I’m not talking about FNM this week. Before you say it, yes that’s because it wasn’t a good evening. My notes are terrible, I got a bye in one round and really there was nothing beneficial to be said anyway. I’ve often been told by people I respect that I would burn out on Magic very soon; that was about six months ago and although I am not there yet, I think I might be getting close. Losing a lot, not really feeling excited about any of the potential decks, Magic-related stress and drama creeping in and plenty of other stress and drama are combining to make me less and less exuberant on a Friday afternoon as I head down to Midgard.
Is this really Chris Lansdell writing this article? Yeah, I know. Of all people, I never thought I would ever hit that point. Hell, Magic has been the thing that pulled me OUT of such spirals before. Et tu, Magic? How can you betray me now, by being the cause? Well, maybe because Magic doesn’t actually OWE me anything. Even if I accept that I have repaid my debt to it (and I don’t), the game has no obligation to be the panacea it has been in the past. I’ve often said of the judge program that it will take from you as much as you are willing to give it, and reward you correspondingly. Playing is no different. I have not put anywhere near the thought and effort into the game that I usually do, and it shows. Sadly, I don’t have the mental energy to do so.
Can it be that simple? Is it time to take a break, recharge my batteries? Does my love need rekindling? I think that to be counter-productive. Taking a break won’t lead to my doing anything productive with the time on a Friday night; I know this from experience. Magic remains my only social outlet, FNM the only time I can relax and enjoy real company of real people. Taking a break from Magic would also necessitate a break from podcasting, and that too is an outlet for me. No, the answer instead is to find other ways to enjoy this game, and to get enjoyment from the game by being a benefit to the community while not actually, you know, winning games.
Young Wolf.
The easiest way for me to do that is to help the young players, the Little Ninjas as I have dubbed them, with their deckbuilding and their play skill. Yes yes, I hear you in the peanut gallery muttering about the partially sighted leading the visually challenged. Never heard that one before. The fact is that you don’t actually have to be good at something in order to teach others. I know the theory behind deckbuilding, I just don’t put it into practice. Same goes for actually gameplay: I can theorycraft with the best of them, but for some reason I never seem to be able to remember any of it while actually playing. Most of the advice I end up giving gets repeated, many times and often to the same ninja. It’s also the same advice I received over and over again from people who knew better than me.
New, young players are the most vital resource in any community. They often attack the game with such youthful exuberance that some of the more jaded, cynical veterans find the attitude quite jarring and occasionally, irritating. Resist the urge to show that. Remember when you first started playing? I’d be willing to bet you were just as excited, just as eager to play Magic until you had blisters on your thumbs from riffle shuffling. You too devoured every article, wanted to build every deck and always wanted to talk about your performance. You wanted feedback, you wanted advice and when you did well, you wanted praise for it. Did you get it? I know I didn’t, which is why I go out of my way to provide it now. Magic players move on sometimes, and if we don’t replenish them then our game will die. If we don’t encourage the next generation of players, if we don’t help them out at FNM and stop them from making terrible plays, if we don’t give them that junk rare they really need, or hand them our draft droppings, or take the time to look through their deck and give them advice…who will be playing in five years?
I was never more proud of our little ninjas than when two of them made top 8 of Game Day, with another young player going all the way to the finals. What was rewarding was seeing how proud they were of their own accomplishments. I was then glad to see so many members of the community taking the time to congratulate them on their run. There was a fourth young player who narrowly missed out, and rather than getting all salty about his near miss he was ecstatic about his play. This is the kind of thing we need to encourage! The excessive enthusiasm will temper itself. Eventually, they will listen and take the [card]Sorin Markov[/card] out of their Vampire deck or the [card]Call to the Kindred[/card] out of their UB Zombie deck. Energy and passion for this game are so precious that we should be nurturing and directing it however and whenever we can.
Infectious Host.
Man are you going to end up hating that heading when you see where this is going.
Let’s try an exercise. Reconcile these two statements:
Rich Hagon drives me nuts when he is on coverage and makes me want to plug my ears with candles.
Rich Hagon is the best thing going for coverage and is the only irreplaceable person on the team.
I love Richard Hagon. Not just because he’s British, or has a fondness for terrible puns that would make LSV blush. The man is the consummate professional (cliché alert!) and is absolutely perfect for his role. He is the one that simplifies the professional game that we see on camera for the neophyte viewer, the one providing the play-by-play to (usually) BDM’s colour. And his love for the game is, well…infectious.
The entire coverage team at this past weekend’s World Magic Cup was exceptional. Marshall and Sheldon are coming into their own and have worked out most of their early kinks to become truly comfortable in the booth and at the news desk. Since Rashad and GGsLive took over, the coverage has been getting better each time out and reached the point last weekend where it was the best I’ve seen-bar none. With that accomplished, what’s the next step?
