Regularly? Less than 30%. Ever? Between 20 and 60%.
I know that's really vague, but I honestly (heh) am only guesstimating based on my knowledge of the game and people as a whole.
I'd say the percentage is higher. You can build the exact same deck as someone and run it decently and come nowhere near their win percentage.
It's incredibly easy to devise shuffling schemes that produce better cards and FNM is a great example of where most people don't shuffle their opponent's deck. Kindof strange when weak decks win packs every week.
I hear nothing really happened. I went to the store they used to frequent
and supposedly there wasn't really any credible proof after the one that got
caught got some legal help / advice. Last time I checked they were in the process
of having the lifetime bans removed. I hope this was just misheard information because
those idiot(s) got caught with all that stuff in the hotel room they were staying at!
If I hear any more I will try and update here, I don't really go to that store much anymore.
I just finished browsing the DCI suspended memberships list and one thing struck me as odd...
There is a Russian Federation now? HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME!?
Jocular remarks aside, how pathetic is it to get a ban from DCI for THIS? I mean, assault? That is just...yeah...sad. And also.."adding cards to limited deck"...THEN DO IT SO THAT NOBODY NOTICES. Geez. I do not know if they are bigger idiots for trying it for for failing to do it right.
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[I was permabanned and all I got to show for it was .... well, nothing.]
Haha! I love that you were attentive enough to catch Glimmervoid, but not to catch that the subject of the photo is totally not a dude.
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I just finished browsing the DCI suspended memberships list and one thing struck me as odd...
There is a Russian Federation now? HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME!?
Jocular remarks aside, how pathetic is it to get a ban from DCI for THIS? I mean, assault? That is just...yeah...sad. And also.."adding cards to limited deck"...THEN DO IT SO THAT NOBODY NOTICES. Geez. I do not know if they are bigger idiots for trying it for for failing to do it right.
I wonder if the two are connected - Ha. If I found out the guy across from me was cheating the entire match, I might just strangle him too.
Everyone knows that good luck and good game are such insincere terms that any man who does not connect his right hook with the offender's jaw on the very utterance of such a phrase is no man I would consider as such.
I'd like to know how they plan to do that, short of proving that someone else stole the cards. From WotC down to your local tournament organiser, Magic is a business and nobody is under any obligation to let you play. The DCI can ban you from all tournaments if they don't like your haircut, so long as they consistently ban anyone with a similar haircut.
I think that is the problem. A lot of the stuff they took was hard to prove I believe. Anyway, the only real way to find out what happened would be to find either of the 4 and ask (the last one I saw was Mike who only said hi to me and I said hi back cuz I like to avoid confrontations and stuff). I haven't seen any of them since so they aren't playing in the valley anymore (to my knowledge anyway).
While I was attending Nationals in Atlanta back in 2006 (I believe) I was playing at the end of a table, at the top table. My opponent and I were both undefeated at the time and there were a ton of onlookers for this match.
Normally when I sit down, I put my bag on the floor, and put the strap around the legs of the chair.
After game 1, I look down for my bag to get my sideboard, and my bag is GONE. I alert my group of friends to look for the bag while I finish the match.
I lose games 2 and 3 (with no sideboard) and start searching for my bag as well. I thought there was no chance it was going to still be found, but one of my friends found it!
While searching the hall, he saw it in a pile with 2 other bags (3 total) sitting under a table. There were a couple people near the bags and my friend (a relatively big guy, even for a magic tournament) confronted them. They said they didn't know anything about those bags.
Since we split apart to cover more ground, he was by himself. He grabbed my bag and walked up to the judges table and told them they had found my missing bag, and think there were more, so a judge walked back with my friend to that table, and the bags were gone, and so were the two guys there.
The strap on my bag had been cut. Someone must have "dropped" something or tied their shoe or something during my match and while on the ground, cut it with something like scissors, a razor, or a knife.
The good news for me is that literally every card in my binder was still there. The bad news is that I came in 9th place of the tournament I was in, and probably would have top 8ed had I had my sideboard for the match.
People like this need to be severely punished. Thieves are some of the worst scum on this planet, and there is little that will change them unless they get caught and punished, and that still doesnt always solve the problem.
It's a genuine lack of respect for other people. Pure and simple.
