We had a PTQ at the StarCityGamesCenter this past Saturday and it was a disappointingly tiny affair of only 30 players. I was one of those players, having originally been scheduled to Floor Judge but cut at the last minute. Having someone with my experience carries diminishing returns as the size of the tournament and staff diminishes. And while I could have provided some spiffy mentoring for the L0s that worked that day, someone had to get benched, and better me than the new guys.
The week before there was a PTQ in North Carolina with something like 60 players. These are small numbers. I've only been around Roanoke for a little less than a year, and during that time we've had a lackluster Limited season and the atrocious Extended season. And yet, 30 players is a new low. There are some popular theories:
a) GP Providence - off the top of my head, I could think of 3 PTQ regulars who went to the GP instead. Realistically we can probably put another ten names on that list.
b) Memorial Day Weekend - maybe some folks just took some regular old vacation time for family and other non-Magical pursuits.
c) Snore-Blade - people are tired of this deck already, and the problem is going to get worse with Batterskull. It's likely that attendance will continue to drop across the board as Magic just isn't much fun under these circumstances. Two players in the semifinals of the PTQ playing the Caw mirror looked like they wanted to kill themselves as they literally battered each other's skulls ad infinitum to the point where the life totals were 60-20 at one point. Zzzzz
d) Open Series - and finally my pet theory. PTQs have always been a winner-take-all thing. No one is there to collect their packs of product. Heck, when allowed to split the product prize, most finals give all of the packs to the loser, and he is indeed the loser because 2 boxes is nothing compared to qualifying for the Pro Tour. When 2nd place is "tied for dead last" you have a lopsided prize structure.
On the other hand, tournaments like the SCG Open Series provide cash prizes down to 32nd place, and making Top 8 is a pretty good day all around. With Top 4 prize splits being the norm, the only extra bonus for winning it all is a trophy, some extra Player's Club points, and some more notoriety. Even before he finally broke through in Charlotte last month, AJ Sacher was doing quite well on the Open Series circuit despite "never winning anything." PTQs are not so forgiving, and it's possible that having an alternative tournament series where you can actually go home with something substantive despite not winning it all is changing the way people look at PTQs.
And that brings us to what will happen with PTQs next year. With an expanded GP schedule and the continued success of the Open Series, where will all these PTQs fit in? And who will be running them? The axing of Regional Prereleases was undoubtedly a blow to the PTOs running them, as I've heard in that past that those tournaments pay the bills for the PTQs, which are only marginally profitable. When WotC started store Prereleases back in 2008, severely cutting back on the profitability of the Regional Prereleases (which were rumored to be cash cows on the scale of GPs), several PTOs up and quit rather than preside over what they perceived as a sinking ship. It seems inevitable that more will follow suit now, so will control of PTQs fall into the laps of the store-level TOs? Will PTQs become slightly larger GPTs more on the scale of what they see in other countries as opposed to the multi-hundred player events that they used to be?
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Myr Superion
Myr Superion is a card that makes Johnny players like me want to break it. Gavin Verhey already took a stab at it here as part of a Birthing Pod chain. Sacrificing a one-drop to get a 5/6 does seem like a good deal, but is it still a good deal when you get it on turn four or five? In Legacy, Aether Vial offers the possibility of dropping a Superion on turn three, but again, is that good enough? Most of the decks running Vial are based on tribal synergies (Merfolk, Goblins) and don't have much use for a Myr, no matter how large. The one deck that utilizes Vial and could use a big artifact creature? Ravager Affinity. However, Affinity has no backup plans to cast the Superion if the Vial plan doesn't work out. That probably makes the card too inconsistent.
Sadly, mana "creatures" like the Spirit Guides and the new Chancellor do not power out a Superion. A creature is only a creature when it is on the battlefield. In any zone other than the battlefield, they are creature cards. It's an area of the rules that we often see trip people up, but it would take far too much effort to rebrand everything as creature permanents. Oddball things like a Tezzeret changing an Everflowing Chalice into an artifact creature does work.
By far the best thing about Myr Superion is its German name: Ubermyr. Yeah. Getting a foil one.
