Magic Weekend over Spring Break

Hello Everyone!

I am finally on spring break, and it's great to be able to relax and know that there's nothing due tomorrow, no classes I have to wake up for, and that I can just sleep a lot (A LOT). I spent my last night at school drafting Gatecrash at the shop in a slightly different position from normal. I had been mentoring two people and preparing them for their first draft. Both are relatively new players with about six months experience a piece.

I feel that learning how to draft is a crucial part of learning how to become a better magic player. When you're drafting you have to consider your deck as a whole and where you expect it to go, even when you're only two or three cards in. Removal is very good, but we want our deck to actually DO something. Having creatures to attack our opponent is good, but we want to have some way to catch up from behind. Balancing big and small creatures and so on are all things that we think about when drafting that can also be translated over to constructed deck building. Making sure we have a good curve, a way to apply pressure, but also how do we deal with our opponent's threats? When you become a better deck builder, knowing how to put the pieces together to make a cohesive deck, you become a better player because you know what every card's role is and how they should work together to lead to a victory.

I don't have the deck in from of me to copy down, but I drafted an insanely aggressive Gruul deck featuring 3 Madcap Skills and 3 Mugging and the deck curved out at 3 (some cards were higher but had bloodrush). I started out 2-0 in cumulatively 20 minutes, so I spent A LOT of time sitting around watching everyone else play. This turned out to be a good thing because it gave me the opportunity to observe the two new players I brought, and occasionally I was able to provide insight into various plays. For example the correct line of play to sequence closing out a game to ensure your opponent doesn't have any tricks, or at least play around the most likely/most number of cards.

Round three wasn't so nice to me though, and I lost to an insanely removal heavy Orzhov deck. I am yet to play a deck besides Boros or Gruul in this format, but Orzhov consistently does well, so I want to see if I can force it next time. The final round I played against one of the two people I had brought to the draft, but in the end I was victorious putting my record to 3-1 and hers to 2-2. My other friend did not fare so well ending the day at 1-3.

Observing the final round made me realize how harshly critical I can be, and made me aware that when teaching I need to be able to maintain a friendly relationship. One of my friends who had been drafting and playing a long time made several mistakes such as not attacking with a 2/2 into the opponent's 1/1 on turns 2 and 3 and I gave him the third degree (later in the game the opponent was at 4 life and the game stalled out for two turns). While he said he wasn't offended, I felt like an asshole. He just won the draft! I should be celebrating and being happy with him, instead I'm pointing out all his errors and saying he should have lost. Regardless, I am very happy for him, and I look forward to next time trying to play him in the finals.

A couple days later, and after sleeping for 20 hours straight, I got back together with the old Legacy group and we played for hours. I was playing Ad Nauseum Tendrils and Zombies against RUG, Zoo, and Doomsday. I haven't gotten to play good legacy in a very long time, and it felt amazing to finally have games with very tough decisions and long, complex games.

Finally on Monday I learned about a new phenomenon at Toys called "Monday Night Magic", a Monday night standard event . Of course, I didn't learn about this until I was at the store 10 minutes before it was scheduled to begin because I was getting back cards I had lent out to a friend for an SCG Legacy event. Having no standard cards, I borrowed Ben Stark's Esper Control deck from the Pro Tour.

Round 1: vs Julian w/ Naya

I have no idea what decks are good or popular in standard, so when I durresed Julian and saw Acidic Slime and Restoration Angel I knew it was going to get ugly, but I didn't know what I was to expect from the rest of the deck. I wound up getting a couple Drownyards blown up, but stole game 1. Game two I had all my white sources blown up quickly and I lost. Game three "went to time" but the judge wasn't looking at the clock and we finished before he noticed the round was 5 minutes over and so we were able to finish before going to turns.

2-1
1-0

Round 2: vs Charlotte w/ Humanator

The day before MNM someone posted this hilarious video on the lgs facebook group. My personal favorite line comes at 2:38 when he says, "You're like Plaxico Burris, you don't understand triggers!" When I was playing against Charlotte, she reanimated an Angel of Glory's Rise with the full combo in the yard, but I hit it with a Dramatic Rescue before the ETB trigger resolved. Apparently she didn't know this was possible and with great joy I called her Plaxico Burris. A couple turns later I lost... justice. Regardless, I was able to win game two thanks to Rest in Peace exiling about twenty-five of her cards including the entire combo twice over. Game three went to turns, and by definition we ended in a draw. However, I was turn #5 and milled her down to 0 cards in library. By definition passing turn there means it's a draw, but I asked for the concession since she would lose if she took her turn and there was nothing she could do. She begrudgingly conceded.

I think that is the honorable thing to do in all events - a draw is practically a loss for both players. If it's impossible to discern a winner, sure a draw is the only way to resolve it, but in that scenario where it's completely clear cut and dry just concede. I have done it in the past as well.

2-1
2-0

Round 3: vs Matt w/ Naya Humans

Matt was the gent who lent me the deck for the night, and he jokingly explained the major reason he didn't want to play Esper was because he didn't feel like going to time every round. We didn't go to time as I lost 0-2 in less than 15 minutes, dying to a flurry of burn (Searing Spear, 2x Boros Charm) to end the streak.

0-2
2-1

Round 4: vs Jon w/ Bant Ramp

Game 1 I completely threw away because I was so tired from hours of intense play I forgot I had a Devour Flesh in my hand when being attacked by his sole Restoration Angel with Kessig Wolf Run to end the game. Game two he said he completely punted as well, but I was able to grind him down to nothing. Game three once again went to turns, but this time I was able to kill him on his turn 5. My turn 4 I cast Psychic Spiral with 18 cards in my yard and 12 cards in his deck.

2-1
3-1

I wound up finishing second place, and Matt finished in first. I shipped him $5 that I won as a thank you tip for lending me the deck. I feel this is something people don't do enough, and they take people lending cards for granted. Regardless, I had an amazing weekend and a great start to spring break!

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Drafting Rares for Fun and Profit

Hello Everyone!

