MTGCC2015 and forward
The Magic the Gathering Community Cup 2015, in my opinion, was largely a great success. Even though many people felt WotC was doing a bad job in picking the team rather than giving the community the power to vote or nominate them, I was certainly not disappointed by the line-up this year. Some also questioned some of the picks made by WotC, and although I understand some of the concerns, I see things differently myself.
Why do I think the 2015 team was a good team to represent the community? I felt it was a mix that represented the community well. Note, I use the word well here. Of course, it was not a perfect representation, but I think it is very hard to make the team perfect, especially when the team changes every year.
The return of Kenji Egashira (@NumotTheNummy), to some strange, was not that unjustified. Again, this is my opinion, and you are free to disagree with me on this, but Kenji remains to be one of the most, if not the most, popular streamers of Magic the Gathering. Experience, both with the tournament as well as with the Magic Online client, and a strong limited game are what Kenji brought to the team.
The Doc, Gabe Reale (@MtgoDoc), another well-known and popular streamer, added an extra bit of expertise with the Magic Online client, as well as a spiky attitude and a ton of limited experience.
Joel Larsson (@JoelLarsson1991), as most recent Pro Tour champion, represented the pro players. Again, an experienced player, although probably more so in paper magic than in Magic Online. There is another reason why I feel his inclusion was important: Pro players are, in my opinion, just as much part of our community as all other types of players. Having a pro on the team shows, and reminds us of, this.
Anthony D’Aconto (@TheManaSource), better known as Wedge, is a popular Youtube streamer. He covers most parts of the game in his videos. Where the three gentlemen above brought a ton of experience into the team, I personally feel Wedge was a face to the more casual player, those who build silly theme decks because they can, or decks that follow a certain theme. We saw this straight off the bat with Wedge’s stipulation draft.
The Command Zone’s (@commandcast) host Jimmy Wong (@jfwong) brought the spirit of EDH (or commander) to the team. Not only is commander one of the more popular formats among (casual) players, making the inclusion of a host of what might be the most popular commander podcast out there nothing but logical, but Jimmy also showed exactly why it was important to have someone like him on the team in the Ironroot Chef portion of the competition. His explanation of the choices included in the community team’s Medomai commander deck was brilliant and solid, and I am sure he had a hand in keeping the deck on flavour.
Both of Magic the Amateuring’s (@MtACast) hosts, Maria Bartholdi (@MissMariapants) and Meghan Wolff (@MegTheWolff) were part of this community team. Some might question why two people from a single source were selected, but I feel their part in this team was, among others, quite similar to their podcast, and the synergy between the two would be lost if only one of them had been part of the team. I feel that, given their podcasts, they were representatives for the new and returning players. They brought tons of fun to this team, and they showed that experience isn’t necessarily everything by going 5-1 in the Legacy Cube Stipulation Draft, a format neither of them had much experience with beforehand.
Adam Styborski (@the_stybs), better known as Stybs, was, I have to admit, the lesser known name in the team. Do I see this as a problem? Absolutely not. The community is vast, and I am sure there have been plenty of people who did not know one, or even a few, of the community team members before this weekend. So, beforehand, I did not know what to expect from Stybs, but I was more than sure his place in this team was deserved. Just looking at the list of jobs and projects in Magic the Gathering shows he has heart for the game, and is an active member of the community. I feel Stybs showed us he certainly deserved his place among the team. I myself am looking forward to look up Stybs’ content soon, and explore more of his thoughts about this great game.
Something I have not mentioned yet, but I was happy to see both the community team, as well as the Wizards team, included two female players. Representation is important, and recently has been a major topic of discussion all across the community.
I know some would say two female players isn’t enough, and both teams should be 50/50 male/female, but I myself feel this has been a step in the good direction.
Do I think every community (and Wizards) team will include an equal split between male and female players? No. I sincerely hope we’ll continue to see two or three female players as part of the team the coming years, but the pool of women currently creating Magic the Gathering content is relatively small, and could use some more growth. This growth is happening right now already. More and more women have taken to streaming, writing articles and making podcasts, and I feel more will follow. All across the board, more women become faces of our community, and more will follow their example. In time, hopefully, we might even see a community team featuring more women than men, but I should not get ahead of myself just yet.
My point against the hard 50/50 split is not one about percentages or numbers. I just feel we should not force the team representing us that harshly. Yes, we need women on our team. But one year, we might only see two, the other year three, four or maybe even five or six. All of the players in that team represent us, the community, and I personally am proud of each and every one of them. They earned it, each and every one of them.
Now, what about the future? Next year, there will be another Community Cup, and another team to represent us. As we know, we can not be represented by the exact same team again, and that is a good thing. Perhaps we might see another returning participant. Personally, I have no problems with one or maybe even two returning participants in the community team. Let me, once again, stress the point I have no quarrel with any of the people chosen for the community team, before I continue. I’m merely looking for ways to expand further what I feel is already a good thing.
The community team has always included streamers, youtubers, podcasters and writers, as well as one or two pro players. However, there are two groups I feel that might not get the attention they deserve as part of the community.
One group is a small one; live coverage. Sure, we have seen someone like Marshall Suttcliffe (@Marshall_LR) on the community team, before, but I think his inclusion was based on his work as a podcaster, not a commentator. Why not invite someone like Cedric Phillips (@CedricAPhillips), commentator for StarCityGames’ tournaments, to join the team one year? I feel he would certainly make a worthy participant and representative of the community.
The second group is a very large group, and one that is important for the game. I will admit I might be a little biased, but I really feel this group is potentially overlooked. I am talking about the judges. Perhaps the lack of judges as part of the team is, in part, because most judge articles are mostly read by other judges, and I doubt most non-judges listen to judge podcasts. It makes me wonder if perhaps ‘we’ as judges should find ways for the lines between judges and non-judges to blur, for judges not to be a semi-“closed group”, so to say. However, I do not feel I should ramble on about that right here and now.
Judges are, of course, a part of the community, and I would hope to see a representative within the team in the (near) future. Hopefully even in 2016, as there are some judges already spreading their wings in creating “non-judge” content. One who currently comes to my own mind first would be Katie Neal (@MeanMugger), co-host of the The Girlfriend Bracket podcast (@TheGFBracket).
I could probably name over half a team right here and now already of people I personally feel would make a great team to represent the community, but I won’t. There is little use in me just naming eight people, and a bunch of reasons why I feel they should make the team, at this point in time. The 2016 Community Cup is still far away, and it would be unfair to pick people based on the now, rather than to also include the coming year in the discussion about who should represent us. I am confident that team also will consist of ambassadors to the game and community, and I am looking forward to get to know the line-up when the time is right.
