Hammie’s The State of the Program for February 22nd
This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.
In the News this Week:
+1 Pro Tour: Wizards has announced that they will hold a fourth Pro Tour each year. The fourth Pro Tour will happen two weeks after the release of the summer Core set. This will mean more PTQs, and more chances to qualify. This is great news on many, many fronts. It has been several years since we had four PTs per year – it’s about time the fourth event came back. Well done, Wizards.
This is notable in another way: it shows that Wizards listens to the players. Over the last year or two, Wizards has made a number of changes to competitive play at all levels – everything from increasing support for store tourneys to tweaking how players could qualify for the Pro Tour. Some changes, like elimination of ratings-based qualifications and online PTQs, have worked. Others, like qualifications based on Planeswalker Points and the initial elimination of Worlds, have required a lot of fixing. Most recently, players were talking about the difficulty of travelling to enough events to stay on the “gravy train” with just three PTs, plus a ton of GPs. The fourth Pro Tour, plus the World Magic Cup and Player Champs, plus all the online stuff, is all to the good. What’s next? What about online Grand Prix? Wizards hasn’t said anything about those, yet, but they would be nice to see.
One Incredible Pro Tour: Pro Tour Gatecrash is in the books. It was amazing. The coverage keeps getting better and better. The format was interesting. The drama in the final rounds was intense, and the Top 8 was stacked. The format was highly watchable, and while the big name pros were in the hunt, the Top 8 was more a story of longtime players making Top 8 for the first time. LSV got knocked out early, but Wizards added him to the Sunday coverage team, which was great. If you don’t watch coverage, consider it next time around. I recommend my approach: fire up MTGO on your main screen, and watch coverage on a second screen, laptop, etc. It gives you something to do between rounds. Coverage, including decklists, analysis, plus deck tech and match videos, here.
Sponsor’s Exemptions: For years, Wizards has given special invites to the Pro Tour to certain individuals it thought deserved to be there. (Other sports / tournaments do, too – Golf, Tennis, Poker, etc.) Some people objected to this, arguing that you should only be on the Tour if you win a PTQ, have the appropriate players club level, etc. Wizards reserves sponsor’s exemptions for players in special circumstances. I know of one player who made the finals of a couple PTQs and GPs, but ended up losing in the final round each time. Another lost the finals due to a terrible judge call (hey, judges are human – and that sort of thing is really rare.) I also heard about exemptions being used for players who qualified for a previous PT, but could not attend due to medical or weather emergencies. Wizards gives exemptions to deserving people that it thinks should be on the tour. That’s the way it is Do those players deserve it? Well, this time around Wizards gave out six exemptions. In a 400 player Pro Tour, four of those players made the Top 16, finishing fourth, sixth, ninth and thirteenth. Seems like Wizards called that one pretty well.
Crash: MTGO went down at 9:05 pm last Thursday. Tournaments were interrupted, and at 10:10 Wizards had to restart the program. Service was back up, with a full slate of events, by 10:55, but the interrupted events were lost. Reimbursement occurred, as Worth tweeted it, “automagically.”
MOCS Season 2 Preliminaries this Weekend: MOCs season 2 is over. The preliminary events, open to those with 15 or more QPs, will be held beginning Friday at 6p PDT, and continuing through the weekend. The MOCS season 2 Championship will be held next weekend. For the rest of us, MOCS season three is underway.
Extended Downtime Next Week: The Wednesday downtime next week will be long. It will also begin early, at 3am PDT. That means the system will go into “no pay” mode around midnight, PDT. No info on when it will end, yet.
Falling Pack Prices: As I mentioned last week, the price of packs has fallen significantly online. Return to Ravnica packs, which had started life close to 4TIX each, have now dropped below 3TIX. Data here. Gatecrash packs appear to be following suit. Odds are that this is because the 4pack sealed events – the events that removed a number of packs from the system each time they ran – are gone, and have been replaced by phantom events that eat tickets and spawn packs. With pack prices this low, players are beginning to question whether it is cost effective to play in 2 person constructed queues, or even constructed daily events.
Round Three of the Classic Quarter Invitational Starting Soon: The next round will start shortly. Registration closes March 2nd, at midnight. Registration is different this time around – it will now use Gatherling.com, which is becoming increasingly common for constructed PREs. Details here.