I have not been able to play nearly as much magic as I would have liked this semester. I haven't been able to write as much for this reason, and when I do, it's about MTG politics as opposed to discussing the actual cards. There isn't much for playing on the floor since everyone is so busy in work, so my only outlet is really just FNM drafts at the local shop. This week I was finally able to get myself out to Larry's for some Gatecrash action! However.... they were out of Gatecrash, so we drafted Return to Ravnica instead!

I brought along a friend who had never drafted before to observe my drafting and playing so that next week she would be more comfortable doing so on her own. Here's the deck she watched me assemble:

Deathrite Shaman
Gatecreeper Vine
Azorious Arrester
Sewer Shambler
Axebane Guardian
Loxodon Smiter
2x Selesnya Sentry
Stonefare Crocodile
Korozda Moniter
Sluiceway Spider
Towering Indrik
Corpsejack Menace
Rubbleback Rhino
Zanikev Locust
Necropolis Regent

Swift Justice
Ethereal Armor
Common Bond
Avenging Arrow
Chorus of Might
Trostani's Judgement
Slime Molding

Rogue's Passage
Grove of the Guardian
Temple Guardian
Selesnya Guildgate
Overgrown Tomb
Golgari Guildgate
4x Plains
4x Forest
3x Swamp

This was a pool draft, so you keep what you open, and then at the end there are scalding prizes. So let me draw your attention to this: 7 Rares! (Deathrite Shaman, Loxodon Smiter, Corpsjack Menace, Necropolis Regent, Grove of the Guardian, Temple Guardian, Overgrown Tomb). So I had already won the draft before round one even started!

I put myself in a very interesting position for that draft. I was trying to explain my picks to my friend behind me without giving up any information to the other drafters at the table. So I would constantly gesture to cards and say "I like this" and "I don't like this" but I found it difficult to explain why. Sometimes it was "I really want this, but this is slightly better" and "I'm glad we didn't pick this because it tabled" but besides that I found it really hard to make it a teachable moment for her.

This trickiness continued into the games themselves as I usually block out the entire world when I play. Usually I am completely unaware of my surroundings as I funny invest myself in the game at hand. This didn't do well for teaching. I tried doing things like holding my hand open more so she could view my hand, and I was glad when she would tell me how her line of thinking was the exact same a mine, but regardless I did my best.

I wound up 4-0ing the draft (we had 2 pools of 8 that became a 16-man swiss FNM, which I didn't agree with) dropping only one game in round one. I felt that my deck didn't have any sort of synergy - the most "combo" thing I pulled off was casting Common Bond with a Corpsejack Menace in play - and I didn't adhere to any guild mechanics all too closely. In a way I think this is a great generic deck because it really is just a pile of good cards. When you have enough good cards together, things go over much better for you!

For winning, I won a Gameday Champion playmat for Gatecrash, the full art Firemane Avenger, and 8 packs of RTR. To say the least, I netted A LOT. For the low low cost of $10 and 4 hours of my afternoon I received:

$40 in rares, including 2 shocks and a Deathrite
8 packs of Return to Ravnica (8 * $3 = $24)
Full art foil Firemane Avenger (Ebay: ~$15)
Gameday Champion Playmat (Ebay: ~$50)

Net: +119

Wow! I shocked even myself when I came out with that number! Disregarding any financial implications, I had a ton of fun finally getting back to drafting and hanging out with friends, while making new ones. I look forward to my next draft, when my friend will also take her turn in the hot seat.

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Pro Tour Gatecrash

Hello Everyone!

This past weekend we had the very exciting Pro Tour Gatecrash, won by none other than Tom Martel! I have been a huge fan of Martel for a very long time, and I'm really glad to see him make it all the way and take home the cup.

I was unfortunately not able to watch much of the Pro Tour because I was spending the weekend with my girlfriend, but I did carve out Sunday to watch the top 8 and catch up on the drama from the days prior. The biggest card of the weekend was easily Boros Reckoner, which I'm kicking myself for not thinking about during Gatecrash previews. When I first saw the card, I was tired and dreaming small, and overall felt like it would be decent but not great. Also, I was following Jesse Smith on twitter and he started going nuts for the card, so I really didn't want it to be good.

Regardless of my misplaced feelings for the card, it was the face of the tournament, including 4 in Martel's winning list. It's all the way up to $26! People were doing all kinds of crazy things with Reckoner ranging from Blasphemous Act to Harvest Pyre for 20 to simply playing it as a dominate board presence. No matter when it was played, it was generally very good! However, I don't think it will stay that way for long. The reason the card is so good in this current format is because there is no non-burn spot removal. It's been many years since we haven't had a playable Doom Blade type card in the format, so I completely missed on it.

However, while I'm a huge fan of Tom Martel and I'm really glad he won, I am not a huge fan of the deck. What I'm more excited about is Melissa DeTora. While I have never met her, she plays near where I do and we have interacted on local Facebook groups from time to time. She brought a much needed innovation to Bant Control to the table, and it worked fantastically for her, sending her into the Top 8. She is the first female to ever top 8 a Pro Tour!

Reid Duke previously was the master of Bant Control, and he splashed black for Nephalia Drownyard, however since then Esper Control has established itself as a better Nephalia Drownyard deck (which Ben Stark made the top 8 with). As a response to all the Drownyard action, players have been sideboarding in one or two Psychic Spiral to their decks for those glorious "Oops! I win!" moments, as happened to Ben Stark. As we go deep, we realize that since there is a perfect counter to the previous mill strategy, the best way to counter that counter is to completely sidestep the fight and attack from a different angle (and actually attack!). Bant is distinctly different from Esper because it plays more creatures like Thragtusk and Centaur Healer, so we have many more creatures to pump with our Wolf Run.