Sadly, mana "creatures" like the Spirit Guides and the new Chancellor do not power out a Superion. A creature is only a creature when it is on the battlefield. In any zone other than the battlefield, they are creature cards. It's an area of the rules that we often see trip people up, but it would take far too much effort to rebrand everything as creature permanents. Oddball things like a Tezzeret changing an Everflowing Chalice into an artifact creature does work.
By far the best thing about Myr Superion is its German name: Ubermyr. Yeah. Getting a foil one.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Japan, one way or another
It's a bittersweet sort of victory that comes after you've just been soundly defeated. The short version is that I'm going back to Japan for Pro Tour Nagoya to once again peddle my rulings on the biggest stage. Tasha will be joining me again, her second time being sponsored to a Pro Tour, second time at a Pro Tour in Japan, but also likely to be her last time for a few years.
You see, just a week ago Tasha was accepted to grad school at Virginia Tech. They tell me grad school is hard, and maybe that's why I never bothered to try it. If all goes well, she will get a part-time job as a TA, and between that and her own studies, taking off for a week of judging is not going to be feasible. When Philadelphia rolls around, her Pro Tour streak will end at three (and in an odd quirk, they have all been on foreign soil). I'm thrilled for her. There's absolutely nothing bittersweet about her getting into Tech. It's all sweet. We'll be moving to Blacksburg, meaning a 45-minute commute for me, but the town really provides the small town college atmosphere that's I've been missing since moving from Davis. Things get a little hectic on Game Day (capital letters not optional), but if we find a nice apartment near campus, it should really help me get back on track with my running. In my part of Roanoke, it just isn't an option to run outdoors. I've tried, but there's no consistent running route anywhere nearby, sometimes there isn't even a sidewalk and that makes for dangerous paths. There's a lack of trees too, and in the summer heat, that's a killer.
College campuses solve all of these problems. Traffic is generally low, or at least diverted to the outskirts, and there are plenty of shady trees. Water fountains will be plentiful too. My thinking is that restarting my training in the fall, I can get myself ready for an early 2012 marathon, possibly tuning up with a half around December.
But back to Japan. The day that Tasha got her acceptance letter to Tech was the same day that we were supposed to flying to Japan for Grand Prix Kobe. However, the tournament was canceled due to the after effects of the earthquake and tsunami. (Actually postponed until April.) With no GP, Tasha and I canceled our flights to Japan. Luckily most of the airlines (including United) had a waiver period in effect and they let us get a full refund for the tickets rather than have to scramble to find some alternate dates of travel. Waiting for Kobe to get rescheduled would not have worked because we still would be on the hook for the difference in price on the tickets, which would have been around $300-400 each. Yeah, we got a pretty good deal on the original Kobe tickets.
But now we have to find decent flights back to Japan in June. I'm always happy to be selected for a PT. And this one promises to be special in many new ways. (Scott Marshall Head Judging!) But the images from Japan still haunt me. I worry whether I will be able to squeeze in another side trip to see my grandfather on the west coast of Japan. Each time (PT Kyoto, Worlds Chiba) I see him, I think it will be for the last time, and promise to come back. Just when I was getting over some of the emotion turmoil I was going through, life thrusts Japan back into my face. Bittersweet.
You see, just a week ago Tasha was accepted to grad school at Virginia Tech. They tell me grad school is hard, and maybe that's why I never bothered to try it. If all goes well, she will get a part-time job as a TA, and between that and her own studies, taking off for a week of judging is not going to be feasible. When Philadelphia rolls around, her Pro Tour streak will end at three (and in an odd quirk, they have all been on foreign soil). I'm thrilled for her. There's absolutely nothing bittersweet about her getting into Tech. It's all sweet. We'll be moving to Blacksburg, meaning a 45-minute commute for me, but the town really provides the small town college atmosphere that's I've been missing since moving from Davis. Things get a little hectic on Game Day (capital letters not optional), but if we find a nice apartment near campus, it should really help me get back on track with my running. In my part of Roanoke, it just isn't an option to run outdoors. I've tried, but there's no consistent running route anywhere nearby, sometimes there isn't even a sidewalk and that makes for dangerous paths. There's a lack of trees too, and in the summer heat, that's a killer.
