Editorial Section:
"Um. Slight news for you. I won't be doing SotP Friday October 16th. But I have a really good excuse." -hamtastic talking to Joshua Claytor
- Excitement Warning -
Many of you who read my articles each week probably feel as if I'm always 'pro-this' or 'pro-that' meaning that I'm some sort of eternal "the glass is half full" kind of guy. The truth is that I'm actually quite sarcastic, cynical and derisive when I'm left to my own devices. However, it is a conscious effort on my part each week, day and hour to objectively look at both sides of an issue. Both the dark and the bright side. Which thanks to the natural posting tendencies of the internet masses means that the dark side of each issue is almost always covered much more quickly and in much greater depth than the bright side. Pessimism trumps optimism on the internet. So if I want to discuss a topic that's been talked about for more than 5 minutes AND have something relevant to add to the conversation I'm required to focus on the positive side a bit more. So what? Well, that weekly optimism you see is nothing compared to what you're about to read. You're about to get a glimpse into seeing me actively happy about something. Trust me when I say that it is rare that you'll see such unbridled exuberance from me. Usually I say something balanced like "on one side of this issue... blah blah blah blah blah, but on the other blibbidy blibb blabber". But not this time. This time, it is all good, and it's all thanks to you.
- End Excitement Warning -
Yes. You-you. The readers of this here article here. You see, on September 15th I was working away at my day job (IT programming, tools, development, etc). A great job for a great company but regardless, it was just another day. As I am working on some threaded class debugging my FireFox gmail manager pops up that I have a new message. Expecting the typical newsletter, alert, "you've got a message" from facebook or mymtgo or wizards.com or any of my other typical items that litter the front page of my inbox. Instead, what I got contained this:
Subject:
"Invitation to be our first onsite MTGO Press at PT Austin"
Body:
....
"[W]e have a slot open for a Magic Online focused reporter to come to PT Austin and provide coverage of the Live Series event, the Meet and Greet, and the PT in general. Are you interested and available to come to PT Austin and do this?"
...
It was at that point that my brain evacuated my body. I later found fragments of it in the parking lot so it all worked out but I am pretty sure that I am still missing some of it. I've got the locals to keep an out for me so I feel safe that I'll get it all back eventually... but I digress (this is going to happen a lot in this article... sorry about that; but I'm still unable to completely hold or form a rational thought about this topic for extended periods of time...). I then tried to read the second half of the email. Reading Fail. I then re-tried to read the first half. Fail. Then I put my head on my desk, took a deep breath or twenty and tried again. I made it to the same spot again and had to stop as my head was spinning. About 30 minutes after the email arrived I finally managed to read the whole of it and instead of making the spinning stop it just increased the velocity. Why the excitement? Because I've been working towards this opportunity for about the past four years... even before I knew about this being an opportunity. Only the last twelve to eighteen months did I really even know about this type of possibility existing... and the experience of achieving a goal is something that I hope everyone gets to feel.
I replied that it was a highly likely thing to happen but I would have to make sure my wife would be okay with it. Therefore, I forwarded it to her and asked her input. She responded thusly:
"Ask for it off! That is awesome! What are the actual dates and I will work out my schedule."
Have I mentioned that my wife is an amazing woman? If I have, I probably have not enough, at any rate. Well she is, and she is the type of woman every magic player should strive to marry. Smart, understanding, supportive and beautiful. If you can't share your passions with your significant other then you're in for a lot of issues until you get all the priorities meshed as a couple... but I digress. Again.
So with my wife on board I quickly acquiesce to the job and it all begins to sink in. holycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrap. MTGO Reporter. Covering a P freakin' T. WotC. holycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrapholycrap. And so on.
