Jeffrey Szelzki
About Jeffrey Szelzki
Jeffrey has been playing Magic the
Gathering since 1999, while being most recognized on Magic Online under the
past as DaMift (creator of Savage Beatdown) or most recently Exodus. He tends
to have a rogue approach to tournaments rather than sticking with the metagame,
and has had some decent performances yet still is waiting for his breakout
tournament.
- 1 PT Appearance (PT Berlin)
- 10 PTQ Top 8's
- 1 GP Day 2 (Boston)
- 1800+ Matches Played
The Current Situation
The past month has been pretty hectic around
here: I haven't been playing at all as I have done horribly in the last 2 PTQs,
with below average pools. Therefore my drive to succeed diminished as my
Limited rating has been the lowest it has been for a couple of years. This once
again suggests that the Zendikar Sealed format is pretty horrendous as I have been
constantly playing Sealed events and Drafts although to no avail when it comes
to the tournaments that matter. Having a full time job as well as being an
Assistant Coach / Trainer, and having a family that demands time isn't the
easiest to piece together a successful schedule that includes Magic Online or
Magic the Gathering. I have been keeping up with the needed information as I
doubt I will ever distance myself from Magic unless I run out of free time
altogether.
Being Honest
I would like to get across that many
people probably see me as conceited, honest, outspoken, and in all due respect
a prick in some cases. Yet in reality that is who I am and friends have
accepted me for who I am, so therefore if you dislike my attitude or dislike
what I give either to the community or just in general I couldn't care less. I
have a lot to give in the world of Magic the Gathering and other categories yet
I dislike the fact that some people attempt to act as though I am not
significant. Grow up and accept me for who I am or don't talk to me as I have
plenty of friends who will stand behind me and give me their clothes off their
back and if you are hostile with me I'm sure I can be a much bigger prick to
you in the end. I am very honest and I look out for my community much more than
I’m given credit for and while I accept players' comments and suggestions as I
do take them into consideration .... don't attempt to argue with me on most
cases as I won't give up and embarrass you.
Good Games Live
As numerous players have learned, there is
a website that broadcasts somewhat relevant events in the form of streaming off
USTREAM and other methods. At first glance, when I found out about them, I
thought that this was a great thing for any community and was looking forward
to them expanding and offering more. In due time I saw that they were hired on
by SCG, and then I believe this is when they took on too much responsibility
and they couldn't handle it all. I recently watched the SCG $10K weekend and
thought the coverage was abysmal as they are lacking sufficient knowledge on
what people want to hear and see. The majority of it resolves around US players
as I understand it is based in the US although when you get viewers from across
the world I would recommend not talking about specific players who haven't been
that successful. Minimize the advertisement portion and talk about Magic the
Gathering as a whole, regardless if you profit off the show or want to expand
in the near future.
The GP Minneapolis coverage was planned to
a degree that I thought for an instant that there was hope for something that
the world hasn't seen or heard of yet. This usually is the case when a certain
fad becomes bigger than anticipated and then it crumbles from beneath your feet
as you don't have the logistics to keep up with what viewers expect. All I
suggest is to have a wider target audience as when I watch from Canada
regardless if it's me or someone else I don't want to hear about random US
players who you know or worship as I won't learn anything off of them. Talk
about relevant information and your opinions on specific matters at hand and
not always how Jund is dominating the Standard environment or that Owen
Turtenwald is a good player (Really? I would never have guessed) and that he
should take the finals when in reality he didn't.
Standard
I'm curious as to whether so much is
talked about this subject and why people can't understand that this is one of
the worst Standard formats in years. Cascade was a mistake initially as the
format resolves around beating or contending with Jund and by that I mean
whether your opponent is good enough to go Bituminous Blast, Bloodbraid Elf, Blightning. If this occurs you are most likely blown out of the
water and if Jund ever becomes 2nd best then some other new deck I'm sure will
focus on either cascade or hardly skillful Mono-Red. Please accept the fact
that this format is pretty irrelevant currently as it won't qualify you for the
PT and it's so boring. Take 3 + 10 + 7 = Good Game .... what do you want me to
say? All I constantly hear is about numerous decks that might have game versus
the metagame but in reality there is no metagame. Regardless of what States
showed up with and how lucky players got - it's called variance.
