Dazed and Confused Part 4: The Humility Story

[mchainmail]

http://strategy.channelfireball.com/...uined-my-life/

Wherein, Steve Birklid decides Dredge is the next big thing.

[edgewalker]

Seriously, this guy such a hard-on for 'folk.

[kinda]

I'm glad he has a sense of humor...I lol'd reading the beginning there.

[dan who?]

yeah I haven't finished reading it but I felt that this just about sums it up:

for all you mtgthesource guys who are currently swimming in your giant pile of chips that Saito just hand delivered to your doorstep:

[AngryTroll]

I thought this was an excellent article. Humor, humility, more humor, a decklist, a tournament report, a second decklist, some insight...I thoroughly enjoyed this one. His articles are always at least interesting and thought provoking...this one was fun to read, also. Excellent work.

[Amon Amarth]

Impressive article imo. Much better than some of his previous outings. Looking forward to more from him.

[Hanni]

I think this one finally redeemed himself. His reputation is still going to be tarnished, and people will still remember him for his first article, but at least he's realized that he was completely wrong, and admitted it. I'm sure once he becomes more familiarized with the format, his article quality will get much better, and he'll be worth reading in future.

[Draener]

Amen. Found his first article to be pretty silly, but it did bring up a good point about the benifits of building a solid manabase. Each subsesquent article has been a vast improvement over the last, and I think I'm actually starting to look forward to his articles. Still hate hypergenisis, though. That deck is terrible ;).

[dahcmai]

What's funny is there is a Dredge deck in the top 16. We had a guy playing it and he did pretty decent. As for this article, it is pretty amusing about the Merfolk. I hadn't thought about what he had said on that. Though I can't say I blame him really. I didn't think he folk would get that far either. It's really good, but I figured the Zoo and gobbos would weed it out for the most part. His board is pretty funny though. Definitely gold.

[ReAnimator]

What's funny is there is a Dredge deck in the top 16. We had a guy playing it and he did pretty decent. As for this article, it is pretty amusing about the Merfolk. I hadn't thought about what he had said on that. Though I can't say I blame him really. I didn't think he folk would get that far either. It's really good, but I figured the Zoo and gobbos would weed it out for the most part. His board is pretty funny though. Definitely gold.

It's really hard to weed out one of the best players in the world, let alone in a "soft" field. I'm pretty sure Saito could have day 2'd with a pre con.

[sdematt]

Play skill does play an important role in doing well, but so does knowing the deck you're playing. The article was quite entertaining. But, his point where Dredge is the next best thing is a tad over the top. People will still pack Grave hate. Seeing Max play Dredge is like comparing Saito to Merfolk. Max is an excellent Dredge player, and has been playing it for a while. Just because a pro is doing well with a deck they play often isn't really indicative of the way the whole format should shift.

But, all in all, I enjoyed the article.

-Matt

[troopatroop]

It's really hard to weed out one of the best players in the world, let alone in a "soft" field. I'm pretty sure Saito could have day 2'd with a pre con.

I think you're mostly an idiot. The cards you're playing matter alot, and Merfolk plays some good ones.

[Justin]

I think you're mostly an idiot. The cards you're playing matter alot, and Merfolk plays some good ones.

No, I'm sure that he's just joking about the pre con statement. Merfolk is a solid deck that doesn't really have any horrible matchups. Its worst matchups (Zoo, Goblins) are winnable. If you take a player whose skill level is far above that of most of the field with a sideboard that is designed to significantly improve his bad matchups, you have a Merfolk deck winning the Grand Prix.

[ReAnimator]

No, I'm sure that he's just joking about the pre con statement. Merfolk is a solid deck that doesn't really have any horrible matchups. Its worst matchups (Zoo, Goblins) are winnable. If you take a player whose skill level is far above that of most of the field with a sideboard that is designed to significantly improve his bad matchups, you have a Merfolk deck winning the Grand Prix.

Exactly, thank you.

[troopatroop]

No, I'm sure that he's just joking about the pre con statement. Merfolk is a solid deck that doesn't really have any horrible matchups. Its worst matchups (Zoo, Goblins) are winnable. If you take a player whose skill level is far above that of most of the field with a sideboard that is designed to significantly improve his bad matchups, you have a Merfolk deck winning the Grand Prix.

Well, yeah you can say that, and infer a bunch of things that he didn't say, but I think his comment stems from ignorance. There is one correct line of play in any particulat game of magic, one correct sequence of spells that will lead you to the greatest % of victory. Tomoharu Saito is indeed very good, but the assertion that he is miles away from everyone else in the field is stupid. It was a combination of his deck choice and his playskill. He could not have won with a subpar deck, noone could.

Also, I still don't like this guys articles. He'll never bounce back from the idiocy he's printed in the past for me.