There are very few MTG 'articles' that are well written, informative and touch on real life, magic life AND Pro Tour happenings. Back in the day, the PT stories were well covered and 'known' even though there was much less social media type of coverage. The internet was still in it's infancy but MTG journalism was at it's peak (partly due to Inquest and Wizards own magazine whose name escapes me now).
If you are a fan of THE combo deck (or a hater, whatever), also a good read.
I have a new deck idea. It's call Purplemonkey Whinegarble Mandingo and it's the Abzan midrange deck with 3 ajanis instead of 2.
Except Lee Shi Tian gets naming rights because he helped develop the deck and was the one who got it into the Pro Tour top 8. It is also much more different than just adding a single card.
I have a new deck idea. It's call Purplemonkey Whinegarble Mandingo and it's the Abzan midrange deck with 3 ajanis instead of 2.
When someone enters a tournament people are free to call a deck what ever they want. And while I understand why Wizards took the stance they did, the article the the story is a very good read. Considering his situation, I believe it would be hard for anyone to work through a deck and top 8 a PT in those conditions.
I have a new deck idea. It's call Purplemonkey Whinegarble Mandingo and it's the Abzan midrange deck with 3 ajanis instead of 2.
Except Lee Shi Tian gets naming rights because he helped develop the deck and was the one who got it into the Pro Tour top 8. It is also much more different than just adding a single card.
While he does get naming rights, the name he chose has political connotations, so he basically forfeited those rights (though he had a very good reason to).
I have a new deck idea. It's call Purplemonkey Whinegarble Mandingo and it's the Abzan midrange deck with 3 ajanis instead of 2.
Except Lee Shi Tian gets naming rights because he helped develop the deck and was the one who got it into the Pro Tour top 8. It is also much more different than just adding a single card.
While he does get naming rights, the name he chose has political connotations, so he basically forfeited those rights (though he had a very good reason to).
I wasn't saying that Wizards should have used the name. I was saying that Lee had every right to call his deck that and it wasn't ridiculous like UltraLunch's trolling.
I have a new deck idea. It's call Purplemonkey Whinegarble Mandingo and it's the Abzan midrange deck with 3 ajanis instead of 2.
Except Lee Shi Tian gets naming rights because he helped develop the deck and was the one who got it into the Pro Tour top 8. It is also much more different than just adding a single card.
While he does get naming rights, the name he chose has political connotations, so he basically forfeited those rights (though he had a very good reason to).
I wasn't saying that Wizards should have used the name. I was saying that Lee had every right to call his deck that and it wasn't ridiculous like UltraLunch's trolling.
Everyone knew about that combo since the day ascendancy got spoiled. It's great that people want to make political statments about their issues and that part of all this is fantastic, but the fact is this deck is a known quantity, was a known quantity for some time, and therefore they can't expect people to adopt a new name just because.
She concedes the fact that the naming thing is in line with what Wizards always does to decknames (in order to decrease confusion on the part of the audience). And of course, none of us should be surprised (or angry, or appalled) that a multinational corporation shuns even a hint of controversy.
Her point is that there is almost no independent arm of journalists that cover the Pro Tour in the way that other professional sports/games are covered. The only broadcast team for the Pro Tour is a Wizards team. Virtually the only print (online, obviously) source on the Pro Tour is Wizards's own website. We shouldn't be surprised that Wizards didn't touch the Umbrella Revolution angle on Lee, but it is a little odd that there isn't anyone out there who would (excepting Ms. Reynolds's article, obviously).
The deckname thing IMO is a non-issue. Wizards (and SCG for that matter) have had the policy on deck names for a long time. Usually it's just to make decks easier to talk about. Although... even if the political aspect were true, they have every right to change the name in an effort to not make an entire country mad.
But there is a point to be made about the lack of a good 3rd party news that covers stuff like this. A story like this would've been a cool thing to see during Pro-Tour coverage. They do these kinds of things for major poker tournaments that are televised as well. It's just another way to connect the fans with the players.
There used to be sooo many PT stories, and now they are basically lost to the fans. Not just stories, but strange plays, happenings of the PT, side strange events, basically everything was KNOWN back in the day...
and yet now, with even Twitter/Social Media etc, nothing is known. I didn't know what happened in the article, until I read the article. (Ie what happened after the Top 8 loss...).
I miss sites like the Dojo, instead of every article being decklist based (how boring!!), the articles were people based.
An interesting read, certainly adds to Tian's personal drama in playing and competing at the PT with all the turmoil happening in Hong Kong. It is a different kind of article from the normal Magic article.
Great article, very good point on media coverage on MtG Pro Play, and it's eye-opening for those who didn't know about what's going on in Hong Kong. Damn, Lee had a rough time there, and it's pretty crazy how they "playtested in theory" and still came up with a PT Top 8 deck.
They really should've called the deck Space Jam though, I don't know why that didn't catch on. Ari Lax and his team were spot on, because those Jeskai monks really do look like the Monstars.
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If you are a fan of THE combo deck (or a hater, whatever), also a good read.
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/adriennereynolds-101714-whats-in-a-name-lee-shi-tian-and-the-umbrella-revolution/
Except Lee Shi Tian gets naming rights because he helped develop the deck and was the one who got it into the Pro Tour top 8. It is also much more different than just adding a single card.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
When someone enters a tournament people are free to call a deck what ever they want. And while I understand why Wizards took the stance they did, the article the the story is a very good read. Considering his situation, I believe it would be hard for anyone to work through a deck and top 8 a PT in those conditions.
While he does get naming rights, the name he chose has political connotations, so he basically forfeited those rights (though he had a very good reason to).
I wasn't saying that Wizards should have used the name. I was saying that Lee had every right to call his deck that and it wasn't ridiculous like UltraLunch's trolling.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Everyone knew about that combo since the day ascendancy got spoiled. It's great that people want to make political statments about their issues and that part of all this is fantastic, but the fact is this deck is a known quantity, was a known quantity for some time, and therefore they can't expect people to adopt a new name just because.
Her point is that there is almost no independent arm of journalists that cover the Pro Tour in the way that other professional sports/games are covered. The only broadcast team for the Pro Tour is a Wizards team. Virtually the only print (online, obviously) source on the Pro Tour is Wizards's own website. We shouldn't be surprised that Wizards didn't touch the Umbrella Revolution angle on Lee, but it is a little odd that there isn't anyone out there who would (excepting Ms. Reynolds's article, obviously).
Great, thought-provoking, article.
Modern: GW Hatebears/midrange, WGU Knightfall/evolution midrange stuff
Standard: nope
Legacy: W Death & Taxes
EDH (not Commander!): W Avacyn, Angel of Hope, GR Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, WGB Anafenza, the Foremost, WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator
The deckname thing IMO is a non-issue. Wizards (and SCG for that matter) have had the policy on deck names for a long time. Usually it's just to make decks easier to talk about. Although... even if the political aspect were true, they have every right to change the name in an effort to not make an entire country mad.
But there is a point to be made about the lack of a good 3rd party news that covers stuff like this. A story like this would've been a cool thing to see during Pro-Tour coverage. They do these kinds of things for major poker tournaments that are televised as well. It's just another way to connect the fans with the players.
and yet now, with even Twitter/Social Media etc, nothing is known. I didn't know what happened in the article, until I read the article. (Ie what happened after the Top 8 loss...).
I miss sites like the Dojo, instead of every article being decklist based (how boring!!), the articles were people based.
Big Thanks to Xeno for sig art <3.
They really should've called the deck Space Jam though, I don't know why that didn't catch on. Ari Lax and his team were spot on, because those Jeskai monks really do look like the Monstars.