College campuses solve all of these problems. Traffic is generally low, or at least diverted to the outskirts, and there are plenty of shady trees. Water fountains will be plentiful too. My thinking is that restarting my training in the fall, I can get myself ready for an early 2012 marathon, possibly tuning up with a half around December.
But back to Japan. The day that Tasha got her acceptance letter to Tech was the same day that we were supposed to flying to Japan for Grand Prix Kobe. However, the tournament was canceled due to the after effects of the earthquake and tsunami. (Actually postponed until April.) With no GP, Tasha and I canceled our flights to Japan. Luckily most of the airlines (including United) had a waiver period in effect and they let us get a full refund for the tickets rather than have to scramble to find some alternate dates of travel. Waiting for Kobe to get rescheduled would not have worked because we still would be on the hook for the difference in price on the tickets, which would have been around $300-400 each. Yeah, we got a pretty good deal on the original Kobe tickets.
But now we have to find decent flights back to Japan in June. I'm always happy to be selected for a PT. And this one promises to be special in many new ways. (Scott Marshall Head Judging!) But the images from Japan still haunt me. I worry whether I will be able to squeeze in another side trip to see my grandfather on the west coast of Japan. Each time (PT Kyoto, Worlds Chiba) I see him, I think it will be for the last time, and promise to come back. Just when I was getting over some of the emotion turmoil I was going through, life thrusts Japan back into my face. Bittersweet.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Joey Pasco May be Right
Earlier this week, Joey Pasco (Yo! MtgTaps, SCGLive, Affinity for Islands, and @Affinityforblue on Twitter) wrote a brief yet highly insightful blogpost here. The situation Joey writes about is this:
"This past weekend during the Legacy portion of the StarCityGames.com Open Series in Memphis, TN, Drew Levin was given a game loss going into game 3 of his quarterfinals match versus eventual winner, Alex Bertoncini, for presenting a 59-card deck."
In his blog, Joey pontifies that the penalty here doesn't appear to fit the crime. Many judges and experienced players have already chimed in on Twitter, probably Facebook although I missed it, and in the blog's own comments section. Joey sums up the "opposition" thusly:
1) “These are the rules.” (I don’t dispute this.)
2) “It’s been this way for years.” (I don’t dispute this.)
3) “The reason it is this way is due to the potential for abuse."
I think that's a fairly accurate assessment of the general attitude of judges and regarding this incident in particular. Potential for abuse is one of those terms that gets waved around a lot to explain away penalties. "But look at the potential for aboooooose!" cry the judges.
There certainly is some potential for abuse. Those in the audience that are good at math can tell you all about it. If you have fewer cards in your deck, you have a better chance of drawing the ones that are still there. But I've seen similar math to this regarding fetch lands, and the percentages don't tend to add up to anything significant. Unless you have a "real" reason to run fetch lands (color-fixing, graveyard-filling, styling and profiling), the life loss outweighs the potential benefit of thinning your deck by a card. Clearly the possibility of getting a Game Loss for a "Deck/Decklist Problem," (the technical name for a 59-card mismatch situation like this) outweighs the potential benefit of thinning your deck by one or more. But would anyone want to run this type of cheat anyways?
Of potential cheats, this type of "math cheat" seems far too unreliable for those hardcore miscreants among us to attempt. If you're evil enough to cheat, why would you simply increase your chances of drawing your good cards when you could, I don't know, just draw your good cards through various nefarious means that have been documented over the years (card in lap, "Vampiric" fetch land)? Are there really people out there who like angle-shooting so much that they would shoot for the smallest angles possible?
I suppose that in the history of cheating there may be a dark corner where there is some greater potential for abuse with presenting the small deck, or big deck, or different deck. Certainly once you get in-game, changing the composition of your deck can have a much bigger impact, like removing dead spells against a certain match up so you don't draw them. But at the beginning of the game, especially at Competitive REL where many players count their opponent's decks while shuffling just on the off chance of getting that free win, presenting a 59-card deck seems purely in the purview of mistake with a capital M. And that's what Joey's getting at; clearly this was a mistake.