The spinning in my head begins to slow down as I keep thinking about what all I need to do... and breathe. Breathing is good, how about we keep doing that? I make it through the rest of my work day with a surprising amount of focus considering the level of potential distraction. Chalk that up to compartmentalizing and having a lot to keep me busy. That night, I can't contain myself and have to tell a few folks. I first run into dangerlinto from www.classicquarter.com, and mention my good fortune. He congratulates me and expresses his jealousy. Fair enough. The next person I see online is Sebastian (aka runeliger from our weekly podcasts and Rune's Ramblings). He too congratulates and mentions some enviousness... I then talk to Joshua Claytor (our content manager here at Pure) and say the opening quote above;
hamtastic: Um. Slight news for you. I won't be doing SotP Friday October 16th.
But I have a really good excuse.
Joshua: You're fine.
hamtastic: <'splains the situation>
Joshua: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
That's a direct quote, by the way.
For a while that evening Sebastian, Joshua and I chat about the coolness of this turn of events and many other writing and PureMTGO related things. By the time I checked my clock it was about 11:00 PM and I needed to get ready for my next day of work as we are scheduled to perform a 12-hour phone system upgrade which meant will be all hands on deck. To my dismay I'm like a child on Christmas Eve and my sleep was fitful at best. I probably clocked in about four hours of interrupted sleep for the night. Ugh. Many thanks to Sebastian and Joshua for talking me down and freaking me out at the same time. It was awesome to have you guys to share the moment.
-One Week Later-
It is now a week later and I am finally getting used to the idea and I feel that I have my head wrapped around a few things. It helps that I have been able to make a few connections about the timing and reasoning for this invitation. The main one (as far as I can fathom) being that MTGO is getting online qualifiers for the next Pro Tour in San Diego and what better way to build excitement for that event than to have someone like me become extremely excited about the Pro Tour in general? Well it worked; my excitement is palpable as I am planning the coverage of Pro Tour Austin with much gusto and determination as I do not want to screw this up. Of course, to be properly prepared I am going to have to figure out what I want to do and how I am going to do it! So far my short list is the following:
Things to do...
Learn about the format - Extended and Sealed. Sealed is as Sealed does... but the New Extended is a relatively untapped format for the time being. And since it’s pretty much only the pros going to Austin that are going to be playing it… the details about the format are kind of hard to acquire. I have been reading a bit about the previous format and kind of getting a feel for how it was the last time it was relevant.
Learn about coverage techniques!
I am currently working on learning a bastardized Teeline shorthand version so I can cover a lot more things at once. I am still looking for other ways to make this shot count.
Don't screw up
Behave, be on time, be professional. Should not be a problem, but the desire to run amok whilst in a Nerd Mecca will be intoxicating.
Name drop like a madman.
There are many people that I know that would incapacitate me and take my place if they could find me in time. Each of them asked me to work their details into my conversations.
Find the interesting decks and cover them.
This is from my local paper players in upper Minnesota. They really want to know about some of the lesser known but good decks that used to be powerhouses but fell off the radar. I like this idea and will try to cover this as well.
Pack RedBull and Aspirin -
I intend to be moving so fast that it will make a hummingbird jealous, so I suspect that both energy and pain management won't go amiss.
There is so much on the line for this. Not just for me but for future MTGO Coverage in general. A good showing by me helps to keeps the door open for other later. Who knows, maybe this could even become a regular gig for me.... Who knows!? I sure don't, but even just getting this chance and being the first to get this chance is mind-blowingly awesome and something I never even dreamed about getting to do. As such, there's no way I'm going to squander this shot. This shows a huge amount of faith in me. And I'll be honest... no matter what I've done I've never 'felt' like a writer. Although I have written something every week for about four years now it never really sunk in until September 15th that hey, I'm a writer. As one of my top desires is to get a book published someday this is still an absolutely amazing opportunity to me. Even if this goes nowhere besides this one great weekend, it's still an honor and a privilege to be called upon to amplify my passion for writing.
Being as this article is supposed to be about MTGO and not just my personal landmarks, I feel as if I should be pulling this back into my typical "what's in it for us players?" line of thinking. So here goes.
What do you, my awesome MTGO centric readers, want to see an MTGO reporter cover at Pro Tour Austin?
My goals so far are
- Get interviews with some of the MTGO Live players, record some of the picks/drafts/etc.
