Not sure exactly where to post this so if I'm wrong someone hook me up. And yes someone please let me know if you can get Carl's binder to him and I'll give it to you as long as he knows etc. Anyhow without further ado, I may disgust you, you may hate me, but please take a minute or two to read this, thank you.
No Gold Can Replace the Friends that Turn to Demons
There's a morgue full of opinions about Andy, Over The Edge Games, and myself on this website. Some ring with a spoiled sour truth that you just have to swallow and deal with. While some explode from the mouths of shitstained oracles passing gossip along like ravers do STD's and feeling good that they are apart of something that resembles a skinhead hate cult. I'm here to let you know which are true and which are not. What you can expect from me and what you cannot. And please don't delete this with anonymous retard-anger like whoever kept deleting our tournament announcement. So here's my story from the beginning, the good, the bad, the reality....
This entire clusterfuck of high school movie ignorance started a couple of Waterbury's ago. Like 2 weeks after the event I got an email from Ray stating that he didn't want me coming to his tournaments anymore because I had "set up shop" at his last one. He wasn't interested in negotiation and made it semi-clear that he didn't want me to respond or even talk to him about it at all. He expected me to just close my eyes and die like a mute someone pulled the plug on. I did indeed do some buying at the tournament in question. I fronted the cash for Andy to buy a Black Lotus right in front of Ray, that Adam Bowers sold him. I also bought a Mox Ruby from Brian Phelon. The esteemed but still tableless at that event Jeff Anand also did a lot of buying/selling. In fact there was buying/selling going on all over the place, and there are a number of people that Ray knows specifically that bought and sold. So when I was the only person banned I was naturally surprised. I mean I did a minor amount of cash deals and a shitload of trading. I would like to point out that I played in the tournament, lost first round, won second round and after I beat the kid I conceded and let him keep playing because it was pretty hot and I was getting a headache. I went near the front of the room where it was a bit cooler, which happened to be right in front of Ray. I stayed there for the rest of the day. Ray was directly across from me for 99% of the day. He walked past me multiple times obviously. He even came over to give me one of the door prize tokens at one point. Nothing was ever said at all to hint that he thought I had set up shop. If he thought something was up, which it generally wasn't, he should have come over and talked to me then, and nipped it in the bud. I would have made sure that I didn't make any more cash transactions at all. Was I wrong for doing something that even though it wasn't announced it was assumed that I shouldn't be doing? Yes, I was partially wrong because I could have asked. But Ray was wrong as well and went about things blindfolded naked running through razorblades. In fact it was all behind the scenes gossip that led him to choose me to ban. Ray didn't make his own decision he let other people make it for him. When I talked with him for about 45 minutes straight about the situation he had the balls to tell me "Look Chris, I understand your situation but let's just say that I need a scapegoat and your basically it. If I unban you it will be an invitation for other people to do what you did." I was chosen to be Ray's example. He told me that directly. How would you feel? That's not only unfair but it's condescending. I agree that a warning and banning on second offense was in order. Wholeheartedly. But to ban me and call me your scapegoat to my face is just fucked up. So, here I sit as your example. This is also the beginning of people thinking of me as Satan. You see this isn't High School anymore. Even if Ray is a teacher he must understand that adults are individuals that you can't control by having them read a sign on the wall (he made a comment to me that he thinks people at his tournaments needed to be taught like one of his lesson cards he has taped to a wall in his classroom). I got what has become notoriously known as "The Executive Suite" and hung out there all day. If you kick me in the nuts I'm gonna kick you right back. I don't think I was wrong in this situation in the least, and believe me if ANY of you were in the same situation you'd be just as pissed off, and if given the opportunity you'd do the same thing. You can say that you wouldn't because of reasons A, Y, and X but we all know you would. I understand to all of you I am Satan, I'm the demon and OTE and Andy are just hell spreading bastards. I understand that Ray has a halo over his precious platinum skull and if you guys had a chance to attach to his ballsack and become a Ray nuthair you certainly would. You'd love to be heavenly nuthair, I know I know. What I am asking you to do is step outside the situation. Forget that you know either of us and just look at it with names and places wiped away. Think about the situation then.
I don't hold a grudge. After I was kicked in the nuts and got my turn to kick back I accepted the fact that me and Waterbury weren't meant to be and went on with life. I even played vs. Ray in the Top 8 of a T1 tourney. Nobody was bitter, nobody was angry, it wasn't a grudge match. It was just two guys playing T1, there was even a joke here and there. I figured nothing else would come of the situation. If I really cared and was really being malicious why would I run a tournament and hope people show up to it rather then get another Executive Suite and just be there again. The result doesn't fit the ingredients. We thought we were doing something that would be cool and make people happy. Yes some dumb shit happened and yes we learned our lesson regarding professional judges to run the event and yes we really fucked it all up. We're sorry. We also bought soda and gave it away and apologized but that doesn't even get mentioned. The whole affair is depressing really.
