Decision seems to be at least partially based on pro points.
Notable because of his recent activity, Gerry T is in the list. That's a brilliant choice, as far as I'm concerned.
Overall some great inclusions. Ma boyyyz Yasooka and Watanabe doing us proud as well.
Any notable absences? Couldn't see LSV on the list (well... One of them, at least. Luis Salvatto is there and too right, he's an absolute gem)
No Finkle seems rough. But, then, is he that active right now? I guess he's not quite active enough to have crossed the threshold to make it in.
Oh and THE ENTIRE PEACH GARDEN OATH crushed it. Oh my good lord those guys are incredible. (jensen, turtenwald and 'bae' Duke)
This is exciting news. We'll get to see a lot more of these players and they'll get showcased a whole bunch. There'll be tension and competition and for once I think we'll probably care about it because of the personal stories.
I was wondering the same thing myself. From what I hear, WotC reset everyone's rankings to... errr... Bronze 4, or something, in the most recent Arena update yesterday. And Arena was where I thought they were going to pull the newest Top X players for ESPN. There's even a "season clock" that's counting down to, I have no idea.
These players had to come from paper Magic or MTGO So I wonder if they play Arena at all?
??? He protested WOTC poor treatment of pros such as taking away benefits and the small prize pool.
Arena though really does fix one problem for WOTC in an actual ESPORT setting, its far more dynamic to watch and you can actually see the cards and what they do in real time.
LSV joked about being "a pro, well, kind of" (or something like that) in yesterday's LR episode. Ben Stark pushed back on it, and he avoided to elaborate. Now we know what he referred to. I guess he hasn't played enough lately, I'm sure activity level enters into it somehow. Maybe yearly pro points.
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I think the most notable omissions were LSV, Shaun Mclaren, Jon Finkel, and Sam Black in terms of fan base. Other notable non-pros now are Paul Reitzel, Gabriel Nassif, and Sam Pardee. That's just off the top of my head.
It remains to be seen what this will actually look like, but there is a HUGE incentive to earn a spot on this list.
Well then, with the greatest of respect; have the decency not to comment.
Why? Its a discussion about the list. I dont care about it either, its the same names i always see so its hard to feel anything
feeling the need to comment, just for the sake of it, when you "couldn't care less" about the topic of discussion...
I could go on a forum about knitting and make a post saying "I don't care about knitting" and it'd be the same thing. so I politely asked for them to back out of the discussion, no hard feelings, which I think is fair.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
No female players? Something needs to be done to fix this inequality. The patriarchy is clearly responsible for this
As much as I agree with you, based on who they chose, sadly, no woman has achieved anything close to those guys. If the choices are based on accomplishment and presence, then that list is fine. Maybe it will ignite some of our female players in upping their game to make the short list too. I think Arena will help tremendously in that regards. Just a gut feeling (because they won't have to deal with all the face to face bull***** they would usually have to deal with).
so they just start the esports season with experienced players they determined somehow ?
what do these people have to do with arena ?
why not start from scrath? make a preseason or qualifier or anything like this. i dont like the idea that these pro players just get seeded without really earning it. earning sounds wrong. i mean they are good players, but they got their prices on the tournaments they won. no one can tell if they are qualified to play on the new medium. cause there actually is a difference between esports and the real card game.
so all those people that just started playn arena like crazy to be competetive, wasted their time ?
lol, i mean i already doubted, that this is a decent esports title, but this starts makes me even less interested in it. id rather watch an esports title where people need real skill, so its worth being called an esport. and they are most likely also more entertaining.
I maintain the opinion that WOTC has a "preferred" list of pros that they like for various reasons. I also think it is misguided. Then again, I will withhold further comment until I see what is replacing the PPTQ system. Then again, if Arena is tied so closely to it, I imagine modern will be getting phased out.
LSV joked about being "a pro, well, kind of" (or something like that) in yesterday's LR episode. Ben Stark pushed back on it, and he avoided to elaborate. Now we know what he referred to. I guess he hasn't played enough lately, I'm sure activity level enters into it somehow. Maybe yearly pro points.
Ben Stark made it though, YEAH! Go Ben!
Second Place in the last Pro Tour isn't "playing enough"?
LSV joked about being "a pro, well, kind of" (or something like that) in yesterday's LR episode. Ben Stark pushed back on it, and he avoided to elaborate. Now we know what he referred to. I guess he hasn't played enough lately, I'm sure activity level enters into it somehow. Maybe yearly pro points.
Ben Stark made it though, YEAH! Go Ben!
Second Place in the last Pro Tour isn't "playing enough"?
You're confusing quality with quantity. Nobody doubts that LSV is still a beast and a top pro, but afaik he has been playing less for the last year or two because he has a lot of other things going on. If this list is based on something that is tied to activity level, such as yearly pro points, that could explain why he's not on it.
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When I hit my 3000 post mark, I'm gone for good.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
LSV joked about being "a pro, well, kind of" (or something like that) in yesterday's LR episode. Ben Stark pushed back on it, and he avoided to elaborate. Now we know what he referred to. I guess he hasn't played enough lately, I'm sure activity level enters into it somehow. Maybe yearly pro points.
Ben Stark made it though, YEAH! Go Ben!
Second Place in the last Pro Tour isn't "playing enough"?
