Earlier this week Star City Games made the unfortunate announcement about changes to their Legacy schedule. Fortunately I don’t think Legacy lives or dies by how SCG operates. When they announced that they’d no longer be doing Sunday Legacy, many thought it would hurt the format. But nothing has changed. Legacy has soldiered on without them before and it will do so again. Events like Eternal Weekend, Eternal Extravaganza, and Grand Prix Las Vegas seem to be giving the format all the boost it needs.
This does lead to an interesting discussion, though, about inconsistencies regarding messaging from companies that deal with Magic products. Last time I was on The Girlfriend Bracket podcast I discussed my worries about companies that tell you what to play are also the ones that tell you what to pay. With recent events I wanted to expand upon that.
Last week I talked about Kent Ketter, who has since been let go by Team Cardhoarder. That decision that has been met by mixed reactions. Many are questioning how they could cut Kent but still not address that their recently-promoted team captain was disqualified six months ago for aggressive behavior. (After losing a match he slammed his chair into the table so hard he almost tipped it over.) Cutting ties with Kent, after first defending him, shows that Cardhoarder cares about pleasing its customers. I’m not sure it shows much else, though.
Cedric Phillips of Star City Games expressed anger at Cardhoarder’s decision while also throwing shade at Legacy players disappointed at SCG’s further cuts. It did seem ironic for him to be mad at Cardhoarder for making what was clearly a profit-driven business decision while defending his company’s own profit-driven business decision in the same breath. Of course, SCG profits off the success of Kent Ketter too. I guess Cedric is letting Kent know that they still have his back. That’s just the reputation SCG needs to reinforce: “We stand up for cheaters.” Alex Bertoncini was a celebrated star of the SCG tour, too, before they were forced to take back his Ill-Gotten Gains.
I work for a card store and write for this site, so I understand the need to make sure that you’re keeping the lights on. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions. It is disappointing however to see so many wolves in sheeps’ clothing throughout the community. There are many people employed by some of the larger vendors who have become the faces of Magic and use that to lead players to believe certain things. They add their opinions about hot Magic topics, what decks and what cards are the best, etc without really disclosing the truth: at the end of the day, they represent the vendors first and the community second.
It’s something often forgotten. We see a player we respect and read what they have to say thinking they truly mean those words, but sometimes they don’t or if they do they aren’t disclosing their ulterior motive. Next time you read something, think twice about where it’s coming from. I know I often forget that when someone writes an article they’re not always writing the words they believe, they’re writing the words that will get them paid.
For additional disclosure, here at Hipsters we are funded through advertising and Patreon donations. I have never felt pressured by my editors to write or not write about a topic. I am proud of the free rein and support we receive from our editors, and how they allow us to put the community first. I’m not suggesting you should expect this from anyone else, but I hope next time you read an article about the most underplayed decks in Standard you think about where it’s coming from before you run off to play it.
Kate hails from Worcester MA and also does a bit of Card Altering. Check her Stuff out on Facebook! She mainly plays legacy and modern though will occasionally find herself playing EDH.