You misinterpreted our goal with the Black Lotus tourney on the same day as Waterbury. First of all we were already scheduled with Pokemon States and an NAC qualifier that day since long before Ray announced his Waterbury date. We decided that it would be cool to give people another chance at a Lotus after/if they lost at Rays place. That's why we ran it at 4pm. If we were trying to directly sabotage Ray it would have been at the same time, for free. Like most of our tournaments are. Excuse me if that is a horrible idea. Excuse me if the ring of cancerous gossiping fucktards automatically make it out as some attempt to undermine Ray and compete/destroy Waterbury. I guess you guys really don't want more chances at a Black Lotus. And about the comments about saving your cards and dealing with us? When don't we say shit like that? It's our job. You don't think people at Domino's put out the lynch and pop tires and cut phone lines when Pizza Hut opens up across the street do you? You people can't possibly be that dumb. This is America and it's only ends up with more money for you? If I asked you if you wanted $5 or $10 which would you choose? Exactly you wool over your eyes jackass. Think about it next time. Think about the whole situation. Do I want all of you to hate me? Do I want all of you to never come to any tournaments we run? Do I want to be banned from all the T1 tournaments and read daily the anti-us threads and comments that pop up here? I may be a morbid sick fuck but I'm not a martyr. And it doesn't seem like very smart business sense to have everyone you plan on dealing with on a regular basis dislike you. So stew on that.
Firefall has one thing right. I love money. So do you. We all survive on it and I want as much of it as I can get. You want as much of it as you can get. However the entire situation in it's present form has been born from Ray needing a scapegoat so long ago, and a whirlwind of gossip pinballing from one small group to another, morphing and changing and being more malicious each time the stories get told. It's like a snowball that drives down a mountain getting larger and larger and larger until finally it's insanely huge and destroys small villages in it's path. T1 is a small village and all of this snowballing is destroying it. Can't we all just get along?
As for Andy being a cheater that couldn't be further from the truth. Is he clumsy and does he forget shit all the time? Yes, he certainly does. All the time. Cause he's human. I play with him all the time and I know for a fact that he doesn't cheat. Just because he's q'd for some Pro Tours doesn't mean a damn thing. I've q'd for some too and I think it's surprising that you guys don't think I'm a cheater too. And as far as T1 being "your" format Firefall I've been playing T1 for years and years, I have over 140 sanctioned T1 matches, and my rating in T1 was 14th in the world. And all that doesn't mean shit. I'd have to say the worst thing about T1 players in general is pride and ego. T1 is just another format. It doesn't belong to anyone. And face it guys, I know how much this burns your blood but TheManaDrain.com isn't some elite force of superior intelligence in a game that resembles magic. It's one of the only worthwhile T1 websites, but face it T1 is just a format part of a larger scale. And I'd hate to break this to you but your ALL MAGIC PLAYERS. You all get just as stereotyped and blacklisted when it comes to society. All I'm trying to say boils down to this....
If you have something to say to someone, say it to them and not 5 people that know them. If you wanna know if there's any truth about something people say about someone, ask that person and not 5 people that know them. If you wanna know why something like our tournament happened on the same day as someone else's, fucking ask us and get the truth. Gossip is pathetic and childish.
I appreciate and thank anyone who actually took the time to read this and get my side of things. Just to make it clear I'm not trying to "win" anyone over with this, I don't really care about how any of you feel about me, but I do care enough to tell you how I feel because I am around a lot of you at different times in different places. I think the butchering of my name, Andy's name, and OTE's name on this site without giving us a chance to respond or defend ourselves is like a fucking witch hunt. So please examine the whole situation and don't be some ignorant fucking pilgrim Quaker hanging people cause they can swim. Don't subscribe to a magazine cause you like the pictures, read an article in it once and a while (and yes Playboy and Hustler are perfectly OK to get just for the pictures!). I mean you know shit has gotten to stupid extremes when there are announcements at the tourney opposite ours to watch out for people stealing match slips and doing other bad things to fuck things up. That's really childish. But then again the gossip and shit talking that got it to that point is pretty childish too. As always feel free to contact me at
Lovetheundead@yahoo.com, or 518-961-1417. I am always willing to talk to anyone about this or anything else.
Chris Leather
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Please try to be nice, or don't be at all. This episode is over, and it's time for a new season. 
