It's that time of year for Pro Tour Hall Of Fame balloting. I don't have a vote. I don't think I deserve a vote. And if I had a vote, I'm not sure that I would vote.
Why?
I don't think I like what the Hall of Fame is at the moment.
The theoretical concept of the HoF is one I really like. I love following sports and having debates about which player was better, which player deserves to be in, which players deserve to be out. I've spent much of the last week internet debating (the best kind) about how good a player Dennis Rodman actually was (my opinion: he was awesome.) Every year when they vote on the Baseball Hall of Fame I spend two weeks reading all I can about the new players on the ballot, and all the new opinions on the returning players. I hope this year is the year for my childhood heroes Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.
It's the specifics about the Pro Tour Hall of Fame that I don't like. One being the name. The sports halls aren't "National Football League Hall of Fame" or "Major League Baseball Hall of Fame". They are halls for the entire sport, allowing them to exist as a museum to the game, not just a collection of some of the great players in the past. Managers, owners, executives, umpires, and in some instances broadcasters and writers, all who played an integral part of the history of the game are there. Why should Magic be different? Another criticism of the name is how it leads voters to ignore or discount Grand Prix success. "It's not the Grand Prix Hall of Fame" they'll say. But Grands Prix give out Pro Points, which determine the Pro Tour Player of the Year, so why shouldn't they matter? Calling it the "Professional Magic Hall of Fame" doesn't help, since the definition of professional seems laughable for a game that pays as little as Magic does. So let's just call it a Magic Hall of Fame, and include all of the great history of the game in it.
One thing the name is not: Pro Tour Hall of Honor. I'm very much against cheating in all forms, but all these "allegations" about the "suspicious behavior" in the past keeping otherwise deserving candidates out of the hall is hurting our history. Especially when many people will say that several players already in the hall have suspect track records! I agree with the decision about currently suspended players not being allowed in, but unless we're going to ban these cheaters for life, they should be allowed in.
As a historical entity, the Hall needs to have both the good and the bad. It needs to be separate from the marketing arm of Hasbro and WotC. It needs to be an actual physical place, with actual physical displays. Maybe there will be on display Craig Jones's Lightning Helix, next to Mike Long's Cadaverous Bloom. An exhibit about the best decks in history, the best cards in history, the best articles in history. The players inducted could still get lifetime invites to the Pro Tour, but the other people would not get that benefit.
Not enough players get in. This is because the standard is artificially constrained by number of votes, and the percentage you must earn. Increase the amount of players a voter can pick. Raise the percentage needed. You don't have to fill out every spot on your ballot. I applaud Jon Finkel for just voting for three players this year, even though his and my idea of the ideal hall are completely different.
The Hall of Fame has a ton of potential, and each year we dig the hole deeper that we must climb out of to reach it.
Postscript: List of people I would put in my Magic Hall of Fame that aren't already in.
WotC:
Richard Garfield
Mark Rosewater
Aaron Forsythe
Bill Rose
Mike Donais
Skaff Elias
Community:
Mike Flores
Jaime Wakefield
The Ferret
Frank Kusumoto
Omeed Dariani
Pete Hoefling
Players:
Mike Long
Alex Shvartsam
Scott Johns
Bertrand Lestree
Mark Justice
Michael Pustilnik
Itaru Ishida
Tsuyoshi Ikeda
Justin Gary
Willy Edel
Louis Scott Vargas
William Jensen
Mark Herberholtz
Willy Edel
Tomoharu Saito
(I guess just about anyone with 4 PT Top 8s)
hopefully that does a good job illustrating what I think the Hall of Fame should be like.
if i had a ballot this year and was forced to vote for 5 players:
LSV
Justin Gary
William Jensen
Tomoharu Saito
Tsuyoshi Ikeda
09 July 2013
08 July 2013
Waco PTQ Report + the Greatest Game Ever Played
Before the PTQ, I was deciding between two decks. I had played a bunch of RG aggro on MTGO and I really liked the sideboard plan of 4 Domri Rade. The other option was Junk Aristocrats, which I was impressed with after watching Brad Nelson's updated list during GP Miami. I had played it some before, but didn't like the high land count. The addition of Garruk Relentless and Obzedat to the main deck helped it have more staying power, but I wasn't completely convinced. I also hadn't practiced all of the matchups, so I wasn't as confident in my matchup predictions. In the end I went back to RG Aggro and played the following 75:
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Hellrider
4 Searing Spear
4 Pillar of Flame
3 Madcap Skills
11 Mountain
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Temple Garden
Sideboard:
4 Domri Rade
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Volcanic Strength
1 Electrickery
1 Glaring Spotlight
1 Skullcrack
1 Gruul War Chant
1 Legion Loyalist
Going forward, I'm not sure about the 21st land, the madcap skills, or some of the sideboard cards. Gruul War Chant and Glaring Spotlight were great, but the rest of the board besides Domri and Mortars were shaky.