HammyBot: Still here!HammyBot was created to sell the late Erik Friborg’s MTGO collection to raise money for his widow and son. HammyBot is a great way to get cards while supporting the family of someone who supported the community. Here’s an update on the Bot, plus a note on a cool card that I saw on HammyBot.
Cards left on HammyBot: 28,025 (let’s get this below 28K!)
TIX raised so far: 5,399 (and over 5,400 TIX, please)
Cool HammyBot card of the week: (Narcomeboa)
Opinion Section: Women in Magic
Last weekend, Magic history was made. For the first time, the Top 8 did not include 8 Y chromosomes. That’s right, a woman made Top 8 at the Pro Tour.
About fricken time.
Magic has always had a few notable – meaning competitive at the highest level – women players. I started writing & playing serious tournaments, in 1999. Back then, the best woman player around was the Magic Diva, Michelle Bush. Michelle was the first woman to Top 8 a Grand Prix. She still has the highest finish: second at Grand Prix New Orleans, 2001. She was also a Magic writer. On the down side, she was part of the group that brought us Trix. (For those of you that don’t know, be grateful.)
The judge program has also had a lot of very good female judges. This picture is from Paris, 2005. At least two future Level 4 judges are in that group. Full disclosure – I’m married to the one with the US flag.
Since Michelle Bush, we have had a number of players Top 8 a Grand Prix, including Melissa DeTora, Jackie Lee, Mary Jacobson, and Lissa Jensen. It’s about time one of them cracked Top 8 at a Pro Tour – and not surprising at all that it was Melissa. A full decade ago, when Wizards asked nine pros who was the best female Magic player, Michelle Bush and Melissa DeTora both got three votes. Michelle quit magic once she got her MD. Melissa is still going strong.
On the company side, Wizards has always had some great women running parts of Magic, including Elaine Chase, Helene Bergeot and Beth Moursund (before the stack and the 6th edition rules rewrite, cards worked the way they did because Bethmo said so. Seriously.)
The sad thing is that pretty much every one of these women, and most other female Magic writers, have had to address gender issues in Magic. I really look forward to a time when absence or presence of a Y chromosome isn’t worthy noticing. Someday, gender will be about as relevant as hair color, handedness or whether player prefers steak to sushi when discussing whether he or she can play Magic. Until then, enjoy this, from Michelle Bush’s article, circa 2000.
I think from now on I'll just compile a list that I can hand out when I'm in the mood. It'll save me a lot of explaining. It could be kinda like the FAQ of being a woman Magic player. I think it would go something like this:
1. Actually, technically I am not a girl, nor have I been one since I got to the end of that rotten time of life known as puberty. I am, however, a woman, and yes, I play Magic.
2. No, it's not my boyfriend's deck.
3. No, this isn't "my first time." (Winning a tournament, that is)
4. No, I do not want or need your help building my sealed deck. However, I would be grateful if you would help me find a judge to explain the meaning of this confusing word "collusion."
5. Why thank you, I think I WILL put crying on the stack.
6. I know what you mean about hoping you don't get beat down by a girl. I mean, what will I tell my friends if I get beat down by a moron? Oh, I'm sorry! Did I say that out loud?
7. You know, come to think of it, you're right. I am an easy win. Maybe I should make it up to you by playing for money. A lot of money.
I wish Michelle was still playing.
Congrats, Melissa DeTora. Now win one.
Video of the Week:
I have been durddling around with some interesting (e.g, questionable) combo decks. This one is a Legacy deck I have been playing around with a deck I cribbed from Carrie Oliver over on Channel Fireball. I have made, and unmade, a few “improvements” on her list, but the deck is still not quite there. It is complex, and I have not completely mastered the sequencing of all the tricks. It is easy to misplay. Worse it is, at the moment, too inconsistent. That said, it is kinda fun to be attacking with multiple Primeval Titans on turn four.
Apologies for the quality. I’m still having problems with the new client, and I waste too much time trying to get videos there. I also live in the country, where my Internet is barely adequate. As a result, videos take hours to upload, and occasionally fail. That, unfortunately, happened with a several other videos I shot, including several matches against an actual opponent. This is the best of those I actually managed to capture and upload.
