Subject: Re: issue
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 12:20:48 -0600 (MDT)
From: Michael Blacic <blacicm@nmt.edu>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

On Mon, 10 Aug 1998 blacicm@nmt.edu wrote:


Unglued: Of course we care

        I have been collecting Magic sets for years (my oldest complete
set is The Dark, but I have everything in-between), and Unglued is the
most collectible set I've ever seen.  Why?  Because all of the best cards
will not cost $15-$25 in a month like most of the other good cards in
recent sets (read: Tradewind Riders).  Not only that, these cards were not
exactly meant to be played in a serious environment, thus precluding any
tournament use of them (especially the rip-up cards).  I have always liked
cards like Chaos Orb that made you do something physical and not mental.
If you really want Magic to become a "sport," seriousness is not
necessarily what you want to concentrate on.  Sure, you are not going to
see Grandmaster chess players suddenly jump up in the middle of a serious
match and start flapping their arms like wings and clucking loudly (except
for maybe Bobby Fischer, but that's beside the point), but why can't Magic
players?

        So I view unglued as the best thing to happen to Magic since
Chronicles, and no less controversial, to boot.  I only wish the
designers had limited themselves enough to allow Unglued to be tourny-viable,
because some of these cards have potentially significant strategies
involved (such as The Cheese Stands Alone).

        Do not pass over Unglued simply because it is not tournament
legal!  Force your games into the TRUE realm of fun games by playing
with things such as Ow! and Handcuffs (try playing like that for a while,
it ain't easy).

        Unglued has come at a perfect time for the game.  It seems that
Magic has entered a dark age, where the PT player's have a reputation for
cheating, and the cards are uninterestingly powerful.  I myself was
thinking of leaving the game (after 4 years and 10 complete sets, that's a
big decision, not to mention spending the last 8 months searching for a
%$#@ Tradewind Rider). That is, until I heard of Unglued. It made me love
the game again, and I have become energized and excited about the future
of Magic.

Mike Blacic

"Any card that's still in-print should not cost over $15 on the secondary
market."