(So long, and thanks for all the fish.)
That’s probably got some of you wondering right off the bat…
Why would he say that? What does it mean?
Well, it means exactly that. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
But wouldn’t that mean that you’re leaving?
Yes. Yes it does.
I thought about mincing around the point, leading up to some announcement at the end of this column… but you know what? You don’t deserve that kind of two-facery. I couldn’t do that to you all. So instead, here it is up front, and in a moment I’ll tell you why. But first, because old habits die hard, all of the results in a big pile.
Standard Premier Events Top 8 Recap
12 (8) Dragonstorm Combo (Blue/Red/Black Combo)
8 (14) Dimir Control (Blue/Black Control, also known as Dralnu de Louvre!)
7 (11) Trisketron (White/Blue Urzatron Control)
7 (5) Angel Control (Blue/Red/White Control)
6 (6) MGA (Mono Green Aggro, now sometimes splashing Blood Moon out of the side)
6 (2) Boros Deck Wins (Red/White Aggro)
5 (0) Golgari Dredge (Green/Black Aggro Control Dredge Reanimator type thing)
4 (3) Mono Blue Morph Control (Fed by Fathom Seer and Vesuvan Shapeshifter)
4 (0) Izzetron (Blue/Red Urzatron Control)
4 (0) Gruul Aggro (Red/Green Aggro)
3 (5) Simic Aggro Control (Blue/Green)
3 (1) Control Zoo (Green/White/Red Aggro Control. Like, Hierarchs and stuff)
3 (0) Mono Black Aggro (Small Black men and Bad Moon!)
2 (2) Goblin Combo (Seething Song and Rite of Flame and Empty the Warrens)
2 (0) Simictron (Blue/Green Urzatron)
1 (3) Selesnya Aggro Control (Green/White Aggro Control. Yes, sometimes with Glare)
1 (1) Zoo (White/Red/Green Aggro)
1 (0) Hierarch Blink (Green/White/Blue Momentary Blink Aggro Control)
1 (0) Orzhov Control (White/Black Control)
0 (2) Solar Flare (Blue/Black/White Control)
0 (2) Rakdos Aggro (Red/Black Aggro, woo Shadow Guildmage)
0 (2) Azorius Green Control (White/Blue/Green Control)
0 (1) Unknown (Two men enter, one doesn’t do anything and disconnects and the other wins)
0 (1) Panda Connection (Black/White Aggro with hand disruption)
0 (1) Selesnya Blink (Green/White/Blue Aggro Control with Momentary Blink)
0 (1) Red/White/Blue Blink (Momentary Blink Aggro Control)
0 (1) White Weenie (Mono White Aggro. No, I’m not sure why either)
Hah, Dragonstorm. Who’da thunk it? Well, most of us would have a couple of months ago, but lately everyone else has been getting in on the results, and Dragonstorm has been sitting quiet.
Extended Premier Events Top 8 Recap
10 (7) Boros Deck Wins (Red/White Aggro, sometimes with splashes)
7 (2) CAL (Life from the Loam Control)
5 (8) Azorius Urzatron (Blue/White Urzatron)
5 (3) Destructive Flow Control (Green/Black/Red Control. Still based around Destructive Flow, but nowhere near as aggressive)
5 (4) Affinity (The dreaded Artifact deck)
3 (5) Destructive Flow Aggro (Green/Red/Black Aggro with Destructive Flow)
3 (2) Simic Aggro Control (Blue/Green Opposition Aggro Control)
3 (2) Dump Truck (Blue/White/Black Aggro Control)
2 (2) Tendrils Combo (Extended’s Seething Song, Rite of Flame Combo deck)
2 (0) Selesnya Aggro (Green Beats backed up by White Hatery Goodness)
2 (0) Selesnya Trinket (Green/White/Blue Trinket Mage Aggro Control)
1 (3) Loam Aggro Control (Green/Red/White or Black Life from the Loam Aggro Control)
1 (3) Friggorid (Black/Blue Ichorid Aggro Combo)
1 (2) Psychatog (Blue/Black Control with Dr. Teeth)
1 (2) Unknown (Yes, yes, and informal prize split, we get it already)
1 (1) Goblin Combo (Rite of Flame Goblin Aggro)
1 (1) Azorius Control (White/Blue Control)
1 (0) Counterbalance Aggro Control (Nassif’s Blue/White/Red Trinket Mage deck)
1 (0) Golgari Aggro (Green/Black Aggro)
1 (0) Tooth and Nail (Green/X Urzatron)
0 (3) Scepter Chant (Blue/White/Red Control)
0 (2) Five Color Zoo (With Tribal Flames and the like)
0 (1) Four to Five Color Gifts Rock (Green/Black/White Control with Blue and Red for goodies)
0 (1) Orzhov Control with Blue Splash (Phyrexian Totem beatdown!)
