Subject: Addressing "dumbass-ness" Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 14:18:02 -0500 From: John Slaughter To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com I've noticed a lot of "dumbass-ness" in the posts to The Dojo as of late, a few of which I'd like to address here. 1. Mana-weaving: That so many posts discuss this, and do so ignorantly, is amazing. At U.S. Nationals, and I believe at the last PT:NY, mana-weaving was specifically allowed, i.e., NOT ILLEGAL/CHEATING! Subsequent to this, sufficient shuffling for randomization is required, however, which is actually what is less clear, though I believe it used to be three riffle shuffles. Regardless, a judge can be asked to do a deck-check to look for a stacked deck after the opponent has shuffled after doing his mana-weave, and if that shuffling that was done is not satisfactory, then a penalty should be assigned. 2. Facts: Many of the posts about Nationals or about Mike Long have been lacking in facts, resulting in a great deal of ignorant comments about both. Posts that have been about general ideas on fixing problems have been fine, but the posts about what happened at Nationals should be made by those who were present, and then everyone can get a good idea of what really happened, without wading through the shit. (For a good example of something relevant, see Colin Durham's post on Long and Origins.) Also, one side comment about the post on Mike & the Fayetteville, NC Type 1 tournament: his deck did not consist of all-alpha lands and no other alpha cards, as you allege, but rather had 5 alpha dual lands for the black-border effect (and note that this was before alpha cards were a big issue, foreign dual lands weren't readily available (if at all), no notice was given before the tournament as was required at that time about alpha cards, and the tournament likely wasn't even sanctioned). The point: Get your facts straight, don't post about subjects without relevant knowledge, and then do so clearly and concisely to get your point across (people don't have time to read 100 treatises on cheating, make your point and move on). Slaughter, Esq.