Subject: posting Date: Tue, 19 May 98 09:03:00 -0500 From: Carl Bethea To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com A major part of the current problem with Magic and cheating is due to the fact that it is much easier under the current rules nightmare. If you have the time to study the rules and read every change that comes out and every posting on the web about it, you will be able to use that against other players. Due to having school or jobs, family, and other hobbies, most of us don't have the time or drive to learn the rules to the same level as a Judge. If every player was able to know all the rules, they could call their opponent to task when they break the rules. During the early days of Unlimited, Arabians and Antiquities we never had these problems. I dropped out of Magic right before Fallen Empires because the game was becoming a contest to see who could spend the most money on cards to insure a win. Understand that I did not drop out because I was losing all the time. At that time I had a deck that won almost every time I played and it was a deck that I designed from scratch, before their was a dojo or any form of online help,(that I knew of). With the addition of Type II, I returned because I felt that once again money was not the most important thing to insure your could play the game. But only about a week ago, I was all but ready to sell off my cards again. I was playing a game with one of my mono green decks when I was informed that casting a giant growth to cancel the effects of an incinerate no longer worked due to the fact that death effects were resolved first. So the creature was dead before the giant growth could take effect. I don't know if this is true or not and I should not have to. In the old days we had a set of rules that worked and the game could have continued and grown without the need to change the rules on a monthly basis. Banning cards I understand, mistakes in design are hard to find until the cards are in the hands of the masses, but changing rules to fix the problems created by bad card design is no answer. The current state of magic rules is way out of hand. You almost have to be a level 2 Judge if you want to be able to take part in a tourney and not have someone use the level of rules we now have, against you. When I started playing Magic, during Unlimited, Omni magazine listed Magic as the game of the year. The rules were enough to keep the game challenging, but did not stand in the way of play. Now you must spend hours each month reading the new rulings and how they effect each card, and I will not spend that much time to play a game that already drains my pocket each quarter. As a result, I make mistakes while playing that get corrected by rules lawyers. What other game have you ever played that changes the rules on a monthly basis. It is bad enough to have additional cards enter the play environment each quarter without having to also keep track of the current rulings as well. If Chess were played this way, with new pieces being added each quarter and the rules changing on how old pieces can move, the game would be unplayable for most people. Magic is a game that most people will never be able to compete in, given the current rules. If any sport like football or basketball changed rules like this, no one would watch at home because they would not be able to keep up with what was happening. WOTC needs to take a step back and attempt to return this to a game that everyone will want to play. Portal is a good step, but it has been stuck with the stigma of being a game for newbies. If Magic would come out with a set like Unlimited and label it for play between Portal and Pro level, I would sell all my cards and buy only this level. I have friends that I will not introduce to the game because it is not easy enough to play without spending massive study time. My wife played during the early days, but if you even begin to explain the current rules to her, she just turns and walks away. I will stick with Magic a little longer, but due to the problems with the current rules nightmare, I will only play on a friendly basis. And do not think that I write this because I am trying to make excuses for my own level of play. I drew for first in a local tourney only less than a year ago. And retain in the top ten in Arena when I have time to play, but I will never be able to play in a pro tour level and I have no desire to, given these problems. I fully expect that if this is posted, the rules lawyers will rip this to shreds. Just like the politicians, who like to hide behind the law and the fact that Joe Sixpack does not have time to read every new law they pass. These Magic players that have time to study the rules in depth, will stand up for the status quo. They want to continue the current trend. This insures their dominance over those of us that don't have the time to read every little bit of rulings that came out. The silence is broken and others will speak out.