Cutting Edge Tech:
Standard: We had a Standard format Pro Tour, so I am going to concentrate on that format this week. I’ll go back to a broader overview next week. One thing I have noted – despite the popularity of decks like Saito’s RG aggro build a few weeks ago, I don’t see aggro as even close to dominant. While watching the PT coverage, I was playing the 10 charms deck in a Standard Spotlight event, and absolutely wrecking every aggro deck I faced. I also faced a bunch of control decks, and they were all doing well. I expect we will continue to see a lot of mono-red aggro decks online, since people have the cards and are familiar with the deck, but I expect to see a lot more UWx builds. Here is Ben Stark’s UWB Drownyard deck.
Esper Control w/ 4 Drownyards
Ben Stark, 4th Pace, Pro Tour Gatecrash
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Godless Shrine
2 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Nephalia Drownyard
2 Island
1 Plains
4 Augur of Bolas
3 Restoration Angel
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Azorius Charm
4 Supreme Verdict
4 Think Twice
2 Dissipate
2 Planar Cleansing
2 Devour Flesh
1 Dramatic Rescue
1 Ultimate Price
4 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Duress
1 Dispel
1 Negate
2 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Witchbane Orb
2 Angel of Serenity
3 Gloom Surgeon
1 Rest in Peace
1 Psychic Spiral
Tom Martell won the whole thing with The Aristocrats, a RWB Humans deck, but I’m not sure it can continue to dominate. The Aristocrats was strong because it was unknown, but it was not all that successful. Yes, Martell won, but the team playing it had mixed results. If you play this, practice your Skirsdag High Priest tricks, especially those involving Cartel Aristocrats. (Cartel Aristocrats can give you morbid at any time, allowing you to make Demon tokens instantly. Keep an eye out for tricks like (Orhzhov Charm) returning Doomed Traveler, sac it to Cartel Aristocrat, make a demon, even when your board is just Cartel Aristo and High Priest.)
The Aristocrats
Tom Martell, Winner, Pro Tour Gatecrash
4 Godless Shrine
4 Blood Crypt
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Plains
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Cartel Aristocrat
2 Skirsdag High Priest
3 Knight of Infamy
2 Silverblade Paladin
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Restoration Angel
2 Zealous Conscripts
2 Lingering Souls
4 Orzhov Charm
2 Lingering Souls
2 Blasphemous Act
2 Rest in Peace
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Skirsdag High Priest
3 Tragic Slip
1 Mentor of the Meek
The one aggro / creature beats deck I do like is Jund. Jund put two players into the Top 8, and it is still doing well in online events. I like it – but I am probably biased. I started playing tournaments last millennium, and my go to decks back then were GB Survival of the Fittest and Rock. I have liked GBx ever since. That said, I recommend this list:
Jund
Owen Turtenwald, 6th place, Pro Tour Gatecrash
4 Stomping Ground
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Woodland Cemetery
3 Dragonskull Summit
1 Rootbound Crag
3 Forest
3 Arbor Elf
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
2 Pillar of Flame
4 Farseek
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Dreadbore
1 Ultimate Price
1 Murder
4 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Rakdos's Return
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Staff of Nin
2 Underworld Connections
2 Strangleroot Geist
2 Duress
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Murder
1 Rakdos's Return
1 Tragic Slip
1 Pillar of Flame
I mentioned that I was playing a 10 Charms deck in the Standard Spotlight event while watching the PT. This is pretty much identical to what I played. I never needed the infinite life combo, but I did steal a couple games from nowhere with the Blasphemous Act. Infinite life? You make Boros Reckoner indestructible with Boros Charm, then give him Lifelink with Azorious Charm of Moment of Heroism, then deal him some damage. His triggered ability – when dealt damage, deal that much damage to target creature or player – then targets himself. With lifelink, you gain that much life, and with an indestructible Reckoner, you can rinse and repeat for an arbitrarily large amount of life (especially since autoyields just let you click on the Reckoner repeatedly – a ton of life for almost no clock.) That combo is rare – one I generally used to win against creature deck was to play a second Reckoner onto a crowded board, use Boros Charm to make my side indestructible, then cast Blasphemous Act. The two Reckoners pointed 26 damage to my opponent’s face, then my team swung for the win across an empty board. Nice, but the deck has a bad matchup against UW control game one, and only marginal game two. My final record of 4-3 was mainly because I played against 4 UWx control decks, and could only split.
