Subject: Re: Luck,Scrubs,ect...
Date: Wed, 07 Oct 1998 15:57:03 -0400
From: Pronigious@aol.com
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Jamie Wakefield,  I applaud your love of the game.  That is something
that many good players don't have any more. I almost agree with you
about what you said about new players.  I would never call someone a
scrub.  Anyone, and I mean ANYONE can learn something new about the game
of magic, even from a "scrub."  I don't mean this as hate mail, just
that perhaps many people have forgotten what it was like to be new,
especially at your level.  I understand where you are coming from
though.

But I don't understand some of the other things you said.

I AM a green mage.  A tried and true green mage.  I posted a deck only 5
or 6 cards different from the secret force deck in a tourney report for
the Maryland regional competition two weeks before yours came out,
Verdarydageddon.  I also am sad that my favorite color has been getting
the shaft latley.  But unlike you, instead of complaining about it, I
intend to do something about it.  The people that make magic are not
stupid, the would not try to get rid of one of their colors by making it
suck.  Green is the color of the land, and draws power from the land.
It has the forest, the most fertile and untouced serene environment in
the natural world.  The problem that we have with green is not the fact
"it has no artifact and enchantment removal" like it did before, we just
aren't willing to see the point of what we do have.  Urza's Saga over
compensated green with mana.  I don't understand it, people always talk
about mana curves and mana production, but when it comes to green,
people always say things about how all greens stuff is expensive.  Well
it's not, it's cheap.  Verdegris is the same casting cost as shatter in
my opinion.  Green casts it on second turn, Red casts it on second
turn.  People say that desert twister should have a four casting cost,
and they're right it should, in ANY OTHER COLOR.  6 mana by fourth turn
is easy, there is no reason that you can't have it out.  Everyone is
complain that green's spells suck becuase they cost too much, I think
they are undercosted.  The creatures that green has would be unplayable
in anyother color becuase of their casting cost.  I used to think that
this was a bad thing, now, though, I understand that it is a BALANCED
thing, otherwise, green could dump its hand turn 3 and save 2 cards to
keep control.  Green has a lot of enchantment and artifact control, the
new saven elves, scavenger folk, verdegris, tranquiliy, crumble (which
is awesome in my opinion), desert twister(which has many more uses
still), and many more.  They don't have flying creatures, but a lot of
cards to stop flying. That Makes Perfect Sense!!!! they are in the
forests, the only things that can fly around are tiny things.  And there
are lots of ways that things in forests can stop flying things.  If
people played hurricane, Needle storm and the like, Tradewind would be
dead against green.  Green got a broken card, more so than most people
realize- wall of blossoms.  When green draws extra cards, it goes
balisitic, becuase everything is undercosted for them.  If you play
green as it was intnded, to create mana and beable to always cast
things, then you will be more able to see the power.  Sligh curves for
green peak at Five and Six with green, not two and three.  You drop
about 3 mana sorces every 2 turns, instead of 2 mana every three turns.
This is just mono green, BTW.  Any monocolor deck is susposed to have
holes in it's design, and any multi color deck is susposed to be ahrd to
play.  Becuase it allows you to patch the weakness in another color.
But becuase of everyone's complaints, they recently broke green in this
department too.  They made the new multiland kick ass for green.  They
gave green a new good wild growth. harrow can find off color lands for
you, there have always been birds of paradise- imagine a land that said
this (when "land" comes in to play, pay one G, T:add one mana of any
color, can block flying creatures, if done so, sacrifice at end of
combat) Green now can add all the support that it needs from any other
color.  Why do you think 5cG was so, good? You want more removal, add
white.  You want card drawing to capitalize on mana production, add blue
(white can do this too with Pursuit of Knowledge). Add some direct
damage with red.  And hey, add whatever black stuff you think is broke
at the time.  Not only can green capitolize best on what the other
colors have, but it is definitavly the BEST suppot color itself. Why
else would it almost soley be used as a support color if it wasn't good
in that capacity. Green has cards that will beat every deck type- every
one.  You were complaining about Suicide Hatred- Play fog, constant
mists- watch them cry.  Who cares if they suck normally - DO ANYTHING TO
WIN THE GAME.  You complain about sligh, play walls. green has got a lot
of them.  Living Nightmare is a very good deck design.  it is also a
multicolor deck.  So you should need to add more colors to beat it
consistantly.  Just becuase YOU can't find cards to help you win, don't
go proclaiming that they don't exist.  You are a role model for
potential new players that you call "scrubs."  Act like it.  They want
to be a name player like you.  How can you claim to be a green mage and
then discouraging other green mages from even trying to look for.  I
have been playing magic for 4 years.  I play in the Baltimore/D.C. area
with people like Mike Long, Justin Schneider, Matt Linde, Hunter
Weisman, Gee, and Jeremy Rualo, and I've beat most of them at least once
and I've lost to them too.  I have never been on protour- am I a scrub?
I have had a ranking of 1856, but have never gotten higher than 3rd
place in a qualifier, am I still a scrub.  Although I would never use
the word to decribe another magic player, I consider scrubs to be those
that take everything that someone says for granted.  That aren't willing
to try new deck concepts or ideas.  That talk trash to their opponent
just becuase they play a card that people dont see in tournaments.  I
wish people like Denver, a frequent at our Sunday White Marsh
tournaments, would be around in more touraments. He gives cards away to
new players when he runs out of roomfor them. he dosen't try to rip them
off or sell them, he just gives them away.  He is also famous for
landscrew- getting denvered is a term me and a few freinds use to mean
we got no mana.  that is how often it happens to him, but he still
plays, and dosen't complain about how magic is dying and it is all
luck.  He, to me, is a name player.  I consider you to be a good player,
and a good writer.  Please don't be so blanket about your statements.
If you truly love green, be it's defender, not it's Benedict Arnold.
Help me and other green mages build green decks.  Make suicide black put
parish back in it's sideboard against them.  And laugh with me at how we
drop all the same stuff the next turn after they use it, or slieght it
to black :).  It could be a glorious time... I hope to see you there.

Benj Hamilton
Hamilton@graceland.edu, Benj6150 Aol Instant messenger
Creator of the new team: Green Piece
Please E-mail me, I love E-mail :)