I think going down the road, this is going to be the best control deck in the format. One important thing for a control deck to do is to be able to close out games quickly. With Nephalia Drownyard, you're milling your opponent, so they don't have their game plan disrupted and you may even draw them some cards in the form of flashback spells. With Kessig Wolf Run though, we can end the game in the blink of an eye in just one or two turns. One of the reasons Caw-Blade was so dominant in its time (even before New Phyrexia came out) was because it too had the ability to close out games very quickly. Gideon Jura + Celestial Colonnade was a 2 turn clock, so as soon as you established enough control to punch through a little damage, your opponent was insta-dead.

One card that I have heard some people talk about, and I feel is also very exciting for Wolf Run Bant is Assemble the Legion. This card is fantastic at dominating the board! I would suggest just playing 1 or 2 because you never want multiples, but this card is simply amazing when it comes to making a board presence. Imagine this curve: Farseek, Supreme Verdict, Assemble the Legion. Now our opponent has to constantly add more and more creatures to the board in order to get any attackers through, and within a couple turns they cannot profitably attack for the rest of the game. Keep in mind the tokens also have haste so when granted the opportunity for profitable attacks, we can drop in 5 tokens and immediately get in there. Wolf Run only makes this better as we can just attack with 2 or 3 guys, leaving up tons of blockers, and we don't have to fear the swing-back.

Looking at DeTora's list, I would suggest cutting a Restoration Angel and a Syncopate for 2 Assemble the Legion. The one issue that Assemble does have is that it doesn't have an immediate impact on the board, so if we're too far behind, it may not do enough. Even if that's enough to prevent Assemble from seeing much play, I think it will at the very least see a bump in value as other players try it out in their deck, so it's worth picking up regardless - it's a bulk rare, so you can't go wrong!

Overall I thought the Pro Tour was once again very exciting, and I had a lot of fun watching when I could, and cheering for my favorite players as I followed on twitter. If you played the Fantasy Pro Tour on Facebook, here was my roster:

Planeswalker: Jace Architect of Thought (15)
Big Creature: Angel of Glory's Rise (93)
Medium Creature: Hellrider (192)
Small Creature: Ash Zealot (72)
Instant: Searing Spear (240)
Sorcery: Bonfire of the Damned (98)
Enchantment: Detention Sphere (72)
Artifact: Chromatic Lantern (0)
Non-Basic Land: Sacred Foundry (248)
New Set Card: Boros Reckoner (381)
Player: Yuuya Wantanabe
Total: 1284

The highest possible was (from what I have researched):

Planeswalker: Garruk, Primal Hunter (275)
Large Creature: Thragtusk (369)
Medium Creature; Huntmaster of the Fells (390)
Small Creature: Augur of Bolas (249)
Instant: Searing Spear (240)
Sorcery: Pillar of Flame (232)
Enchantment: Rest in Peace (178)
Artifact: Grafdigger's Cage (76)
Non-Basic Land: Stomping Ground (354)
New Set Card: Boros Reckoner (381)
Player: Tom Martel
Total: 2744

I enjoy the Fantasy Pro Tour, although I'll admit I'm terrible at it. Regardless, I like how Magic is getting into things like Fantasy league to help create a more real community and environment.

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Magic Organized Play

Hello Everyone!

I love playing magic, and like most things that I love doing I want to share it with all of my friends. However, Magic can be perceived as a nerdy, useless game from an outside perspective. How come its socially acceptable to run as fast as you can at your friends who just push you in the dirt? How can making pig piles like 3 year olds on a giant field be considered the most popular sport in america while critical thinking and situational analysis is laughable?

It comes down to perception. It comes down to the media.

Professional sports are overwhelmingly dominant in this category. Players like Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez are household names even for people who haven't watched the sport in years. The celebrity and power of these sports figures transcends their line of work and they are bigger than themselves.

Physical sports are very easy to consume by the average user, it's clear to see that the guy ahead of everyone else in a running race is winning. So does this mean that mental sports are not consumable by the public? Of course not! Chess and Poker come to mind as two mental sports which are incredibly popular. Here are the current standings for chess internationally. It's easy to see why Chess may not be too popular in the USA right now, we don't have any celebrities! Only 4 players from the USA make the top 100 at positions 8, 18, 68, and 83. Compare this to Russia who has 25 players on that list including positions 2, 5, 10, 12, 14, 20, and 22, and you can see why chess is significantly more popular over there! Former Chess World Champion of over a decade Gary Kasparov was so popular in Russia that he even ran for President and had a significant following! Poker too has an incredible following. This is ESPN's recent power rankings for best poker players in the world. Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth each have over 150,000 followers on twitter, which is a good measuring stick for assessing popularity and relevance.

So why has Chess lost so much relevance in the USA where Poker is so popular? People love rivalries, I know I do! We love having our hero emerge victorious! All the greatest stories have protagonists and antagonists, both of whom receive deep character development and in doing so draw you closer to both sides and invests you in the conflict. Bobby Fischer is considered to be the greatest player of all time and his opponent, who made the cover of Life Magazine and Sports Illustrated, and was a national phenomenon. Since then though, we have not had a true American hero Chess player, and the game has suffered appropriately.

In poker though, we don't just have player who is taking on the unknown enemy from afar, but instead we have a group of people playing each other. We can learn about each player at the table, and become invested in each of their stories. As such, poker is incredibly popular and frequently gets spots on ESPN.

So how come if it is so possible for mental sports and cards to become so popular, Magic is left out of the loop?

This is a matter of approach-ability. It comes down to perception. It comes down to the media.

Celebrity in Magic

MTG certainly has some celebrities. Players like Luis Scott-Vargas, Paulo Vitor Dama Da Rosa, Patrick Chapin, Brian Kibler, Shuhei Nakamura, and Yuuya Wantanabe all perk any magic player's ear because the names are so recognizable. Magic even has it's own living legends of history: Kai Budde and Jon Finkel. I know this is the case for even casual players who have no aspirations for the Pro Tour by observing the room when Brian Kibler played FNM at my local store a little over a year ago.

