I think the problem is that it is just such a cluster **** to try and redistribute the money. Why should #2 get the prize because they luckboxed into playing against AB in the final where the guys he knocked out earlier in the top 8 get nothing? What about the people he played all day? But then you can't just give all his opponents cash because if they were to play a real opponent they would not have a 100% win record either.

Bertoncini showed utter contempt for SCG by cheating in their tournaments, so to suggest that they are in any way obligated to him is pretty weird to me. It's not as if they're going to randomly withdraw prizes from people because they don't like them. If you want to get your prize, don't cheat.

Well it's not like they are suddenly announcing something irrational like everyone who played Blue won't get their prizes. Just common sense that someone who have cheated A LOT will be punished. Even if he hadn't cheated in that particular event, he cheated in tournaments leading and qualifiying him to that event. If you don't trust them you don't have to play their event. They have done a lot of shady/bad things, but this one isn't one of those.

I sort of get it because its an invitational, but that isn't why they did it.

If a known cheat shows up after a suspension, you let them play, and they win.
Can you strip them of their prize money because they are a cheater?

Only if they cheated in the event.
Same logic applies here IMO.

Ez - pay the man his monies, ban lifetime from starcity, create new awards for POTY and Invitational winner of which are promoted to put positive outlook in public eye, promote more judge staffing, and if they still feel inadequate need to hold a charity tourn where they just donate rake.

cheater sucks but they turned other way; retroactively enforce new rules = fail. He entered the tourn and shipped = pay.

Somewhat interesting sealed pool, I went back and forth on a few things - what do you guys think?

UW+ Devil's Play. You have so many playable I'm not splashing Pyre or Geistflames. I think I'm playing only 2 Thraban Sentries, maybe 2 Moment of Heroism, both Spectral Riders, all Silent Departures bc you have Slayer of the Wicked and no Unruly Mob.

That's pretty much exactly what I ended up running - but the deck just seemed a little off somehow. It didn't help that everyone I played had white creatures, so my Spectral Riders ended up sucking. Ended up 2-2 and one of those wins was due to a clutch top deck devils play for lethal in a game I had no business winning.

Well it's not like you can ever play green or black here anyways. WR also seems way worse than UWr. I really dislike Spectral Rider in these decks because the mana cost is so awkward but I feel you need some early game especially bc you have such great tempo cards in blue. Silent Departure becomes much worse if you are behind.

http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=31p3c

Haven't drafted in like 5 months so I stepped back in with a Swiss. I think I made a couple sub standard picks and didn't know all the tricks to play around, but I still 3-0'd without dropping a game. I didn't think my deck was that great, but it was synergistic and most of my opponents spent the first three turns of the game durdling when I would often have a two drop and three drop.

p1p2 Gavony Township is huge and GW is the best color combo in the format so if it's being handed to you, you should take it. You already have an extremely strong W card, so you should be trying to go W if at all possible, and G is an excellent compliment. Even if you wind up not being able to go G or W, you can splash the other color for the Township and Mikaeus. IMO you should take the Township with the hopes of going GW, as you already have a way above average start for a great GW deck with these two picks.

p1p4 Rebuke is a better card than the Scavenger, and Scavengers often wind up going late so you usually don't have to pick them very high. They're decent, but not fantastic. You can't expect to wheel him in this pack though, so if you definitely want one for some reason this is not a terrible pick as he is not that much weaker than Rebuke, especially in GW.

p1p6 Orchard Spirit is a pretty good card.

p1p7 I like Lumberknot more than Village Bell-Ringer but I am sure plenty will disagree with me.

p1p8 Here I think you should take the Traveler's Amulet in case you open something you want to splash. If not I think you ought to hate the Fortress Carb. Crab is a good U sideboard card for GW.

p2p4 Grizzled Outcasts are quite good. They're the weakest of the green Werewolves, but still fairly playable (all of the green werewolves are solid). Unruly Mob is a card you will play if you have to, but there are much better two drops for GW.

p2p7 I don't really like any of the equipment in this format unless I have a couple of Invisible Stalkers. Butcher's Cleaver and Demonmail Hauberg can be okay in some decks, but for the most part I just avoid the equipment. I would much rather have Spidery Grasp. The Grasp is also much better in Swiss than in 8-4 because you won't have nearly as many players playing around it.

p2p9 Moment of Heroism is very good. It isn't at its best in GW, but it is still quite strong.

p3p3 Thraben Sentry is very good in GW.

p3p7 Here is where I think you should be picking Unruly Mob. Sleuth is unplayable. Mob is usually a "just in case" pick.

