I don't like Ben Bleiweiss a whole lot.

[CrazyCarl]

How we win on this- Challenge Ben, or some single person appointed by Ben, to break the format, preferrably using one of the cards he thinks is soo good.  Tell him he, or his chosen apprentice, must place in the Top8 at GenCon's big T1 tourney, and if he does so, somebody will eat a hat or something.  Something absurd that'll get people's attention.


The point is, I think both sides in this argument are at a point where they need to put up, or shut up, and a big, brazen, WWF style challenge is the way to do it while keeping it fun.

Of course, he could always just turn the challenge down, and we could have a name-calling field day...


Edit- Come to think of it, Carl, as far as challengers go, you fit the bill quite perfectly...

What the fuck is going on here?  I haven't read a Magic article for a few weeks now.  I do check the sites once in a while, but I've really only read Ask Ken and MaRo's articles.  I read some of Aten-'s stuff, but it was too long.  I barely browse the boards anymore.  I just don't have the time.

I'd like to write more articles, but in all honesty, I don't have a whole lot to write about currently.  There are at least 10 people out there writing about whatever I'd write about, only they know their stuff more than I do.  I'm not the deckbuilder, though I have my moments, I'm not the theorizer, though I also have moments.  I'm tha playa.  In fact, I sort of feel like a tool.  Teams use me to get their decks out there(Hulk anyone?)

But back to the point: I'm not challenging anyone, that's just a waste of time IMO.  If i'm challenging someone, I want them to put up a reasonable fight .  I might write more at some point, but a) I don't feel like it and b) I have nothing constuctive to say.  I could spout out random bullshit if you guys would like to hear it.

I guess to appease the crowd I'll write up a report about this weekend's Hadley tourney with an analysis of the deck I'm playing(Oh yeah, more rogue decks baby).

Oh, and next time, someone tell me when funny shit like this is going on.  I miss all the good stuff :<

EDIT: I actually read the article.  I was going to write something here, but I'm going to *gasp*, write an article about it.  I'm gonna have fun with this one.

[Bram]

NICE! I was thinking of writing one myself, like Menno suggested, but I just command anywhere near the amount of respect in the magic community someone like our own resident Vintage champ does (which is another way of saying noone knows who the fuck I am )

So write away!

I'd also like to see Smmenen respond to this, since Bleiweiss is being very demeaning towards his efforts, too. Actually, I think Stephen would agree with him on several points. But goddammit, Ben could have stated his case in a polite fashion instead of this rant.

[rvs]

Does that mean we're getting another super-article from mr. Bryce?

Nah, I stopped writing articles a long time ago. It got to the point where any tournament report I started writing ended up being like 10 pages before even leaving New York and every strategy article ended up repeating "OH MY GOD DO YOU PEOPLE SUCK!!".

However, Mr. Awesome may write something because he's a superhero and not a nihilist like me.

But... but... your tournament reports are tha bomb dude! They are the best ever. I think your vermont bashing was the ONLY article where I ever emailed the author (which would be you :p) to tell him it was great.

[rozetta]

I thought the article was funny. Perhaps even a joke. Especially the card choices. And his digs at the type 1 community seemed quite tongue-in-cheek if you ask me. Well, anyway, they made me laugh.

Goddamn, I'd seriously like to see what the "pros" would come up with if given the Type 1 format to experiment with. Especially the Japanese. But it's not like they have an infinite amount of time to develop and test, and given the metagame considerations, they'd probably just end up with decks similar to what we already have.

[Dr. Sylvan]

Rozetta: The forum thread afterward does not include BB wondering why we can't "take a joke". He pretty much believes what he wrote, AFAICT.

So are others really giving up the non-response outlook? I thought Rich had some pretty good reasoning on letting Ben's article slide into obscurity.

[Ric_Flair]

 
The other problem here is one of rarified air.  If one of us responds it will likely be an intelligent response.  As such only the rest of us will get it.  Some of the comments in the SCG forums about the letter Phil and I wrote were just mind-bogglingly stupid.  And while they may taint us as "nerds of the nerds" I am not sure what firing back with intelligence, wit, and vitriole will accomplish.  In other words, if you get in a poop throwing war with a monkey, they will likely think it is food.

This looks like a job for Mr. Awesome!

*turns on the Awesome Signal*

If you are implying I write an article, first off, there are much better people for such a task.  Steve is a much better writer than I am.  No false modesty here.  I am good at advocating for positions.  But Steve is better.  So is Phil, JP, and Carl (when he is not busy being fucking hilarious).  Second, if I am Mr. Awesome, since you were quoting me I assumed it was me, I need to point out my first statement.  I am not deserving of such a title.  Someone other than me is far better suited for getting in Bleiweiss' grill, however, I am not sure how much good it would do.

[kl0wn]

If you are implying I write an article, first off, there are much better people for such a task.  Steve is a much better writer than I am.  No false modesty here.  I am good at advocating for positions.  But Steve is better.  So is Phil, JP, and Carl (when he is not busy being fucking hilarious).  Second, if I am Mr. Awesome, since you were quoting me I assumed it was me, I need to point out my first statement.  I am not deserving of such a title.  Someone other than me is far better suited for getting in Bleiweiss' grill, however, I am not sure how much good it would do.

Well, if you WERE Mr. Awesome, I don't think that you would be letting people know your true identity. Although, you COULD just be doing it to make people THINK you're not Mr. Awesome by revealing your true identity by the logic that Mr. Awesome would not reveal his true identity. In which case, you very well could be Mr. Awesome because that's ingenius and only a superhero of Mr. Awesome caliber would think of such a thing because, well...he's just awesome.

And Rudy, if you like them that much, I should send you the million reports I've started writing and never finished due to them being all time-sensitive and only halfway done more than a week after the tournament took place. Gahd, how much do I suck?

[Azhrei]

Aren't you all overlooking the fact that most people, regardless of format, suck at Magic? It's a complicated game. I know for a fact that I never, ever spent enough time playtesting to be at Pro level. What Bleweiss is saying is basically "A top high school player isn't necessarily going into the NFL, and OH MY GOD do some high school football players blow."

Saying 99% of Vintage players are awful is no different than saying that 99% of Standard players are awful. It's true. The slight occurs when he says that the top 1% of Vintage players are worse than the top 1% of Standard players (i.e. Pros).

Since far more than 1% of the Vintage community has risen up in arms, I think self-assessment might be our biggest hurdle.