Call for Questions for BDM and Mike Flores
Matt Wang | September 29, 2009 | 12:18 amTop8Magic Fans,
BDM just got back from a week at Wizards and the Columbus Pre-Release and I will be interviewing him on Tuesday afternoon EST. We would love to get some fan questions in there for the podcast. Here are some ground rules:
1) Identifying Yourself - Please give us a name and location to mention on the podcast.
2) Confidentiality - We will try our best to answer your questions to the best of our ability, but some information will be confidential.
Now post your questions!
Best,
Matt
My name is Andy, and I’m from maryland.
I have 2 questions.
1) What is your favorite format of all time and why? Constructed and/or Limited?
2) I’m not 100% sure how to phrase this next question, so please bear with me. Do you think it is reasonable to say that a player’s success sometimes correlates to intuitive understanding of a format rather than technical playskill/general mastery? Examples include Jon Finkel obliterating limited tournaments involving tribal (PTs Chicago, Yokohama, Kuala Lumpur), Mike Flores and the midrange-y Kamigawa/Ravnica block (designing TONS of dominant decks from that era like Critical Mass, Jushi Blue, Izzetron, the RG land D deck etc), or Yuuya Watanabe owning M10 limited. OR does this kind of thing simply coincide with someone really on their game? I understand this question is VERY wordy and probably not very clear, but I think it would make for some interesting conversation. If anyone else is interested but confused, please let me know so I can try to clear it up a bit.
Thanks!
-Andy
Phil, Cleveland
I went to the columbus regional that BDM was at, and had a pretty good time, but I played miserably.
This bad play reached its zenith when I sat down at the gunslinger table, nervous about meeting INTERNET CELEBRITY, mulled a no land hand into 6 that featured 2 swamps, my splash color. For whatever reason I decided to keep, played no spells, and conceded on turn five. I was really excited about the new cards, and I’m usually a chatty player, and there were a lot of other chatty people there, and I think it caused me to make a ton of play mistakes because I wasn’t focused on the game state. In general, at higher levels of play, are the opponents not interactive with each other? What does it mean to have a ‘mental game’, and is that something that can be learned or developed? When you sit down to play a game, do you stop thinking about pretty much everything else?
Connor - from Seattle, WA
What decks are looking playable in standard post-zendikar?
Hi. I’m Tim, originally from New York City, currently residing in Berkeley, CA.
What’s going on with the NYC Magic scene? I can’t really imagine it without Neutral Ground. Where do people go for Friday Night Magic, playtesting, or their drafting fix?
Jim from Pittsburgh, PA
Do you think the Pro Tour Qualifiers have gotten too large for just 1 slot now? With 200-300 people, shouldn’t there be a cutoff where 2 slots become available? Also, do you think the Pro Tour should go back to straight constructed/limited instead of combined, or does combined make it more skill intensive?
Kevin from Vancouver, Canada.
I have some questions regarding the new “Core Sets” (M10, M11, etc.)
Wizard’s of the Coast has meantioned earlier that they will be releasing “50% new cards” in M11. As a player who wants to “invest” in the new core sets, what are we to expect to see rotate?
Will we have to invest in a new cycle of duel lands every year? Or will there be slight changes that will “shake up” the meta game? Example: A demon that has protection from Angels. (or an Answer to Baneslayer Angel)
Can you give us some kind of idea of what staples will remain? (Birds, Serra Angel, ?)
Also what has WIzard’s learned with the recent release of M10, and will the players also expect a shortage of cards to hit the market next year?
~Kevin
Two Questions:
What are your opinions of what should happen with the reserved list? Should this be abolished or mantained and why?
With only 3 players being inducted in the HOF this year what do you think this forcasts for future year classes?
Eric from Saint Louis.
Alex, Albuquerque NM
Tuesday night at our local game shop is EDH and players from all other formats have been falling in love with EDH and many comment that it is the “funnest format ever”. I know people across the world must be experiencing the same thing. Do you think wizards might be taking the success of EDH into consideration from a future card design perspective? Or even more perhaps one day sanctioning EDH? Also whats been your craziest EDH play?
When did you first decide you wanted to play Magic competitively? Were you already good enough to play on the pro level at the time, and if not, how long did it take you to get there?
(Memphis, TN)
Call for Questions for BDM and Mike Flores…
Your story has been summoned to the battlefield - Trackback from MTGBattlefield…
Hi, I’m Alif Cheng from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I have a couple of questions.
1) As mentioned (or as some would say, ‘perceived’) by WotC in an article before, Mythic Rares are meant to be something that makes you go “WOW!” or a simply a very flavourful card. While Baneslayer Angel fits this bill, it unfortunately became one of the best creatures in the T2 format and became a sought after rare at an exorbitant price.
As someone who is somewhat closely affiliated with WotC (but not involved in their departments), I would like to ask what are your opinions on WotC printing utility Mythic Rares (i.e. Lotus Cobra, Mindbreak Trap, etc)? Are WotC breaking their promise that Mythics should never be a ’staple’ card (i.e. Dual lands, Utility like Maelstrom Pulse, etc)? As a MtG fan, I was very dissapointed that Lotus Cobra was printed at Mythic Rare and I believe I am not the only one who feels this way.
2) This may sound cliche, but what cards from Zendikar do you consider “sleeper hits” (i.e. Tarmogoyf, Windbrisk Heights, etc from previous sets)?
Fans,
Thanks for the questions. The three podcasts will be going up tonight.
Best
Matt
hi matt brian and mike, my name is israel and im from upstate ny
question 1. what are your thoughts on the rule change allowing t.o.’s to participate in there own events?
question 2. a.what do u think about the marketing direction magic has taken.
b.has it paid off from the perspective of jonnies, spikes, tims, magic in general, wizards employees, and hasbro.
c.do u think it will have a possitive/negative effect going forward.
I’m Paul from California.
Just a few questions.
1) If you guys were going to redo blue, in a way that’s both fun but still not completely devoid of funness, what aspects of blue would you guys push/weaken?
2) What are your thoughts on the Disney/Marvel merger? Not Magic related, but I know BDM and Flores are pretty big comic people so…
3) Why do you guys think Magic has been so enduring?
I’m Paul from California.
Just a few questions.
1) If you guys were going to redesign blue for a more or less contemporary Magic environment, what aspects of its color pie would you guys push/weaken in order to ensure that it’s both powerful, but also not boring like CMU Blue was?
2) What are your thoughts on the Disney/Marvel merger? Not Magic related, but I know BDM and Flores are pretty big comic people so…
3) Why do you think Magic has lasted so long?
Oh.. too bad I didn’t read this post on time to upload a question.
Antonio from Madrid, Spain
Just one question:
What is Wizard’s position on people selling cards with altered art?