Never one to shy away from controversy Mark Rosewater, raised some eyebrows and some heckles today when he announced his votes for inductees into the Magic hall of fame. Along with his expected votes of Zack Dolan, Tom Wylie, and himself, Rosewater came through with a shocker. "And now we get to the vote most likely to spurn angry letters. Yes, I'm voting for Judge Hathorne of the Salem Witch trials."

With his understanding of the criteria for selection, his sanity, and his humanity all in question, Rosewater offered arguments to defend his choice, "Yes, I understand that he scores lowest on not-hideously-bad of the twenty-nine candidates. But he scores number one in a very important category: charisma. And evil. Charisma and evil. And killing witches. Maybe I should start again."

After collecting his thoughts and completing his list of five important personality traits that qualified the bloodthirsty judge, Rosewater went on; "Judge Hathorne has done more than any other person in the history of magic to make it interesting. When Hathorne was ordering innocent women to their deaths in a frenzy of fear mongering, everybody cared. Sure, many were rooting for him to lose, but man did they care. They especially cared when he heard that they disagreed with him and had their wives burned alive."

"Judge Hathorne made magic exciting. He made it tense. He made it interesting. No matter how you criticize him you have to acknowledge that he is a fundamental part of magic's past. To deny him entrance into the Hall of Fame is to misunderstand what the Hall of Fame is all about. It's not a place, like every other institution called a hall of fame does, to highlight just the good of the magic. It's not a place, as its name would suggest, that is meant to highlight fame rather than infamy. It's a place to highlight the history of magic. And Judge Hathorne is a key part of that history. A key, murderous, never-forget-the-smell-of-burning-human-flesh part."

Rosewater's foretelling of angry letters in response to this pick revealed itself to be quite prescient, as angry letters flowed in by the dozen. Legal expert Judge Corwin weighed in on Rosewater's divination. "One prediction of the future may just be luck," Corwin explained from beyond the grave, "but if Rosewater augurs any other truths, it will be his hide roped to the stake."

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Never one to shy away from controversy Mark Rosewater, raised some eyebrows and some heckles today when he announced his votes for inductees into the Magic hall of fame. Along with his expected votes of Zack Dolan, Tom Wylie, and himself, Rosewater came through with a shocker. "And now we get to the vote most likely to spurn angry letters. Yes, I'm voting for Judge Hathorne of the Salem Witch trials."

With his understanding of the criteria for selection, his sanity, and his humanity all in question, Rosewater offered arguments to defend his choice, "Yes, I understand that he scores lowest on not-hideously-bad of the twenty-nine candidates. But he scores number one in a very important category: charisma. And evil. Charisma and evil. And killing witches. Maybe I should start again."

After collecting his thoughts and completing his list of five important personality traits that qualified the bloodthirsty judge, Rosewater went on; "Judge Hathorne has done more than any other person in the history of magic to make it interesting. When Hathorne was ordering innocent women to their deaths in a frenzy of fear mongering, everybody cared. Sure, many were rooting for him to lose, but man did they care. They especially cared when he heard that they disagreed with him and had their wives burned alive."

"Judge Hathorne made magic exciting. He made it tense. He made it interesting. No matter how you criticize him you have to acknowledge that he is a fundamental part of magic's past. To deny him entrance into the Hall of Fame is to misunderstand what the Hall of Fame is all about. It's not a place, like every other institution called a hall of fame does, to highlight just the good of the magic. It's not a place, as its name would suggest, that is meant to highlight fame rather than infamy. It's a place to highlight the history of magic. And Judge Hathorne is a key part of that history. A key, murderous, never-forget-the-smell-of-burning-human-flesh part."

Rosewater's foretelling of angry letters in response to this pick revealed itself to be quite prescient, as angry letters flowed in by the dozen. Legal expert Judge Corwin weighed in on Rosewater's divination. "One prediction of the future may just be luck," Corwin explained from beyond the grave, "but if Rosewater augurs any other truths, it will be his hide roped to the stake."

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Related Stories

• Labarre, Hamon Play Out Remainder Of Life's Matches
• Reconciliation for Saddam Hussein: Magic Judge
• Manson: Vote For Me For Invitational