The kicker here is that there is another situation that can happen at the beginning of a game that has more potential abuse, is only a Warning, but is mirrored by an in-game infraction that is a Game Loss: Improper Drawing at Start of Game (IDSG). This is something like drawing 8 cards, or mulliganing to 7, or drawing when you are on the play. The latter is easy for your opponent to catch, but the first two can be obscured by cards sticking together or a player picking his hand up very quickly. And having an extra card in hand to start the game is a lot more abusive than having one fewer card in your library. Once the game starts, having an extra card in hand is Drawing Extra Cards, punishable by a Game Loss, and yet the IDSG is just a warning--even when it is caught by the opponent and not a player calling a judge on himself. Smells like teen spirit.
This is already much longer than I expected, so I will cut it short now, and leave with this thought: will there be more angle-shooting, 59-card decks presented if the penalty for this at the beginning of the game is just a Warning and "put a card back in and shuffle again"?
"This past weekend during the Legacy portion of the StarCityGames.com Open Series in Memphis, TN, Drew Levin was given a game loss going into game 3 of his quarterfinals match versus eventual winner, Alex Bertoncini, for presenting a 59-card deck."
In his blog, Joey pontifies that the penalty here doesn't appear to fit the crime. Many judges and experienced players have already chimed in on Twitter, probably Facebook although I missed it, and in the blog's own comments section. Joey sums up the "opposition" thusly:
1) “These are the rules.” (I don’t dispute this.)
2) “It’s been this way for years.” (I don’t dispute this.)
3) “The reason it is this way is due to the potential for abuse."
I think that's a fairly accurate assessment of the general attitude of judges and regarding this incident in particular. Potential for abuse is one of those terms that gets waved around a lot to explain away penalties. "But look at the potential for aboooooose!" cry the judges.
There certainly is some potential for abuse. Those in the audience that are good at math can tell you all about it. If you have fewer cards in your deck, you have a better chance of drawing the ones that are still there. But I've seen similar math to this regarding fetch lands, and the percentages don't tend to add up to anything significant. Unless you have a "real" reason to run fetch lands (color-fixing, graveyard-filling, styling and profiling), the life loss outweighs the potential benefit of thinning your deck by a card. Clearly the possibility of getting a Game Loss for a "Deck/Decklist Problem," (the technical name for a 59-card mismatch situation like this) outweighs the potential benefit of thinning your deck by one or more. But would anyone want to run this type of cheat anyways?
Of potential cheats, this type of "math cheat" seems far too unreliable for those hardcore miscreants among us to attempt. If you're evil enough to cheat, why would you simply increase your chances of drawing your good cards when you could, I don't know, just draw your good cards through various nefarious means that have been documented over the years (card in lap, "Vampiric" fetch land)? Are there really people out there who like angle-shooting so much that they would shoot for the smallest angles possible?
I suppose that in the history of cheating there may be a dark corner where there is some greater potential for abuse with presenting the small deck, or big deck, or different deck. Certainly once you get in-game, changing the composition of your deck can have a much bigger impact, like removing dead spells against a certain match up so you don't draw them. But at the beginning of the game, especially at Competitive REL where many players count their opponent's decks while shuffling just on the off chance of getting that free win, presenting a 59-card deck seems purely in the purview of mistake with a capital M. And that's what Joey's getting at; clearly this was a mistake.
The kicker here is that there is another situation that can happen at the beginning of a game that has more potential abuse, is only a Warning, but is mirrored by an in-game infraction that is a Game Loss: Improper Drawing at Start of Game (IDSG). This is something like drawing 8 cards, or mulliganing to 7, or drawing when you are on the play. The latter is easy for your opponent to catch, but the first two can be obscured by cards sticking together or a player picking his hand up very quickly. And having an extra card in hand to start the game is a lot more abusive than having one fewer card in your library. Once the game starts, having an extra card in hand is Drawing Extra Cards, punishable by a Game Loss, and yet the IDSG is just a warning--even when it is caught by the opponent and not a player calling a judge on himself. Smells like teen spirit.