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Rules Advisor as of 4/23/10
Regarding Stoneforge Mystic
Quote from oranges2 »
This guy, would either eat up several turns worth of mana to get a slow permanent that relies on your already have some board presence (after wasting said mana), or dies without generating any advantage.
Why was your sideboard in your bag after you had started game 1???
Your sideboard must be visible on the table whenever you present your deck to your opponent. You cannot keep it in a bag, and then take it out after game 1 to sideboard. [when you know you aren't being deck checked]
What's to stop you having multiple sideboards in there?
So while yes these guys should be punished for their crimes, you lost that round because you failed to follow the DCI tournament rules.
That was so not the point of his post. And where does it say he didn't had to worry about not getting deck checked? It is a nats after all.
While I was attending Nationals in Atlanta back in 2006 (I believe) I was playing at the end of a table, at the top table. My opponent and I were both undefeated at the time and there were a ton of onlookers for this match.
Normally when I sit down, I put my bag on the floor, and put the strap around the legs of the chair.
After game 1, I look down for my bag to get my sideboard, and my bag is GONE. I alert my group of friends to look for the bag while I finish the match.
I lose games 2 and 3 (with no sideboard) and start searching for my bag as well. I thought there was no chance it was going to still be found, but one of my friends found it!
While searching the hall, he saw it in a pile with 2 other bags (3 total) sitting under a table. There were a couple people near the bags and my friend (a relatively big guy, even for a magic tournament) confronted them. They said they didn't know anything about those bags.
Since we split apart to cover more ground, he was by himself. He grabbed my bag and walked up to the judges table and told them they had found my missing bag, and think there were more, so a judge walked back with my friend to that table, and the bags were gone, and so were the two guys there.
The strap on my bag had been cut. Someone must have "dropped" something or tied their shoe or something during my match and while on the ground, cut it with something like scissors, a razor, or a knife.
The good news for me is that literally every card in my binder was still there. The bad news is that I came in 9th place of the tournament I was in, and probably would have top 8ed had I had my sideboard for the match.
People like this need to be severely punished. Thieves are some of the worst scum on this planet, and there is little that will change them unless they get caught and punished, and that still doesnt always solve the problem.
It's a genuine lack of respect for other people. Pure and simple.
The silly thing is that there is no reason to steal cards. It like stealing candy from children; there is no value in the candy, they are just doing it for the fun of it.
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"If you don't wear your seatbelt, the police will shoot you in the head."
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
Everyone knows that good luck and good game are such insincere terms that any man who does not connect his right hook with the offender's jaw on the very utterance of such a phrase is no man I would consider as such.
There was a small incident I had while playing at FNM in Kelowna, a guy grabbed my bag and i felt the movement and I stood up and screamed, it actually startled the thief and he tripped over his own feet to get away and went face first into the store counter, lol
It bugs me when players consistently cheat and don't get banned. James Fulgium got dq'd from a tournament when I played him in tx b/c he tried to put a mana leak back in his hand with 2 lands via life from the loam. a couple weeks later, i think in the top 8, his opponent notices he drew an extra card and calls him on it. james then claims the other guy must have just forgotten to draw a card and that's why it was uneven. everyone always knew he cheated, but i never heard of a suspension. and the judge jeff zandi has to know james cheats. he's been at the scene often enough to notice the pattern.
lol just looked up some old stuff, remembered that, and wanted to post. if you look up 'James Fulgium' magic it brings this crap up.
There is a guy here in México that was caught cheating in a high level tournament (dont remember if it was a pro tour or worlds). On his turn he "clumped" two lands and dropped them, then next turn, he just separated them. The sad thing was that he negated the incident even when there was a camera filming him when he did his things. More sad is the fact that he was going to win if he didnt cheat. Hes also famous as someone who knows how to do card tricks while rifle shuffling.
There is a guy here in México that was caught cheating in a high level tournament (dont remember if it was a pro tour or worlds). On his turn he "clumped" two lands and dropped them, then next turn, he just separated them. The sad thing was that he negated the incident even when there was a camera filming him when he did his things. More sad is the fact that he was going to win if he didnt cheat. Hes also famous as someone who knows how to do card tricks while rifle shuffling.
And hes a Hall of fame candidate =P.