Variance: The fact or quality of being
different or inconsistent.
Different, inconsistent? Wow, I wouldn't
have thought that players alike would understand the whole concept about the
Standard format. It should be renamed Variance, and players should stop being
so conceited as though they are good because they play Jund and win or complain
about what occurred to them in the past or present.
The DCI
The DCI's responsibility is to make sure
that any given event either run by their own employees or other stores are run
according to DCI policies and procedures, although this being said, I believe
that recently with all the changes and occurrences the DCI no longer has a firm
grasp on tournament play. Regardless of the measures that they take in striving
for success and allowing judges to take higher roles in certain situations, I
believe that the DCI has many problems within the company and that Wizards of
the Coast should be held responsible.
The Charles Gindy incident tainted its
image regardless of how people look at it or have heard about the situation.
You should not and cannot hold someone of this caliber to a disqualification in
the manner you took and applied it rather quickly. If you base your decisions
on what occurred and the views of participants and such you will never come to
a concrete answer and this by itself has been used way too much. Disqualifying
someone due to the fact you caught them looking at a players' cards or clearly
cheating, so be it, although using that manner to an extent that it's
practically the following:
- DCI: Please explain the situation that occurred!
- Gindy: This is what occurred (relays the
steps and game situation).
- Opponent: I disagree, (he needs the
win....) he should've brought it to my attention as I am a FNM player and
didn't realize this was the World Championships.
- DCI: I don't have too much time to debate
the decision, so Gindy I apologize you are DQ'ed.
- Gindy: Awesome, I'm glad you understand
the concept of honesty.
- Opponent: (celebrates in joy)
- DCI: I did a great thing for Magic, and I
covered up that we made a mistake well.
That is that, and the next topic that I
believe should be changed is allowing judges to play in their own tournaments
that they can run. I have used DCI Reporter and always find it in the best of
the tournament to not play so it doesn't look sketchy when I win, although in
other instances this would be called cheating and I guarantee it's happening.
It's called manual pairing, manual pods etc. How will the DCI cover this up?
They won't, as they don't have enough time nor do they have a backbone to
sustain such an onslaught of hate mail. It's 2009 and the technology has
increased dramatically yet there are so many ways that you can easily abuse the
DCI Reporter and now they allow their own judges to do this. How I love the
game that I have played so often and yet the DCI doesn't understand the concept
of cheating. I guess they can always just DQ a bunch of players without a
reason, just like they did to Charles Gindy.
Worldwake
How amazing would it be to be so original
and just bring back irrelevant cards? Well I guess it's the marketing view of
WOTC to the degree that they brought back Smother as a relevant card. It's
nothing even close to what the most troubled format needs. They should target
formats that are in trouble due to specific mechanics or cards rather than
playing “let's pick a card from our hat to reprint”. The other 2 revealed cards
so far aren't even worth recognition as it's a creature that won't last as Mono
Green is clearly a threat in any given format currently and the non-basic land
isn't that amazing.
Why not think of cards that haven't been
created or solutions to current problems?
Tournaments (GP's, PTQ's and PT's)
I have always stuck with my gut feeling
that the DCI doesn't do anything for people in Canada, and while the USA has
exclusive tournaments to themselves, how does one succeed who lives elsewhere?
Nothing against Joel Calafell although in his previous article he stated there
were back to back PTQs in his region with attendance of approximately 140 &
100.
When Blackborder Pro Joel Calafell isn't playing on the Pro Tour, he is winning PTQs as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Today he shares the lessons he learned and reevaluates some of the Zendikar cards in Limited.
Meaning that he gets 2 opportunities to qualify for a Pro Tour and I can
say that I only get 1 if I'm lucky while we usually hit 120+, so why can't the
DCI allow us to get another one and why are tournament organizers so greedy?
