Subject: ISSUE
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 22:42:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Griffin Poole <griffin666@yahoo.com>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Dojo Readers,
                I have played in many tournaments of all formats and I
have come to the conclusion that "Sealed Deck" and "Booster Draft" are
such different formats that they ought to be sanctioned separately.
In sealed deck, you are given a Starter and two or three boosters to
construct your deck, that's it.  Two players of at least moderate
skill will build almost card for card the same deck given the same
card pool.  Then it becomes a matter of which player is mana screwed
or got more broken cards.  This suggests that at any high level
tourney (where all players are at least decent), such as a PTQ, the
final eight are determined by luck. Sure, at your local store Joe
Scrub can get a broken deck and run it into the ground, but we are
talking about Pro Tour hopefuls here.
           Booster Draft on the other hand is pure skill.  Even if
your opponent opened the pack with the cursed scroll, with sufficient
deck-building skill you can win.  I consider myself one of the
unluckiest Magic players ever.  Even with methodical shuffling, I
routinely get mana screwed (with plenty of land in the deck).  Yet in
all of the 50-60 booster draft tournaments I have played, the worst I
have ever done is 3-2, and the last 10 or so I won or came in second.
Knowing which cards to draft, what your opponent is drafting, and
hence what he will pass you
shows the true mettle of the player.
          The DCI, by making the format of some PTQ's sealed followed
by a top eight draft is saying that luck is more important than skill
in the game of Magic.  Sealed belongs in the fun tournaments; for the
new players, for the Pre-releases, but not at the PTQ's.
           Sealed events at high levels are among the most frustrating
of all tournaments for really good players.  No matter that your play
is flawless, that no person could have built a better deck out of the
trash that some WOTC R&D person put in this set; you will still lose
to that smug Joe Scrub who opened an amazing deck.
          To the DCI: separate the sanctioning of Sealed events and
Booster drafts.  And STOP having sealed PTQ's!!
Anyway, Thanks for listening.   ---Griffin



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