0 (1) Hierarch Aggro Control (Green/Black/White Aggro Control, just like the Standard version but with Wild Mongrel and stuff)
Hah, Boros Deck Wins… it must be Nostalgia Week here at StarCityGames.com.
Anyway, back to the point at hand. I’m leaving on a jet plane. Well, not yet on a jet plane, but jet planes will be in my future again soon enough. I was just using old song lyrics to baffle and confuse you to avoid getting to the point. The truth of the matter is… I’m burnt out. I’m knackered. It’s certainly not you lot out there reading this right now, and it’s certainly not the lovely folk at StarCityGames.com. It’s just that I have sat down every Tuesday (or near to it) for the last year, and I’ve grown tired. I need a break.
Unfortunately, I let the weariness fester far too long. I have stopped writing in the past, but not while doing some regular column. Back then I could just slip away quietly, only to have Teddy Knutson track me halfway across the world and force me back into writing with vicious judo and kung fu-ery. This time I realized I couldn’t just slip away unnoticed, because Craig would send me am email within a few hours of my deadline saying something like “hey dude, you’re slacking, what’s up?” So somehow, I put the idea of taking a break off until it got to the point where I absolutely have to take a break. And I can’t even give you any idea of when I’ll be back, because right now all I want to think about is sleep, and maybe watching a little TV, or something.
But there is good news here. I feel my writing has suffered in its repetition. This means that next time I head out on the road to cover an event for Wizards of the Coast, I’ll be theoretically fresh and rejuvenated! Not only that, but next Wednesday, you’ll get to enjoy the brand new stylings of someone new… or maybe not so new, but definitely not me! I’m sure they will breathe new life into this long-stagnant column and put my efforts to shame. I’ll let them introduce themselves later.
It’s hard leaving you all like this, but that’s how things go in life sometimes. I’ll see you all out and about there on the Internet, and I’ll even see some of you in real life. Until then, my eyes are getting heavy…
{thank you all}
…
Last week, I emailed Ray.
“Hi blisterboy… I’ve a few cool ideas for your column. Hopefully, they’ll help spice things up a little.”
To be honest, I didn’t expect the reply I received.
Our beloved blisterguy wanted to hang up his boots.
First came the denial…
“What? Blisterguy is leaving? No, surely there’s been some mistake! It’s all a lie, it must be!”
Then came the anger…
“How can he do this to us?! How can he abandon us?! We need him and his pithy Antipodean wit! How dare he leave us in the lurch!”
Next, bargaining…
“What can we do to make you stay, Ray? Do you require more virgin’s blood? More caviar and champagne? Another barrel of cash? Tell me what you need!”
Followed swiftly by depression…
“What the hell are we going to do without him? He is our fire, our rock, our One True Ring! How can we navigate the choppy MTGO Metagame waters without blisterguy guiding beacon light?”
Finally, there came the acceptance…
“Ah well… fair enough.”
…
So what now?
I cast my mind around for a suitable replacement. I thought of many names, all fine Magic players and writers. I compiled a shortlist, and considered each candidate’s suitability. However, at the back of my mind, a niggling doubt prodded me over and over.
I’d planned on supplying a bucketful of interesting ideas to blisterguy, ideas that, if I were to pass the column on to one of the listed writers, I’d have to hand over with a cheery smile and a paternal wave. While I was happy to help our beloved blisterguy, as I’m happy to help all our writers, the ideas were still mine. And I’m a selfish man at heart.
The solution?
From next week, the Magic Online Musings column will be written by… me.
I conduct almost all my Magic practice on MTGO now. Not that this impacts on the amount of cardboard I own, dear me no — there are PTQs to win, and worlds to conquer still. However, the ease of the Electronic game, and the strength of the metagame, brings me to MTGO time and again, if only to prepare myself for The Real Thing.
And I’m more than aware that, since I started this here editing here (over a year ago now), my own prosaic output has been sadly neglected. What better way to climb back into the saddle of Magic Writing than by committing myself to a weekly column?
As for the ideas and cool things I’ve planned… they’ll have to wait until next week. Until then, it’s thanks to blisterguy for his sterling efforts, and here’s hoping he’ll be writing for us again – in some capacity – real soon.
So, join me here next week for the Stevenson Era of Magic Online Musings… I’ll admit I’m looking forward to this a great deal, and I hope you’re excited too.
Until next week,
Thanks for listening.
Craig Stevenson
Scouseboy on MTGO
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