This is already much longer than I expected, so I will cut it short now, and leave with this thought: will there be more angle-shooting, 59-card decks presented if the penalty for this at the beginning of the game is just a Warning and "put a card back in and shuffle again"?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Book Review: Halting State by Charles Stross
Halting State by Charles Stross
I first came across Charles Stross when I picked up the novel Jennifer Morgue, which is best described as Lovecraft-meets-Fleming, a juxtaposition that would intrigue any SciFi junky tired of the same old stuff. On the surface, Halting State's blurb probably reads like a regular old cyberpunk novel: "Police investigate a bank robbery in an online RPG!" However, two things kept it from being normal cyberpunk fare. First, the entire novel is told in second person ("you"). It's unusual for anything to be written in the second person, let alone an entire novel, and Stross manages to pull this one off, even changing perspectives to different characters every chapter (with the chapter's title telling the reader who "you" are.)
The second thing that worked well for me was that the story takes place in the near future, perhaps only 5-10 years from now. Many of the cultural trappings were very familiar, like a character referencing his iPod. While there were a few extra technological advances in the cyber sections, the technology was not so much speculative as just natural advances on what is going on right now. That made it much less of a leap for me to understand what was going on, something I've had trouble with in other harder cyberpunk novels, like anything by Neal Stephenson.
Overall, I am really becoming a fan of Stross, and will start looking to pick up more of his novels.
I first came across Charles Stross when I picked up the novel Jennifer Morgue, which is best described as Lovecraft-meets-Fleming, a juxtaposition that would intrigue any SciFi junky tired of the same old stuff. On the surface, Halting State's blurb probably reads like a regular old cyberpunk novel: "Police investigate a bank robbery in an online RPG!" However, two things kept it from being normal cyberpunk fare. First, the entire novel is told in second person ("you"). It's unusual for anything to be written in the second person, let alone an entire novel, and Stross manages to pull this one off, even changing perspectives to different characters every chapter (with the chapter's title telling the reader who "you" are.)
The second thing that worked well for me was that the story takes place in the near future, perhaps only 5-10 years from now. Many of the cultural trappings were very familiar, like a character referencing his iPod. While there were a few extra technological advances in the cyber sections, the technology was not so much speculative as just natural advances on what is going on right now. That made it much less of a leap for me to understand what was going on, something I've had trouble with in other harder cyberpunk novels, like anything by Neal Stephenson.
Overall, I am really becoming a fan of Stross, and will start looking to pick up more of his novels.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Bye bye Miss Organizer Pie
Gavin Verhey wrote an article yesterday titled "Topical Blend #1: The Day Magic Died." The very next day, Magic actually died as if Gavin were a modern day Nostradamus. If you haven't seen, I am referring to this. The Cliff's Notes version is thus: the WPN (Wizards Play Network; local level organized play) will longer sanction FNM, Game Days, Prereleases, and Launch Parties for independent TOs, that is TOs who are not associated with a Brick and Mortar store. These TOs are encouraged to find a store to associate with in order to continue running these events.
There are a lot of problems held within this seemingly simple announcement. The easiest objection is when an independent TO does not have a nearby store that they can associate with. This is the story that is in particular being told to us by our friends in the non-US. The UK in particular seems like it is being hit hard, or at least they are voicing their objections loudly due to their lack of stores (FNMs overwhelmingly take place in pubs and other similar public locations).
Some indie TOs in the US have similar problems, especially those who run events for college gaming clubs. Some of these clubs have no store in town that they can associate with. Others may find that store too far away, as college students can sometimes be tied down to their campus due to a lack of motor transportation. Other indie TOs may know of a nearby store, but not want to associate them. In fact, the reason many of them took on the mantle and responsibility of being a TO for their gaming club was because their LGS (Local Gaming Store) was shady/terrible/etc.
I did a brief rundown of the stores that have been in my former hometown of Davis since the start of Magic. By my count there have been 7 in 16-17 years, and it's possible I am not remembering one or two. There are currently 2 active ones. So just doing a general average, LGSs have lasted 2-3 years. This sounds about right. Many such stores do not get past the first year due to poor planning and management. One of the two actives has been around since almost the beginning, but it is in fact, the worst of the bunch as they are currently suspended from running events due to selling Prerelease product early and then trying to circumvent their ban by sanctioning under a different TO.
You can understand if indie TOs would not want to associate and put their good name alongside such characters. And yet that is what the WPN change may force them to do. And then what happens when the terrible LGS closes after 2 years? With a college gaming club, there will frequently be decent continuity over generations as a former leader graduates and trains a successor. I've certified a couple of judges who were looking for training to become such successors. When an LGS location dies, playgroups will often fracture and disappear into the wind (this happened to me when the LGS we went to turned out to be--surprise--corrupt).