Ten Charms
Joel Larsson, Second Place, Pro Tour Gatecrash
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Steam Vents
1 Island
1 Plains
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Augur of Bolas
3 Restoration Angel
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Searing Spear
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Izzet Charm
1 Unsummon
2 Pillar of Flame
4 Azorius Charm
4 Boros Charm
1 Moment of Heroism
2 Blasphemous Act
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Negate
4 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Pillar of Flame
Speaking of UWx Control, here’s one of those decks GerryT rode this control deck to Top 8, and it is showing up in some more recent DEs and PEs.
UWR Control,
Gerry Thompson, Sixth, Pro Tour Gatecrash
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Steam Vents
2 Sacred Foundry
3 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Island
1 Plains
2 Mountain
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Augur of Bolas
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Restoration Angel
4 Thought Scour
1 Think Twice
3 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Azorius Charm
1 Harvest Pyre
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Searing Spear
1 Counterflux
1 Rewind
3 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Negate
2 Dispel
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Planar Cleansing
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Essence Scatter
1 Rhox Faithmender
Finally, one true aggro deck made Top 8. It was the Saito deck I featured a week or so ago, and it is still good. Domri Rade is a blast to play. I’m not sure that the deck is good enough for a control-heavy metagame, but it is explosive. If you want a primer on the deck, buried in a really fun video, check out this piece. Brad Nelson is awesome when he is having fun, and he is having fun while absolutely destroying people in a Daily with this deck. It is premium on SCG, but I was going to say that this is the ultimate proof of why you buy premium. That is, until I saw this: Brad tests another Naya deck, playing against decent competition. For example, to test against The Aristocrats, he plays against Tom Martell. Yes, the Tom Martell that won the PT with that deck. But I digress – back to Naya.
Naya Aggro
Eric Froehlich, Third Place, Pro Tour Gatecrash
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple Garden
4 Stomping Ground
2 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Clifftop Retreat
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Gyre Sage
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Hellrider
4 Flinthoof Boar
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Thragtusk
4 Mizzium Mortars
4 Domri Rade
3 Boros Charm
2 Nearheath Pilgrim
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Pacifism
1 Aurelia, the Warleader
1 Thragtusk
2 Rest in Peace
2 Triumph of Ferocity
Finally, Melissa DeTora played a sweet UWG deck. Melissa was a favorite against Tom Martell, and almost pulled it out. A combination of bad draws, and what some experts now feel was questionable sideboarding advice from her team, let Martell squeak past. I like Bant Control, but I have not playtested it, yet. Note that this yet another variant on the add-a-land-to-go-over-the-top strategy that we have seen recently. First, we saw UWx add Drownyards to get past creature stalls. In this deck, Kessig Wolf Run does the same thing.
Bant Control
Melissa DeTore, Fifth, Pro Tour Gatecrash
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Breeding Pool
3 Glacial Fortress
3 Temple Garden
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Augur of Bolas
4 Thragtusk
4 Restoration Angel
3 Centaur Healer
4 Farseek
1 Detention Sphere
4 Azorius Charm
1 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
2 Think Twice
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Negate
2 Witchbane Orb
3 Rhox Faithmender
1 Detention Sphere
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Rest in Peace
1 Centaur Healer
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2 Garruk Relentless
Modern: For serious analysis of the Modern metagame online, check out Jacob Van Lune’s article on the mothership. For something a bit more amusing, here’s the decklist from the video.
Amulet of Vigor
Carrie Oliver, and others, test deck.
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Forest
1 Island
3 Selesnya Sanctuary
2 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Gruul Turf
1 Boros Garrison
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Mosswort Bridge
2 Vesuva
2 Spinerock Knoll
1 Tolaria West
4 Primeval Titan
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Summer Bloom
4 Explore
4 Amulet of Vigor
4 Wargate
3 Summoner's Pact
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Time Warp
1 Urban Exploration
Classic: No Classic events fired this week. On the plus side, Round Three of the Classic Quarter Invitational will start soon. Details here. If you want some ideas on what to play, check out the latest YSO. The guys actually post real decks this week, unlike those in recent weeks. As for prior weeks, I’m not a Classic expert, but even I know Brushland over Savannah is not tech.
