Saying "we believe" makes sense for the reasons sperry noted. Saying "he allegedly did" makes no sense whatsoever. Who is alleging it? If it's just an allegation, then why is someone being banned over it? I can allege you did all kinds of scamming, but unless wizards believes you did the scamming, they won't ban you.
They wouldn't ban him unless they believed he did it. The language makes perfect sense as is and would not make sense using the other options you talked about. They believe he did it, so he is banned.
You can download the old client and do the "play free trial" to test the client in a few games. You don't need to register or anything. Just download the client, install it, and click play free trial.
I was watching someone on twitchtv yesterday play pauper. That said, the streamers on twitchtv almost always play another format. Usually they do limited or maybe standard/modern. The pauper streamers (as rare as they are) don't get many viewers.
But if you're wondering if you're playing against a streamer, all you have to do is open up twitchtv while you're playing and check for yourself. I don't know of the other major streaming sites (if there are any), but I'd imagine it would be very quick to check them.
I generally stick to Duke Nukem quotes when I'm playing. "Rip 'em a new one," when I play a bomb. "Hail to the King Baby!" as I score win. "Come get some" after I win game 1 and we're about to start game 2. "Let God sort 'em out," when I clear the board of creatures. "What are you waitin' for? Christmas?" if they're slow rolling. And if I lose I always say, "Lucky son of a *****." If I'm playing solitaire, I say, "I don't have time to play with myself" then I concede.
I've both received free cards in the classified area when I was new to MTGO and also given away cards to someone seeking free cards who also claimed he was new.
Anyway, to any new MTGO users, I would highly advise you never, ever open the DPA pack of cards. They are a disease with no cure.
More than $200, I'd tell him he needs to pay you back eventually, even if it is a year or two from now. Less than $200, I'd get him to sell his own magic cards for the appropriate amount, then give you the cash, unless you specifically want cards.
You can still be good friends with him and still have him pay you back a long time from now. There is literally absolutely nothing wrong with asking him to pay you back, now or anytime in the future. In fact, it's something you should do.
I think it's appropriate to say "Hello and goodluck" at the beginning of the match. It's good sportsmanship and encourages a fun play environment while not making the match any less competitive.
I also think it's rude to not say "Good game" after a match, regardless if you're the winner or loser. It's in no way rude or offensive for the winner to say this. It's not rubbing the victory in anyone's face. It's saying, "Magic is a fun game. I hope we both enjoyed it. I hope you have a good day." Again, it's good sportsmanship.
If you perceive it differently then that is some kind of problem that you have. You are interpreting the message wrong, unless your opponent who says it is a jerk who is blatantly trying to be rude, which in my experience is extremely rare.
Bottom line: it's a nice thing to say. Being offended by it is your problem and fault.
It's still not your problem or your fault. You shouldn't buy him a new car any more than any of his other friends. He needs to work with his insurance company more. It sounds like he is guilt tripping you somehow in a way you aren't explaining, because literally nothing you've said would give rise to a responsibility on you to buy him a new car. This is the perfect time for him to get some experience negotiating with an insurance company and working on buying a car for himself and seeking help from his family. I'm just not seeing your rational that you should have anything to do with it, especially since you need a car as well.
I have a tendency to try to be the best friend I can be to my friends. After encountering situation after situation with my friends like you just described, I finally developed a rule: Never be a better friend to someone than they are to you. So my answer would be number 5:
Explain that you aren't going to be a better friend to him than he is to you, then follow through with it. Don't do the favors. Don't be around him anytime he is doing the "something" if you don't want to be around him. And so on.
Don't be a better friend to him than he is to you solves everything.
Exactly like everyone else is saying, call your cell phone company asap and get it on record that you called them explaining what happened and that you told them to decline all charges etc. This way if you end up getting charged in the future, you can call them back and it's on your record that you told them not to allow that. Then the fault is theirs.
Recently, whilst stopped at an intersection, a ford Truck rear ended my Volvo c70 convertible. The car is totaled. The effect of me being rear ended caused me to smash into my friend Seth's card, totaling his.
The truck driver's insurance is covering my car's market value (11k) but refuses to cover Seth's car's value.