"Just start your own store" is not a viable option for most of these indie TOs, as they are college kids. But they have become a vital part of the community and arguably one of the reasons that Magic is so vibrant right now. Cutting them off at the knees with no notice was simply a dagger.
Speaking of daggers, as a judge, I feel that I've been daggered as well. Earlier in the year there was a program where certified judges earned promo cards by playing, judging, or organizing FNMs. The program even went one step further by giving additional promo cards to judges who brought FNM to new store locations that had not previously run tournaments (at the time judges were granted Core Level TO status independent of TOs). This was a great way to get the people who knew how to run tournaments in touch with the people who didn't. Now that the store TOs are properly trained and running their own FNMs, it's "thanks for all the fish but we don't need you anymore." Judges, like all other indie TOs, must associate themselves with an LGS in order to run FNM/Game Day/Prereleases/Launch Parties. It's like some twisted version of the Homestead Act where once you build up your farm, the government takes it back.
One final rant/warning: Prereleases for Mirrodin Besieged are going to suck. For the past two years, the WPN has already been struggling with getting their product allocation correct for Prereleases. Over and over the lament has been TOs having to turn players away because they didn't get enough product. What do you think is going to happen when some number of the Prereleases suddenly disappear off of the map because they were run by indie TOs. Do you really think that will be the magical time when they accurately predict the proper allocation? If you plan on going to a Prerelease for the next set, you should: 1) go to a big Regional Prerelease where they have no allocation limit (at least in theory; 2) preregister at your LGS; 3) get there early. Or a lot of you may not go to a Prerelease because you now have none nearby, or you had a good rapport with your indie TO, or you don't like your LGS. The WPN has been a flagship program for giving people more ways to enjoy Magic. Now there are less. Will attendance rise at the LGS locations as people flock to them for FNMs and such? Inevitably, but that should not be mistaken with growth. Overall, we will lose players because of this.
Finally, I guess I should address the concern that this change happened because of corrupt TOs who were pocketing the foils and selling them, reporting fraudulent tournaments, and other bad things. I'd seen/heard of this happening in California. Guess who was doing it? Hint: it wasn't indie TOs.
There are a lot of problems held within this seemingly simple announcement. The easiest objection is when an independent TO does not have a nearby store that they can associate with. This is the story that is in particular being told to us by our friends in the non-US. The UK in particular seems like it is being hit hard, or at least they are voicing their objections loudly due to their lack of stores (FNMs overwhelmingly take place in pubs and other similar public locations).
Some indie TOs in the US have similar problems, especially those who run events for college gaming clubs. Some of these clubs have no store in town that they can associate with. Others may find that store too far away, as college students can sometimes be tied down to their campus due to a lack of motor transportation. Other indie TOs may know of a nearby store, but not want to associate them. In fact, the reason many of them took on the mantle and responsibility of being a TO for their gaming club was because their LGS (Local Gaming Store) was shady/terrible/etc.
I did a brief rundown of the stores that have been in my former hometown of Davis since the start of Magic. By my count there have been 7 in 16-17 years, and it's possible I am not remembering one or two. There are currently 2 active ones. So just doing a general average, LGSs have lasted 2-3 years. This sounds about right. Many such stores do not get past the first year due to poor planning and management. One of the two actives has been around since almost the beginning, but it is in fact, the worst of the bunch as they are currently suspended from running events due to selling Prerelease product early and then trying to circumvent their ban by sanctioning under a different TO.
You can understand if indie TOs would not want to associate and put their good name alongside such characters. And yet that is what the WPN change may force them to do. And then what happens when the terrible LGS closes after 2 years? With a college gaming club, there will frequently be decent continuity over generations as a former leader graduates and trains a successor. I've certified a couple of judges who were looking for training to become such successors. When an LGS location dies, playgroups will often fracture and disappear into the wind (this happened to me when the LGS we went to turned out to be--surprise--corrupt).
"Just start your own store" is not a viable option for most of these indie TOs, as they are college kids. But they have become a vital part of the community and arguably one of the reasons that Magic is so vibrant right now. Cutting them off at the knees with no notice was simply a dagger.