Last year just before Christmas Brian sent out a tweet saying that he was going to be in my neck of the woods, and was looking for a place to play FNM, so I enthusiastically tweeted him the address for Toys. I didn't hear back, but when I got to FNM a little early with my not so trusty Burning Vengeance deck in hand, I found Brian at a table jamming a game with some of the other people who were also early. I instantly went into fan boy mode and tried talking about anything magic with him. Soon more and more people came and it seemed like I was watching the same 30 second YouTube clip over and over again where a random person walks into a room, looks around before exclaiming something to the degree of, "Holy shit! Is that Brian Kibler?!" Some people went as far to immediately pull out their phone and call their friends. This was the case for 98% of the crowd with the only ones confused at the commotion were all in middle school.

But even then, they figured it out soon! Round 1, Kibler was paired against Casey who was in 7th grade. Like clockwork, as soon as everyone finished their matches, they immediately packed up and tried to get the best seat possible to watch Brian play. Casey asked, "Why is everyone watching me play?" to which I responded by asking if he knew who his opponent was. It only took one small sentence to grab Casey's full attention after I said, "This is Brian Kibler, he was just voted into the Pro Tour Hall of Fame last year." Immediately his eyes went wide, and he sat straight up in his seat with perfect posture, clearly hoping to take down the best in the world.

If I had any doubts to a celebrity player's effect on the game, that day renounced it. No one in that room left without knowing exactly who was in our presence, and I could tell the fire was turned up a little inside everyone, we all aspired a little more to be like that.

Over a year later, Brian writes this article.

Woo boy.... Imagine how exciting it would be if there were no more named pros on the professional circuit? It would become the SCG Open series. Not saying the SCG Open series is bad, but when I watch the live streaming I care more about the commentary from recognizable named pros more than I do about the actual people playing. Of course the decks are cool, but if we have a Standard GP and an SCG Open streaming at the same time, would you rather watch PV play UWr Flash or John Doe? Obviously you would rather see PV, a master of the game! You know what's even more exciting? When PV is playing against someone whose name you also recognize. Let's say it's someone like Alex Hayne, winner of PT Avacyn Restored. Even if you don't care too much about him you know that he too is an incredibly good player and is absolutely worth your time to watch. This doubles the excitement because you know that it just won't be a one sided beating on some n00b, but instead a very well thought out, crafted, challenging game. As Brian said in his article though, the incentive to play is not there any more and he may not go to any GPs next year, along with LSV.

I hope we see the severe disaster on the horizon

The Issues with Current System

So clearly we need to develop a new system that caters to our top players. But we also want to allow for new pros to emerge. This creates a serious conundrum, and there is no easy answer. Staying on the Pro Tour is important because players like PV can be incredibly good, but this year he is in a slump. Should one of the best players of all time get thrown back to the ranks of PTQ grinding because of a 3 month slump? Clearly this is a net negative. However the way the current system is designed is by accumulating Pro Points. Here's the point value of various finishes. When you acquire Pro Points you can move up the 3 ranks for players: Silver (15 points), Gold (30 points) and Platinum (45 points). Here's the full article on PPC, including benefits. Basically Silver gets you less byes for a GP than you would get for winning a GPT, Gold means you don't have to PTQ any more, and Platinum gives you the kingdom. Put another way, you get nothing until Platinum.

As a college student who is incredibly busy (This is my 5th session working on this post to get this far), it is nearly impossible to go to a lot of events, even FNMs. If I were aspiring to be a professional Magic player, I have two choices - win a PTQ or accumulate 30 pro points to get a qualification. Winning a PTQ is an insane task in and of itself - requiring the perfect deck, perfect play, and a lot of luck to go your way. Coming in second place in the PTQ only gets you pity points from your friends, so at least going the Pro Points route we get something that accumulates.

The problem is though that if you look at the values of Pro Points awarded to different finishes in GPs and Pro Tours, you realize that GPs provide nearly nothing in value, however Pro Tours don't provide enough on their own. This means the only way to get up to Platinum, the only level with reasonable value, we need to go to an ungodly amount of Grand Prix and come in the top 64 of all of them!

Top 8ing 5 GPs and attending all 3 Pro Tours won't even get you gold...

Carrie Oliver wrote a sobering article on ChannelFireball last year that basically analyzed the $ per Planeswalker Point she earned over a GP weekend. Since that article and many others like it went up, the system was changed to what we have today. While this is certainly a better system because it isn't completely arbitrary, it also isn't completely reasonable to achieve. When doing a cost-benefit analysis and a risk-reward analysis of the current Pro Point system we have to acknowledge it's not worth our time to try and make it to platinum. If we do make it to platinum, we have our costs softened, but if we get even 44 points, we're SOL and get nothing. Is that worth the risk?

People respond to benefits, but the benefits aren't there. In the old Pro Points structure, there were 8 levels that you could rise to. Level 8 is the equivalent of today's Platinum where only the best of the best would go. What we have as Gold was what level 4 was back then with an invitation to every Pro Tour in the year. Our current Silver was equivalent to level 3, which qualified you for one Pro Tour. Just based off those numbers and comparisons we can already see a problem - there's a huge gap missing between Gold and Platinum! Players like Conley Woods and Craig Wescoe fell in this middle range because they are very good players, but not the top 5 in the world. In the old system there were simple benefits at level 6 and money at level 7, so those aformentioned players could still play a ton and not go completely broke. Their not level 8 and therefor can't consider it a full second source of income, but it's enough to allow you to play a lot competitively. Here it's be the best in the world or get absolutely nothing!

Imbalance in Grand Prix

There are so many iterations where someone who is very very good but can't play a lot and slips up once gets absolutely nothing, adding insult to injury. The United States got 18 Grand Prix this year (2013 GP Schedule) vs the rest of the world which got 27. Seperated by continent we have:

Asia - 7

Europe - 11

Oceana - 3

North America - 4

South America - 2

Considering the USA is a part of North America, USA players have local access to 22 Grand Prix, which is as much as the rest of the world combined. If it's so hard for me to get to Grand Prix when I have local access to half the annual offerings and nearly endless options, how can we reasonably expect anyone from outside North America to do the same? I understand it's a USA-made game, but still, this blanket policy is excluding the entire international community!