What should I do? I'm going back to college in a month, and I need a new car, but I feel like I should help Seth out. After all, my car totaled his. My insurance refuses to pay to get him a new car, because they say it's the truck driver's fault. And the truck driver's insruance says it's my fault. Seth's insurance is only covering 4k in repairs, so he's SOL with getting a new car.
What should I do?
Get a new car? Or be a good friend, and get Seth a new car?
Based on your version of the story, you did absolutely nothing wrong at all. It sounds like the truck driver and his insurance company are the culprits here. He (or his guardians) made a conscious decision to go with that insurance company. I don't think there is any moral obligation at all to get him a new car. In fact, that suggestion is absolutely absurd given that (a) you did nothing wrong at all, and (b) at least three other parties are more responsible than you: the truck driver, Seth's insurance company, and Seth for getting crappy insurance.
Don't do it. Not every situation has a good outcome. This is one of those situations. Take care of yourself first, especially since you need a car.
EDIT:
Is there some reason that the $4k he got can't be used to buy a new car? Is there some reason he can't work to afford a new car?
Sounds fine to me so far, but what was the 0: ability you were using? How would you activating that ability 4 times in the last minute equal that other player losing? Seems like such a small contributing factor.
I don't see how this would work at all. Too many cards affect the graveyard and library. Plus you would probably have to modify the 60 card minimum limit. When you can draw land anytime you want, you don't need 23 lands in a 60 card deck. You could get by with much less land. If you keep the 60 card minimum limit, this would mean that you would need to find more non land cards to fill the gaps. No one would want to do that. So then some of the group would start having 40 land cards and 20 non land cards, with the 20 probably being a turn 1 combo.
Having two stacks doesn't increase strategic choice. It decreases it, in various ways.
They wouldn't ban him unless they believed he did it. The language makes perfect sense as is and would not make sense using the other options you talked about. They believe he did it, so he is banned.
But if you're wondering if you're playing against a streamer, all you have to do is open up twitchtv while you're playing and check for yourself. I don't know of the other major streaming sites (if there are any), but I'd imagine it would be very quick to check them.
Anyway, to any new MTGO users, I would highly advise you never, ever open the DPA pack of cards. They are a disease with no cure.
More than $200, I'd tell him he needs to pay you back eventually, even if it is a year or two from now. Less than $200, I'd get him to sell his own magic cards for the appropriate amount, then give you the cash, unless you specifically want cards.
You can still be good friends with him and still have him pay you back a long time from now. There is literally absolutely nothing wrong with asking him to pay you back, now or anytime in the future. In fact, it's something you should do.
How would that be remotely fair at all if the debt is discounted? What if it's 800 bucks?
I also think it's rude to not say "Good game" after a match, regardless if you're the winner or loser. It's in no way rude or offensive for the winner to say this. It's not rubbing the victory in anyone's face. It's saying, "Magic is a fun game. I hope we both enjoyed it. I hope you have a good day." Again, it's good sportsmanship.
If you perceive it differently then that is some kind of problem that you have. You are interpreting the message wrong, unless your opponent who says it is a jerk who is blatantly trying to be rude, which in my experience is extremely rare.
Bottom line: it's a nice thing to say. Being offended by it is your problem and fault.
Explain that you aren't going to be a better friend to him than he is to you, then follow through with it. Don't do the favors. Don't be around him anytime he is doing the "something" if you don't want to be around him. And so on.
Don't be a better friend to him than he is to you solves everything.
Based on your version of the story, you did absolutely nothing wrong at all. It sounds like the truck driver and his insurance company are the culprits here. He (or his guardians) made a conscious decision to go with that insurance company. I don't think there is any moral obligation at all to get him a new car. In fact, that suggestion is absolutely absurd given that (a) you did nothing wrong at all, and (b) at least three other parties are more responsible than you: the truck driver, Seth's insurance company, and Seth for getting crappy insurance.
Don't do it. Not every situation has a good outcome. This is one of those situations. Take care of yourself first, especially since you need a car.
EDIT:
Is there some reason that the $4k he got can't be used to buy a new car? Is there some reason he can't work to afford a new car?
Click into all the "Peasant" links under "Events" such as Peasant 6.09 for recent online tournament winning decklists.
http://forums.pdcmagic.com/viewforum.php?f=39
Here's a forum you can sift through for some good deck ideas.
Having two stacks doesn't increase strategic choice. It decreases it, in various ways.