Toronto usually has 2 PTQs although it's a
5 hour trip to get there and back while the whole community there is full of
arrogant pricks. It's profitable for the DCI to allow area PTQs if they are
successful and they seem to be, so stop creating irrelevant casual player
garbage product and start providing every area in the world the opportunity to
succeed. Meaning Canada, USA, Europe, everywhere not just specific regions.
Canada has a significant population and it would only grow if you even gave a
shit about us. GPs are hard enough to attend when you provide us with 1, and
when I heard that, I got really excited. I assume that some recognized DCI
employee was sick and accidentally gave us one.
Success = Marketing properly, profit, no
favoritism, balls, and a backbone, and I think you're missing a couple of
those.
Magic Online
So as of late I haven't been playing much
Magic Online as the tournaments have been horrid and as of late the prizes have
decreased dramatically over time. WAIT! Exodus has just been released! I was so
not excited when I heard this and the worst players scattered the Release
Events to get their addiction in and since then the Daily Events and Premier
Events haven't been viable. Like what is your future holding? You are finally
holding PTQs which benefits many players yet at the same time you have had a
successful program for numerous years and are only starting to intrigue
players. If you wait till 2015 there might not be Magic the Gathering anymore,
so you won't need to worry.
The whole concept behind Magic Online
costs you virtually nothing and I wouldn't recommend commenting on this as it's
a huge money grab for Wizards of the Coast. Why not give back to the community
and not profit over such a high level yearly and allow more PTs and GPs to be
played. Then you might see the true players who succeed at the game rather than
the newbs who get 1 lucky showing and think they are the best thing that
stepped into the game. Any given tournament profits Wizards drastically and I
could care less about the Adept and Customer Service areas of it, as 90% of the
questions asked to them are Grade 1 calibre and they should graduate High
School before installing Magic Online.
Intellectual Isolation with Jeffrey Szelzki.
Conclusion
As previously mentioned, I believe that
Wizards of the Coast has a lot of issues that should be taken care of, and that
the DCI has issues as well. This game has been around for numerous years and if
things aren't done within a decent amount of time this game won't be lasting
much longer as players look at many areas to decide on whether they spend money
on this game or just get trashed and party. It's common sense as to what is
missing, and there are many things that can allow any given player to adjust
and profit more so they can play the game without dishing out an exaggerated
amount of money.
Feel free to post comments whether you
disagree or agree and also bring up other topics as I have only skimmed many
concerns of players alike. It's not rocket science and if it was there wouldn't
be Magic the Gathering since most of their employees are lacking and are quite
stubborn. I don't mean to sound like a bitch yet I guess some people have to be
outspoken to get points across.
Grow up and accept your faults and then
fix them, don't let everything get to the extent they are at now. Magic the Gathering is a game of variance
and a slew of conceited pricks, that's what makes it fun!
Until next week,
Jeffrey Szelzki
Magic Online Username: Exodus
Email this page
Thanks for the hard-hitting investigative report into the world of the DCI. Your journalistic skills are awe-inspiring. Your insight has shed new light on these matters. Your completely relevant opinions are backed up with so many new facts! Please keep posting these brilliant and thoughtful articles, as they are exactly what the community needs.
I have to agree with you, as I can see myself that 1. WotC is still more following a straightforward trade strategy instead of keeping customers happy. Afaik this has been happening since they were bought by Hasbro. 2. MTG is approaching towards attracting little boys rather than keeping the favor of experienced players (it can be considered a part of 1, but I'd like to highlight this) - just look at the design of M10 cards. (This is maybe the context of current Standard.)
Well, I still don't find it such bad as you, but it definitely needs to solve.
What would you rather have? A game with loads of new players or a game with a dwindling audience that won't change? Wizards is a firm that MUST make money and hence prints cards that appeal to the mass - hence why we get cards like Baneslayer Angel and Bloodbraif elf, and this approach has bucked the trend of the economy by doing quite well.