Same guy in a booster draft he put a card in a spanish and all cards was on english :/ what idiot :/
I was playing in Pro Tour Chicago and I think it was 2003. It was the second day of the event and I had dropped from the main event and was playing side event draft. I forgot my backbag a few feet away from me, thing I wouldn't normally do. After a quick match I looked for my backbag but it was gone.
There were quite a lot valuable cards in there. Man I mean it was cards more than 12000$ in value. Easily.
I had like 7 mana drains, black bordered dual-lands, beta/alpha usables, lots of chase foils, almost all cards x4 for all standard and extended decks at the time and so on...
Anyone could sell those in small batches in ebay for a great profit. Those kind of thieves earn their living doing that!
Yeah I found my backbag the next day and it was empty. There was this sick joke inside: a small white storagebox with crappy rares inside it that wasn't originally mine. Something like 30+ tempest edition medallions and 14 phantom nantuko from judgement and stuff like that. I wasn't happy for that trade.
Yeah I had to start from the beginning because I hadn't my travel insurance on at that time..... (I'm from Finland)
no offense meant, but why would you be bringing twelve grand worth of stuff with you? I'd assume that with such a huge, serious event you'd only take what you need and nothing more.
Take your monoblack deck, then set aside 14 swamps. Add 4 Creeping Tar Pits, 4 Darkslick Shores, 4 Drowned Catacombs, and 2 Jwar isle Refuge and add 4 Jace, the Mindsculptors. Your monoblack deck is instantly better. Better yet, drop those refuges, throw in some islands and some mana leaks, and lo and behold, you're now playing a real deck. Congratulations. Welcome to the world of competitive M:TG.
The silly thing is that there is no reason to steal cards. It like stealing candy from children; there is no value in the candy, they are just doing it for the fun of it.
i'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you live in a remote farm where you grow your own food, sew your own food, and crank your own electricity machine which you use to somehow connect to the internet.
in our world, we "barter" for "goods" and "services". often this process is simplified through the use of "money". "money" is used to "buy" many things, and conversely, many things can be "sold" for "money". "magic cards" are one of these things which can be "sold" for "money", thereby giving them "value".
in our world, we "barter" for "goods" and "services". often this process is simplified through the use of "money". "money" is used to "buy" many things, and conversely, many things can be "sold" for "money". "magic cards" are one of these things which can be "sold" for "money", thereby giving them "value".
Just LoL.. unfortunatly my msn comment doesnt allow enough characters to quote this.
This is why I carry my cards in deck boxes/a binder and put them in a laptop case and lean them against my leg under the table.... someone would have to be under the table and open and take the cards from the case leaned against my legs without me feeling it.
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I can assure you guys, if it hasn't been said already enough, just putting your leg through a strap isn't enough.
As a former magician (I wanted to make it a career at one point) I could take the watch off of a persons wrist it did not matter how it was secured (velcro, clasp, or elastic band) and they would never know, I could do the same with a wallet or cell phone. I would finish my routine and jokingly thank them for the tip then give them their items back.
A little training in misdirection goes a looooong way, though when stealing from MTG players you don't need misdirection at all.
I can assure you guys, if it hasn't been said already enough, just putting your leg through a strap isn't enough.
As a former magician (I wanted to make it a career at one point) I could take the watch off of a persons wrist it did not matter how it was secured (velcro, clasp, or elastic band) and they would never know, I could do the same with a wallet or cell phone. I would finish my routine and jokingly thank them for the tip then give them their items back.
A little training in misdirection goes a looooong way, though when stealing from MTG players you don't need misdirection at all.
Off topic, but I have to ask out of curiosity where one goes to learn those sorts of things? It's not that I want to go learn (well, I do, but I honestly don't have the time or commitment for anything beyond a few paltry parlor tricks) but that I always kind of wondered how people get started into the career of being a magician. There isn't exactly a magician's major at any universities I know of. And not everyone necessarily has the luck to fall in with a major magician as an apprentice or anything. So I'm just curious.
But out of curiosity that IS on topic, with your experience, what are your recommendations for simple ways to keep one's stuff safe at an event?
