[Article] A Rose by Any Other Name - by Nightmare

[Richard Cheese]

I got an SCG commentator read a Sealab synopsis during a live broadcast...I win.

[Koby]

I got an SCG commentator read a Sealab synopsis during a live broadcast...I win.

G.G. I tip my gentlemanly top hat to you, good sir!

[Megadeus]

I got an SCG commentator read a Sealab synopsis during a live broadcast...I win.

Lol I remember Watching that broadcast. I was laughing my ass off the whole time

[Bed Decks Palyer]

Also from what I remember from my Magic history, UWR tempo was SSS

SSS was Simic Sky Swallower.





EDIT on topic:
I'm not sure if this "names affair" is that crucial. More anecdotal than anything else.
Also, I find the "Death and Taxes" name quite appropriate. When it comes to other names... well, it simply doesn't matter much. One needs to remeber few of the less obvious ones and that's it. No trouble at all, it's similar to knowing Richard is cool dude, instead of remembering a mantra "guy who lives next door and has brown hair is cool".
The fact that some cipher-names don't say much to newbies is pretty irrelevant, because I don't think that any more reasonable names would be really helpful.

A top8 written like:
Jund
Junk
Canadian Thresh
Zoo
ANT
SI
Narcobridge
SneakShow
might say nothing to a newbie, but...

...would the:
Card-Advantageous Green-Red-Black Midrange Deck
Black-White-Green Chase Rare Creatures
An Ultimate Red-Green-Blue Tempo
Four-Colours Aggro With Efficient Beaters
Resilient Ritual Based Storm With Ad Nauseam/Past in Flames Engine
Super Fast BG Combo With Draw-4 Chains
Sick Graveyard-Dependant Pile
Combo-Control Fueled By Show and Tell Aimed At Winning Through The Attack Phase
be that much better? And I'm not even starting about the whole concepts like aggro, tempo, etc., and the fact that many new players simly don't have a clue what's this about.

[Lord Seth]

Lol I remember Watching that broadcast. I was laughing my ass off the whole time

When/where did this happen? I want to see it now.

[ESG]

Faerie Stompy = where's the faerie?

I seriously still don't get what makes Stompy a Stompy.

The faerie is/was Pestermite. Faerie Stompy also is, or was, known as Sea Stompy, due to Sea Drake. The common thread among the Stompy decks of today is that they run Sol lands. Werewolf Stompy runs werewolves. I find the Stompy naming convention to be much more transparent than some deck names. I also find the Stompy names way more evocative than, say, "Mono-Green Chalice Aggro," which sounds like the deck was seized by government agents, stripped of all character, and stored in filing cabinet.

The Stompy that you referred to takes its name from a mono-green deck from the old Extended. I happened to find a great example of this, so I'll post the list for the young'uns on this forum.

Nicolai Herzog at the Gateway Masters Tournament (circa 2000):

2x Pouncing Jaguar
4x Wild Dogs
4x Skyshroud Elite
4x Ghazban Ogre
3x Rogue Elephant
4x River Boa
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Rancor
4x Vine Dryad
4x Giant Growth
2x Wild Might
4x Land Grant
13x Forest
4x Wasteland

Sideboard:
4x Rushwood Legate
2x Cursed Totem
2x Lumbering Satyr
4x Emerald Charm
2x Winter Orb
1x Uktabi Orangutan

[kiblast]

By the way Death and Taxes is directly took from the phrase ''Nothing is certain bout Death and Taxes''
DnT is really difficult to master, a là goblin. Obviously, as a lover for legacy underdogs, I signaled this archetype to the fellow Vial.decks player in our group 4 years ago. Back then the deck was playing Benevolent Bodyguard…. so cool. DnT has always been an example of fine deck building and intelligent card choice in my eyes. Making bad cards working nicely together.

By the way, I love these names:

Dreaded Fish (Uwb Dreadnought + Fish creatures)
Fish itself it's funny and dates back to Merfolk original brews.
All the Parfait, English Breakfast, Cheerios, breakfast-esque themed names.
Urban Tempo (URB Fish)

Honestly I think that innovative and unintuitive deck names bring a merry and funky vibe to Legacy, which can be found only here and in Vintage. Look up at Modern metagame: UWR, Rock, Twin, UW Control,GW Aggro, BUG…those deck names are lame.

Edit: I'm totally calling my BUGstill deck ''Anacontrol'' from now on.

[Grollub]

I miss the good old days where combo decks were named after Cereal. :'(

The Stompy that you referred to takes its name from a mono-green deck from the old Extended. I happened to find a great example of this, so I'll post the list for the young'uns on this forum.

Nicolai Herzog at the Gateway Masters Tournament (circa 2000):

~2000 and echo creatures? Psh. Lets go back to Svend's 1997 deck:

Señor Stompy
4x Fyndhorn Elves
4x Ghazban Ogre
3x Harvest Wurm
2x Jolrael's Centaur
2x Lhurgoyf
4x Quirion Ranger
4x Rogue Elephant
4x Spectral Bears
2x Uktabi Orangutan
2x Whirling Dervish
2x Bounty Of The Hunt
4x Giant Growth
4x Winter Orb

16x Forests
2x Heart Of Yavimaya


iirc from the IRC chats the name Stompy originated during Ice Age block, since the deck's creatures would just... Stomp on the opponent.