If you want a stagnant game that hardly ever changes and has a loyal fanbase, I would suggest either playing Vintage or Legend of the Five Rings.
Anonymous #1: I assume that was sarcasm, although you were very specific about what points you were so worried about. If you can't specify what topics you disagree with I wouldn't recommend replying like a total idiot. Read my 1st paragraph and if you can put more time into this then I'll give you credit although if you have a life then what would you like me to do? Have you read the DCI Floor Rules and all there literature? Seriously ....
The Ship: WOTC has to keep numerous things moving whether it being creative or there marketing process as the gaming world must be knowleadgeable of what's happening. In the last little while WOTC has dropped the ball and done nothing and in response other companies have jumped ship and will start competing. Experienced players bring in the publicity and majority of the profit as kids are the future of the game rather than what's current and happening now. WOTC has a target market and they aren't doing anything to keep them except to make them sound and look worse in the coverage.
Anonymous #2: WOTC must make profit, yes I realize that although by doing certain things it's easily accomplishable and by making themselves look like the idiots they won't be. So by printing cards like Baneslayer and Bloodbraid Elf made this world a better place in terms of profit? Maybe .... yet it made the Standard Format horrible and if they want to grow and succeed on a tournament level they must adapt to what players want. By reprinting cards over and over it doesn't do much and why do they hire so many employees if they just want to make formats horrible, it has been said that certain cards are mistakes? Cascade was a mistake, and players want to play and not worry about ridiculous plays and Magic Online might be booming yet I would like to see sales reports. Why did they do the Hidden Treasures approach? Because they weren't succeeding to the point that they wanted to be in and 90% of players aren't smart enough to back off and not buy product.
OMG .... Think before you respond.
I disagree with you about the whole Gindy situation.
I think its a pretty straightforward ruling and I dont think it was, nor needed to be covered up. Gindy intentionally neglected to mention a "must" trigger in order to gain an advantage in a game. What else needs to be said. Whether he thought it was a "must" or a "may" is up for debate, but I think his intention was to gain an advantage over a player by misrepresenting the rules.
Your argument is basically, "Players who miss triggers deserve to lose". While I dont altogether disagree that a player should be punished for missing a trigger, I do not think that a player who takes advantage of another player's mistake should be rewarded with a game win.
Typical ignorance and arrogance that seem to go hand-in-hand. Your beef with Wizards and the DCI are a moot point because they are doing better than ever. If you want more action in Toronto there are better ways to do it than to come off the way you have. Have you actually talked to anyone about fixing any of these problems with your PTQs? Do you know how far people in America drive for PTQs? The closest one to me is 3 1/2 hours away, and I live in America. Im just as ignorant as you about how the DCI/Wizards/MTGO work on a big scale and to be honest so are 99% of other people that have or will post about it. You get answers by asking questions not by spouting off your mouth. You sound like a high school girl who hates another girl and instead of working it out with her, you go behind her back and start talking about it to another person, only creating more drama. You may have taken some steps to handle this another way but you didn't make them clear in your article.
I guess it boils down to this: if something is worth complaining about, its worth taking your time to try and change the situation.
Let's just be honest here. You may think you walk around speaking your mind and you are correct without having an intricate understanding about a lot of things. but lets be honest, you don't. Anyone without their head up their own @$$ can see through your faulty logic and probably distances themselves from you as soon as you open your mouth. Lastly, at the end of the day, you are gonna be a good little boy and keep playing magic, buying cards, and going to events.... and lets say you don't and you just quit all together(you won't.) You'll just be the little baby so overcome with hatred and disgust that you blew an opportunity to fix something that was "wrong."
Anonymous#1 is right. The only part of the article worth reading is the "Being Honest" paragraph as it serves as an accurate warning for the rest of your article. I can't speak for anyone else but, personally, im not interested in reading articles with this tone. Articles just slamming things you think suck are of no use to the community, does Blackborder review articles before they are published? They should.