Card Prices:
Notes: All my prices come from MTGOTraders.com. For cards that are available in multiple sets, I am quoting the most recent set’s price. Thus, the price I’m quoting for Garruk Relentless is from M13. These cards are also available from the MTGOTraders Bots, so check out mtgotradersbot, mtgotradersbot2,mtgotradersbot3, mtgotradersbot4, mtgotradersbot5, CardCaddy and CardWareHouse. These Bots often have the cards in stock even when the online store shows as out. Now, on to prices.
Standard prices are adjusting. The results of the Pro Tour are having an impact. Cards like Falkenrath Aristocrat, which people had begun to discount, but which appeared in the winning deck, jumped back up. Gatecrash card prices are still crashing.
Modern prices are heading down, hard. PTQ season created a lot of demand for Modern decks. Now that demand has slacked, and prices are heading down as grinders liquidate their cards. The pack price issue isn’t helping.
Pauper prices crashed this week. Pretty much everything dropped, and many cards dropped by a ton. I don’t understand this market, but I seriously wonder if some people are buying and selling to create artificial demand and surplus. Personally, I’m immune – my policy is to play enough limited to get playsets of every commons from every set for both Ingrid and I, and never sell those cards.
Here’s this week’s list of the non-foil, non-premium cards on MTGO that cost more than $25 each. Force of Will is holding stead, but Goyf is falling, slightly. The list itself has shrunk – a half dozen cards dropped below $25. Here’s this week’s list of MTGO gold:
Card
Rarity
Set
Price
Lion's Eye Diamond
R
MI
$ 99.18
Force of Will
R
MED
$ 77.53
Tarmogoyf
R
FUT
$ 70.16
Rishadan Port
R
MM
$ 65.10
Show and Tell
R
UZ
$ 49.49
Wasteland
U
TE
$ 47.70
Vendilion Clique
R
MOR
$ 44.64
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
M
WWK
$ 40.77
Gaea's Cradle
R
UZ
$ 40.48
Misdirection
R
MM
$ 39.15
Tangle Wire
R
NE
$ 35.35
Liliana of the Veil
M
ISD
$ 35.09
Sphinx's Revelation
M
RTR
$ 31.06
Geist of Saint Traft
M
ISD
$ 30.47
Underground Sea
R
ME4
$ 30.13
Flusterstorm
R
CMD
$ 30.07
Underground Sea
R
ME2
$ 29.06
Thundermaw Hellkite
M
M13
$ 28.88
Bonfire of the Damned
M
AVR
$ 28.57
Vampiric Tutor
R
VI
$ 28.55
Vindicate
R
AP
$ 27.71
Falkenrath Aristocrat
M
DKA
$ 26.48
Huntmaster of the Fells
M
DKA
$ 26.19
The big number is the retail price of a playset (4 copies) of every non-foil card available on MTGO. Assuming you bought the least expensive version available, the cost of owning a playset of every card on MTGO you can own is $22,288. That’s down about $500 since last time.
Weekly Highlights:
Watching the Pro Tour on my laptop while playing MTGO on the desktop.
I've often wanted to write about women in the game of magic. Seems like you said everything I wanted to say. The evidence suggests that it's not a lack of women playing the game- it's the attitudes of the men saying inappropriate things. Even if you feel you just "raped" someone, it's probably better to keep that to yourself.
Also, I really enjoyed looking at all the decklists from standard this week. There are a few holes in the standard metagame that people may not have noticed yet. Primarily...Stuffy Doll is really good right now.
Great Job as always Pete. Women have always been in M:TG it is true. In fact I was once fairly chatty with Dr Bush (mostly via #mtgwacky) and she was always incisive and insightful. She was by no means the only one with competitive skills: http://outofthebrokensky.com/?GAL=13&IMG=1
This picture alone shows 5 serious women players competing in the first (and only) Women's International. There were plenty of pro players there watching with critical interest.
I am not at all surprised Melissa did well, though I am a little surprised it is 2013 and we are still discussing gender roles in mtg. I expected (perhaps naively) to see little of the chauvinism I saw in the commentary over the weekend. "Oh she's gorgeous!", "She's only there because she's a woman!", etc. Some of the comments were quite a bit more ugly. I realize our game is over populated by horny male teenagers but it gets sad when those teens are actually in their 20s-30s.
