He definitely made the wrong decision, and admitted as such, but he worked with the situation like a boss. He made the most out of his position.
I disagree with you (and with him), considering that he will be remembered probably forever for that foil Goyf, even more than the winner of that GP (I have no idea who won so that's a really good example), and considering it's now worth nearly 20k CAD (14k USD), and considering he's giving half of the amount to charity... come on man. You really think he would have gotten more if he passed it? More money, more fame, more to charity?
I don't think you understand the pro attitude. There's more to the game than money. There's more than playing good decks. So many aspiring pros want to get on the scene to prove themselves. They want to be the best, and be recognised for their skill and understanding of the game. Players like Reid Duke and Wrapter play the game for the strategy, and the competitive nature enhances their experience. Think of it as a kick in the gut when a pro player takes a card which only gives money, rather than playing to the best of their ability.
He definitely made the wrong decision, and admitted as such, but he worked with the situation like a boss. He made the most out of his position.
I disagree with you (and with him), considering that he will be remembered probably forever for that foil Goyf, even more than the winner of that GP (I have no idea who won so that's a really good example), and considering it's now worth nearly 20k CAD (14k USD), and considering he's giving half of the amount to charity... come on man. You really think he would have gotten more if he passed it? More money, more fame, more to charity?
I don't think you understand the pro attitude. There's more to the game than money. There's more than playing good decks. So many aspiring pros want to get on the scene to prove themselves. They want to be the best, and be recognised for their skill and understanding of the game. Players like Reid Duke and Wrapter play the game for the strategy, and the competitive nature enhances their experience. Think of it as a kick in the gut when a pro player takes a card which only gives money, rather than playing to the best of their ability.
Maynard clearly showed that Burst Lightning was the right pick before taking the foil Goyf, so we can say he's pretty skilled and has a great understanding of the game. So I'm okay with that point, since he proved he's good and understands the game.
Now, about your second point, yeah, so instead of taking what he knew was the best card, he took a card that will allow him to participate to every GP/PT left this year AND will give 7k+ USD to a charity. He's my hero. All we learned from other pros this week is how they use the word "disgust", and how they should actually use it to describe their own behavior. Please show me the numbers, I want to know how much and when those pros donated to charities. I would be interested to know their context too, if they came from a poor family out of nowhere and became suddenly so rich that they couldn't care about a 14k USD card.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Now, about your second point, yeah, so instead of taking what he knew was the best card, he took a card that will allow him to participate to every GP/PT left this year AND will give 7k+ USD to a charity. He's my hero. All we learned from other pros this week is how they use the word "disgust", and how they should actually use it to describe their own behavior. Please show me the numbers, I want to know how much and when those pros donated to charities. I would be interested to know their context too, if they came from a poor family out of nowhere and became suddenly so rich that they couldn't care about a 14k USD card.
Pascal had a $300, maybe a bit more, card in his hand at that point. $300 can definitely not allow you to go to every PT/GP. Sure, it turned out that way, but there was no way he could've known it would auction on ebay for over $9000. Donating to charities is irrelevant, because Pascal wasn't thinking about that until after the tournament. I don't think anyone has an obligation to donate to charity, either. By pressuring people into that, you're forcing your own opinion and ideologies onto them. Anyway, that's not relevant, because that's just part of the aftermath, rather than the actual draft choice.
Now, about your second point, yeah, so instead of taking what he knew was the best card, he took a card that will allow him to participate to every GP/PT left this year AND will give 7k+ USD to a charity. He's my hero. All we learned from other pros this week is how they use the word "disgust", and how they should actually use it to describe their own behavior. Please show me the numbers, I want to know how much and when those pros donated to charities. I would be interested to know their context too, if they came from a poor family out of nowhere and became suddenly so rich that they couldn't care about a 14k USD card.
Pascal had a $300, maybe a bit more, card in his hand at that point. $300 can definitely not allow you to go to every PT/GP. Sure, it turned out that way, but there was no way he could've known it would auction on ebay for over $9000. Donating to charities is irrelevant, because Pascal wasn't thinking about that until after the tournament. I don't think anyone has an obligation to donate to charity, either. By pressuring people into that, you're forcing your own opinion and ideologies onto them. Anyway, that's not relevant, because that's just part of the aftermath, rather than the actual draft choice.
The only thing irrevelant here is this whole thread.
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
A number of people continue to say that Maynard "made a mistake". This isn't true.
He knew which card was best for the draft. A mistake would be if he had thought, "Wow, this Goyf will be really good in my RW deck!"
What happened was that he made an informed decision, BUT he based his decision on a different set of criteria than what everyone else was using. Whether or not the decision was wrong is debatable. Personally, I think he made the correct call, seeing as how the minimum amount of money for the card would have paid for a fair chunk of another event, allowing him to continue to play and further his career in the game we all love. And it isn't like he was throwing away the event he was currently in, only taking a tiny hit to the power level of his deck.
