The Top Hits and Misses of Magic the Gathering for 2009

With only a couple of weeks until the end of the year, here's a quick recap of the Year in Magic's top hits and misses.

Misses:

4. I'll be the judge of that

I can remember few years that have had as many judging controversies as 2009. The one that immediately springs to mind was the Gindy DQ at Worlds. Fresh on the heels of the Brian Kibler missed trigger screwup that resulted in a ruling that overly rewarded the player, the Gindy missed action screwup resulting in a ruling that overly punished the player. Although there are various points of view on what should of happened, what the gamestates were, and who was really in the right, one thing is clear - a better system of rules around opponents that make mistakes, that doesn't punish the person who's playing against them, needs to be instituted. WotC must be aware of this, but has made no noise on the subject to date.

3. Can I buy something, anything?

Probably not. M10, sold out. Zendikar, sold out. Any while it's a wonderful reflection on the health of the game, the inability to get access to packs undermined confidence of players in the fairness of distribution and the ability for the secondary pricing market to keep within the realms of relative cheapness. Stories of people pre-ordering boxes, only to have the pre-orders revoked and relisted at higher prices abounded. Although WotC could probably be excused for misjudging the reaction to M10 - no core set has ever sold so well - they have no excuse for distribution problems with Zendikar, especially considering they knew full well that the particular promotional strategy for Zendikar would drive the sales through the roof. Here's hoping WotC get it right for Worldwake and everyone will be able to buy packs when they want to.

2. The rise and rise of Jund

If you thought faeries were bad in the previous standard - and they were a tough ask, certainly - then you haven't taken a good look at what Cascade has done to the format. The analysis is in, and it's not good. While the Fae has 20% of the field locked up in the US States in 2008, over 36% played Jund in the US States in 2009, a truly shocking showing. Made possible by the innumerable 2-for-1 cards in RGB (Bloodbraid Elf, Blightning, Bituminous Blast, Maelstrom Pulse, Broodmate Dragon) the sheer card advantage gives even the most hopeless of players hope. I built a fully fledged Jund deck for my 12-year-old son, fired him at an under 16s event, and the kid came out equal 2nd (on points). At least the fae required a fairly competent pilot to manage the constant lifeloss to Bitterblossom and the knowledge of when to pull the trigger on counterspells. Jund is simply "play a cascade card, see what I get, win the game". Although some tools are around to fight Jund, no killer deck has been developed as Rock to Jund's scissors, and until that happens Jund will be around to give even the weakest player hope.

1. A girl Called Baneslayer

Ironically, the one thing keeping Jund in check is a mythic rare with a startling pricetag. For 3WW and $50 you too can be the proud owner of a Baneslayer Angel. I'm not sure what Wotc were thinking when they printed this (perhaps 'Screw you Serra Angel') but five relevant abilities on a 5 mana creature with 5 power and 5 toughness seems a little extreme. But two factors compounded the issue. Firstly, the fact that Baneslayer is a Mythic Rare made availability a huge problems. Secondly, Baneslayer helped Brian Kibler André Coimbra win Worlds. Suddenly the big Angel wasn't just relevant in Standard, but in Extended too. A whole new player base was opened up just before Extended season. Prices went through the roof. Until Baneslayer, Mythic Rares seemed to be about the flavour, rather than the power. Big, chunky, impressive spells are often not synonymous with tournament play. But then you get a card that's simply too good not to run, and that card becomes the first chase Mythic Rare. Luckily Zendikar has avoided this over-exposure, with Lotus Cobra massively hyped and then proving to be too much of a glass cannon. However a repeat performance is inevitable at some stage. The only question is when - and what are WotC doing to prevent it?


Hits

4. A new Core

When WotC declared that they would take a fresh look at the core set it sent a new energy through the magic community. All of sudden the stale, boring core set was going to provide what every Magic player secretly covets - new cards. Although some criticised WotC for skewing the "50% new" target through the counting process (excluding basic lands, including functional reprints), the new Core set was a mammoth hit, with core set being actively, widely and enthusiastically drafted.

3. Magic is Dead! Long live Magic!

As usual, as soon as the M10 rules changes were announced, the usual crowd of naysayers and cynics declared that Magic would die, that they would sell off their collection, that they would never play in another tournament again, that M10 was becoming Yu-Gi-Oh. And as usual they were wrong. The M10 rules changes have come and gone, have improved the quality of some cards (eg. Mana Drain) and nerfed others (eg. Pyroclasm). And sure, you'll never be able to ping a player with your Spectral Searchlight, but at the same time you're having to make more choices than less - do I want to do damage with my saccable creature, or do I want the effect instead? The M10 rules changes proved the effectiveness of a continually evolving game that allows itself to be renewed, rather than become stale and by rote (block, damage on stack, sac for effect, etc). Next time the cynics declare the game dead and that they're selling their collection, don't forget to make an offer.

2. Let my magic probe you digitally

Less buggy. Less crashes. More events. New PTQs. A revival of the MTGO Championships. And more players than ever. MtGO is going strong in 2009 and looks set to power through 2010 as well. Although complains will always occur when there's money on the line over the 'net, WotC's obvious effort in improving the interface, backend and user experience for MtGO 4.0 can only mean great things. But MtGO is only one success story for 2009. The real story is the remarkable achievement that is Duels of the Planeswalkers for the X-Box 360. Climbing into the top 10 digital download list and stubbornly remaining their since it's listing, Duels has sold over 200,000 copies. What's even better, there's evidence that Duels is pulling people back into paper magic, which is a great success for everyone - WotC, competitive players, and casual fans. Here's hoping WotC can sprinkle some of what made Duels so successful into MtGO.

1. Priceless. Treasures.

The first real sign something big was about to happen was a simple tweet by Pat Chapin - "It's true." Shorly after that the rumours came flooding in - Alpha and Beta cards in Zendikar Booster packs! I admit I remained in denial for a long, long time, but eventually I came around to the realisation that it was all, actually, for reals. I dragged my buddy out of his home and we drove up the coast to Gosford to participate in the midnight pre-release event. Even though we didn't crack any treasure, the adrenaline buzz from cracking the packs was extra juiced that night. Of course, one is left to wonder how WotC are going to top this for Worldwake.


So there's my recap of the best and worst of Magic the Gathering for 2009. Merry Christmas, and may Mark Rosewater sneaks into your house on Christmas and stuff your stockings full of Moxes.

Labels: magic, recap