:D

[Lemnear]

Actually I prefer names that describe the decks core or gameplan which is by far telling more about the deck than a color-combination + Keycard like we have all over the web.

"UWR Delver" doesn't necessarily tell me if it's a tempo deck or a midrange approach. "NicFit" or "Parfait" tells you nothing unless you are deep into Legacy. Imagine you have to browse through mtgTop8.com and there there only fancy fantasy names ... you'd have to browse through every list to see a structure of a T8/16.

"Death & Taxes" is pretty accurate imo, as it Features taxing-effects on opponents mana. "Ad Nauseam Tendrils" makes the core and gameplan very clear and easy to categorize.

In essence, I understand BK's intention. I write "5-color-Goblins" on every sheet ... should be clear ;)

[Kayradis]

IMHO,
Kibler has only been a whiny bitch for the past couple of weeks.
Yes, the MTGO rant was justified, but seriously? Legacy deck names?
I feel like someone is asking for attention....

[Megadeus]

When/where did this happen? I want to see it now.

It was one of the SCG events that I think Koby or Phazonmutant was doing well with the deck and got close to 8ing if I remember correctly

[klaus]

For the same reason people nerd out about anything else, really.

If you're managing or watching coverage, the ideal deck name gives you the following information:

1) What color or colors the deck is;

2) Something about the archetype (control, midrange, combo, etc.);

3) Any other relevant defining feature of the deck

A name like "Death and Taxes" tells you absolutely nothing about what the deck is - it's just one of those names you have to memorize. Unfortunately, for people just casually watching coverage, or for people trying to do coverage with minimal Legacy background, some of these names are completely impenetrable. RUG Delver? Okay, easy. TES? A little harder, but probably something that's killing people with Tendrils. Four Horsemen, Nic Fit, or Solidarity? What the everloving fuck?

Of course, deck designers want to give decks unique or interesting names to add flair, but it really doesn't add anything.

Hardly anyone casually watches coverage of a format he doesn't care about. If there's actual interest, the deck names pose less of a hard to overcome barrier and add more flavor in turn.

[Luklinda]

If decks went by bland color+strategy names it would be easier for folks with higher profiles to coin cleverer options that catch on after the fact.

If it weren't for those meddling kids Maverick could be called BK Knights.

But then no-one would understand why I was playing in a flight suit blaring Kenny Loggins.

[AngryTroll]

I thought that the origin of the "Team America" name was related to the game plan: Show up, blow up your opponent's lands (Wasteland and Sinkhole), and then win with an overwhelming air force and ground pounders (Tombstalker and Goyf).

[Bed Decks Palyer]

I thought that the origin of the "Team America" name was related to the game plan: Show up, blow up your opponent's lands (Wasteland and Sinkhole), and then win with an overwhelming air force and ground pounders (Tombstalker and Goyf).

Then goblins should be called Team Soviet Union: show up with hordes of red infantry, first throw 'em under enemy tanks, then win with a immense wave.
If I'd be playing Goblins, I'd stand up from my chair for the alphastrike and scream "Uraaah!"

[Ziveeman]

I don't disagree that there needs to be better deck names for coverage. But it just seems silly to try to change deck names that people have been using for years (...that's why we still call it Affinity and not Robots, despite very little Affinity cards being used in the deck) - I feel like Kibler's article should be applied moving forward, not looking back.

People are going to call it what they want no matter what some pros say, so coverage needs to spearhead the charge for better deck names.

[Arsenal]

Meh, deck builders want to put their "stamp" on their decks, so they try to out-clever each other with these nonsensical deck names. This has been true since the beginning of Magic for every competitive format. I'm not quite sure why Legacy is getting singled out.

[Ziveeman]

Meh, deck builders want to put their "stamp" on their decks, so they try to out-clever each other with these nonsensical deck names. This has been true since the beginning of Magic for every competitive format. I'm not quite sure why Legacy is getting singled out.

Legacy is the only mainstream competitive format that still uses decks from that era of silly decknames.

[Barook]

Just look at Standard - does Mono X Devotion or RG Ramp sound exciting? Legacy hardly changes, so you should know what's behind a deck's name.

I prefer "Maverick" over "GWx Green Sun Zenith Zoo" or D&T over "Mono W Weenie Stax". It's only stuff like "Ooops! All Spells" that's retarded and whoever came up with this name deserves a kick into the balls.

[Arsenal]

Legacy is the only mainstream competitive format that still uses decks from that era of silly decknames.

True, but that's more a by-product of the longevity of Legacy and the fact that decks don't rotate out of existence. Stream monsters need to take the good (Legacy as a format) with the "bad" (the nonsensical decknames that deck builders try to get too cute with).