Speaking of daggers, as a judge, I feel that I've been daggered as well. Earlier in the year there was a program where certified judges earned promo cards by playing, judging, or organizing FNMs. The program even went one step further by giving additional promo cards to judges who brought FNM to new store locations that had not previously run tournaments (at the time judges were granted Core Level TO status independent of TOs). This was a great way to get the people who knew how to run tournaments in touch with the people who didn't. Now that the store TOs are properly trained and running their own FNMs, it's "thanks for all the fish but we don't need you anymore." Judges, like all other indie TOs, must associate themselves with an LGS in order to run FNM/Game Day/Prereleases/Launch Parties. It's like some twisted version of the Homestead Act where once you build up your farm, the government takes it back.
One final rant/warning: Prereleases for Mirrodin Besieged are going to suck. For the past two years, the WPN has already been struggling with getting their product allocation correct for Prereleases. Over and over the lament has been TOs having to turn players away because they didn't get enough product. What do you think is going to happen when some number of the Prereleases suddenly disappear off of the map because they were run by indie TOs. Do you really think that will be the magical time when they accurately predict the proper allocation? If you plan on going to a Prerelease for the next set, you should: 1) go to a big Regional Prerelease where they have no allocation limit (at least in theory; 2) preregister at your LGS; 3) get there early. Or a lot of you may not go to a Prerelease because you now have none nearby, or you had a good rapport with your indie TO, or you don't like your LGS. The WPN has been a flagship program for giving people more ways to enjoy Magic. Now there are less. Will attendance rise at the LGS locations as people flock to them for FNMs and such? Inevitably, but that should not be mistaken with growth. Overall, we will lose players because of this.
Finally, I guess I should address the concern that this change happened because of corrupt TOs who were pocketing the foils and selling them, reporting fraudulent tournaments, and other bad things. I'd seen/heard of this happening in California. Guess who was doing it? Hint: it wasn't indie TOs.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Having Fun with Kraj in EDH
The latest iteration of my Experiment Kraj EDH deck got to play tonight and it was a blast. Kraj is now a very heavy artifact themed deck, and with new additions from Scars of Mirrodin, fun was aplenty. Things that Kraj did tonight:
* copied Avatar of Woe and Pili Pala to machine gun kill some duders.
* copied Palinchron to save himself from being turned face down by Ixidron.
* copied Master Transmuter to return himself to his hand to avoid a Sower of Temptation after the original Master dropped a Mycosynth Lattice.
* copied a Leech Bonder. This actually wasn't that spectacular because I had to go to some lengths to anti-matter the -1/-1 counters off before being able to copy the ability. I may switch this with Knacksaw Clique.
In addition to fun with Kraj, the deck did some things with new additions like:
* searching for any creature card with Eye of Ugin and Mycosynth Lattice.
* stealing stuff for fun and profit with Magus of the Unseen (a highly underrated card).
* Myr Battlesphere "rolled out" (and I did the roll out dance).
* Inexorable Tide proliferated. Sadly for the most part, all I did was get extra counters on Mirrodin's Core. Just before Tide got blown up, I got a few extra counters on Triskelion (Japanese Steam Punk version).
* copied Avatar of Woe and Pili Pala to machine gun kill some duders.
* copied Palinchron to save himself from being turned face down by Ixidron.
* copied Master Transmuter to return himself to his hand to avoid a Sower of Temptation after the original Master dropped a Mycosynth Lattice.
* copied a Leech Bonder. This actually wasn't that spectacular because I had to go to some lengths to anti-matter the -1/-1 counters off before being able to copy the ability. I may switch this with Knacksaw Clique.
In addition to fun with Kraj, the deck did some things with new additions like:
* searching for any creature card with Eye of Ugin and Mycosynth Lattice.
* stealing stuff for fun and profit with Magus of the Unseen (a highly underrated card).
* Myr Battlesphere "rolled out" (and I did the roll out dance).
* Inexorable Tide proliferated. Sadly for the most part, all I did was get extra counters on Mirrodin's Core. Just before Tide got blown up, I got a few extra counters on Triskelion (Japanese Steam Punk version).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)