A quick recap:
R1 Brockette, Jacob - Junk Reanimator
I lost a game 1 I would normally win when he had maindeck Trostani and Obzedat. I got him game 2, but lost to the same combination of cards game 3 as I drew 7 lands and 5 spells.
0-1
R2 MCNEELY, AARON - Jund
Not what you expect in the 0-1 bracket, we both lament our bad luck at losing and at the unfortunate pairings. Game 1 I cruise with 2x emissary and skills and 2x boar, while he just farseeks 3 times. Game 2 i draw 8 lands and lose to some thragtusks. Game 3 looks shaky, I only have red mana. I save my emissary for a possible turn four Rampager, but draw Domri on turn 3 and cast the planeswalker instead. He plays Olivia, and I draw the green source to be able to rampager and fight. He has thragtusk and i have war chant. his bonfire looks like he might get back in there, but I topdeck hellrider and avoid his liliana for the win.
1-1
R3 JOHNSON, ASHTON - Jund
I have a solid draw game 1 and win easily, but lose game 2 to the mana flood again. Game 3 I have spotlight and keep 3 mana up to make his decisions harder. Eventually he bonfires my team and my domri, but i've gained enough advantage in the meantime so my followup rampager and unblockable from spotlight is enough.
2-1
4 Riecks, Matthew - Naya
mulled to 6, kept 4 lands, drew 5 more. game 2 i mull to 6, kept 2, didn't cast any relevant spells.
dead
2-2
i felt like the mana issues were worse than usual. i kept playing to see if i was right.
R5 Reed, Colin - Junk Reanimator
Win
3-2
R6 Hernandez, Andres - I forget
Win
4-2
R7 Klopchic, Luke - Jund
Win
5-2
R8 Hebert, Daniel - UWR
Win
6-2
So the last 4 rounds my deck did what I think its capable of doing. I easily 4-0, I'm not sure I even dropped a game. I guess my deck was good, but i'm still considering other options.
Story: The Greatest Game of Magic Ever Played*
*at least, greatest game on saturday july 6th 2013
Will "The Thrill" Lowry was up a game against Eric "Perfect Gamer" Jones in the last round of the swiss, playing with top 8 on the line. Jones was battling with an interesting RWB Control list, with Olivia, Blood Baron, Liliana, and Warleader's Helix. Lowry brought a standard UWR list, close to the Matt Costa list from Grand Prix Miami.
Game two began with Rest In Peace from Eric, followed by Augur of Bolas by Lowry. A Boros Reckoner came out, and Will had no immediate play. Jones then cast his sideboard trump card: Slaughter Games. In response, Lowry announced Renounce the Guilds, but when he went to play the card, he accidently put Restoration Angel into play! After the confusion and the proper spell was resolved, the Perfect Gamer had to go into deep thought to name a card on Slaughter Games. Normally, he would choose Sphinx's Revelation, but with the knowledge of the angel in Lowry's hand, he had to reconsider. Eventually he settled on Restoration Angel.
The next few turns saw EJones draw two more Slaughter Games, and he decided to restrict Will's win conditions, choosing Thundermaw Hellkite and Snapcaster Mage. With all of his burn spells sided out, Lowry was only left with 2 Augur of Bolas and a Clone in his deck with which to kill Jones. His Moorland Haunt wouldn't be useful with Rest in Peace out, but he did have access to a Slayer's Stronghold in his deck. Meanwhile, Jones couldn't resolve a real threat. The board was empty for a few turns, then Lowry Revelation for several cards. The first Augur he played revealed another Revelations and another Augur! With the knowledge that the other Augur was two from the bottom, he Cloned his Augur and took an Azorius Charm. With only so much damage he could do, and Jones with plenty of removal, he was on a tight window to win. Jones resolved a Warleader's Helix, killing one of the Augurs, after liliana took out the other.