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Standard: BRG Jund Midrange GRB //// B Vampire Aggro B //// WRU Patriot Control URW
Extended: RGW Zoo WGR
Legacy: RUG Canadian Thresh GUR
Off topic, but I have to ask out of curiosity where one goes to learn those sorts of things? It's not that I want to go learn (well, I do, but I honestly don't have the time or commitment for anything beyond a few paltry parlor tricks) but that I always kind of wondered how people get started into the career of being a magician. There isn't exactly a magician's major at any universities I know of. And not everyone necessarily has the luck to fall in with a major magician as an apprentice or anything. So I'm just curious.
But out of curiosity that IS on topic, with your experience, what are your recommendations for simple ways to keep one's stuff safe at an event?
Myself like alot of magicians am self-taught, if you're lucky enough to know a professional milk that for all its worth if they're willing to teach, otherwise all I can tell you is buy every book and video you can and practice, practice, practice.
Asking for advice on not getting stuff stolen at an event is like asking someone how you can prevent a person from smashing your window in and taking your computer, there is no answer, if someone wants your stuff bad enough they'll likely get it unless your vigilant. I do suggest keeping as much on your body as possible (good pickpockets are out there but they don't want your cards I can assure you). Another good strategy is to place your bag in your chair and basically sit against it, you're holding your things with your body and unless someone is really crafty they won't be able to mess with your stuff. It's uncomfortable, but if your worried about your things it works.
I remember hearing about all this but never took the time to look at the names. I've actually played against both Michael Esposito and Nicholas McKeand prior to their involvement in the Chicago theft. Everyone around here (Phoenix) kind of acknowledged that they were major dicks and there were rumors floating around that Mike, who in my opinion was most likely the actual "brains" behind the operation, was in the habit of stealing cards for profit as he was a supplier to local shops. Nick, while also completely guilty in my eyes was probably just the puppet/fall guy. What f**kers. Sorry mods.
I'd say the percentage is higher. You can build the exact same deck as someone and run it decently and come nowhere near their win percentage.
It's incredibly easy to devise shuffling schemes that produce better cards and FNM is a great example of where most people don't shuffle their opponent's deck. Kindof strange when weak decks win packs every week.
Playing: Jund, Melira Pod
and supposedly there wasn't really any credible proof after the one that got
caught got some legal help / advice. Last time I checked they were in the process
of having the lifetime bans removed. I hope this was just misheard information because
those idiot(s) got caught with all that stuff in the hotel room they were staying at!
If I hear any more I will try and update here, I don't really go to that store much anymore.
There is a Russian Federation now? HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME!?
Jocular remarks aside, how pathetic is it to get a ban from DCI for THIS? I mean, assault? That is just...yeah...sad. And also.."adding cards to limited deck"...THEN DO IT SO THAT NOBODY NOTICES. Geez. I do not know if they are bigger idiots for trying it for for failing to do it right.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die."
- H.P. Lovecraft
I'm glad to hear the situation was handled well though.
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I wonder if the two are connected - Ha. If I found out the guy across from me was cheating the entire match, I might just strangle him too.
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
I think that is the problem. A lot of the stuff they took was hard to prove I believe. Anyway, the only real way to find out what happened would be to find either of the 4 and ask (the last one I saw was Mike who only said hi to me and I said hi back cuz I like to avoid confrontations and stuff). I haven't seen any of them since so they aren't playing in the valley anymore (to my knowledge anyway).
While I was attending Nationals in Atlanta back in 2006 (I believe) I was playing at the end of a table, at the top table. My opponent and I were both undefeated at the time and there were a ton of onlookers for this match.
Normally when I sit down, I put my bag on the floor, and put the strap around the legs of the chair.
After game 1, I look down for my bag to get my sideboard, and my bag is GONE. I alert my group of friends to look for the bag while I finish the match.
I lose games 2 and 3 (with no sideboard) and start searching for my bag as well. I thought there was no chance it was going to still be found, but one of my friends found it!
While searching the hall, he saw it in a pile with 2 other bags (3 total) sitting under a table. There were a couple people near the bags and my friend (a relatively big guy, even for a magic tournament) confronted them. They said they didn't know anything about those bags.
Since we split apart to cover more ground, he was by himself. He grabbed my bag and walked up to the judges table and told them they had found my missing bag, and think there were more, so a judge walked back with my friend to that table, and the bags were gone, and so were the two guys there.
