I've played since Revised came out (still saw the original packs of AN/AQ/LG around every once in a while) and I rarely saw people play with their lands closer to the opponent than creatures.
Saying its the way it was in the old days is just wrong. Some people may have learned to play this way but it was not commonplace at all, especially in the tournament scene.
I think this must be a regional thing.
You basically play how the person who taught you played.
I watched the video live (I did not notice it at the time), read this thread since the inception, and read the responses by the DQ'd player and his brother.
After all that, there is one point I just simply cannot get away from. There was absolutely 0 reason to cheat in that situation, he had the game won and he would have known that. Why would he risk that when the game was over in 2 turns, and he still had a way to get the batterskull anyway.
However, there were reasons to be playing quickly, sloppily even. He was playing a slow control deck down 0-1 and had to win 2 games to advance.
I actually lean on the side of him making a mistake. Initially I thought, oh yeap, guy was caught cheating on camera, like most people. But after reading his responses, I'm willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
Yes its an extraordinary set of circumstances, he clearly put a card on the bottom of his library in his hand.
But I would not convict, there's just too many plausible things that show it was just a mistake.
1) High level tournament, of which he has had little experience in.
2) He was on camera for the first time, that would make me nervous and sloppy.
3) He didn't need to cheat to win the game.
4) With the camera on, you'd have to be an extremely reckless person person to do something that would be caught in camera.
5) The camera feature match tables kinda force players to scrunch up their board a bit so it can all be seen on camera. This can cause problems like setting a hand down and a deck and just accidentally picking up a loose card without really thinking about it.
Any of these reasons by themselves are weak, and there are good arguments against each. However, I think with the totality of the evidence I'd be willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
He clearly should have been given a game loss at the very least, match loss or even DQ are fine punishments in my mind, but I don't think there's enough evidence here that would persuade me to ban him, if it was up to me anyway.
Having said that, I'm not willing to declare that he's a cheater or not, just with this evidence I'd lean on the side of an accident, that he has/going to pay for.
I'd still keep a close eye on him in the future, but for now I'm hesitant to label him a cheater, in the magic world, that's as bad as being labeled a racist in real world.
Aaah Tolarian Academy. I quit Magic for the first time since playing since Revised when the Urza Block came out. (I didn't quit because of Academy, it was real life things).
The last Type II (Standard these days) deck I built and played was Tolarian Academy.
That deck was so much fun, I'm sure it sucked to play against it, of course. Its one of my fondest memories of Magic though, I miss combo decks.
It was the confluence of various cards in that Standard environment that let that deck work though. Tapping a Tolarian Academy for 16 blue mana then untapping it on the 2nd turn is just so degenerate though =P
If memory serves, wasn't wizards planning on creating an MMO strategy game or something of that sort based on Magic the Gathering (and no I don't mean Magic Online, I think it was called something else entirely). If so, then is it possible said game would exist in the world of Zendikar primarily from a storyline perspective?
Also is it possible that Zendikar becomes the new core world or hub of the multiverse or something like that?
Everyone should just play EDH, you can get all the deck types you want and if your local store has an EDH league, you can for 5 dollars, win a Foil Judge Promo Sol Ring every month. No complaints right?
But yea, people are just torn between fun and winning. Its hard to have both when Jund is boring and unfun, but wins, and runeflare trap combo is so much fun but wins on near god hand draws.
Take your pick people, because there isnt gonna be an end in sight to this unless they decide to reprint every card thats in a deck in extended.
Lets not forget the faeries fiasco last format :/
You're pretty lucky with your store. I may be incorrect but I don't think giving away Judge Promos for a monthly EDH league is the norm. Certainly not around where I am.
Whether MTGS gets an official preview or not I don't think really matters. As far as I can tell most people who care about 0 day previews on the interwebs comes here to get them anyway. Maybe its just me, but I usually refresh MTG Salv first during preview season =p
So is the consensus to get either Dragon Sleeves or KMC Matte sleeves? And where do you guys usually get them online? Sorry for all the noob questions, just an old player trying to get back in the swing of things. =O
KMC Matte, I bought into the hype I read in this thread but for me I don't like them. Them and the Super series become extremely hard to shuffle after a few weeks of tournament play. I've never tried Dragonshield.
I found the textured backed $2.50 Ultra Pros to be the best to shuffle. I can't attest for their durability and I wish they were a bit longer but because of the texture they use they haven't began sticking together for me yet. The ones I purchased are "Non-Glare Deck Protectors, Matte." I don't particularly like the way they look but at the moment I want something that shuffles well the first time and the 100th time.
I'm personally still looking for the "best" sleeve, I don't think it exists.
If you're going to run a 60 card deck based around Eldrazi I would run 2 possibly 3 Eyes of Ugin. Personally I think it might be best to use 2 Eyes of Ugin and 2 Expedition Maps. The Maps could double as eyes of Ugin, and if you already have one, they're better than getting another one that you can't play, and if you want to you could get an Eldrazi Temple with it.
That's in a vacuum, I don't think it would be wrong to play 3 or even 4 with all the Spreading Seas and Tectonic Edges running around, also if Eldrazi becomes a common deck for some ungodly reason, you may want to be able to Legend rule your opponents away and still be able to play one of your own.
(note: Your Eyes will still kill each other if one of them has a Spreading Seas on it due to the legend rule)
Hey a quick question, how do you spectate match in these Events ?
You can watch any game from events daily events or larger. You just have to go to the event and double click the match. You can only watch matches that are already completed (meaning you can't view them as they're happening).
Also, they don't keep each individual tournaments up long, a number of hours but they're gone by the next day.