The World Championships felt special to me last year, and not just because we thought it was the last one. The pageantry of the opening ceremony and Hall of Fame induction, the feeling that you were cheering on your country AND your favourite players, the way it felt like a major event. Even though I called Pro Tour Dark Ascension “the greatest Magic event I have ever seen” on Twitter, Worlds felt…more major somehow. Pro Tour Avacyn Restored continued the trend, possibly because a friend won the whole thing but also because of the new features: news desk, detailed deck techs and draft walkthroughs.
What Wizards has done is taken what they used to do for Pro Tour top 8 coverage and basically extended it to cover the whole event. This is a very good thing. However, the top 8 now feels no different from the rest of the matches with the exception of the best-of-5 format. How can we add to the spectacle of the top 8, make it feel as massive for the viewers at home as it does for those in attendance? What can we do to spread a portion of the excitement around the world? Well, how about we take a page from the respective books of MMA and pro wrestling?
Lest you all reach for a bucket and some Pepto-Bismol I am not for one second suggesting Conley Woods and LSV would show up in Spandex tights and play inside a steel cage under the watchful eye of Herb Dean. I’m thinking more along the lines of entrance music, light shows and a pre-match handshake if they want it after a short speech from the table judge. Let the players appeal to the crowd. Have confetti fall on the winner after the final. Have someone (level 3 judge and Grand Prix permafixture John Alderfer has the PERFECT voice for this) introduce each player Michael Buffer style, listing their titles and accomplishments and putting energy and enthusiasm into it. Just leave out the weight. We don’t need to know that.
This might be a little bit of a logistical issue but I’m confident it could be worked out. Just imagine if this had been in place for the final of PT Avacyn Restored. Gaudenis comes out to one track, with Team SCG Black behind him as his “entourage.” Hayne comes out next with Team ManaDeprived, likely using Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Riccardo Tessetori addresses them, they shake hands and sit down and start playing. At the end of the match Gau extends his hand and confetti falls on Hayne. A booming voice comes over the PA system “Ladies and gentlemen your winner and NEW Pro Tour champion: Alexander Haaaaaaaaaayne!”
That sort of thing only works for the finals of a major event, but instead of doing text-only interviews and profiles with the top 8 I’d like to see them done on camera. Get them all together and have the announcer read off their name, deck, team affiliation (if any), home country and accomplishments. Then record a video interview with each player, asking similar questions to the current text interviews, and put them up after the event on YouTube. This gives people a reason to go back and watch older coverage even if they’ve seen the matches, increasing hits on the Wizards YouTube channel and bringing more interest.
Flow of Ideas.
And now some quick-hit thoughts to wrap us up:
Menacing Ogre: Don’t be a bully, OK? Plenty of us were bullied growing up, and I get that some of you are still scarred by that. You might think you’re “just having fun” but ask yourself this: how many of the people who bullied YOU thought they were “just having fun” at the time?
Zombie Apocalypse: After rotation, when we lose [card]Celestial Purge[/card] and [card]Gut Shot[/card]…how are we beating Zombies exactly?
Thieves’ Auction: Man, what the hell TSG? I don’t know if I should hope there was some compelling need for cash that made him do this, thus making it easier to understand but still inexcusable, or just be glad he got caught stealing from his friends and partners. I have to think that he wouldn’t risk his career, his friendships and his reputation for that sort of money, so either it’s been a long-term thing or he had a lapse of judgment. Just a sad, sad story.
Winter’s Grasp: A Pro Tour in Canada! WOOHOO! Not that I am likely to qualify or be able to judge it, but still its awesome news…wait what? FEBRUARY? If we thought GP Lincoln was GP Hoth, this could well be PT Flight Cancellation.
Dual Casting: Following up PT Montreal with GP Quebec City with the Winter Carnival in between may seem like an excellent idea if we hope that travel woes won’t happen. Magic pros are often fond of exploring local culture and events, so being able to span two events with something as world-famous as Winter Carnival would be a great idea. Even better idea: have another North American GP on the same weekend! Brilliant! With Star City being the organizer for GP Charlotte, you can expect some amazing promotion as well (they did the Gold Rush last time) which will tempt more people to go there. Over/under on GP Quebec City attendance is at 550…
Magus of the Future: Decks I’m looking at: WG Human Pod, [card]Rhox Faithmender[/card]/[card]Thragtusk[/card] lifegain stuff, mono-green [card]Trading Post[/card]. Yeah, I know. I’m thinking the latter will happen first as I’ve always wanted to play [card]Ezuri’s Brigade[/card].
That’s it for this experimental, likely never-to-be-repeated version of my weekly ramblings. Hopefully I will just win some matches this week!
Chris is a deck brewer, podcaster and lover of bacon. He’s recently realised he isn’t completely terrible at this game.