I may be arguing semantics, but saying that he "made a mistake", or "the wrong pick" makes it sound like we are questioning Maynard's skill and/or intelligence, which we shouldn't. He knew what he was doing.
Look at it this way. When you make a "mistake" in a draft, you usually notice it afterwards, and think something along the lines of, "If I could do it over again, I would do this part differently." Based on what he and we currently know, do you think Maynard would pick differently? Would you?
To everybody quoting the current highest bid for the card, you should remember that high publicity auctions get fake bidders that have no intention of paying. Something to keep in mind.
Maynard has already removed several fake accounts from the auction--he's aware of the penchant for fraud in cases like these.
$14,900. No idea if that bid will be honored, but the seller was pretty active in removing bogus bids the last few days, it went from 87 bids to 57 bids after some were removed, until it leveled off with a bid of $14,200 for over a day. So, even though there was a last minute increase, even if that 14.9k bid doesn't get honored, there appears to be a good chance the 14.2k bid was legit.
If you are playing to be the best, I would not take. If you're playing unprofessionally, and just want a cool card, taking the Goyf would be the way to go. If you were playing to really win, I would take the burst lightning.
The person with the winning bid of that card has a positive feedback rating of 221, so Pascal is very likely going to get paid. After ebay's 10% cut and Paypal fees, Pascal is going to end up with around $13,000. Half of that is going to charity.
I think Pascal made a good choice. As one of the pro players tweeted, this incident only underscores how poor MTG prize support is overall. The Magic Pro Tour's prize support is terrible compared to top e-Sports tournaments.
From my personal vantage point, it also underscores how ridiculously priced MTG cards have become on the secondary market in general. (Regular Tarmogoyf is expensive.)
It was higher than 15k earlier in the week, which means Maynard has been actively deleting fraudulent bids. He'll get his money and the charity will get theirs.
It was higher than 15k earlier in the week, which means Maynard has been actively deleting fraudulent bids. He'll get his money and the charity will get theirs.
If I have 100 fake bids and I delete 95 of them, I still won't get paid. I'm just trying to show how your logic is flawed.
It's ultimately none of my concern, but I prefer to look on the positive side of things.
I've been told that although he doesn't know the highest bidder, he does know the second place guy, who bid at least 13k, and he knows that one's not fake.
Some foil thing isn't selling for 14.9 K on E-bay and some charity isn't going to be handed some amount of money because of some card drafted in top8 of a GP.
Well as it was stated at my lgs the real winner of a modern masters draft isnt who won its auctually whoever opened a tarmogoyf. and lets be honest if you have a 10 cent common and 325$ card unless you have multiple foil playsets of goyf you take the damn goyf. its worth about a playset of force of will or 2ish blue duals honestly its an ubsurdly costed card take it screw draft
Winning can only get you so far vs a foil Termagerf
I did something similar at a recent draft. I ended up running Mono-R but I had a foil Kozilek I raredrafted. Someone pointed out that someone did that in GP Chiba or something with an Ulamog.
Quarterfinal losers get $1000 (so everyone at the final table had already locked up at least this much money)
Semifinal losers get $1500 (so the first match win is worth $500)
Loser of the final gets $2700 (second match win is worth $1200)
"Winner" gets $4000 (third match win is worth $1300)
Pascal's Tarmogoyf sold for $14,900, and $6705 of that ended up being his to keep.
It's a card game. I repeat, IT'S A CARD GAME. As long as they aren't cheating, any player can draft any card they want for any reason they want. None of this should ever have been a thing in the first place.
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I don't think you understand the pro attitude. There's more to the game than money. There's more than playing good decks. So many aspiring pros want to get on the scene to prove themselves. They want to be the best, and be recognised for their skill and understanding of the game. Players like Reid Duke and Wrapter play the game for the strategy, and the competitive nature enhances their experience. Think of it as a kick in the gut when a pro player takes a card which only gives money, rather than playing to the best of their ability.
UWR Control
Legacy:
W D&T
Maynard clearly showed that Burst Lightning was the right pick before taking the foil Goyf, so we can say he's pretty skilled and has a great understanding of the game. So I'm okay with that point, since he proved he's good and understands the game.
Now, about your second point, yeah, so instead of taking what he knew was the best card, he took a card that will allow him to participate to every GP/PT left this year AND will give 7k+ USD to a charity. He's my hero. All we learned from other pros this week is how they use the word "disgust", and how they should actually use it to describe their own behavior. Please show me the numbers, I want to know how much and when those pros donated to charities. I would be interested to know their context too, if they came from a poor family out of nowhere and became suddenly so rich that they couldn't care about a 14k USD card.
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
Pascal had a $300, maybe a bit more, card in his hand at that point. $300 can definitely not allow you to go to every PT/GP. Sure, it turned out that way, but there was no way he could've known it would auction on ebay for over $9000. Donating to charities is irrelevant, because Pascal wasn't thinking about that until after the tournament. I don't think anyone has an obligation to donate to charity, either. By pressuring people into that, you're forcing your own opinion and ideologies onto them. Anyway, that's not relevant, because that's just part of the aftermath, rather than the actual draft choice.