In other news gatecrash has been unexpectedly fun. Go figure. My first impression was that we had a dud, but my delayed reaction is: wow some of these cards are great fun. Now if we can only wean the populace off of Boros Reckoner/Blasphemous Act so the latter can go back to being my secret weapon. :)
I feel a little bored of the subject of women in magic, at some point it is hard to believe that this is still going on instead of accepting everyone as players. I hope that Melissa is a trend of women continuing to do well so I do not have to feel like a sexist for cheering for a player that I have had great games against and enjoy the stream of (Tom Martell) over somebody that I do not know.
On one hand I understand it. There is some sexism in Magic, if you go to random tournament, there will be someone who does not want to lose to a girl. On the other hand, it is rough to feel like the bad guy for supporting a person that I feel treats others with kindness over someone I do not know. (I also saw that Melissa has played alot of MTGO drafts over the weeks leading up to it, so I may have had similar interactions with her, but her screenname is not as obvious as TomM.)
I am bored as well of the women talk in magic. I could truly care less of what your gender is or anything in between. If you play magic and sit across the table from me I want to beat you. I will shake your hand regardless of the outcome and move along.
In essence we need to move along as this is a tiresome dance that keeps on popping up now and again.
Congrats to Melissa!
Andy
first, it will be great when I never have to write about this again. However, as a judge, I can tell you that I have often had to intervene because of inappropriate / rude / insulting behavior by males against females. I wish we were past it, but there are still cavemen out there. I can't wait for it to end.
On the plus side, I am old enough that I can remember when the last laws making mixed race marriages a criminal offense were repealed. Now, mixed race couples, and kids, are no longer remarkable. Progress happens.
As for who you root for - root for whomever you want. I root for the people I know, and especially for those from Madison, or at least close to it. (Owen and GerryT) Or root for your favorite deck. It's all good.
I've never really bought into the idea that sexist attitudes by male players is what keeps women away from tournaments. Most of the guys at a local FNM are the type that can barely talk to women in the first place, otherwise they would likely be on a date occasionally and not summoning dragons every Friday night. The whole FNM thing just seems to be repellent to women in every regard. I've seen many more ladies at Grand Prix events, where the venues are nicer and it's easier to get away from weirdos when you want to. The increased GP schedule might allow more women to get into competitive magic while bypassing their local player communities with whom they aren't comfortable. But still, this is a game about summoning dragons and casting lightning bolts, let's be honest, interest in that fantasy stuff skews HEAVILY male and always will.
On the pricing trends, JTMS crashing so hard has me surprised. I wonder if there's some speculation about a reprint in FTV:20 affecting this? That said, 40 tix has been the baseline he's returned to several times, so maybe that's not so surprising.
I'm seeing a trend with the Pauper prices. Like I pointed out last time, pauper prices rise when Standard is in flux (new expansion is coming out, people aren't sure what the meta will be like) and then drop again when the new expansion is out and there's some tournament results showcasing the new meta so it's "safe" to invest in Standard again.
I think people flock to Pauper when the Standard meta is uncertain. I fully expect to see a huge Pauper price surge when Innistrad is rotating out, like there was when SoM rotated.
If you don't mind me asking, how fast is your internet? I know I have had to turn down job opportunities with slight raises in the country because the sucky internet would deprive me of my favorite hobby (MTGO). I always thought Americans had it better in that regard.
Anyway, great article as always. I always look forward to these.
Missed deadline - rushed. Ran out of time to get everyone.
For everyone else - also great people at Wizards: Whitney, Renee, Tolena - wait, not going to try to list them, because I can think of a half dozen more, which would mean I am missing at least that many.
I should point out that Elaine was NY Statechamp the year Academy was the deck. (My friend Hogan took 5th place with our techy homebrew of the same archetype) and her husband (Kieran? cant remember the spelling) took 2nd.
Also isn't your wife something of a thing in pro MTG?