- Cover any MTGO related news that may happen, cover bleed over from Paper into MTGO stuff...
- Cover the MTGO Meet and Greet stuff.
What else should a Pro Tour newb make sure to do?
Advice and suggestions are needed!
Also, if you're going to be at Pro Tour Austin let me know! I'd love to have a chance to meet up with my readers.
Discussion Items:
Super secret rares?
Rumor Mongering, Speculation, and Friend of a Friend (FoaF) accounts of some amazing cards... like Ancestral Recall being put into packs of Zendikar? As of the time of writing this there is no news confirming this wild state of affairs, but it is carrying the same feeling as the Time Spiral Bonus rumors so stay tuned for more news... we'll know soon enough!
EDIT: Another thread was created later Thursday which thickens the plot... picture in the thread.
While I obviously have no official knowledge about this series of events, I'm going to throw some simple sleuthing from what I've seen around the web this week as well as the natural conclusion I would hop to.
- Short selling Zendikar. Folks on the Monday Night Magic podcast discussed the huge under-production of Zendikar. Pre-order's being cancelled, etc.
- New rule about not swapping sealed decks.
- New rule about not playing or swapping cards 'from a different expansion'
- Two threads about opening old cards from Alpha/etc
Of course this isn't proof, it's just a series of events. Strange events that tie together though. I still don't know one way or the other what's going on... but the twitter-verse and MTGSalvation are on fire with the topic. Craziness!
With the execution of Standard w/Vanguard and KScope, there's now an opening for a new weekend format to fill the KScope void. WotC has listed a few options for the first go round, see the tournament section (below) for more details!
News of this broke late last week and boy was there backlash from some of the MTGP (aper) community! Personally I think this is awesome, but I'm admittedly biased towards things that are good for MTGO... I expect that this will create a good deal of back and forth between MTGO and MTGP players for the next few months.
Price Tables:
Price Graphs:
Yavimaya Elder chart
Dark Depths chart
Leyline of the Void chart
Ichorid chart
Tarmogoyf chart
Urza's Rage chart
Umezawa's Jitte chart
City of Brass chart
Elspeth, Knight_Errant chart
Goblin Assault chart
Yavimaya Elder chart
Dark Depths chart
Leyline of the Void chart
Death Baron chart
Goblin Assault chart
Irrigation Ditch chart
Innocent Blood chart
Urza's Rage chart
Giant Solifuge chart
Wall of Reverence chart
Vampire Nocturnus chart
Bazaar of Baghdad chart
Scrubland chart
Mana Drain chart
Tropical Island chart
Plateau chart
Volcanic Island chart
Bayou chart
Polluted Delta chart
Reflecting Pool chart
The Abyss chart
Siege_Gang Commander chart
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale chart
Incandescent Soulstoke chart
Vampire Nocturnus chart
Hypnotic Specter chart
Pithing Needle chart
Sanity Grinding chart
Cloudthresher chart
Goblin Chieftain chart
Tournament stuff:
www.mymtgo.com's 100 Card Singleton tournament standings:
| Status |
Team |
Matches Played
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
Ties
|
Games Won
|
Games Lost
|
WIN%
|
Points
|
| 1 |
yongbeng |
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
100.0
|
15
|
| 2 |
Burning_Lotus |
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
100.0
|
14
|
| 3 |
louigi |
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
100.0
|
14
|
| 4 |
JPit |
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
100.0
|
14
|
| 5 |
Tarmotog |
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
100.0
|
14
|
| 6 |
platipus10 |
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
100.0
|
14
|
| 7 |
Flughund |
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
2
|
100.0
|
13
|
| 8 |
Calyps0 |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
2
|
66.67
|
11
|
| 9 |
savagebeatdown |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
2
|
66.67
|
11
|
| 10 |
Neoshinji |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
2
|
66.67
|
11
|
| 11 |
Lord Erman |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
3
|
66.67
|
10
|
| 12 |
slug360 |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
3
|
66.67
|
10
|
| 13 |
