I received a fair bit of feedback on this last article I wrote, saying that each topic needed less said about it so that I could fit more topics in. That’s a real challenge for me, since I actually love talking. You may have noticed this. I’ve tried to take that feedback on board, so let’s take a look at my Stream of Consciousness for the last week and a bit.
Recently, a WWE performer came out as being gay. This is the first time an active member of the roster has ever come out. I have so far been pleasantly surprised by the reaction to the news among wrestling fans and sites I follow, though I am sure elsewhere it has been less welcoming. It did make me wonder though: what would the reaction be if a pro Magic player came out as gay? I’d like to think it would be “Yay. Now let’s play Magic,” but I have this nagging feeling I am viewing that through rose-tinted lenses.
Have we ever HAD an openly-gay pro player? Or is it just such a non-issue in our varied community that it just doesn’t get talked about? Given the reactions certain small and vocal elements have whenever the “Women in Magic” topic comes up, I’m almost afraid to find out.
Stay well away from Huey Jensen, lest you spontaneously combust. I mentioned last time that you should be going out of your way to watch this man play Magic, and his GP win this past weekend (his first top 8 in over 10 years) is just further proof that he is not a normal human being with Magic cards. Look out, Dublin. To paraphrase Rihanna, this man is on FYAH.
Also making top 8 at the event were Travis Woo and his brother Elliott, “Bennie Beatdown” Lundquist, GP Vegas winner Neal Oliver and Joshua Goldman, boyfriend of Horde of Notions cohost Adena. Nope, I didn’t know Travis had a brother either. Of course with that sort of name value, poor Josh got zero coverage.
Meanwhile, Chris Pikula was busy making top 8 of another SCG Legacy Open. I hope he gets in some practice in formats that might actually have a Pro Tour associated with them at some point…
Speaking of the Grand Prix this weekend, how good was the ChannelFireball coverage? LSV and Sperling were excellent in the booth, Marshall was Marshall and the camera work and between-rounds content were both very good. With NicoNico covering the Japanese GP and SCG also doing their own events, I have to wonder when someone will step up and cover the Canadian ones.
On a related note, streaming events from your local store costs less than $200 to get started and can provide excellent exposure for both your store and your community. Midgard Gaming, my local store, does it and our GPT stream this weekend went over 100 people multiple times.
It’s not just GGSLive coverage that is snubbing Canada (neither Calgary nor Toronto will have video coverage this year). When TCGPlayer took over the running of State Champs from Sunmesa Events, it seems they decided Canada was not worth including. Well we love you too, JERKS. The infuriating part is their steadfast refusal to provide a reason either publicly or privately for this decision. Help us understand, TCGPlayer. We love Magic too!
Another Magic Online PTQ, another record broken…and also more broken records. This time 943 people lost the event, and even the guy who won could be said to have lost too. There have been Grands Prix this year with 250 fewer people and four times the PT invites. At a GP you also have byes, a night to rest in the middle of the event and the ability to ID. It is high time Wizards gave out more invites when attendance is this ridiculous, but they won’t as long as people keep playing. If you want the online PTQ system to change, make like Michael Jacob and vote with your wallet. Don’t play.
How can the online PTQ system be better? How about even splits after 300 people? So 280 would be one event, 320 would be two events of 160 people, 711 would be three events of 237 and so on. That way you don’t take away the MTGO route to the Pro Tour but you also make it feel more like a paper PTQ in terms of size.
MTGO was in the news twice this week as they made changes to the phantom event payout. Now you can no longer win real cards for playing phantom events, though you CAN go infinite on them without any more than an initial 6-ticket investment. They also still pay out a QP for going 3-0. Many people were angry, as they could no longer get something for nothing.
People have been flashing in [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card] to stop fetches in Modern for a while. In Legacy, [card]Stifle[/card] on a fetch can be a back-breaking play. So why is nobody playing [card]Squelch[/card] or [card]Trickbind[/card] in Modern? Like [card]Shadow of Doubt[/card] they have the utility of stopping a combo deck as well (Twin in this case, and [card]Trickbind[/card] counters storm triggers), and [card]Squelch[/card] even draws you a card.
Because it had been at least a week since a pro complained about something most people never have to worry about, the “cap on GP points” issue came up again this week. On the one hand I think we should be encouraging pros to attend as many GPs as they can, since the number of people who come to these events in the hopes of playing and beating a pro is non-zero. It’s a big part of the experience that feels like it’s lacking if the pros aren’t there. On the other hand it is a huge drain on the pros, who feel they have to keep going in order to keep pace with the Martin Juzas and Shuuhei Nakamuras of the circuit when it comes to World Championship races. Would it be so unreasonable to have the first five count at 100%, the next 10 at 60% every one after that at 20% for Pro Points?