Yes this. They have no proof he cheated in this specific tournament. Infact it is less likely because the stronger your opponent, the harder it is to cheat them. So they dont have grounds to take his money. Lawfully (IANAL tho) they probably have grounds to do whatever the **** they want, but that doesnt make it right.

Deorum, thanks for the advice. I agree with most of it.

p1p2 Yeah I think Township is better. Maybe my worst pick of the draft?

p1p4 I found Dispense Justice unplayable in SOM without metalcraft, and even though I get to target this one leaving 3 mana up is kind of the opposite of what I want to do in this deck I think. The green monster is pretty underwhelming though, so I get your point.

p1p6 Sulfur Falls has higher value. Orchard Spirit does not do 2 tix of work on its own.

p2p7 Yeah I learned how big a beating the Grasp can be in my next Swiss draft, although I ended up with enough humans that I was happy every time I drew the Pitchfork and it did its fair share. I think this is an interesting debate.

p3p3 The other possibly worst pick in the draft.

p3p7 Unplayable really? It's almost Gravedigger. He did nothing for me in the draft, but that was more never seeing him than having him clog my hand.

Rebuke isn't great, and it is certainly at its worst in GW, but GW tends to not have a lot of trouble filling its 5 drop slot with Grizzled Outcasts and late Somberwalds/Scavengers such that picking them early isn't usually necessary. It's close, but I think the Rebuke is a tad bit better just in case you wind up very light on removal, which is a problem that GW can sometimes have.

I understand the Sulfur Falls pick which is why I didn't say much more than the Spirit is a good card. In Swiss it's probably the correct pick, though in 8-4 I'd certainly take the Spirit. I was more just pointing out that there was a very playable card in the pack rather than saying you should have picked it since you mentioned you hadn't drafted in 5 months and were probably a little shakey on the 3 ISD format. Though it is important to note that it is imperative to have a solid base of 3 drops in GW and you did wind up a little light in the 3 drop department, but of course you could not have predicted that that was going to be the case at that point in the draft.

Sleuth is really bad. It is a lot more difficult to trigger morbid on your turn at will than it may first appear. This guy is going to either be a 2/3 for 4 or just sitting in your hand all game the majority of the time. In addition, the creature return is at random rather than a target. This guy just makes you work too hard to get him to perform well, and even when he does, you often lose too much tempo for it to really be worth it. In GW you want your 4 drops to consist of things like Thraben Sentry, Mausoleum Guard, Festerhide Boar, and Ulvenwald Mystics. Sleuth is just too clunky and awkward.

I generally only play swiss, but I find that to be pretty common. I see a lot of 3 color decks that stumble on mana or don't have a creature till turn 4 that just get run over by one of the few decks with a decent curve. I've actually had a lot of success with base blue or green 3-4 color good stuff decks that just win on power. I assume I'd get smashed if I tried that repeatedly in the 8-4s.

the only cards that approach 2tix in ev, are 1st pick super bombs(9/10 are rare/mythic so you rarely have an actual choice), at 6th pick a 2tix card is likely 10x+ higher ev than the other option, barring total ******s drafting

I'd say the EV goes up even more if you are drafting with tards. (I always raredraft at 8-4 btw, funniest decks come that way)

Man, using a traitorous blood on a flipped ludwig's test subject to swing for 17 when your opponent is on 16 to take the match is lots of fun.

Good bans for Modern. The banlist isn't perfect, there are some cards that don't need to be on there, but PF should have been on all along.

You guys see the rules change for competitive REL? Most triggers are considered "may" abilities now.

I expect Domain Zoo to still be a really strong deck. I think this banning hurts the Jund based deck more, since Tribal Flames is sometimes better than Punishing Fire. Wild Nacatl can just turn into Steppe Lynx. A strange ban choice to neuter the most popular deck, but not having played much Modern I don't know what else they can do to make the metagame as varied as Legacy.

At least Banning Nacatl makes more aggro decks competitive. Nacatl was just so much stronger than anything else in the slot.

cant believe u guys are defending nacatl ban

should be tarmogoyf

nacatl is the bigger offender at keeping other aggro decks down

Looking forward to resolving identity crisis a bunch in modern!

lol k buddy