. It seems like a double sledge would serve the same purpose without the off-tribe guy. Also is Behemoth Sledge the best equipment left after the swords/batterskull have been taken off the table?
I used to play Goldmeadow Harrier in my modern Kithkin deck, and she is recognized as a Kithkin in-game.
"Maybe one day, we will find a deck where we can utilize the flashdance of Snapcaster Mage & Mystic Snake duo."
You can try Restoration Angel and Mystic Snake. :)
The original unedited poem is linked in poem title.