People see me as a prick, yet in reality, I am. Hahaha I laughed so hard.
All this article succeeded in was irritating the shit out of me. Your introduction made me hate you immediately and the points you brought up in your article are terrible. Smother is a random pick out of the hat? There is this format you might have heard of called limited? Sort of popular...You might have noticed that all of this limited format's great creatures cost 3 or less making it an incredibly relevant choice. Also, how can you complain about Worldwake when we literally have 4 cards spoiled up until this point? I seriously hope all of your articles are not bitch/cryfests like this one.
Thank you, its about time people hear it the way it is. Brilliant points in the article especially the Gindy part. As for the GG's live comments their doing something pretty awesome they are still working out the kinks to it though (GP Minneapolis was good coverage)I anticipate improvement in the quality of the broadcasts in the future. Worldwake like all sets are made several years in advance, so WoTC doesn't really know what cards will being doing what when. As for smother it was probably printed for block, limited, extended, and standard post-shards. Great article, I cannot wait to see what else you got in store for us.
(a lot of anonymous comments...)
Anonymous #1: So your saying if your playing at World Championships you don't know what cards do? Are you seriously that shallow? Why don't you just agree with whatever DCI says and I would object that if you don't know what Master of the Wild Hunt does quit Magic the Gathering right now and pursue Pokemon! There is no way you say can Gindy was cheating he doesn't need to! What if his opponent knew he missed the trigger and wanted to bring it up after so he could win? Seriously your point isn't valid .... and you seem to be agreeing with whatever DCI states.
Anonymous #2: You think DCI just allows PTQ's to be given? Nope, so your point about that is way off and i'm stating the obvious that Toronto gets rewarded because of .... I don't exactly know for what reason as Richard Hoaen doesn't live there and such. Saying I just bash repeatedly isn't really true since you have to get information out by any means since if I e-mailed DCI etc they would'nt give a shit. The DCI and WOTC keeps all relevant information that I would need to justify these points confidential and it's as simple as that if I get across the a wide array of people it helps. What was your whole point around your response? Attempting to look like a good person .... grow up!
Anonymous #3: What tone would you like me to bring up? Let's start with this portion:
Hi DCI,
I'm 20 and I LOVE how you are creative, sweet, kind, and your judges are well trained. I unfortuneatly can't afford to travel to events although I still watch your PT coverage every 4 months and your game is amazing.
It's because of majority of players don't have guts nor a backbone to bring up these issues which is my point and you just want to play the nice guy. I love it ..... keep on eating Dunkin Donuts and play your Magic Workstation!
Anonymous #4: Breaking News: Jace just came out, so nothing creative has been seen yet more or less reprints of already seen cards. 4 out of 4 .... lets see what happens when more people comment. Your logic is wrong and sorry I have a life outside of Magic.... keep playing WoW.
kridus16: I'm impressed you have a IQ higher than an average player and understand the concept.
KEEP ON BRINGING IT!
If you want people to respect you maybe don't act like a prick.
I hope they dont pay you to write, because this is worthless. Id take your own advice and "grow up and accept your faults".
Conceited pricks are what make this game miserable. You can still be good at this game, and think you are good at this game, without being a prick.
(yawn) this article was a waste of 15 minutes
That's the worst article I've ever read, and oh boy I've read Kyle Sanchez and Todd Anderson.
richard76: people respect me for my views regardless, I am not afraid to speak my mind .... like I stated you can like me or hate me yet to me it's mostly irrelevant as I can't please everyone.
Anonymous #1: I can already see that you are a clear FNM winner, I would pursue other things since you have no insight into what I am talking about clearly. I have grown up and I do accept my faults yet it's like you and the other 99% of the Magic community that won't grow balls and comment on heated topics.
ajanijoel95: Thanks for the confidance boost, I would like to see you do better and by that I don't mean a article based on the Standard metagame or how Jund is the best deck in the format.
Anonymous #2: Kyle Sanchez and Todd Anderson are both legit writers although they keep away from these subjects. Stop comparing me these players and their writing style as they discuss mainly constructed formats.
