I've always wanted to be a Magic Pro Player. It's never a goal I considered realistic - something along the lines of owning a Ferrari or dating the entire female cast of the OC. Ok, maybe not quite as extreme as those - there's always the outside chance that I qual for a PT and then ace it, but it's pretty unlikely. And yet I always dreamt that one day I might get to join the elite...
Until this week.
Before we go any further, I am going to quite clearly specify that Pro Magic Players are like any other group of people - there are always exceptions to the rule, you can't generalise an entire group, etc. But I'm going to generalise anyway. Why? Because the Pro Player community has come across as a bunch of arrogant, self-absorbed morons over the Invitational and various ballots. What I am going to go over has been covered by others in the last week or so such as Riki here on his blog and Rich Hagon on SCG but I really needed to put my perspective on things - I feel incredibly strongly about this but wanted to take some time before getting all my thoughts down here on my blog rationally.
Firstly, we have Rich Hoaen not included in the Limited Genius ballot. Now this is, at best, a gross oversight on Wizards part. But, at this point, Rich has a good chance of getting in on one of the other ballots. Rich has a reputation for being one of the less 'happy' members of the Tour. Whether this is true or not, it's the perception that the general Magic populus has and one SCG (and therefore one would presume Rich himself) were happy to promote.
Within a couple of weeks of this slight, 'Drafting with Rich' finishes on SCG and Kenji takes over. Now I am not aware of the circumstances in which he stopped writing for SCG (and if anyone could clarify this for me, I'd be very much grateful). So the situation stands that Rich is omitted from the Limited Genius ballot and almost immediately ends his writing column. Coincidence ftw? Seriously, you get to play a card game for a living - hundreds of thousands of people would love to take your place - stop spitting the dummy because you didn't get your way.
Then we have the Storyteller ballot. Amongst the non-Pro Magic playing community (I'm not going to say Casual here - I wouldn't classify myself as a Casual player, rather an enthuiast with lofty dreams of greatness) this announcement was greeted with with open-arms. The thought of one of 'us' (as close as we've gotten so far anyway) playing in the Invitational was great. Someone who would go and stand with the giants of the game and represent the wee guy.
Forsyth has said it raised discussion at Wizards. Reading between the lines, that probably means there were big arguments. But Forsyth won out which says a couple of things to me. Firstly, he is a bloody good guy with a well rounded view of the game and the people who make it the success that it is - i.e. not the Pros. And secondly, he has the debating capabilities and punch required to take his ideas and make them happen, in the face of obvious opposition. It's good that we have someone in Renton in that position.
Anyways, how did the Pros respond to the Storyteller ballot? Did they go 'Oh well, it's only one slot out of 16'? Did they agree that the only reasons the Pros exist and have the prestige and chance to travel and earn so much money is because of the multitude of little guys that look up to them? Did they embrace the whole concept with open arms as a chance to bridge the great divide between us and them?
No, they didn't. They (or at least their most vocal representatives) were morons. I'm not going to go into the specifics of what was said on the various forums because it has been talked to death by other people. The fallout of those discussions is still there for anyone who may be interested to see at places like the Wizards boards. Needless to say, the Pros did not shower themselves in glory and a lot of the work done by people like Craig Jones to try and take us into the world of the professional Magic player has been undone by a vocal minority.
It makes me disappointed that these people do not have due consideration and appreciation for the masses of people who give them their position. And my dream, of one time joining those guys at the top of the game I invest so much of my life to, has diminished slightly.
/rant
-Flame on-
Dave
) thread precis below, no Pros came out after Mark made his comments and actively chastised him as he undoubtedly desevered. Some (Ruel and Krouner for example) try and bridge the gap but no of them come out against Heezy directly. Hellfire, Anton totally backs him up.