@ricklongo The internet in the US is not very good. It's improving, but price wise compared with speeds, we are like 15th or something crazy low in the world. It's pretty depressing, but mainly since our government did nothing for the infrastructure and the companies that provide the service have a monopoly in alot of areas, and even in some bigger cities, you have maybe 3 choices. My internet is about 15 down and 2.5 up but I pay around $70 a month for it..terrible compared to friends of mine in Germany and France who get literally twice or more speed for about $40 US.
Yeah, I know Europe and east Asia get it good in this regard. Sadly, things aren't that great here in South America either. I currently pay around $50 for 15 mega in a large city, and in most of my state's countryside the max download speed available barely reaches 1 mega. I hear it's a bit better for small cities in southern Brazilian states (I live in the Brazilian Northeast), but still not that great.
Dribbling entirely the uncomfortable "Magic players are so stupid/out-of-date/pathetic that a woman pro player still feels like an event and triggers debates" topic, hey, I was playing with Amulet of Vigor and bounce lands years ago! :) I remember using that trick in Tribal and, I don't know, Extended, I guess? Zendikar was still fresh and for some reason I had Roil Elemental and Admonition Angel as finishers (I don't think I even owned Primeval Titan at the time.) Good memories. I need to try that deluxe Modern version. Seems a bit frail and easy to hate, but its successes might be worth the failures.
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I apparently misclicked on adding the picture. It is here:
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/13401_Ask-the-Judge--12-22-2006--Fe...
at the bottom of that article.
I've often wanted to write about women in the game of magic. Seems like you said everything I wanted to say. The evidence suggests that it's not a lack of women playing the game- it's the attitudes of the men saying inappropriate things. Even if you feel you just "raped" someone, it's probably better to keep that to yourself.
Also, I really enjoyed looking at all the decklists from standard this week. There are a few holes in the standard metagame that people may not have noticed yet. Primarily...Stuffy Doll is really good right now.
Totally agree about the terminology. Gamer culture desensitizes its members to certain terms which have an extremely negative impact outside of it.
Great Job as always Pete. Women have always been in M:TG it is true. In fact I was once fairly chatty with Dr Bush (mostly via #mtgwacky) and she was always incisive and insightful. She was by no means the only one with competitive skills:
http://outofthebrokensky.com/?GAL=13&IMG=1
This picture alone shows 5 serious women players competing in the first (and only) Women's International. There were plenty of pro players there watching with critical interest.
I am not at all surprised Melissa did well, though I am a little surprised it is 2013 and we are still discussing gender roles in mtg. I expected (perhaps naively) to see little of the chauvinism I saw in the commentary over the weekend. "Oh she's gorgeous!", "She's only there because she's a woman!", etc. Some of the comments were quite a bit more ugly. I realize our game is over populated by horny male teenagers but it gets sad when those teens are actually in their 20s-30s.
In other news gatecrash has been unexpectedly fun. Go figure. My first impression was that we had a dud, but my delayed reaction is: wow some of these cards are great fun. Now if we can only wean the populace off of Boros Reckoner/Blasphemous Act so the latter can go back to being my secret weapon. :)
I feel a little bored of the subject of women in magic, at some point it is hard to believe that this is still going on instead of accepting everyone as players. I hope that Melissa is a trend of women continuing to do well so I do not have to feel like a sexist for cheering for a player that I have had great games against and enjoy the stream of (Tom Martell) over somebody that I do not know.
I'm with you man. I'm not sure why it's even mentioned. That'd be like saying, "OMG, a black guy was in the top 8". I'd hoped we were way past that.
On one hand I understand it. There is some sexism in Magic, if you go to random tournament, there will be someone who does not want to lose to a girl. On the other hand, it is rough to feel like the bad guy for supporting a person that I feel treats others with kindness over someone I do not know. (I also saw that Melissa has played alot of MTGO drafts over the weeks leading up to it, so I may have had similar interactions with her, but her screenname is not as obvious as TomM.)
I am bored as well of the women talk in magic. I could truly care less of what your gender is or anything in between. If you play magic and sit across the table from me I want to beat you. I will shake your hand regardless of the outcome and move along.
In essence we need to move along as this is a tiresome dance that keeps on popping up now and again.
Congrats to Melissa!
Andy
first, it will be great when I never have to write about this again. However, as a judge, I can tell you that I have often had to intervene because of inappropriate / rude / insulting behavior by males against females. I wish we were past it, but there are still cavemen out there. I can't wait for it to end.