Shuyin Knight of Zanarkand |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
3
|
66.67
|
10
|
| 14 |
Zimbardo |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
3
|
66.67
|
10
|
| 15 |
silvin |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
3
|
66.67
|
10
|
| 16 |
rushmore111 |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
3
|
66.67
|
10
|
| 17 |
Orgion |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
4
|
66.67
|
9
|
| 18 |
gamemaster32 |
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
66.67
|
9
|
| 19 |
hamtastic |
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
66.67
|
8
|
| 20 |
Green Opal |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
33.33
|
7
|
| 21 |
mabgot7 |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
33.33
|
7
|
| 22 |
rukcus |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
33.33
|
7
|
| 23 |
Fred Bear |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
33.33
|
7
|
| 24 |
Lundstrom |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
33.33
|
7
|
| 25 |
wump |
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
33.33
|
6
|
| 26 |
scoopphase |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
33.33
|
6
|
| 27 |
FitzgeraldJD |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
33.33
|
6
|
| 28 |
WinterWolf |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
33.33
|
6
|
| 29 |
t0226 |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
33.33
|
6
|
| 30 |
joekriii |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
5
|
33.33
|
6
|
| 31 |
Kharlis |
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
33.33
|
6
|
| 32 |
TheFriendlyHippo |
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
33.33
|
5
|
| 33 |
PaulRall |
3
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
6
|
0.0
|
3
|
| 34 |
lefleur |
3
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
6
|
0.0
|
3
|
| 35 |
bobajames |
3
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
6
|
0.0
|
3
|
| 36 |
DROPPED - ChrisKool |
3
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
6
|
0.0
|
3
|
| 37 |
pierrebai |
3
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0.0
|
3
|
| 38 |
DROPPED - Dr_TRex |
3
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
0.0
|
2
|
| 39 |
53N531 |
3
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
0.0
|
2
|
| 40 |
DROPPED - 1moredonkey |
3
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
0.0
|
2
|
| 41 |
DROPPED - Basic Land |
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
0.0
|
1
|
| 42 |
DROPPED - tempesteye |
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
0.0
|
1
|
Pro Tour San Diego MTGO PTQ's:
The reaction from Paper players about these events hasn't surprised me as I expected this announcement (whenever it would happen) would ruffle some feathers. What surprised me was that they are angry about the amount of the events we have earned. And I don't use the term 'earned' lightly. I loathe the entitlement attitude that I see flaunted across the internet now-a-days. However, if one wants to look at the numbers (as of the last numbers we had, anyway) MTGO pulls in a LOT of money for Wizards, and being as we've had record-breaking turnouts for the past few release events it's probably safe to say that the percentage of money that MTGO is accounting for has only increased in the time since we last heard that statistic. And despite that disproportionate income to player ratio we were always relegated to lower than second class citizens. But no more! MTGO has proven itself able to handle higher and higher user volume and appears to have convinced the internal folks at Wizards that it's ready for the prime time. Paper players that are upset by this should see the writing on the wall... MTGO is the real deal now. It's no longer the family outcast that everyone ignores at the barbecue. It's no longer an afterthought... it's is serious business.
I truly feel sorry for the players who cannot accept this turn of events (super pun is super). I realize that change is never easy, especially a change of this magnitude. I sincerely hope that many of my fellow writers and players that are offended by this news can learn to accept these changes as I truly believe that they are for the good of the game and especially for the good of MTGO.