UWR Control
Legacy:
W D&T
Rules Advisor
Pauper decks: Weenie Tokens — Zombies
My own rules when building a Commander deck:
1) Underrated general that I can build around but the deck must work without him/her too.
2) Every card must be legal in both banlists.
3) No infinite combo that could win (and ruin) instantly a multiplayer game.
4) Synergy at all costs; stay on theme, avoid goodstuff.
He knew which card was best for the draft. A mistake would be if he had thought, "Wow, this Goyf will be really good in my RW deck!"
What happened was that he made an informed decision, BUT he based his decision on a different set of criteria than what everyone else was using. Whether or not the decision was wrong is debatable. Personally, I think he made the correct call, seeing as how the minimum amount of money for the card would have paid for a fair chunk of another event, allowing him to continue to play and further his career in the game we all love. And it isn't like he was throwing away the event he was currently in, only taking a tiny hit to the power level of his deck.
I may be arguing semantics, but saying that he "made a mistake", or "the wrong pick" makes it sound like we are questioning Maynard's skill and/or intelligence, which we shouldn't. He knew what he was doing.
Look at it this way. When you make a "mistake" in a draft, you usually notice it afterwards, and think something along the lines of, "If I could do it over again, I would do this part differently." Based on what he and we currently know, do you think Maynard would pick differently? Would you?
Maynard has already removed several fake accounts from the auction--he's aware of the penchant for fraud in cases like these.
Signature courtesy of Rivenor and Miraculous Recovery
EDH Altered Cards by Galspanic (Seriously, this guy's awesome.)
My Pauper Cube
Tapped-Out Simulator
My Trade Thread
-Decks-
Commander:
GWR Rith, the Awakener RWG
U Kami of the Crescent Moon U (Flagship Deck)
BW Teysa, Orzhov Scion WB
Under Construction:
UBR Crosis, the Purger RBU
Cube:
WUBRGX Pauper XGRBUW
That was Randy Marsh
$14,900. No idea if that bid will be honored, but the seller was pretty active in removing bogus bids the last few days, it went from 87 bids to 57 bids after some were removed, until it leveled off with a bid of $14,200 for over a day. So, even though there was a last minute increase, even if that 14.9k bid doesn't get honored, there appears to be a good chance the 14.2k bid was legit.
I think Pascal made a good choice. As one of the pro players tweeted, this incident only underscores how poor MTG prize support is overall. The Magic Pro Tour's prize support is terrible compared to top e-Sports tournaments.
From my personal vantage point, it also underscores how ridiculously priced MTG cards have become on the secondary market in general. (Regular Tarmogoyf is expensive.)
Just goes to show that some things are worth more than points and "ethics of the game"
GGo Elf YourselfG
WThat Cat Has A Knife!W
BUGWhip your assBUG
It was higher than 15k earlier in the week, which means Maynard has been actively deleting fraudulent bids. He'll get his money and the charity will get theirs.
Signature courtesy of Rivenor and Miraculous Recovery
EDH Altered Cards by Galspanic (Seriously, this guy's awesome.)
My Pauper Cube
Tapped-Out Simulator
My Trade Thread
-Decks-
Commander:
GWR Rith, the Awakener RWG
U Kami of the Crescent Moon U (Flagship Deck)
BW Teysa, Orzhov Scion WB
Under Construction:
UBR Crosis, the Purger RBU
Cube:
WUBRGX Pauper XGRBUW
It's ultimately none of my concern, but I prefer to look on the positive side of things.
Signature courtesy of Rivenor and Miraculous Recovery
EDH Altered Cards by Galspanic (Seriously, this guy's awesome.)
My Pauper Cube
Tapped-Out Simulator
My Trade Thread
-Decks-
Commander:
GWR Rith, the Awakener RWG
U Kami of the Crescent Moon U (Flagship Deck)
BW Teysa, Orzhov Scion WB
Under Construction:
UBR Crosis, the Purger RBU
Cube:
WUBRGX Pauper XGRBUW
It is all orchestrated.
Stories like these belong to 1st of April.
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion Combo
GUEzuri, Claw of progress Morph
GUBSidisi, Brood tyrant
RWGisela, Blade of Goldnight Random red white cards i dont use.dec
GBLoam Pox
Modern
UBFaeries
GBWGoyfless Abzan
On Squirrels
On Risen Executioner
I did something similar at a recent draft. I ended up running Mono-R but I had a foil Kozilek I raredrafted. Someone pointed out that someone did that in GP Chiba or something with an Ulamog.
R/W Devotion
Mono-R Devotion
Legacy
Burn
Punishing Jund
Semifinal losers get $1500 (so the first match win is worth $500)
Loser of the final gets $2700 (second match win is worth $1200)
"Winner" gets $4000 (third match win is worth $1300)
Pascal's Tarmogoyf sold for $14,900, and $6705 of that ended up being his to keep.