Will main phase cast a Sphinx's Revelation for 6 and passed the turn with two mana up. The Perfect Game then topdecked Rakdos's Return, for 5 cards. After it resolved, it turns out Lowry still had three cards in hand, meaning he had forgot to discard for his turn! A judge was called, the situation was explained, and he left to go look up the correct ruling. With only 13 minutes left in the round, time started to weigh on the minds of the players. When the judge returned with a ruling, it was a GRV warning for Lowry and a Failure to Maintain Gamestate warning for Jones. It was decided that they could not back up the game to force the discard, so Lowry continued with 3 cards in his hand.
He then played the Slayer's Stronghold, and started using think twice to get to the last augur in his deck. In the mean time, each threat Jones attempted was met with the perfect answer by lowry. Rewind your Assemble the Legion. Dissipate your Liliana. Renounce the Guilds your Blood Baron. Finally the Augur was found, with only 3 cards left in the library. Jones was at 15. It didn't look like it would be enough, but Lowry valiantly kept charging.
Activate Slayers Stronghold, attack for 3. Jones is at 12, Lowry has 3 cards left.
Jones draws and plays a land.
Activate Slayers Stronghold, attack for 3. Jones is at 9, Lowry has 2 cards left.
Jones draws and plays a land.
Activate Slayers Stronghold, attack for 3. Jones is at 6, Lowry has 1 card left.
Jones draws and plays a land.
Lowry draws his last card. It was a land. It didn't seem like there was anything he could do... except:
Activate Slayers Stronghold, attack for 3. Jones is at 3, Lowry has 0 cards left.
After combat damage, Will had one last Thrill for everyone: Azorius Charm my Augur of Bolas!
Down to his last turn, with almost any spell in his deck being enough to win, Jones drew his card, played a land, and extended his hand in concession.
Lowry had done it! The crowd was stunned at the improbable sequence of events. Only brilliant play, a lot of luck, and a favorable judge call could let Will win that game, and he pulled it off.
Truly the greatest game of the day.
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Hellrider
4 Searing Spear
4 Pillar of Flame
3 Madcap Skills
11 Mountain
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Temple Garden
Sideboard:
4 Domri Rade
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Volcanic Strength
1 Electrickery
1 Glaring Spotlight
1 Skullcrack
1 Gruul War Chant
1 Legion Loyalist
Going forward, I'm not sure about the 21st land, the madcap skills, or some of the sideboard cards. Gruul War Chant and Glaring Spotlight were great, but the rest of the board besides Domri and Mortars were shaky.
A quick recap:
R1 Brockette, Jacob - Junk Reanimator
I lost a game 1 I would normally win when he had maindeck Trostani and Obzedat. I got him game 2, but lost to the same combination of cards game 3 as I drew 7 lands and 5 spells.
0-1
R2 MCNEELY, AARON - Jund
Not what you expect in the 0-1 bracket, we both lament our bad luck at losing and at the unfortunate pairings. Game 1 I cruise with 2x emissary and skills and 2x boar, while he just farseeks 3 times. Game 2 i draw 8 lands and lose to some thragtusks. Game 3 looks shaky, I only have red mana. I save my emissary for a possible turn four Rampager, but draw Domri on turn 3 and cast the planeswalker instead. He plays Olivia, and I draw the green source to be able to rampager and fight. He has thragtusk and i have war chant. his bonfire looks like he might get back in there, but I topdeck hellrider and avoid his liliana for the win.
1-1
R3 JOHNSON, ASHTON - Jund
I have a solid draw game 1 and win easily, but lose game 2 to the mana flood again. Game 3 I have spotlight and keep 3 mana up to make his decisions harder. Eventually he bonfires my team and my domri, but i've gained enough advantage in the meantime so my followup rampager and unblockable from spotlight is enough.
2-1
4 Riecks, Matthew - Naya
mulled to 6, kept 4 lands, drew 5 more. game 2 i mull to 6, kept 2, didn't cast any relevant spells.
dead
2-2
i felt like the mana issues were worse than usual. i kept playing to see if i was right.
