Subject: Type II ban list
Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 13:05:41 EST
From: CausSCsdso@aol.com
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

ISSUE
Banned List for Type II
Jason Strucinski 
Email:CausSCsdso@aol.com

Dear Dojo Readers,

     I am writing this letter in response to the new banned list.  Personally, I
think it is horrible.  I have a number of reasons for feeling this way, and I
will list them.
     First, I have never built an Academy deck before.  But what about all the
people who spent the time and money to make this deck.  Why should they
be punished just because the deck works.  By eliminating not one but two
cards, it is apparent that Wotc doesn't think that one card is broke, it thinks
the whole deck is broke.
     Second, I am not a Magic god.  I am an average player.  But I have never
lost a full match to an Academy deck.  I lost one game because the first time I
played it, I didn't know what the deck did.  It is easy to beat.  Here are a
number of cards that can shut that deck down (i.e. Lobotomy, Seismic
Assault, Choke, Meltdown, Wasteland, Planar Void)........I don't think I need
to keep going with this.  CounterPhoenix itself is good enough to shut the
deck down.  Is Wotc going to ban that deck too?
     Third, I believe you reap what you sow.  Who's fault is it that they
reprinted not one but two cards with different names and made them better
than the banned versions?  Wotc said they would "strive" to make cards that
aren't going to be banned.  Why did they reprint Braingeyser (Stroke of
Genius) and Timetwister (Time Spiral)?  The Academy deck might not exist
if these two cards weren't brought back.  
    Fourth, now if I buy a pack of Urza's Saga and get an Academy or a
Windfall, I'm not going to be happy.  No one is going to want to trade for it. 
I'd have better luck trading off one of the cycling lands. So now I have not
one, but two useless cards in my set.  Oh Boy!!!
     Finally, why are they banning these cards?  If the majority of decks
played at a particular tournament are Academy decks and one wins, is the
deck broken, or did it have a better chance of winning because more people
are playing the same deck?  
     In conclusion, I think the banned list sucks. (Pardon my language).  To
me, it's a challenge to see a deck that good out there and to be able to build a
deck to beat that deck.  That's what makes Magic fun.  Overcoming obstacles
is a natural part of life.  I think someone out there is crying wolf, probably
some sore sport that got his/her butt kicked by an Academy deck, and cried
to Wotc that certain cards should be banned.  This person is probably the
type of person that can't make his/her own deck and steals ideas from the
Dojo.

                                                           Your average Magic Player,

                                                            Jason Strucinski