The strap on my bag had been cut. Someone must have "dropped" something or tied their shoe or something during my match and while on the ground, cut it with something like scissors, a razor, or a knife.
The good news for me is that literally every card in my binder was still there. The bad news is that I came in 9th place of the tournament I was in, and probably would have top 8ed had I had my sideboard for the match.
People like this need to be severely punished. Thieves are some of the worst scum on this planet, and there is little that will change them unless they get caught and punished, and that still doesnt always solve the problem.
It's a genuine lack of respect for other people. Pure and simple.
Rules Advisor as of 4/23/10
Regarding Stoneforge Mystic
That was so not the point of his post. And where does it say he didn't had to worry about not getting deck checked? It is a nats after all.
The GJ way path to no lynching:
The silly thing is that there is no reason to steal cards. It like stealing candy from children; there is no value in the candy, they are just doing it for the fun of it.
- To my youngest sister when she was 6.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=194882
lol just looked up some old stuff, remembered that, and wanted to post. if you look up 'James Fulgium' magic it brings this crap up.
example of someone else's accusation http://www.pojo.com/Magic/featured writers/Zandi/2005/4-22.shtml
And hes a Hall of fame candidate =P.
Same guy in a booster draft he put a card in a spanish and all cards was on english :/ what idiot :/
no offense meant, but why would you be bringing twelve grand worth of stuff with you? I'd assume that with such a huge, serious event you'd only take what you need and nothing more.
i'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you live in a remote farm where you grow your own food, sew your own food, and crank your own electricity machine which you use to somehow connect to the internet.
in our world, we "barter" for "goods" and "services". often this process is simplified through the use of "money". "money" is used to "buy" many things, and conversely, many things can be "sold" for "money". "magic cards" are one of these things which can be "sold" for "money", thereby giving them "value".
hope those words didn't go over your head.
Just LoL.. unfortunatly my msn comment doesnt allow enough characters to quote this.
R:SymBU:G JundG:SymBU:R (Record 17-7-4)
RBRBDWBR Retired (Record 20-10-2)
Significant Achievements:
Top 32 @ a 5K
Thx SGT_Chubzz & the Rest of Kracked Graphics for the kickass avatar
A good example is how native Americans used cacao beans as currency even a little while after Spanish Colonialism...value is what people give to it.
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As a former magician (I wanted to make it a career at one point) I could take the watch off of a persons wrist it did not matter how it was secured (velcro, clasp, or elastic band) and they would never know, I could do the same with a wallet or cell phone. I would finish my routine and jokingly thank them for the tip then give them their items back.
A little training in misdirection goes a looooong way, though when stealing from MTG players you don't need misdirection at all.
Off topic, but I have to ask out of curiosity where one goes to learn those sorts of things? It's not that I want to go learn (well, I do, but I honestly don't have the time or commitment for anything beyond a few paltry parlor tricks) but that I always kind of wondered how people get started into the career of being a magician. There isn't exactly a magician's major at any universities I know of. And not everyone necessarily has the luck to fall in with a major magician as an apprentice or anything. So I'm just curious.
But out of curiosity that IS on topic, with your experience, what are your recommendations for simple ways to keep one's stuff safe at an event?
BRG Jund Midrange GRB //// B Vampire Aggro B //// WRU Patriot Control URW
Extended:
RGW Zoo WGR
Legacy:
RUG Canadian Thresh GUR
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U //// WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion BW //// UR Jhoira of the Ghitu RU
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Myself like alot of magicians am self-taught, if you're lucky enough to know a professional milk that for all its worth if they're willing to teach, otherwise all I can tell you is buy every book and video you can and practice, practice, practice.
Asking for advice on not getting stuff stolen at an event is like asking someone how you can prevent a person from smashing your window in and taking your computer, there is no answer, if someone wants your stuff bad enough they'll likely get it unless your vigilant. I do suggest keeping as much on your body as possible (good pickpockets are out there but they don't want your cards I can assure you). Another good strategy is to place your bag in your chair and basically sit against it, you're holding your things with your body and unless someone is really crafty they won't be able to mess with your stuff. It's uncomfortable, but if your worried about your things it works.
Current EDH Decks:
G Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
B Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
GU Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
What a bunch of scuzzbags; they deserve it.
The candles burn out for you; I am free.