Another month, another bunch of stuff to complain about! Don’t worry, though, I plan on doing an above-average amount of complimenting in this rant (which could mean anywhere from one to two positive statements).

First off, let me address the distant past that was the Team Pro Tour. Congratulations are in order for the Brockafellars, who rose to the occasion and ended the evil Phoenix Foundation’s stranglehold on the format. This, of course, means that we will have to refer to Brock Parker as “Pro Tour Champion Brock Parker” from now on. I am now going to light myself on fire. Seriously, though, while I do have problems with the way that Kai and the Foundation go about their business, their ability in Team Limited cannot be denied; it’s far beyond any possible claims of “broken sealed decks” or “lucky manascrew.” Speaking of which, is there any possible way to change the format for the Team Tour? Having participated in one, I know the unpredictability of Team Sealed, and it would be nice to eliminate it altogether. While this opens up a logistical can of worms (how do you do 66 drafts at a time, 5 times on Day 1?) that can possibly be answered by reducing the number of teams or giving incentives for more judges to attend, I think it’s much more important that teams be able to use their expertise in the format THEY ACTUALLY PRACTICED. Nothing is worse than practicing team draft for weeks, then getting crappy sealeds and going 0-3.

Being a Bay Area native, I was thrilled by the news that the 2004 World Championships will be held in San Francisco. While this is a good start, it seems like the Left Coast is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to Magic: the Gathering events. With 5 Pro Tours a year, why can’t they hold one on the east coast (New York, Boston, Philly, etc), one on the West Coast (SF, Seattle, LA, San Diego), one in Japan/Asia, one in Europe, another in the US Midwest, and rotate Worlds around the globe? Instead, the former “West Coast PT” is being held in Houston or New Orleans. Furthermore, the Grand Prix hasn’t been making enough stops in this half of the country, either. San Francisco twice, Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Diego? That’s 8 Grand Prix in 7 years. Tragic.

I’ve been drafting Mirrodin weekly since the Prerelease, and it seems like a very solid set with a lot of decisions and no problematic commons like in Onslaught Block. Wait a second, I forgot about Spikeshot Goblin! One word about this guy: Oops. Wizards, here’s an idea: Never make a Tim that does more than 1 damage per shot. If you must, make him a rare, not a common! I think it would be healthier for the environment to have a common X spell than a creature of this nature. Isochron Scepter, on the other hand, is one of the most overrated cards of recent memory. While the potential is indeed there, there aren’t the tools necessary to make this card effective. Add to this the fact that more artifacts means that artifact hate will be more prevalent will move the scepter to the fringes of deck design. As for the dreaded Ancestral + Scepter combo, it’s neither efficient nor fast enough to be good in Type 1. Speaking of which…

It seems that Type 1 is getting more attention these days than it used to. It caught me off guard when I found out that the local card shop here is holding weekly Type 1 tournaments (albeit with proxies allowed). Also, sites such as Star City feature a good number of Type 1 strategy and deckbuilding articles. While I have no problem with people who want to play Type 1 on occasion, I get disagreeable when Type 1 is promoted ahead of more healthy formats like Standard or Block Constructed. For those who suggest such a thing is a good idea, let me just say it here: A Type 1 Pro Tour would be an unmitigated disaster. While people such as Oscar Tan (who is this guy, anyway?) write that you can play Type 1 without all the power cards, it’s beyond debate that having access to Dual Lands and the Power 9 makes any deck better. Now, when you have a format that requires players to have certain cards (since, if you’re playing in a Pro Tour event, you absolutely must have the best version of any deck possible), if they’re that expensive you really marginalize a lot of the players who can’t afford the P9. If you build a Type 2 deck and you switch 4 of one card for 4 rares, the most you would be looking at is about $60 total ($15 apiece) for the most expensive rares. This pales in comparison to Type 1, with prices of at least $200 for a single card! There’s really nothing much that can be done about the situation—reprinting the P9 is not only a stupid idea, it’s simply not going to happen, and allowing proxies would similarly destroy the secondary market for the most expensive cards. Play your Type 1 if you must, but the more interactive formats are really better for the game.

I had a couple more things to speak about, but I guess I’ll leave those for next month. If you disagree with my comments, please email me at markdash at hotmail dot com. I would really enjoy tearing apart your flimsy arguments. If you agree with what I have to say, well, I enjoy praise as much as the next guy.

Until next month,
MD

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Related Stories

• Pro Tour Yokohama Recap: Kai Dominates Side Draft; Finkel Swept in Top 4
• I'll Still Take My Chances Against One of Those Taco-Eaters
• Another Rant From MD

Another month, another bunch of stuff to complain about! Don’t worry, though, I plan on doing an above-average amount of complimenting in this rant (which could mean anywhere from one to two positive statements).