Shifting gears to MTGO-Centric formats we have some very interesting news. Readers from last week's column will recall that WotC announced that they were dropping support for Standard w/Vanguard for Standard Singleton. Newly announced is that they are also dropping Kscope. That's right, the death came all too soon for this format. This really shouldn't be too much of a surprise though as it was a fairly obvious hype creator for the Alara Block Gold Shenanigans. This is still pretty sudden, but what's dead is dead and the repercussions are very interesting. As you may know there are four weekend "specialty formats" (previously known as "Casual Formats"... I fully endorse this terminology change by the way) and we now have only three to fill the four slots (those three being 100 Card Singleton, Pauper, and Standard Singleton). Instead of cutting the Specialty Formats down to three WotC is going to let us vote for a format to fill the slot that will be able to change one month at a time. The choices for the first "Floating Specialty Format" aka FSF are:
- Classic Tribal Wars
- Standard Tribal Wars
- Classic w/ Vanguard
- Standard w/ Vanguard
- Core Set Constructed
- Duel Decks
- Prismatic
- Freeform
- Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block Constructed
- Ravnica Block Constructed
- Tempest Block Constructed
- Time Spiral Block Constructed
- Alara Block Constructed
Of those formats, I've played Classic Tribal (oh hai Goblins and Elves and Merfolk!), Core Set Constructed (Very Fun), Duel Decks (fun but gets predictable), Prismatic ($$$$$$!!!), Freeform(crazy broken... like whoa), Rav Block and Alara Block (both were fun).
I'm going to be casting my vote for Core Set Constructed and I'll take a moment to pimp it just a little bit. It's fun, not too difficult, not too expensive (usually... a certain Baneslayer notwithstanding), and has lots of opportunity for exploration. Although all of the options listed are quite good in their own rights, Core Set Constructed is a hugely untapped format that is easy to jump into for almost everyone.
Conclusion:
I hope that not too many people are annoyed by my self-congratulatory editorial section this week and I'm super excited about getting feedback on what you all want to see covered in Pro Tour Austin. Also I'll be covering some of my progress as I prepare for this awesome event!
55 Comments
Self-congratulate away Erik, this is fantastic news! Well done, and your excellent weekly articles deserve exactly this sort of recognition :)
Congratulations Hamtastic,
Good to have "one of us" at the PT to cover the event. I hope you follow our MTGO players closely, maybe even "a say with" article with one of them? :)
My vote for the FSF is prismatic. Used to play it alot and gave up because of the lack of support from wotc. Would be great to revisit the format :)
sorry, meant a day* with.
Congratulations Erik, I am sincerely very happy to see that your passion for the Program is finally paying off. Of course you have now a big responsibility on your shoulders but I'm 110% sure that you will do the job properly.
And now for the first time in my life, I'm anxiously waiting for a pro tour!
LE
Thanks guys!
It's been over a week and I'm still nerding out about all of this! So much cool stuff to cover, and so much to learn!
As a long time player who's come and go and trolled on here for a long time, I've never commented in the articles, but for this I had to. Congrats Erik! Truly deserved and it's great to see the MTGO community get it's due!
Congratulations Erik! Just have fun, focus, work hard, and I'm sure you'll do awesome.
Congratulations Ham, though I'm not playing MTGO very much these days (due to WOW), I do read your weekly articles on whats happening on MTGO. I just want to say Good Luck. I once hang out with the clan at puremtgo if you remember me, Ill drop by again in the chat room if I'm online.
First of all congratulations.
Second of all: Where do you see ppl selling Yavimaya Elders? I have not been able to find anyone selling them.
Ok I figured that 5 would be around the price level so I will have to increase my offer but I have not seen even 1 for sale for any amount of tix (except through the online store for 20 :/). E.g. as far as I can see MTGOTraders do not have anything in stock (and sets the price at 1).
Congrats!!! I would normally not give a hoot about the PT, but now I will follow with interest.
Well, congratulations!:)
Erik you already know what I think :)
But as for PT coverage tips - you be yourself and do what you do best and I think you'll do fine.
Grats Hammy! :D I did some coverage of a couple PTs that came to NY in 2000 and 2001. One thing I did that seemed to work well was interview pros I knew with 6 quick questions and posted them on the Neutralground.net live event page the same day. I know that isn't going to happen with Austen but I am thinking interviewing various pros would still go over well. Particularly in the view of as an MTGO reporter you can ask them questions regarding MTGO. Good luck and have fun! :D Pro Tours are a lot of fun even for the spectators. (That is somewhat the point since its a giant ad for the game.)
Onto other news:
Wow I am really miffed that Yavimaya Elder jumped up there before I got to get my copy :/
Could anyone fill me in why such a big jump? Is there a new extended deck running around? Are the new landfall and new lands somehow involved?