This auction has been on eBay for quite a while. About selling it? I doubt anyone will buy it anytime soon for $89,000, but all it takes is a rich magic player and right offer to come along. If I was making 7 figures, I'd consider it =p
I meant the alter and yes, I do like the tiny little stuff that she draws. She has her own style which was and is still great.
I like Amy Weber, I find her unique style more refreshing than a lot of the plasticized computer created art of today. Really nice unique piece the Beta Fork Markers, congrats. Was she was pretty open about doing an alter request?
I agree 100% that "Here I rule" is the stupidest slogan I have ever heard grace any product ever. I hope whoever came up with that seriously is no longer working for WotC.
As for the name of the Eldrazi, I think its more supposed to be ripping off the Cthulu mythos, not Yugi-oh. They do sound weird and a bit corny but that's just the flavor of it.
Right, I've already been corrected a few times on the matter.
BUT.
I do like to not be completely reliant upon Day of Judgment. I'm not a big fan of it, personally. It's necessary in today's standard, but I wish it wasn't.
I don't think of using a wall strat is that far off base. Maybe heavier on the O rings, 4 Wall of Denials, 4 Wall of Omens, but you'll need more finishes so you can finish the game quickly. I dont' think its beyond the realm of possibility of making a non Day of Judgment deck work.
Saying its the way it was in the old days is just wrong. Some people may have learned to play this way but it was not commonplace at all, especially in the tournament scene.
I think this must be a regional thing.
You basically play how the person who taught you played.
After all that, there is one point I just simply cannot get away from. There was absolutely 0 reason to cheat in that situation, he had the game won and he would have known that. Why would he risk that when the game was over in 2 turns, and he still had a way to get the batterskull anyway.
However, there were reasons to be playing quickly, sloppily even. He was playing a slow control deck down 0-1 and had to win 2 games to advance.
I actually lean on the side of him making a mistake. Initially I thought, oh yeap, guy was caught cheating on camera, like most people. But after reading his responses, I'm willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
Yes its an extraordinary set of circumstances, he clearly put a card on the bottom of his library in his hand.
But I would not convict, there's just too many plausible things that show it was just a mistake.
1) High level tournament, of which he has had little experience in.
2) He was on camera for the first time, that would make me nervous and sloppy.
3) He didn't need to cheat to win the game.
4) With the camera on, you'd have to be an extremely reckless person person to do something that would be caught in camera.
5) The camera feature match tables kinda force players to scrunch up their board a bit so it can all be seen on camera. This can cause problems like setting a hand down and a deck and just accidentally picking up a loose card without really thinking about it.
Any of these reasons by themselves are weak, and there are good arguments against each. However, I think with the totality of the evidence I'd be willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
He clearly should have been given a game loss at the very least, match loss or even DQ are fine punishments in my mind, but I don't think there's enough evidence here that would persuade me to ban him, if it was up to me anyway.
Having said that, I'm not willing to declare that he's a cheater or not, just with this evidence I'd lean on the side of an accident, that he has/going to pay for.
I'd still keep a close eye on him in the future, but for now I'm hesitant to label him a cheater, in the magic world, that's as bad as being labeled a racist in real world.
The last Type II (Standard these days) deck I built and played was Tolarian Academy.
That deck was so much fun, I'm sure it sucked to play against it, of course. Its one of my fondest memories of Magic though, I miss combo decks.
It was the confluence of various cards in that Standard environment that let that deck work though. Tapping a Tolarian Academy for 16 blue mana then untapping it on the 2nd turn is just so degenerate though =P
You may be thinking of Magic the Gathering tactics. Other than a really bad teaser, there isn't much known about it.
In a vacuum, counterspell v counterspell, Cancel is better.
But like I said, in some matchups and with some decks, returning a land to your hand has its uses.
You're pretty lucky with your store. I may be incorrect but I don't think giving away Judge Promos for a monthly EDH league is the norm. Certainly not around where I am.
KMC Matte, I bought into the hype I read in this thread but for me I don't like them. Them and the Super series become extremely hard to shuffle after a few weeks of tournament play. I've never tried Dragonshield.
I found the textured backed $2.50 Ultra Pros to be the best to shuffle. I can't attest for their durability and I wish they were a bit longer but because of the texture they use they haven't began sticking together for me yet. The ones I purchased are "Non-Glare Deck Protectors, Matte." I don't particularly like the way they look but at the moment I want something that shuffles well the first time and the 100th time.
I'm personally still looking for the "best" sleeve, I don't think it exists.
That's in a vacuum, I don't think it would be wrong to play 3 or even 4 with all the Spreading Seas and Tectonic Edges running around, also if Eldrazi becomes a common deck for some ungodly reason, you may want to be able to Legend rule your opponents away and still be able to play one of your own.
(note: Your Eyes will still kill each other if one of them has a Spreading Seas on it due to the legend rule)
You can watch any game from events daily events or larger. You just have to go to the event and double click the match. You can only watch matches that are already completed (meaning you can't view them as they're happening).
Also, they don't keep each individual tournaments up long, a number of hours but they're gone by the next day.
I like Amy Weber, I find her unique style more refreshing than a lot of the plasticized computer created art of today. Really nice unique piece the Beta Fork Markers, congrats. Was she was pretty open about doing an alter request?
As for the name of the Eldrazi, I think its more supposed to be ripping off the Cthulu mythos, not Yugi-oh. They do sound weird and a bit corny but that's just the flavor of it.
I don't think of using a wall strat is that far off base. Maybe heavier on the O rings, 4 Wall of Denials, 4 Wall of Omens, but you'll need more finishes so you can finish the game quickly. I dont' think its beyond the realm of possibility of making a non Day of Judgment deck work.