CONSPIRACY THEORY!!!

What if wizards blacked out GP Detroit, because *gasp* they knew modern wasn’t ready for prime time.

DUN DUN DUN

Seriously though, I like the idea of modern and what wizards is trying to do, but what in the world do they ban next to make this format somewhat interesting? Or maybe they do some unbans, or maybe new printings.

Jason hit in right on the head when he said that there’s a bunch of awesome tier two decks battling it out at the losers’ tables. Those decks were the promise of modern, and everyone was happy to jump on board to brew and play some crazy stuff. I’m afraid that NWO design seems to have a limiting effect on playable archetypes due to a focus group designated concept of fun. Also, the ban list may be preventing greater catastrophe, but it stifles the openness of the format. It looks like the further we go down the rabbit hole of new design the more 3+ color good stuff ‘midrange’ will always be the best (with black and green in the lead).

Legacy, the big sky is falling format, supposedly dominated by blue, force of will, turn 1 combos, mana bases worth more than a kidney, and monocle clad Brahmins has the diversity that’s reserved for the kids’ table in modern. Not to mention it was nearly won by the $30 solution.

I hope wizards, which has overall done a lot to make a great product, does some soul searching with modern.

Also, I’m pretty sure Lee Harvey Oswald was trying to steal the Jack Ruby.

Cheers,
Backseat Critic

Well, Pros show up to every GP, though. So saying we needed coverage at Detroit because Pros were there isn\’t super compelling considering they, due to their budget, have to skip a GP or three, and that means skipping a GP with lots of Pro Players. Now, spending money to cover a Limited GP and not spending that money to cover a Modern GP when they are trying to make Modern popular makes no sense. The only thing that made sense to me, coupled with clues from my conversation with Helene and her tweets this week, was that they didn\’t expect anyone to show up to GP Detroit.

Now, the premise of the entire \”We don\’t have the budget\” argument is flimsy. The game grew 35% last year and Hasbro can\’t give you a few more dollars for your advertising budget? I\’d say you have proof positive that money spent on advertising in the form of GP coverage is working. But when you have a company like Hasbro signing all of your checks, stupid shit happens, and WoTC as a brand has to grin and pretend stupid things that weren\’t their idea were their idea. The backlash from this is an important lesson for them. They screwed up, they know it, and they are owning it. Helene Bergeot\’s twitter stream is going to suck for her to read for a few weeks but they\’re owning it. I admire that.

Concerning the non-existent video coverage: It simply shocked me that WotC’s reaction was “Oh, hey, people showed up to this Modern GP… It’s as if we’ve been pouring money into promoting this format and it’s one of the only ones held in the US for the rest of this year…”

Say what you will about The Mothership not being prepared or their expectations being low due to photo jokes on Reddit, the lack of foresight was astonishing and quite sad. Being a businessman myself, I suppose I have high expectations for WotC and their business practices. They cannot play the “we are a small potatoes game” card forever…

So, did we as fans drop the ball and give a false representation as to our true feelings about GP Detroit? Possibly. But c’mon, for the past few weeks, when Modern was discussed by the various pros within the community, they mentioned their attendance at the GP. Who cares if Joe Blow from Wisconsin is afraid of getting shot in Detriot, if Brian Kibler, Josh Utter-Leyton, Owen Turtenwald, Reid Duke, Willy Edel, Patrick Chapin, LSV, etc. are attending, you MIGHT want video coverage… /rant

Sorry, iphone typing…

Cheers,
Backseat Critic

I’m the guy who helpfully suggested that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Glad to see you’re still here. It looks like you can toss modern onto that ash heap too. Keep doing what you do. I’m still going to go out on a limb and say this is the best weekly article in magic. And that bdubs comment? Exquisite.

Cheers,
Backseat Critic

This.is.hilarious.