Yavimaya Elder fetches two lands and draws a card. That in itself is enough.
Aaaaah! I didn't know Wizards errata'ed cards from older sets and added functionality. It was a vanilla 2/1 for the past 5-6 years before then, I gather? Or were the rule texts hidden on MTGO. the last update fixed that bug and people realized it was a good cards and everyone started buying it? Please tell me, I'm confused.
There is only 1 way (except for buying it from someone else, which is quite hard) to get your hands on 1. Buy Xira Arien Commander deck for 20 in the store... Since it is 1 out of 2 new cards in that deck (the other is Massacre) it is quite expensive.
Read the card: http://www.mtgotraders.com/store/TD0_Yavimaya_Elder.html
No errata. This is the original text of the card. It was amazing in Urza's Destiny and it is amazing now.
Sorry guys for the spam... for some reason, I thought he was in Odyssey.
You may have missed his sarcasm.
I think he was trying to say, "yes, getting two lands and drawing a card is good, but that is what the card has always done. Why did the price increase since last week?"
Interesting take Cotton and I did consider that but this is the first time the Elders have been available online so it is natural that as people become more aware of their existence they will go up in demand and price. :)
Maybe somrthing to do with Landfall effect in Zendikar as well?
No one cares what you've done
No-one? Meh. I do. So your argument is invalid.
Congrats Hammy. Making it to the big show.
In regard to the "Super Secret Rare" it has all but been confirmed now that people are opening old-school cards that have been inserted into Zen packs. Not "reprints" but the actual old school cards themselves being repackaged. Check out this thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=186720
I'm excited about what this might mean for MTGO when Zen comes along. As these cards are supposedly taking the place of basic land in some boosters, does this mean that we will be able to get some cards onto MTGO that have no previously been "printed" there? Much better than an MED4 set IMHO.
Finally, I will also support the Core Constructed format for the 4th tourney. I've always wondered what one woudl be like, and now that the Core Set is not just a bunch of reprints, it could get interesting.
Again, congrats!
Well done Hammy thats the best news I've heard in a long time in regards to MTGO, I hope it all goes well and you have a good time.
I also voted for core constructed it's a format I may actually try where events are concerned.
if they do have these treasures in mtgo, its not going to be the same, you can make 1000 copies of x card, but irl ones? much more flavorful in that context.
i just hope my pre order box doesnt go 'missing' be4 i get it.
Excellent news. Congrats! You've earned it.
See you in Austin.
Some quick advice for the PT. Now you will be hanging out with the coverage team, which will probably involve a couple meals out, and probably some drafts, maybe EDH, etc. Enjoy!
My best peice of advice for judges - bring a second set of shoes in your bachpack, and switch shoes halfway through the day. The floors are almost certainly going to be concrete, and you will probably be on your feet a lot. (Although, unlike judges, you will be in the coverage area, writing, some of the time. Sitting. We judges envy you that perk.)
Odds are really good that some members of R&D, probably some folks from the MTGO side, and possibly some of the Wizards execs will be present. The coverage staff can probably let you know who, once that gets finalized. Ask them, and think about what you'd like to ask. You may be able to do semi-formal interviews, and you may be able to talk to them over dinner or otherwise. If you are in the staff hotel, you may be able to catch the in the lobby, or whatever room in the hotel is devoted to playing Magic after hours. (There will be one - always is.)
You might also check with Wizards about matching some of the pros with their online nicks. If Wizards and the pros themselves are okay, it would be cool to know that the online names of at least some of the Top 8 competitors.
Most of all - have fun. The big show is just that - a really big show. Savor it.
Wow, fantastic news Hammy! I'm so pumped that at last people who've given so much to MTGO are being recognized at the top level. It all began with FFreak breaking into the pro-tour, Wizards recognized the writing on the wall. Good job!
I would think that going there believing "there will be another" can help you stay focused and not try to over-do it. You're knowledgeable and usually level-headed and fair and command good knowledge of Magic in general, so you should do well. Trying to lure as many Pros sounds like a good strategy.