FINALLY!!!??? Jeffrey has spoken all the things that i have had been thinking about:
1)Reprint SMOTHER? its a killer to all those Alara block 3 mana cost creatures like Rhox war monk and Woolly thoctar.. R - lightning bolt is already enough, then BR - Terminate and now 1B smother for casting cost 3 and below removal?!! I'm wondering how long more before we HEAD back to Urza Saga's game breaking mess again. For those who don't have any idea about the Urza Saga block mess, Wizards created a pool full of abusive and broken cards that ended match play so fast that the current STANDARD match up and heading that speed soon.. THen DCI and wizards have to team up and ban this and that card again and that's after many PTQ(s) ending in a mess situation due to a simple fact that wizards screwed up such concepts to thrill the crowd with crazy/abusive cards like Memory Jar, all those FREE blue spells etc. I've been playing magic from revised to Zendikar.. Wizards take on MTG is still a mess and current standard of Alara + M10 + Zendikar = ALOT of profits to be shared with those who sell MAGIC cards to players; so less care about whether the game goes on well in the future or not. Wizards feeds the market with what they want and not need; in near future increasing number so Mythic rares cost alot of $$$ and you nid them dearly to win and end up profiting Wizards and make yourself a losing money and time when there's only one 1st place in any PTQ(s).
2)Reducing PTQ(s) is actually cutting down on their expenses in wizards' Operating expense and encouraging players around the world to spend more money and effort and time to win the reduced PTQ(s) by buying more cards from the even faster rotating out block and core sets in standard.. Bigger sub blocks in Zendikar>? Might as well make all block 245-245-245 and print more mythic rares and earn money from players until Baneslayer kind of cards are just a common rare standard. E.g. Jace from Worldwake has 4 abilites? Has anyone noticed that? How broken is that if the future cards are on the thread of creating such attractive and powerful cards thus making once useful and valuable cards goes to shame. What's gonna happen when we reach the peak of most powerful card ever created? The game goes down hill with lack of balance and interact of players in the game (all decks wins in a fast pace and a common deck style or combo - requires 2 cards to win the game)Such situation now is that players wanna end the game quick with Boros and Jund and in near future it might be a 1 cost creature with 3/3 and if its not such design, players might not wanna play anymore after being on a high ride for so long..
3) DCI sucks as its so money minded and it felt like a bad judgement on a worldcup scoccer match; sure many say the mis-judgement made was not a big deal..what if it happens to you? and you're winning your 1sT ever PTQ? One bad practise spreads like viruses in a company fast. "OH, so it's ok to just DQ a guy off to cover your job.. Good call, i should also do that if i'm not paying attention to the matches being played and always DQ off a guy when he comes soft and true"...
I'm with the "make your own crowd group" and not the "following blindly group" Then again, too many followers aren't not sure where they are moving to; by the time they know...it's the end cuz you're just too used to following others..
It's hard for me not to laugh when you throw out a label like "FNM winner" when I can see that you've worked long and hard over an arduous career... to achieve two pro points over seven events. If you're bitter that the DCI doesn't run more events in Canada, I'm cool with that. That much driving is tiring; I empathize.
I'm sorry that you feel as if the nasty, cruel world doesn't think your opinions are worth entertaining. It's unfair that everyone hates you and labels you an arrogant jerk just because you say arrogant things with no regard to the standard social rules of tact. I also understand that it's hard to have all of these big new ideas and have to sit on them because the rest of us are simply too dim to see the light. Go write for your school newspaper, though, so you can limit the damage to that student body and hopefully you can avoid wasting the valuable time of, well, anyone but you.
I'd love to write something constructive here rather than attack you, but unfortunately your writing style and life attitude remind me of an angsty high school age boy who is just "discovering himself" and I'm not qualified to counsel angry, hormonal teenagers. I went through that stage, too, quite a while ago. When you grow up, you'll look back and chuckle at your self-centered attitude because you'll realize what the rest of the world already knows... you're irrelevant.
jimmymare: Thanks, someone finally acknowledges that they indeed know what I am talking about. Learn from this player rather than bashing the shit out of my article .... like seriously.