Seeing as it is so essential to go to a lot of Grand Prix to accumulate enough points to make Gold, or more importantly Platinum, we are clearly creating significant barriers to international players. International players are so essential to the game! Before the rise of ChannelFireball, Japan was the overwhelmingly dominant country in the world of MTG (and they are moving back to that position now). Without the international scene we wouldn't have Kai Budde, Martin Juza, Shuuhei Nakamura, Paulo Vitor Dama Da Rosa, Yuuya Wantanabe, Gabriel Nassif, Samuele Estratti, and so many more. All of these players are either in the Hall of Fame or are Platinum players, so it's much easier to maintain that status than someone trying to break in. However, as Kibler mentioned, just because it's easier doesn't mean it's rationally feasible.

Of those 7 players I mentioned, 4 are from Europe, which has the second highest number of Grand Prix this year. Yuuya and Shuuhei are from Japan, and in Asia there are only 7 Grand Prix. Lastly Paulo is from South America which gets a grand total of 2! Even if he wins both GPs and attends all 3 Pro Tours because of the insane costs to fly cross continent, he wouldn't even make Gold.

So What Can We Do Instead?

So clearly there are significant issues with the current system, and we need to find a way to cater to all players - a very daunting task. In order to provide a good system we need to evaluate who we want to cater to, and look at other successful systems for inspiration. Let's look at the many things this system has to allow for:

• Make it reasonable to qualify for the Pro Tour
• Make it possible to reach highest level in rewards
• Don't make the rewards all or nothing
• Allow for international players to have a chance
• Don't require grinding as the only means to succeed
• Maintain exclusivity
• Better represent the top tier players

If anyone suggested it would be easy, then I have some sobering news for you! Creating a perfect system is incredibly difficult, and the fact that organized professional play has existed for about 19 years is a testament to the dedication of players, and their willingness to make magic the best it can possibly be. Also, considering all the changes that have happened over the past 4 years, it shows that WotC also cares a lot about their competitive scene and willing to try new things to make it work.

One thing that I do feel does not need to be changed is getting onto the Pro Tour. Winning a PTQ makes sense. Sure it sucks that 2nd place gets nothing, but that's on the Tournament Organizer to provide appropriate prize, not on WotC. Coming in top 4 of a small GP or top 8 of a large GP (>1200 people) is also a fine passage for entry. Recently, WotC has also been giving out sponsor's exemptions which has been under fire by many people, however I think in time that will also be a good thing to make sure less people fall through the cracks. Obviously it's impossible to catch everyone who "deserves" a spot, but I don't have any significant issues with the way it is now.

What I do have an issue with is staying on the Pro Tour. Right now you have to make the top 25 to qualify for the next one. Only top 25?!?! Yes, less than 12% will be able to qualify for the next event, and of those, probably half or more already had an invitation to the next one anyways from PPC. With that system, you cannot expect to last longer than one Pro Tour. Tyler Lytle, the last man to win the Cup GP Trophy, and who then top 8d the first event with the sickle GP Trophy said on twitter last week he was playing in a GP. I asked why if we was already on the Pro Tour, and he responded that he knew he probably wasn't going to finish top 25, so he wanted to start grinding towards PT Dragon's Maze. That's depressing... Win a GP, top 8 the very next one, and then go right back to PTQ grinding because you didn't earn much....

So now we reach a tricky balancing act between making it more possible to chain Pro Tours and maintaining exclusivity of the events. If the Pro Tour is open to anyone, then it’s no more special than a Grand Prix. If it’s too difficult though, you will lose a lot of potential players that would otherwise have had significant positive impacts on the game and the event.

Let’s take a look at professional sports and see what they do that works so well.

NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL

All of these sports have the exact same system: franchise teams from the respective associations that have a pre-planned schedule before a playoffs cutoff. This is a very efficient structured system that makes complete sense to an outsider. To work your way up to a professional sport is also simple to understand. In High School you play and do very well, so you’re recruited by colleges. Then in college you continue to excel and draw the attention of a professional team who will then have you sign a contract. There is a clear path that everyone takes, and once you’re contracted it’s your guaranteed career until the contract expires.

League of Legends/DotA

League of Legends is a video game that has exploded in popularity recently with a professional scene that is now starting their third season. Similar to NFL, there are teams who work together and have a ranking. There are 4 Divisions you have to work your way up through – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. To move up a division you have to “win” that division through consistent high quality play. Upon winning Platinum, you are entered into the competitive brackets and the Pro Circuit.

DotA is very similar to League in the style of game itself, but also in Pro structure. In DotA you have teams and play in tournaments of increasing difficulty until you qualify for the Professional Circuit.

If this is how magic would run, this would be very easy, and actually pretty cool as well. Professional teams of 8 could be made up of all the major websites and stores like Channel Fireball, Star City Games, TCG Player, Blackborder, MTGO Academy, Legit MTG, and so forth (team RLack MTG!). However this would completely gut the system and would cause a lot of confusion.

I do think it would be a net positive for the game long term though. Channel Fireball has been the best team over the past four years, and as a response Star City Games has been trying to put together different teams as well. SCGBlue and SCGBlack was designed to be mini-rivals of each other, with SCGBlue playing the role of David and SCGBlack being Goliath. For PTGTC Channel Fireball put together team Panik, and SCG redesigned their team. I feel this trend will continue until it becomes the norm as opposed to something unique.

However, this will take a long time to come out, and it still doesn’t answer the major question on hand – Grand Prix and Pro Points.

PGA

Golf is an individual sport with 4 major events a year, a striking resemblance to MTG. Players may be sponsored, but there’s no team franchising. They also have a sport that can be played for many decades, even as you turn to your 50s, just like Magic (I look forward to seeing LSV win the Pro Tour at 50 years old), so longevity is something to keep in mind. They have developed celebrities like Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, and has established itself as piece of household conversation. Their making it onto the Pro Tour is very similar to ours with qualifying tournaments and whatnot, but their retention of players is significantly more results quality oriented, not quantity oriented.