First off, let me address the distant past that was the Team Pro Tour. Congratulations are in order for the Brockafellars, who rose to the occasion and ended the evil Phoenix Foundation’s stranglehold on the format. This, of course, means that we will have to refer to Brock Parker as “Pro Tour Champion Brock Parker” from now on. I am now going to light myself on fire. Seriously, though, while I do have problems with the way that Kai and the Foundation go about their business, their ability in Team Limited cannot be denied; it’s far beyond any possible claims of “broken sealed decks” or “lucky manascrew.” Speaking of which, is there any possible way to change the format for the Team Tour? Having participated in one, I know the unpredictability of Team Sealed, and it would be nice to eliminate it altogether. While this opens up a logistical can of worms (how do you do 66 drafts at a time, 5 times on Day 1?) that can possibly be answered by reducing the number of teams or giving incentives for more judges to attend, I think it’s much more important that teams be able to use their expertise in the format THEY ACTUALLY PRACTICED. Nothing is worse than practicing team draft for weeks, then getting crappy sealeds and going 0-3.

Being a Bay Area native, I was thrilled by the news that the 2004 World Championships will be held in San Francisco. While this is a good start, it seems like the Left Coast is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to Magic: the Gathering events. With 5 Pro Tours a year, why can’t they hold one on the east coast (New York, Boston, Philly, etc), one on the West Coast (SF, Seattle, LA, San Diego), one in Japan/Asia, one in Europe, another in the US Midwest, and rotate Worlds around the globe? Instead, the former “West Coast PT” is being held in Houston or New Orleans. Furthermore, the Grand Prix hasn’t been making enough stops in this half of the country, either. San Francisco twice, Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Diego? That’s 8 Grand Prix in 7 years. Tragic.

I’ve been drafting Mirrodin weekly since the Prerelease, and it seems like a very solid set with a lot of decisions and no problematic commons like in Onslaught Block. Wait a second, I forgot about Spikeshot Goblin! One word about this guy: Oops. Wizards, here’s an idea: Never make a Tim that does more than 1 damage per shot. If you must, make him a rare, not a common! I think it would be healthier for the environment to have a common X spell than a creature of this nature. Isochron Scepter, on the other hand, is one of the most overrated cards of recent memory. While the potential is indeed there, there aren’t the tools necessary to make this card effective. Add to this the fact that more artifacts means that artifact hate will be more prevalent will move the scepter to the fringes of deck design. As for the dreaded Ancestral + Scepter combo, it’s neither efficient nor fast enough to be good in Type 1. Speaking of which…

It seems that Type 1 is getting more attention these days than it used to. It caught me off guard when I found out that the local card shop here is holding weekly Type 1 tournaments (albeit with proxies allowed). Also, sites such as Star City feature a good number of Type 1 strategy and deckbuilding articles. While I have no problem with people who want to play Type 1 on occasion, I get disagreeable when Type 1 is promoted ahead of more healthy formats like Standard or Block Constructed. For those who suggest such a thing is a good idea, let me just say it here: A Type 1 Pro Tour would be an unmitigated disaster. While people such as Oscar Tan (who is this guy, anyway?) write that you can play Type 1 without all the power cards, it’s beyond debate that having access to Dual Lands and the Power 9 makes any deck better. Now, when you have a format that requires players to have certain cards (since, if you’re playing in a Pro Tour event, you absolutely must have the best version of any deck possible), if they’re that expensive you really marginalize a lot of the players who can’t afford the P9. If you build a Type 2 deck and you switch 4 of one card for 4 rares, the most you would be looking at is about $60 total ($15 apiece) for the most expensive rares. This pales in comparison to Type 1, with prices of at least $200 for a single card! There’s really nothing much that can be done about the situation—reprinting the P9 is not only a stupid idea, it’s simply not going to happen, and allowing proxies would similarly destroy the secondary market for the most expensive cards. Play your Type 1 if you must, but the more interactive formats are really better for the game.

I had a couple more things to speak about, but I guess I’ll leave those for next month. If you disagree with my comments, please email me at markdash at hotmail dot com. I would really enjoy tearing apart your flimsy arguments. If you agree with what I have to say, well, I enjoy praise as much as the next guy.

Until next month,
MD

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Related Stories

• Pro Tour Yokohama Recap: Kai Dominates Side Draft; Finkel Swept in Top 4
• I'll Still Take My Chances Against One of Those Taco-Eaters
• Another Rant From MD