Anonymous #1: Stop spamming this site and grow up, I doubt anyone wants wedding dresses or anything that you have to offer.
Anonymous #2: I can accept I was horrible and more or less casual players for the first 6-8 years then I finally upgraded my game and with the few events I do play outside of Magic Online I succeed at. Nice comeback in terms of me being a teenager and such in your eyes, I am sure you have the knowledge and attitude to coach 19-21 year olds and give back to the community. No worries keep on winning your FNM Sakura Tribe Elders and I wouldn't say I was the irrelevant one in this situation.
As long as Wizards' marketing and sales strategy earns money and throw many player off their guard on where the game is actually heading with new and exciting cards and they just enjoy on it till its the end and its too late... the current Metagame shift, judge and their falling standards and newer blocks/coresets design and rotation procedures and all driven by higher profits netting.
Ever remembered the card game Pokemon? They fetch large sums of profits and also took a handfull of MTG player friends to go play pokemon; if i remembered correctly it was during the Mirage & Tempest block where the cards were less exciting and powerful.. Maybe that's why they came up with Urza block to win back their MTG hearts with crazy cards and ideas and then break the whole game again. THis is about to come back again due to other card games survived along with Magic for this long.. Anyone seen anyONe playing Pokemon? - Pokemon cards grown to be so powerful in their standard that having $$$ cards that cost Mythic rare price in MTG wins. Would anyone still wanna play MTG in future blocks that consists of 245 (30 crap rares that never see the lights in any decks and cost 50cents in general or less, 40 commons that cost less than 10cents worth and printed to slot in the 110 common size and godly mythic rares like Baneslayer to catch anyone's heart? if no one points these out to wizard, MTG would sink becuz of us players...think about it; its like global warming and earth's dying becoz no one believe it would happen and that humans caused it until now.
I posted the "teenager" remarks. I apologize for the personal attacks, so I figured I'd log in and rewrite my words. I disrespected myself by attacking you directly and disrespected young men and women who are still in their teens by suggesting that this type of attitude is the result of mere youth. I'm spending the time rewriting my response as penance for my desire to strike at you for your bitter comments and the petty pleasure I felt by insulting you. In case it's not absolutely clear, I do not respect you for your article and don't agree with your "accept it or go away" attitude. I will remind you, sir, that _you_ came to this site and posted your opinions for us to see. We did not ask for this article and I hope that the maintainers of the site did not request it from you either. Here are my thoughts, my angry thoughts, posted in a much calmer and more rational manner.
I have read your article. You have said arrogant things with no regard to the standard social rules of tact. Being a rebel by being an ass isn't cool; it's immature and rude. "Grow up and accept me for who I am"? No, sir. You get treated with respect when you learn to interact with the rest of the world instead of spewing blind hatred indiscriminately into the crowd. Respectable adults have to learn to express their ideas with a certain amount of poise and forethought before they get to have their opinions held in esteem by the rest of us. Have the bravery to treat _everyone_ with respect from the beginning. It's scary not to attack first, but that's part of human interaction.
Let me give you a good tip: If you have to start your article apologizing for being "conceited, honest, outspoken, and in all due respect a prick in some cases. Yet in reality that is who I am" and then you still feel the need to demand respect throughout your article for the bile you've put into words... well, it's probably best just not to post anything that day. Do you think this is a "contribution" to the Magic community? No. We are doing you a service by listening to your angry outburst. If you want to look for contribution, take another look at Good Games Live. That is a product. It is not perfect or complete, but it's an honestly useful effort that blows your article out of the water. Do you hear them go on livid tirades about their internet providers or equipment manufacturers when failures happen? No. That is maturity, and I am pleased to give them my respect for their efforts. By giving them my respect even through technical troubles or comments that I don't appreciate, I show respect for myself. What would it mean if I were to respect what you have written here? It would belittle me and the rest of the community if I were to support this piece of work.