R5 Reed, Colin - Junk Reanimator
Win
3-2
R6 Hernandez, Andres - I forget
Win
4-2
R7 Klopchic, Luke - Jund
Win
5-2
R8 Hebert, Daniel - UWR
Win
6-2
So the last 4 rounds my deck did what I think its capable of doing. I easily 4-0, I'm not sure I even dropped a game. I guess my deck was good, but i'm still considering other options.
Story: The Greatest Game of Magic Ever Played*
*at least, greatest game on saturday july 6th 2013
Will "The Thrill" Lowry was up a game against Eric "Perfect Gamer" Jones in the last round of the swiss, playing with top 8 on the line. Jones was battling with an interesting RWB Control list, with Olivia, Blood Baron, Liliana, and Warleader's Helix. Lowry brought a standard UWR list, close to the Matt Costa list from Grand Prix Miami.
Game two began with Rest In Peace from Eric, followed by Augur of Bolas by Lowry. A Boros Reckoner came out, and Will had no immediate play. Jones then cast his sideboard trump card: Slaughter Games. In response, Lowry announced Renounce the Guilds, but when he went to play the card, he accidently put Restoration Angel into play! After the confusion and the proper spell was resolved, the Perfect Gamer had to go into deep thought to name a card on Slaughter Games. Normally, he would choose Sphinx's Revelation, but with the knowledge of the angel in Lowry's hand, he had to reconsider. Eventually he settled on Restoration Angel.
The next few turns saw EJones draw two more Slaughter Games, and he decided to restrict Will's win conditions, choosing Thundermaw Hellkite and Snapcaster Mage. With all of his burn spells sided out, Lowry was only left with 2 Augur of Bolas and a Clone in his deck with which to kill Jones. His Moorland Haunt wouldn't be useful with Rest in Peace out, but he did have access to a Slayer's Stronghold in his deck. Meanwhile, Jones couldn't resolve a real threat. The board was empty for a few turns, then Lowry Revelation for several cards. The first Augur he played revealed another Revelations and another Augur! With the knowledge that the other Augur was two from the bottom, he Cloned his Augur and took an Azorius Charm. With only so much damage he could do, and Jones with plenty of removal, he was on a tight window to win. Jones resolved a Warleader's Helix, killing one of the Augurs, after liliana took out the other.
Will main phase cast a Sphinx's Revelation for 6 and passed the turn with two mana up. The Perfect Game then topdecked Rakdos's Return, for 5 cards. After it resolved, it turns out Lowry still had three cards in hand, meaning he had forgot to discard for his turn! A judge was called, the situation was explained, and he left to go look up the correct ruling. With only 13 minutes left in the round, time started to weigh on the minds of the players. When the judge returned with a ruling, it was a GRV warning for Lowry and a Failure to Maintain Gamestate warning for Jones. It was decided that they could not back up the game to force the discard, so Lowry continued with 3 cards in his hand.
He then played the Slayer's Stronghold, and started using think twice to get to the last augur in his deck. In the mean time, each threat Jones attempted was met with the perfect answer by lowry. Rewind your Assemble the Legion. Dissipate your Liliana. Renounce the Guilds your Blood Baron. Finally the Augur was found, with only 3 cards left in the library. Jones was at 15. It didn't look like it would be enough, but Lowry valiantly kept charging.
Activate Slayers Stronghold, attack for 3. Jones is at 12, Lowry has 3 cards left.
Jones draws and plays a land.
Activate Slayers Stronghold, attack for 3. Jones is at 9, Lowry has 2 cards left.
Jones draws and plays a land.
Activate Slayers Stronghold, attack for 3. Jones is at 6, Lowry has 1 card left.
Jones draws and plays a land.
Lowry draws his last card. It was a land. It didn't seem like there was anything he could do... except:
Activate Slayers Stronghold, attack for 3. Jones is at 3, Lowry has 0 cards left.
After combat damage, Will had one last Thrill for everyone: Azorius Charm my Augur of Bolas!
Down to his last turn, with almost any spell in his deck being enough to win, Jones drew his card, played a land, and extended his hand in concession.
Lowry had done it! The crowd was stunned at the improbable sequence of events. Only brilliant play, a lot of luck, and a favorable judge call could let Will win that game, and he pulled it off.
Truly the greatest game of the day.
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