I registered just to say CONGRATS! I read your columns every Tuesday and Friday, used to read your posts on the forums and am definitely a fan. You deserve it - I know you'll do a good job, but make sure to have fun too! Don't cheat yourself by taking it too seriously and stressing yourself out.
Congratulations Hamtastic!
I'm really glad that you got this opportunity. I read SotP every week, and I forgive you for missing a week. As you said, you have a good excuse. :D
I look forward to your report of the Pro Tour.
Enjoy, and have fun.
echo the sentiments of all - there's no one else to better represent the MTGO community. SotP has been an awesome article series forever.
Congratulations Hammy,
Honestly they couldn't have picked a nicer guy. I usually don't follow the pro tour, but I'll probably tune in just to see your take on it.
Also, I didn't know you were from Minnesota too.
"This is from my local paper players in upper Minnesota. "
Finally, it seems relatively confirmed that people are opening Moxes and other old cards in Zendikar packs. Of course these occurrences seem very very rare. This begs the question of how this will transfer to Magic Online, and is this how the power 9 is going to be added to Magic Online.
@pierrebai: Yavimaya Elder was just printed in one of the EDH decks, and it doesn't exist otherwise. Nobody has been opening those, so none are to be found. Hence low supply, which leads to big (and increasing) prices until the market balances.
Hammy, congrats! They picked the right guy.
Your Urza's Rage link is broken though, it should be http://puremtgo.com/sites/default/files/u530/2009_09_24_Urza's_Rage_IN.png
None of those mistakes allowed in the official coverage! :)
That's great news for you and for the site, Erik, grats! Given how controversial the online PTQs have been, I would seek out a pro that's strongly against them and a pro that's all for them and have a crossfire discussion.
Congrats Hammy.
Ivo.
Nice Erik. This news is awesome.
I enjoy your writing and podcasts here. Hope you keep the standard up.
Anyone know why Dark Depths took such a big jump in price?
It combos with this guy from Zendikar:
Vampire Hexmage
BB
Creature - Vampire Shaman
Uncommon
First strike
Sacrifice Vampire Hexmage: Remove all counters from target permanent.
2/1
Vampire hexhunter forms a 2 card combo.
(Sac to remove all counters from target permanents)
Translation: once Zendikar is online, you must pack path to exile or somesuch if you want to play extended in the casual room.
A two-mana two-card combo that ends the game the turn it comes online (T3 Usually) is strong. Add that to the fact that one of the pieces is uncounterable and that the other piece is itself a decent aggro creature and I think we may see Merit-Lage swinging for 20 in the TP room as well.
Merit-Lage can still be Path to Exile'd, bounced, or stolen (via blue). Considering that the combo is only in Extended, this combo hardly seems like it's "totally broken", as Extended decks have very many ways to deal with powerful permanents, let alone creatures.
I, for one, am not worried about this combo.
Does anyone have advice on how to cope with a deck that abuses cascade/suspend? I find these decks to be super-annoying / non-interactive.
Please dont say "counterspells". I consider them non-interactive as well.
I have to disagree on the "noninteractive" comment referring to counters. However Evacuation works nicely vs Hypergenesis, and Living End. Living End is also vulnerable to graveyard removal (Haunting Echoes works pretty well for that) Restore Balance is trickier. Sacrifice helps a little vs Balance effects but really if your opponent cascades into it you are probably going to take a hit on your land, creatures and cards in hand unless you have a way to stop the spell.
The problem is, it is a hard to stop combo if you aren't willing to play counters. If you don't want to play against it just tell the player thanks, good game and go on to the next game. No one is keeping you in it. Hope that helps.
Or unsummon/repeal
I can't think of any MTGO reporter I'd rather be there in your place. That's awesome that Wizards would find someone with your enthusiasm to do it. It's like someone said "Hey, since MTGO players are going to high level events now, we should send someone to report specifically about MTGO." - "Oh yeah, let's Worth." - "Nah, let's send Erik to do it! I think he'd like it." That's pretty awesome of Wizards.