On the plus side, I am old enough that I can remember when the last laws making mixed race marriages a criminal offense were repealed. Now, mixed race couples, and kids, are no longer remarkable. Progress happens.
As for who you root for - root for whomever you want. I root for the people I know, and especially for those from Madison, or at least close to it. (Owen and GerryT) Or root for your favorite deck. It's all good.
I've never really bought into the idea that sexist attitudes by male players is what keeps women away from tournaments. Most of the guys at a local FNM are the type that can barely talk to women in the first place, otherwise they would likely be on a date occasionally and not summoning dragons every Friday night. The whole FNM thing just seems to be repellent to women in every regard. I've seen many more ladies at Grand Prix events, where the venues are nicer and it's easier to get away from weirdos when you want to. The increased GP schedule might allow more women to get into competitive magic while bypassing their local player communities with whom they aren't comfortable. But still, this is a game about summoning dragons and casting lightning bolts, let's be honest, interest in that fantasy stuff skews HEAVILY male and always will.
On the pricing trends, JTMS crashing so hard has me surprised. I wonder if there's some speculation about a reprint in FTV:20 affecting this? That said, 40 tix has been the baseline he's returned to several times, so maybe that's not so surprising.
I'm seeing a trend with the Pauper prices. Like I pointed out last time, pauper prices rise when Standard is in flux (new expansion is coming out, people aren't sure what the meta will be like) and then drop again when the new expansion is out and there's some tournament results showcasing the new meta so it's "safe" to invest in Standard again.
I think people flock to Pauper when the Standard meta is uncertain. I fully expect to see a huge Pauper price surge when Innistrad is rotating out, like there was when SoM rotated.
I believe (e.g. questionable) should be: (i.e. questionable)
If you don't mind me asking, how fast is your internet? I know I have had to turn down job opportunities with slight raises in the country because the sucky internet would deprive me of my favorite hobby (MTGO). I always thought Americans had it better in that regard.
Anyway, great article as always. I always look forward to these.
On a good day, we max out at 1.5M up and maybe 375kbps down. On a bad day, half or a third of that, with a lot of latency and packet errors.
on Tolena's wall. She will not let you live this down. Marcella too.
Missed deadline - rushed. Ran out of time to get everyone.
For everyone else - also great people at Wizards: Whitney, Renee, Tolena - wait, not going to try to list them, because I can think of a half dozen more, which would mean I am missing at least that many.
also great women at Wizards - lots.
I should point out that Elaine was NY Statechamp the year Academy was the deck. (My friend Hogan took 5th place with our techy homebrew of the same archetype) and her husband (Kieran? cant remember the spelling) took 2nd.
Also isn't your wife something of a thing in pro MTG?
@ricklongo The internet in the US is not very good. It's improving, but price wise compared with speeds, we are like 15th or something crazy low in the world. It's pretty depressing, but mainly since our government did nothing for the infrastructure and the companies that provide the service have a monopoly in alot of areas, and even in some bigger cities, you have maybe 3 choices. My internet is about 15 down and 2.5 up but I pay around $70 a month for it..terrible compared to friends of mine in Germany and France who get literally twice or more speed for about $40 US.
Yeah, I know Europe and east Asia get it good in this regard. Sadly, things aren't that great here in South America either. I currently pay around $50 for 15 mega in a large city, and in most of my state's countryside the max download speed available barely reaches 1 mega. I hear it's a bit better for small cities in southern Brazilian states (I live in the Brazilian Northeast), but still not that great.
Some small countries in Europe (the highly technological Estonia, for instance) even have high-speed wi-fi everywhere and free for everyone. :)
Dribbling entirely the uncomfortable "Magic players are so stupid/out-of-date/pathetic that a woman pro player still feels like an event and triggers debates" topic, hey, I was playing with Amulet of Vigor and bounce lands years ago! :) I remember using that trick in Tribal and, I don't know, Extended, I guess? Zendikar was still fresh and for some reason I had Roil Elemental and Admonition Angel as finishers (I don't think I even owned Primeval Titan at the time.) Good memories. I need to try that deluxe Modern version. Seems a bit frail and easy to hate, but its successes might be worth the failures.
Didn't you read my article on the very subject?