Their tournaments are called the PGA Tour, and depending on how well you do on the masters series, the longer you are invited back for. Winning a tour would invite you to all tours for 10 years, Top 5 would be invited for five years, top 15 for 2 years, and top 30 for one year. This is brilliant! When someone wins the biggest tournament of the year and establishes themselves as the best player in the world, we want to leverage their fame for our benefit and make them into a celebrity. After all, why do we care about LSV, PV, Kibler, and other professional players? Because they have done well many times and have received media attention.

Remember that the Pro Tour is a marketing tool for WotC. Their #1 source of income in Magic is through booster pack sales. However, watching players do so well promotes the game and encourages more pack sales.

I think this is the best individual sport structure that I have seen and is portable to magic. I feel the best way to balance players who can't go to a lot of events, whether for being international or a student, is to make individual performances worth more than grinding.

With every good solution, there's a reason it's not actually a solution. This time, we acknowledge that if a player wins a Pro Tour, then they no longer have to go to any GPs, and can attend Pro Tours in a similar manner to being on the Hall of Fame. Therefore, these benefits for doing well need to have a short lifetime.

Potential Solution?

I think looking forward on the short term, having a system similar to Golf where a player who wins a Pro Tour stays on for 3 years, and cascades down from there may be a great system to develop fantastic players. In dealing with the issue of Pro Player's Club, reverting back to the 8 tier system will allow players to not feel pressured to go to everything or feel gruesomely punished for going to just one fewer than necessary. Maintaining the same methods to qualify the Pro Tour, including the Sponsor's Exemptions and Special Invitations, will make it just as clear on how to make it onto the train.

This will allow people who just want to play on the Pro Tour and do well play on the Pro Tours without benefits. However, those who want to make Magic a real career can go to the GPs and work their way up the Pro Player's club to receive benefits. This is better than top 25 makes it into the next Pro Tour because spiking a top 16 can earn you 3 Pro Tours, and a top 8 can earn you 6. Players like Josh Cho wouldn't get dumped back into the ranks of PTQ grinders after the Cinderella story top 8.

This feels like a very simple solution, but simplicity is the best answer. If the system is too complicated, it will turn players away because we can't figure out how to crack it. Good play is rewarded, lots of play is rewarded. Magic will benefit.

I am very interested in hearing everyone's opinion on this issue. I acknowledge this article is a little slow to the heat of the moment, but even if it's not the most exciting thing to talk about in the moment, it's still a legitimate issue that has to be resolved.

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie

Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com

@ThingsILack

Drafting Boros

Hello Everyone!

There are two stores in my town to get cards, and both of them only offer draft for FNM. Last year I would have had a problem with that, but nowadays I have been too busy to pay attention to constructed too closely or invest in standard, so I'm actually grateful for the major draft option being there. I wound up going to Larry's Comics where there was 22 people signed up for Draft FNM. We split everyone up into pods (2 of 8 and 1 of 6). I was in the 6 person pod and had a very exciting first pack where I opened a Master Biomancer. Of course going in I felt that Simic was by far the worst guild, but I was hoping to go Dimir or Gruul and splash the Biomancer. It was a noble thought. I tried to go Gruul through pack one, but instead I was mono-red with a few green cards. In pack two I got a small influx of decent white cards including 2 Guildmages, so in pack 3 I had to drop my awesome green and blue cards and forced Boros as hard as I could. With just 4 cards left in pack I realized I only had 21 cards in red and white so I had to get lucky or pay for a worse mana base. I was able to pull it out in the end and created this beauty:

2x Boros Elite
Foundry Street Denizen
Daring Skyjek
Syndic of Tithes
Skinbrand Goblin
2x Sunhome Guildmage
Firefist Striker
Skyknight Legionnaire
Warmind Infantry
Viashino Shanktail
Scorchwalker
Towering Thunderfist

Mugging
Smite
Arrows of Justice
2x Act of Treason
Massive Raid

2x Madcap Skills
Five Alarm Fire

3x Boros Guildgate
5x Plains
9x Mountains

Sideboard:
Ghor-Clan Rampager
Zhur-Taa Swine
Skaarg Guildmage
Gruul Guildgate
Wildwood Rebirth
Gruul Keyrune
Voidwalk
Incursion Specialist
Hands of Binding
Gridlock
Cloudfin Raptor
Simic Guildgate

In case you didn't feel like reading and analyzing the decklist, here's some stats:
3 one-drop creatures
6 two-drop creatures
2 Madcap Skills
2 Act of Treason

So basically I was balls to the walls aggro. I actually found that 17 lands was too much and I wish I could have drafted just one more card in my colors so I could build a leaner deck. Regardless, I usually won with just enough stuff, rarely finishing the game with any spells in hand. Thankfully though I always had just enough to win, and win I did!

4-0 in matches
8-1 in games
1st place

Yes, I went 4-0. We did the drafts and then we had swiss pairing with the whole group of 22. Normally that would be 5 rounds, but after round 4 I was the only undefeated left, so the event ended an hour early, to no one's dismay.

The only game I lost I kept a 2 land hand on the draw with a 1 drop and a 2 drop and a bunch of 3's. I never drew my 3rd land and died. Besides that I just kicked ass and took names. In fact, I won so fast that I was the first to finish every round and usually my friends were still in game one as I started looking for ways to cure boredom.

Overall I really liked my deck and would draft it again in a heartbeat! If I were dedicated to Boros from the beginning I may have picked up other cards like Truefire Paladin and Wojek Halberdiers and probably only played 16 lands.