"I have a lot to give in the world of Magic the Gathering and other categories yet I dislike the fact that some people attempt to act as though I am not significant." What? You see, it's the rest of us that decides whether or not you're significant, not you. The community isn't for you; look it up in a dictionary. Tear that statement apart and rethink it. Try to take the bitter feelings and arrogance out of that statement and post what's left. It won't take long, and it'll show you exactly what's wrong with your article and your attitude.
You honestly just sound like you're screaming because you're having trouble with Zendikar limited and you feel that your rating has dipped too low. " my Limited rating has been the lowest it has been for a couple of years. This once again suggests that the Zendikar Sealed format is pretty horrendous"... Seriously? Are you calling the format worthless just because you're not winning? Let me point out again that whole two pro points/seven events thing. There are plenty of players with more credentials than you out there, and guess what? The ones that win... are still winning. Doesn't that suggest that maybe it is, in fact, you who are missing the point? If you don't like Zendikar, go away for a while and give us a break. I noticed in your profile at the top of the article that you're still waiting for your "breakout" tournament. No. You don't wait for it. Go get it. Here's another piece of advice: if the Zendikar format has defeated you so quickly, then you'll probably be "waiting" for your breakout for much longer than you expect. _Real_ pros, the ones that do matter, are doing just fine right now.
I'd love to write something constructive in this reply rather than spending my time attacking you, but I've got no foundation on which to base any reasonable comments, You sound like an emotional, irrational person who's had his "big thoughts" for the year and is desperate to stick them to pen and paper for the world to see. Stop that. You have disrespected yourself, your patient readers, and the unfortunate maintainers of this site by posting your article.
I strongly suggest that you, first of all, go to bed and stop camping your article's comments. Second, when you wake up, ignore any congratulation e-mails or hate mail or any other responses to your article and re-read it. If you can hear the bitterness and anger in the article that I hear and you can understand why we shouldn't have been subjected to your feelings of disappointment in the game, write another article apologizing. Apologize to us, to yourself, and apologize twice to the maintainers of this site. If you have the bravery to do it, I will salute you for it.
Good Article Cartman
Haters gonna hate, ignore them.
Sertic
@aserpent: as representative of the teen population (on here at least i think), thou art forgiven. I'll post a comment on the article tomorrow once i can fully digest it.
*hands Noah an antacid
While I appreciate your honesty, truly; after this: "...don't attempt to argue with me on most cases as I won't give up and embarrass you," I will never read anything you have to say again. After I read that, I stopped reading your article. I'm not begrudging you or your opinion(s) and I really do give you credit and respect for having the balls to basically declare how close minded and arrogant you are. However, it is exactly that type of close minded and arrogant behavior that closes down the free flowing of ideas and discussion. Accept it: as long as you are in the public [Magic] domain, you best learn how to accept disagreement.
Finally, I'm also quite curious as to why you think you're significant in the Magic world at all. This is actually the first article of yours' I've ever partially read and I've never heard of you.
If every single part of Magic is as awful as you make it out to be, why do you continue playing?
This was such a bad article for so many reasons. The worst part of it is that it wanted to be provokative, yet it was so boring.
@fortunae: i am ignorant. antacid?
That's a reference to the "digest" in your comment.
Thank you aserpent for summing up so brilliantly. You gave good advice with lots of insight... but unfortunately he's just a kid. And a kid - I might add - that hasn't had loving parents [just my impression]. He won't understand! Maybe one day something terrible will happen in his life, like his girlfriend having a car accident [just to be clear: I really hope that no such thing will happen in his (near) future], and that event will straighten his thoughts and give him a clearer view on what life is about... Until then I see no chance for a normal social being to get through to him.
P.S.: 'Honesty' has nothing to do with rudeness. Rudeness is just a flaw of the personality...
If you dont like the game or the way it is played, don't play or go create one of your own. No one is forcing you to play Magic. Go do something else.
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