You're confusing quality with quantity. Nobody doubts that LSV is still a beast and a top pro, but afaik he has been playing less for the last year or two because he has a lot of other things going on. If this list is based on something that is tied to activity level, such as yearly pro points, that could explain why he's not on it.
Without naming names, a buddy of mine got the invite but had to turn it down.
This list makes sense if:
a) You live in the Continental USA
b) If you don't, you're loaded
WotC isn't paying any hotels or flights for these. So for example, APAC players would have to fork out for all the details (and the traveling). Buddy told me that financially, it didn't really make sense and it would wreck havoc on his personal life.
LSV joked about being "a pro, well, kind of" (or something like that) in yesterday's LR episode. Ben Stark pushed back on it, and he avoided to elaborate. Now we know what he referred to. I guess he hasn't played enough lately, I'm sure activity level enters into it somehow. Maybe yearly pro points.
Ben Stark made it though, YEAH! Go Ben!
Second Place in the last Pro Tour isn't "playing enough"?
You're confusing quality with quantity. Nobody doubts that LSV is still a beast and a top pro, but afaik he has been playing less for the last year or two because he has a lot of other things going on. If this list is based on something that is tied to activity level, such as yearly pro points, that could explain why he's not on it.
It is still an idiotic oversight.
I'm willing to bet that it's not an oversight, but rather a function of how their qualifying system works. They obviously didn't sit around at the WotC office chewing their pencils trying to come up with a list of their personal favorite players. They need to use some kind of hard criterion (yet unveiled for some reason) to set the bar if this League is going to be taken seriously. Now you may disagree with how that system works, that's fine. That doesn't make it an oversight on their part.
Edit: According to their Twitter, it's by ranking from the previous year. I'm not sure what the metric for "rank" is, but I'm still guessing yearly pro points. Of note, two players declined the offer, letting in number 33 and 34.
Decision seems to be at least partially based on pro points.
Notable because of his recent activity, Gerry T is in the list. That's a brilliant choice, as far as I'm concerned.
Overall some great inclusions. Ma boyyyz Yasooka and Watanabe doing us proud as well.
Any notable absences? Couldn't see LSV on the list (well... One of them, at least. Luis Salvatto is there and too right, he's an absolute gem)
No Finkle seems rough. But, then, is he that active right now? I guess he's not quite active enough to have crossed the threshold to make it in.
Oh and THE ENTIRE PEACH GARDEN OATH crushed it. Oh my good lord those guys are incredible. (jensen, turtenwald and 'bae' Duke)
This is exciting news. We'll get to see a lot more of these players and they'll get showcased a whole bunch. There'll be tension and competition and for once I think we'll probably care about it because of the personal stories.
Spirits
I was wondering the same thing myself. From what I hear, WotC reset everyone's rankings to... errr... Bronze 4, or something, in the most recent Arena update yesterday. And Arena was where I thought they were going to pull the newest Top X players for ESPN. There's even a "season clock" that's counting down to, I have no idea.
These players had to come from paper Magic or MTGO So I wonder if they play Arena at all?
Spirits
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Arena though really does fix one problem for WOTC in an actual ESPORT setting, its far more dynamic to watch and you can actually see the cards and what they do in real time.
Ben Stark made it though, YEAH! Go Ben!
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Couldn't care about these people any less.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
It remains to be seen what this will actually look like, but there is a HUGE incentive to earn a spot on this list.
Well then, with the greatest of respect; have the decency not to comment.
Why? Its a discussion about the list. I dont care about it either, its the same names i always see so its hard to feel anything
feeling the need to comment, just for the sake of it, when you "couldn't care less" about the topic of discussion...
I could go on a forum about knitting and make a post saying "I don't care about knitting" and it'd be the same thing. so I politely asked for them to back out of the discussion, no hard feelings, which I think is fair.
As much as I agree with you, based on who they chose, sadly, no woman has achieved anything close to those guys. If the choices are based on accomplishment and presence, then that list is fine. Maybe it will ignite some of our female players in upping their game to make the short list too. I think Arena will help tremendously in that regards. Just a gut feeling (because they won't have to deal with all the face to face bull***** they would usually have to deal with).
Solid bait. A+
I maintain the opinion that WOTC has a "preferred" list of pros that they like for various reasons. I also think it is misguided. Then again, I will withhold further comment until I see what is replacing the PPTQ system. Then again, if Arena is tied so closely to it, I imagine modern will be getting phased out.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Nah. It's how you take the wind out of their sails. Acknowledge that they're not fooling anyone and move on with the conversation.
Things are fine. Just fine.
Second Place in the last Pro Tour isn't "playing enough"?
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Yeah it really started to go south when the SJWs decided to bring their socialist BS in.
It is still an idiotic oversight.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
This list makes sense if:
a) You live in the Continental USA
b) If you don't, you're loaded
WotC isn't paying any hotels or flights for these. So for example, APAC players would have to fork out for all the details (and the traveling). Buddy told me that financially, it didn't really make sense and it would wreck havoc on his personal life.
Edit: According to their Twitter, it's by ranking from the previous year. I'm not sure what the metric for "rank" is, but I'm still guessing yearly pro points. Of note, two players declined the offer, letting in number 33 and 34.
Edit 2:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/top-25-rankings-top-players-coverage-events
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'