Before the draft I ranked the guilds in terms of playability at: Gruul, Dimir, Boros, Orzhov, Simic. However, Boros thoroughly impressed me. I thought that it wouldn't play through removal very well, however I was able to fight through 5 removal spells in one game and two Hands of Binding. So that, plus the super fast clock it puts the opponent on thoroughly impressed me. I think Boros may be the best to draft, with Gruul as a close second. So no my power rankings are:

1. Boros
2. Gruul
3. Dimir
4. Orzhov
5. Simic

Red is easily the best color to force yourself into as quickly as possible. This format actually isn't all that exciting to me. Basically you just try to do the most powerful thing possible while completely ignoring the opponent. With Boros you just kill them fast before they can get away with anything. In Gruul you're a combo deck that's bigger than Boros trying to kill in as few swings as possible. Dimir is Cipher + Unblockable + enough removal to stay alive and card advantage your opponents into the ground. Orzhov and Simic both try to play fair, but Simic has the compounded issue of not having interaction with the opponent and not being very powerful. Orzhov has potential, but is basically a second string Boros.

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

There Can Only Be One!

Hello Everyone!

I thought for the longest time I would never do it, but I finally conceded and built..... an EDH (Commander) deck. Two in fact! Right now it's a pair of online decks and a huge stack of proxies, but now I have new cards to trade for, and decks that match the format everyone else plays on my floor. I don't know much about commander, but what I have been able to learn from the games I have played, the most important thing is to have a powerful strategy, and bigger tends to be better.

What that in mind, one thing I realize that prevented me from ever getting into Commander is that reading the decklists was the most obnoxious thing I could ever imagine, and felt it just wasn't worth my time. If however, you do like to read the decklists, here are my two decks as of now:

Commander: Prime Speaker Zegana


Thragtusk
Birds of Paradise
Noble Hierarch
Regal Force
Mystic Snake
Draining Whelk
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Woodfall Primus
Diluvian Primordial
Primordial Hydra
Sylvan Primordial
Primordial Sage
Soul of the Harvest
Garruk's Packleader
Fathom Mage
Yavimaya Elder
Eternal Witness
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Lorescale Coatl
Fauna Shaman
Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
Experiment Kraj
Terastodon
Phyrexian Metamorph
Scavenging Ooze
Murkfiend Liege
Forgotten Ancient
Magus of the Library
Oracle of Mul Daya
Consecrated Sphinx



Devastation Tide
Temporal Mastery

Primal Command

Praetor's Counsel
Life from the Loam

Urban Evolution

Green Sun's Zenith

Farseek

Crop Rotation

Cyclonic Rift

AEtherize

Chord of Calling

Cryptic Command

Mystic Genesis

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage


Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Garruk Wildspeaker
Garruk, Primal Hunter

Leyline of Anticipation

Survival of the Fittest

Propaganda

Gilded Lotus
Sol Ring
Mana Crypt
Crystal Shard

Simic Keyrune
Simic Signet




Dryad Arbor
Tropical Island

Breeding Pool
Misty Rainforest
Scalding Tarn
Flooded Strand
Verdant Catacombs
Windswept Heath
Wooded Foothills
Polluted Delta
Simic Growth Chamber
Simic Guildgate
Hinterland Harbor

Command Tower

Yavimaya Hollow

Yavimaya Coast

Tolaria West
Tranquil Thicket
Treetop Village
Lonely Sandbar
7 Island
6 Forest
Remote Isle
Slippery Karst
Academy Ruins

Wasteland
Strip Mine
Flooded Grove
Gaea's Cradle

Reliquary Tower

This deck is very simple, but very straightforward: Lots of mana, lots of cards, lots of dudes. Crystal Shard can rebuy your ETB creatures like Mystic Snake and Terastadon to lock players out of the game, and from there winning is inevitable.

General: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

Wurmcoil Engine

Duplicant

Lodestone Golem

Mycosynth Golem

Blightsteel Colossus

Darksteel Juggernaut

Steel Hellkite

Myr Battlesphere

Precursor Golem

Platinum Angel

Platinum Emperion

Pentavus

Batterskull

Karn, Silver Golem

Shimmer Myr

Steel Overseer

Silent Arbiter

Kuldotha Forgemaster

Ulamog's Crusher

Stuffy Doll

Manor Gargoyle

Artisan of Kozilek

It That Betrays

Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

Vedalken Orrery

Crucible of Worlds

Mimic Vat

Prototype Portal

Sculpting Steel

Staff of Nin

Mind's Eye

Trading Post

Lightning Greaves

Darksteel Forge

Mindslaver

Tangle Wire

Expedition Map

Brittle Effigy

Lux Cannon

Contagion Engine

Tumble Magnet

Temple Bell

Akroma's Memorial

Sensei's Divining Top

Spine of Ish Sah

Everflowing Chalice

Mox Opal

Sol Ring

Mana Vault

Mana Crypt

Mind Stone

Grim Monolith

Guardian Idol

Dreamstone Hedron

Thran Dynamo

All Is Dust

Eldrazi Conscription

Karn Liberated

Scorched Ruins

Ancient Tomb

Blasted Landscape

Blinkmoth Nexus

Buried Ruin

City of Traitors

Cloudpost

Crystal Vein

Darksteel Citadel

Dread Statuary

Dust Bowl

Eldrazi Temple

Eye of Ugin

Gargoyle Castle

Glimmerpost

Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai

Haunted Fengraf

Homeward Path

Inkmoth Nexus

Mikokoro, Center of the Sea

Miren, the Moaning Well

Mishra's Factory

Mishra's Workshop

Mutavault

Mystifying Maze

Petrified Field

Phyrexia's Core

Rishadan Port

Springjack Pasture

Stalking Stones

Strip Mine

Tectonic Edge

Temple of the False God

Thespian's Stage

Vesuva

Urza's Factory

Urza's Mine

Urza's Power Plant

Urza's Tower

Wasteland

Zoetic Cavern

This deck is more of a deckbuilding challenge than it is a legitimate deck. That being said, it is very powerful, and can do many insane things. The best card in the deck for me has been All is Dust, as whenever you cast it, especially in multi-player, things get nasty on the other side of the board. I think this deck probably needs more mana ramp, but I have found that building these decks is all about playing them a ton and feeling for what works best.