While building my cube, one of the cards I knew I wanted was [card]Pack Rat[/card]. It had ruined the RTR Limited format for me but, given that cube is closer to constructed than true Limited I figured it would be fine. Turns out it really isn’t. We had a player draft it this week with Ogre Slumlord in mono-black and it was just as unfair as you remember. It’s on the cut list, no question. With that in min…why isn’t it seeing any constructed play?
Am I the only one who goes back and looks at old Standard and Extended decks and wonders why on earth they are not seeing any Modern play? Cards like [card]Isochron Scepter[/card], [card]Disciple of the Vault[/card], [card]Protean Hulk[/card], [card]Mystical Teachings[/card] and [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] are seeing almost no play, yet all were banned or dominant in their day.
If you want a deck that is fun, powerful and unconventional for your next Standard FNM, this took me to a 4-1 record this past week:
4 [card]Scroll of Avacyn[/card]
1 [card]Elixir of Immortality[/card]
1 [card]Bubbling Cauldron[/card]
2 [card]Blind Obedience[/card]
3 [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card]
3 [card]Prophetic Prism[/card]
2 [card]Pacifism[/card]
3 [card]Oblivion Ring[/card]
2 [card]Rhox Faithmender[/card]
3 [card]Angelic Accord[/card]
4 [card]Trading Post[/card]
4 [card]Archangel of Thune[/card]
4 [card]Terminus[/card]
4 [card]Mutavault[/card]
4 [card]Seraph Sanctuary[/card]
2 [card]Encroaching Wastes[/card]
14 [card]Plains[/card]
2 [card]Chalice of Life[/card]
1 [card]Oblivion Ring[/card]
2 [card]Brave the Elements[/card]
1 [card]Rhox Faithmender[/card]
1 [card]Blind Obedience[/card]
1 [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card]
2 [card]Pithing Needle[/card]
2 [card]Witchbane Orb[/card]
1 [card]Pacifism[/card]
2 [card]Celestial Flare[/card]
Another decklist that caught my eye this week was this one by local player Lawrence Bouzane, who has gone 8-0 with this over the last 2 FNMs. He lent it to James “JamRand” Randall this weekend for the GPT and he promptly made top 8 despite going in blind with the deck.
1 [card]Baneslayer Angel[/card]
2 [card]Blade Splicer[/card]
1 [card]Eternal Witness[/card]
2 [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card]
3 [card]Kitchen Finks[/card]
4 [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card]
2 [card]Mystic Snake[/card]
4 [card]Noble Hierarch[/card]
1 [card]Qasali Pridemage[/card]
3 [card]Restoration Angel[/card]
1 [card]Vendilion Clique[/card]
3 [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card]
2 [card]Cryptic Command[/card]
3 [card]Path to Exile[/card]
1 [card]Elspeth, Knight-Errant[/card]
1 [card]Garruk Relentless[/card]
3 [card]Aether Vial[/card]
1 [card]Arid Mesa[/card]
2 [card]Breeding Pool[/card]
2 [card]Celestial Colonnade[/card]
1 [card]Forest[/card]
1 [card]Gavony Township[/card]
2 [card]Hallowed Fountain[/card]
2 [card]Island[/card]
1 [card]Marsh Flats[/card]
4 [card]Misty Rainforest[/card]
1 [card]Plains[/card]
2 [card]Razorverge Thicket[/card]
2 [card]Scalding Tarn[/card]
1 [card]Seachrome Coast[/card]
1 [card]Temple Garden[/card]
2 [card]Aven Mindcensor[/card]
1 [card]Bojuka Bog[/card]
1 [card]Gaddock Teeg[/card]
2 [card]Obstinate Baloth[/card]
1 [card]Qasali Pridemage[/card]
2 [card]Rule of Law[/card]
2 [card]Stony Silence[/card]
2 [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card]
1 [card]Tectonic Edge[/card]
1 [card]Thrun, the Last Troll[/card]
Add [card]Aether Vial[/card] to the list of underplayed Modern cards. Even after Shouta dominated last year’s Players’ Championship with a Vial deck, it has seen almost no Modern play.
With just under a month to go until the next Banned and Restricted announcement, talk of both [card]Show and Tell[/card] (Legacy) and [card]Birthing Pod[/card] (Modern) has resurfaced. Personally I would not be shocked to see [card]Cryptic Command[/card] get the axe in Modern, as I have this terrible feeling we are going to see a control PTQ summer if something isn’t done.
Right, I’m off to buy every [card]Squelch[/card] I can find. Even if it sucks, who can complain about saying “Squelch it” multiple times per event? Not me! Until next time.
Chris is a deck brewer, podcaster and lover of bacon. He’s recently realised he isn’t completely terrible at this game.