Subject: RE: Is MTG Dead? Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 10:36:20 -0400 From: Chris Pikula To: "'fkusumot@ix.netcom.com'" Jamie & Dojo folk- Nah. Magic isn't dead. I think the lull right now is probably because both of the major play areas- PTQs and good old Standard are at their lamest right now. The current round of PTQs are bad for 2 reasons: 1) not everyone can fly to Rome to play Magic; 2) the format is EXACTLY the same as Worlds, and therefore somewhat stupid. Usually the format changes a bit between, like Tempest being added for PTLA qualifiers in Extended. The reason Standard is lame is exactly what Jamie points out- scrubs win all the time. Too many of the cards in Standard have been around too long and too many decks have been posted on the web. It just isn't hard to show up to a tourney with a good Standard deck that takes very little skill to learn. You can even read about how to sideboard on the web now. The secret to making Standard fun again- November 1st. Once Urzas comes in Mirage is out and Standard goes wacky. I've been discussing the situation with some other pro players and we all feel that if everyone avoids posting decks and such for the first few months of the new format, everyone's weekly Standard tourney will be fun again. Every week you'll see new decks. The players who deserve to win will start winning again. No more losing to some chumly because he read an article on how to play his deck. It will be really cool. You might even get to tune a deck from one week to the next because the internet will not have told your opponents what screws it yet. Maybe we will even see consistency. That would be amazing. Chris Pikula Team Deadguy