If you have a commander deck on Cockatrice (or any deck for that matter) challenge me to a game! My username is rLack, and I would love to jam some games!

Commander is a pretty cool format, and I like having to think outside the box when putting together the perfect 99 to make sure I actually have enough good cards! The French do have a competitive EDH scene, but I'm going to choose to ignore anything that comes from there so I can have a safe haven for a relaxed game.

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie

Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com

@ThingsILack

Modern is Moving in the Wrong Direction

Hello Everyone!

Over a month ago I wrote about the Legacy banned list and thought about why cards are actually banned and which cards would be safe to remove. Of the 60 cards on the banned list, only 2 could reasonably come off. Today, we had the Banned and Restricted announcement, which I didn't know was being moved to line up with new set's releases. Nothing was changed in Legacy, however Modern did get a pair of bans.

Bloodbraid Elf and Seething Song are now banned.

This is the wrong direction to go with Modern. Here is the Modern banned list. For starters, Jund without Bloodbraid Elf will still get a top 8 in every event. The thing with Jund is it's just a pile of really good cards. Dark Confidant + Liliana is still a perfectly legitimate game plan, and cards like Tarmogoyf are still insane beaters. Bloodbraid Elf is simply another sweet card, nothing else. PV wrote an article recently where he talked about what makes a deck good. One major defining factor is that you have to play good cards that you never mind drawing. Look at this Jund list, what cards do you never want to draw in it?

"Damn, I drew a Maelstrom Pulse" - said no one ever

If we take Jund and then replace the 4 Bloodbraid Elves with 2 Kitchen Finks and 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, the deck hardly changes and we still have a dominant beast to be reckoned with. So banning Bloodbraid Elf doesn't get us very far.

Another angle I have heard people talking about is that we can just cut red out of Jund completely. The only other utility we were gaining from playing red was Lightning Bolt and Terminate, two cards that can be easily replaced, so we are free to explore other options. Jund has already been playing Lingering Souls, so why not go deeper into white?

3 mana 5/5, is that good? Pro Tour Amsterdam in 2010 Brian Kibler and Brad Nelson both came in the top 8 with the Treefolk Shaman. Here's his deck tech. Keep in mind that this format was Extended with legal sets ranging from Time Spiral through Magic 2011, so the format was vastly different, however it's an inherently powerful deck and can probably be effectively ported to Modern.

However before we look at Doran, Seething Song also got banned.... and no one knows why.... Storm is not a good deck in modern, and the loss of Bloodbraid Elf is not going to make it any better. The only reason that I think the DCI banned it is because they're trying to elimate combo decks from the format. This is a bad idea. No one likes getting combo'd out, but without the threat of powerful combo decks the rest of the format completely changes the way it interacts and the range of potential decks shrinks.

Here's a few legacy decks you may expect to see at a given tournament:
RUG Delver
Shardless BUG
Show and Tell
ANT
Miracles
Dredge
Goblins
Elves

Each of these decks have completely different game plans and so being able to fight against everything is simply impossible. The types of disruption each deck folds to is different, and this creates a tension in sideboard construction because you have to choose what you want to beat and what you want to lose to. Let's compare this to Modern:

Jund
Infect
Pod
UWR
Eggs
Storm
Affinity
Valakut

Abrupt Decay and Thoughtseize answers everything. Storm could previously fight through Thoughtseize, but now without their best ritual, the deck lost its legs and will probably never see play anymore (not that it was ever good before...). With Storm now out of the picture this less diverse list becomes even tighter and decks like Eggs and Infect will have a lot more focused hate making them even more fragile and therefore weaker choices to play. This means that the only decks that are left are fair decks. That's not very exciting and the format will lose its tension and identity.

Restricting the kinds of unfair things that can be done in a format is ultimately worse for that format. I'm not saying this just because I like playing unfair decks, I also play standard. Modern is slowly becoming Standard with a bigger card pool. This is a flawed strategy. Standard is popular because every 3 months the format completely transforms so there is a constant draw to deckbuilding and innovation. With the addition of Gatecrash we go from 1144 cards to 1393. This is a 21.8% increase in the card pool - a very significant increase. Compare this to Modern which is going from 7276 to 7525 cards, a 3.4% increase - fairly negligible. Since Modern can't reasonably expect to be shaken up dramatically with every new set to the point that people find a new interest every couple months, it needs another approach to be popular. Legacy does this by having a diverse metagame and approximately infinite viable strategies so the meta is constantly shifting. Without any new cards the format shifts constantly which maintains an interest. That's the direction Modern needs to go.

So what am I suggesting to improve this? Just unban (almost) everything! The format will go into limbo and will be insane at first, but we will quickly see the decks balance themselves out against each other. The only card I think should stay banned is skullclamp, but all the others can come off. This will create more combo decks, but cards like Bitterblossom, Jace TMS, Mental Misstep, Stoneforge Mystic, and Sensei's Divining Top will open up 2 flavors of control (Caw-Blade and Faeries) to help counteract it. Midrange decks like Jund will still be viable because they can use hand disruption to slow down the opponent and let their proactive game plan take over.

The major reason all the combo decks were too good before what that WotC neutered the control decks and then wondered why they were absent. You know what wrecks Hypergenesis? Spellstutter Sprite. You know why no one is playing that card? Bitterblossom is banned. Why is Bitterblossom banned? I don't know.... We have Volcanic Fallout, Great Sable Stag, and Zealous Persecution as hate for starters....

We have the tools already in the format to not have a broken format, but instead we're not allowed to have any fun, and this is a major detriment to the game.

If you want to try Doran, here's an untested list I would start with:

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Doran, the Siege Tower
2 Treefolk Harbinger
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf

3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Path to Exile
2 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay

1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Lingering Souls

3 Liliana of the Veil

1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Murmuring Bosk
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Treetop Village

Sideboard:
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Rule of Law
3 Blind Obedience
1 Golgari Charm
1 Path to Exile
3 Duress
2 Loxodon Smiter

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack