Note: The opinions expressed in the article are not the opinions of StarCityCCG. They are the opinions of some guy who writes for us.

Hello, Star City readers. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with this column, it was originally on CCGPrime. (Which, if you haven't gone there yet, you should. Immediately. GO! - The Ferrett) In this weekly article, I run down the best and the worst Magic articles that were posted on the web that week. The week runs from Saturday to Friday, and the generated list will be posted up, hopefully, the following Monday. For those that are completely unfamiliar with this list, I have provided a short FAQ to catch you up.

Best/Worst FAQ
1. What is the Best and Worst of the Net?

The Best and Worst of the Net is an article that contains a list of the Top 10 and Bottom 10 Magic articles that were posted on the web in any given week. They are followed by a short capsule review that explains what the article is about, and why it is where it is.

2. Who writes the Best and Worst of the Net?

The Best and Worst of the Net column is written by Shawn Jackson. When he isn't writing this article, he is usually writing his weekly column over at CCGPrime.

3. What are the criteria for making the lists?

The Top 10 are based on a score. I take the content (25 possible points) add it to the timeliness (25 possible points) and add that to my subjective score (50 possible points). Then I rank them accordingly. For the bottom 10, all of the rankings are subjective. Some may be worse than others, but think of the Bottom 10 as a listing rather than a ranking.

4. Are you some kind of English Major? What gives you the right to criticize other people's works?

Free Speech, the Internet, The Ferrett. And no, I was never an English Major. Actually, I was an Anthropology major before I left. Truthfully, I criticize people's works because I feel that the Magic writing out there can be much better, if people put more time into it. From what I can tell, it is working, since the bottom 10 has been harder and harder to do over the last few weeks. Of course, if people like Peter Szigeti keep writing and decklab.com keeps updating, I'm sure I can keep it up.

5. I've read your weekly at CCGPrime, and it sucks. Why are you criticizing other people when your own writing sucks?

Have you ever seen "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"? If you haven't, it proves my point. Sometimes critics do not have the best skills at the craft they are critiquing ("Beyond..." was written by famed movie critic Roger Ebert). Those that can, do. Those that can't, critique.

6. If I have a problem with something on the list; where should I voice my concern?

There's a few places you could go. For one, you could email me directly at sjackyl69@hotmail.com. Or you could email The Ferrett (email me first... he doesn't need any more hate mail ;) ). (Oh, hell, I can always use more - The Ferrett) Lastly, you could make a thread in the discussion forum stating your issues. Any way you do it, you will get a response.

7. Now that this is on StarCity, are all of the Top 10 going to be from StarCity?

No, I am not biased, thank you. I may be writing for StarCity, but that doesn't mean that they are immune to my scrutiny. Actually, I think I may judge StarCity more harshly, now that I'm actually here.

8. What is your agenda with doing this? Are you trying to scare people from writing?

I seriously hope I'm not scaring people off. My intention in doing this is to provide a little criticism into a community that is devoid of self-criticism. Please, if your article appears on my bottom 10, don't take that as a signal that I don't want you to write. If you feel that way, send me an email and we can talk shop. Really, what I'm trying to do is put a stop to the stereotypical tournament reports and deck listings.

Hopefully that clears everything up for you. So without any further ado...

Top 10 1/13/01 - 1/19/01

With the Dojo quitting, this week's (and future weeks possibly) list seems a bit empty. Without what once was the best site to draw from, the pool from which I draw these lists becomes shallower. Let's hope together that collectively, all of the sites out there pick up where The Dojo left off. The only thing I wonder is how many submissions are just sitting there waiting to be posted. I guess we'll never know.

1 The Ferrett - The Great Misunderstanding
Score: 92.5%
http://www.starcitygames.com/news/Magic/Ferrett/010116ferrett.html

Boy, I am in a spot with this one. First week on the job, and already I will undoubtedly have to deal with people questioning my credibility. But before you go opening up your mail program to tell me how biased I am, click the link above. After reading the article contained on that page, ask yourself if YOU read anything that was better than that this week. Notice the pacing that Ferrett uses; there are very few asides here. Pay attention to the tone of the piece and how easy it is to read and understand what he is talking about. He could be talking about how to change a tire, but the reaction I had would still be the same. A great piece and an example of what essays should read like.

If you don't agree with me, I'd like to hear you out. Once again, my email is sjackyl69@hotmail.com. Or, if you don't feel like doing that, try writing something yourself and seeing how hard it actually is to write something spectacular.

2. Jerrod Ankenman - From the Felt to the Red Zone: What Tournament Magic Players can Learn from Tournament Poker
Score: 85%
http://www.starcitygames.com/news/Magic/010115ankenman.html

While The Ferrett's article was a good example of how personal anecdotes can be used to convey a message, Jerrod's is a good example of comparison. This topic is something that should be looked at further (hopefully, Jerrod has a couple more on the burner) (I've asked him for more - The Ferrett), because it is something that most of us can use. Concerning the writing, notice how Jerrod fully expands the points that he attempts to make. There are no assumptions here; everything is covered. Good job, Jerrod.


3. Mike Mason - Peace of Mind- Any Given Sunday, Part 3: Building God
Score: 82.5%
http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/expandnews.php?Article=83

It is official. From the origin of this article, Mike Mason has been towards the top on almost everything he writes. I think part of his success is that his writing is very accessible, yet chock full of content. In the above article, Mike attempts to build a deck for the current environment. Don't expect some glossed-over decklist and one-sentence description. This is in-depth. I could ask him where the Meekstones are, but that's not what's important. What is important is that this is something that is interesting, enlightening, and entertaining to read.

4. Nate Heiss - 2001
Score: 80%
http://magic.mindripper.com/index.cfm?
ArticleID=1247&SectionID=1&Show=All

Have you ever wondered why our game will never go mainstream? Nate has an idea why. In his article above, he brainstorms some ideas that might let the game become more accessible to the general public. Good ideas, and a great presentation on a topic which really hasn't been touched on. It's something to think about next time you watch on of those boring ESPN2 shows.

5. Paul Jordan - Invasion Limited: Tricks to Know
Score: 77.5%
http://www.neutralground.net/Forums/ForumItem.asp?
NewsID=1264&BackupLink=Main.asp

Most of the time, when we receive limited deck analysis, it is in the form of decks. Decks that you will probably never open, and card pools that you will probably never have to build with. Paul Jordan obviously understands this, and instead of writing the 10,000th deck building exercise, he writes single card strategies of cards you might see in your cardpool. If you're truly looking for some good sealed advice, you could do worse than reading Paul's article.

6. Scott Lesser - The Next Step for B/R Control in Standard
Score: 75%
Index.cfm?ArticleID=1237&SectionID=4&Show=All" target="new">http://magic.mindripper.com/Index.cfm?
ArticleID=1237&SectionID=4&Show=All

Since Invasion has been available, plenty of people have mused about the possibility of running a strong B/R deck. For the most part, their attempts have been unsuccessful. In the article above, Scott attempts for find a workable R/B deck. He goes into great depth, and this is an excellent piece. A must read if you (like most people) are struggling to get the B/R deck off the ground.

7. Anthony Alongi - Planeshift Preview - Noxious Vapors
Score: 75%
http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=sb20010117a

Whenever any set comes along, there are always countless numbers of articles talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the new set in Limited and Constructed play. Often, the casual aspects of the cards are overlooked. So, with the current round of sneak preview cards, the Sideboard decided to change that by having Anthony Alongi do some of the previews. The article above, for Noxious Vapors, contains some great single-card strategy. A good read even if you aren't primarily a casual player.

8. Michael Turian - Anyone for a Game? (and replies by Various)
Score: 72.5%
Index.cfm?ArticleID=1238&SectionID=1&Show=All" target="new">http://magic.mindripper.com/Index.cfm?
ArticleID=1238&SectionID=1&Show=All
Index.cfm?ArticleID=1241&SectionID=1&Show=All" target="new">http://magic.mindripper.com/Index.cfm?
ArticleID=1241&SectionID=1&Show=All
Index.cfm?ArticleID=1244&SectionID=1&Show=All" target="new">http://magic.mindripper.com/Index.cfm?
ArticleID=1244&SectionID=1&Show=All

Should Pros be allowed to play in Qualifiers? Before you answer that question, do yourself a favor and read Michael's well-presented article on it (it's the top link). Read it, and the replies, and come up with your own take. Then, if you want, talk about it on our message boards.

9. Mark Wraith - Kai Budde's Deck
Score: 70%
http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?
x=GPAMS01897kaideck

The coverage for GP Amsterdam was about a thousand times better than the coverage for New Orleans. Last week, in my unpublished list, the coverage had two places in the bottom 10. They obviously turned it around. In the above piece, Mark describes the deck that Kai Budde received, and the choices that he made in order to build the deck. An interesting look into limited deckbuilding, and how to deal with a less-than-broken card pool. Hopefully they continue this series.

10. Todd Parker - Single Card Strategies: Plague Spitter
Score: 70%
http://www.magic-singles.com/cpa/article/get.php?action=getarticle&articleid=269

Many times, when people sit down to write a Single Card Strategy article, they usually read like a newbie's set analysis: A couple of sentences, maybe a couple of cards to use with it. Todd's article is a good example of a single-card analysis. He doesn't provide decklists or deck ideas, but it does give the reader a good insight on what the card does, and how to use it effectively. A couple of deck ideas might have placed him higher... But for what is down on the page, it is pretty good.


Bottom 10 1/13/01 - 1/19/01
With The Dojo concluding their operations, the selections for the Bottom 10 will become even harder to come by. But do not fret, Bottom10 fans, this list will continue:

10. PJ Sines - On the Stack: Discovering Why I Stink
http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/expandsub.php?Article=87

While the above article is a good introductory piece for what promises to be an interesting set of articles, the article is a bit short-winded. Usually, this sort of thing is not important. But in a shallow week such as this, borderline articles make the bottom10. I hope PJ continues this series, because I AM interested. But let's hope that they are better than the first.

9. Lee Steht - PTQ Barcelona Report *T4*
http://www.newwave.org/strategy/reports/jan01/lest0119.html

Like last week's Bottom #1 (GP New Orleans Tourney Rap), Lee attempts to use humor where his commentary flounders. It is an age-old technique, used to mask the inability to write anything useful. Many people may not see through that, and might find his article entertaining when it is just simply annoying. It may work for some people, but not for me.

8. Jordan Walsh - PTQ Barcelona Report
http://www.mtgparadise.com/reports/january2001/
1701walsh_ptqbar.shtml

As an exercise for my readers, next time you go to a tournament, try and write a report. Then see how many words you write, minus your decklisting. Chances are, you would be able to write more than a thousand words. As a rule of thumb, if you write less than a thousand words in your tournament report, you forgot something. Or, you probably wrote something like this:

"No comment. I get killed quickly by Duskwalker and friends."

The above author did (granted, most of his comments are longer, but are still lacking), and that is why he is on this list.

So as a lesson to tournament report writers everywhere, elaborate and expand your comments. Write everything you can remember about the games (with edits, of course), because that is much more interesting than:

"Don't you hate mana screw?"

7. Chris Leather - Limited Lovin' Part 2
http://www.duelingground.com/Articles/ChrisL03_011701.htm

Under normal circumstances, this kind of article would hover towards #10. These, however, are not normal circumstances - but the article is abortively short. There is less than a page of actual content, which in this case, does not allow Chris to FULLY expand his ideas. After looking over the final product, there really wasn't much that was said.

6. Gerri Greyling - PTQ Tokyo Report
http://dreamwater.net/game/samagic/tournament/
tour_14jan_cptn_ptqtok_ggreyling.htm

This is a call to the rest of the online Magic community: When you play a rogue deck at a tournament and plan to write a report, please tell us about the deck and how it interacted with the decks you faced.

"Match 6 : Opposition : Well this deck ran over me with dual lands, hermits and tradewinds. Lost 0-2"

I'm telling you not to write a report, that is not my purpose. I would just like to see more detail in the match reports and to see people put more effort into their work. Remember, everyone IS reading.

5. The Editor- The Corner: That Angel-Go Deck
http://www.mtgplanet.com/thecorner/corner.html

As a writer, I can understand how The Editor fell into the trap of writing this article. For those that were lost by the last sentence, give the article a read.

Now that you are back, did you notice something? Did you notice that the card-by-card analysis seems very hastily written? A lot more could have been said about the individual card choices. The article COULD have been better, but as it stands this is a Bottom10 article for sure.

4. Various - Planeshift Partial Spoiler coming.... (comments)
http://www.mtgnews.com/story/669/1/1/1/#comment

It's official, some people have no manners. DG, the main guy over at MTGNews, had the thoughtfulness to let everyone know that he was not well, and that the updates would be slow in coming. So what do the members of our online community do? They flame, spam, demand, and whine about not getting a spoiler in time for the prerelease. *Baskil plays world's smallest violin*

3. Ronald Soller - GP Ada
http://www.ccgprime.com/mtg/reports/gpada.htm

One of the editors on the Dojo a couple of years back urged people to send in their tournament reports, no matter how badly the people did at the tournament they played in. I'm not sure if I totally agree with that request, especially after reading this tournament report. The match commentary is anemic, and the backstory is almost non-existent. I think that this report COULD have been interesting - all of the elements are there, even if it was played in some guy's basement. But the execution was very lacking.

2. Lim_Dul - Delraich Death
http://www.mtgplanet.com/t2decks/011601del.html

Before the Dojo met its untimely demise, it had a reputation for being the cause of the Netdeck phenomenon. While that could be true (I believe it's more about having top8 information, and not the posted decklists), most of the time, their netdecks were like the one above. Slightly below optimal, with the writer informing us that he is 80-0 in testing. Being weaned on these sort of decklistings, we come to accept them as normal, even though most of them are trash. Take the above, for example. Not knowing much about the deck, I will talk about the writing that accompanies it. The analysis of the deck is stiflingly short, and only touches on what should be a detailed analysis.

1. Peter Szigeti - Quit your Bitching
http://www.newwave.org/strategy/articles/jan01/pesz0112.html

Most writers use their talents and forums to inform. Some like to entertain the reader. There are a couple, however, that will have no part in that. Instead, they use their forum to incite the reader, causing people to either like them or dislike them, with no in between. These writers play on the emotions of the reader, and by being controversial, bring attention to themselves. Being the worst of the net is their goal, because they would never make it going the other way. So I imagine that placing Peter's piece at the bottom is exactly what he would want. Here's a sample of Peter's work:

"Most internet magic writers are s***. Notoriously, judges and writers do not know how to play the game. The next time there is a Pro Tour, find your favorite internet columnist who is qualified, and see how he did."

To wit, this is from one of the mailing lists I am on:
"So, I decided to follow Szigeti's "wisdom" here and looked at PT: Chicago:
7 Zvi Mowshowitz(USA) $8,000
26 Shvartsman, Alex $1,700
40 Turian, Michael $875
80 Burn, Seth
81 Kastle, Darwin
99 Sullivan, Adrian
198 Forsythe, Aaron
209 Price, David
327 Szigeti, Peter (out of 332 results)"

Peter finished fifth from last, with 0 points and a 44% win percentage. With that in mind, I hope I don't need to tell you how funny his column really is.


Magic Portal of Evil (for those not familiar with this either, this is based off of www.portalofevil.com)
(The Dojo Backpages)

1. Top 5 Reasons Magic Sux! - Jordan Hanning http://www.thedojo.com/c001/cp.001205jha.shtml

God, I love this article. Whenever I have the feeling like my column is going down the toilet, I fire this one up and start reading. In this article, Jordan lists his thoughts on what makes Magic suck. One thing to note: Read his plea in the beginning to have Chris Senhouse put this on the front page. Seeing the limited amount of articles posted there (by that I mean the entire site) lately, I'm surprised it wasn't.

2. What Kind of Bargain is Better? - Kyle Largent http://www.thedojo.com/b001/bo.000417kla.shtml

People always ask me what a bad tournament report looks like, and well, I think I found it (Technically, Scott Forster found it - but hey!). Note the complete lack of match commentary.

3. I can't take any more - Jacob Chen http://www.thedojo.com/b984/bif.980902jch.txt

Think of it as choose-your-own-dojo reply. Funny stuff.

4 Intruding Bunnies - Yours Truly http://www.thedojo.com/d983/dk.980728sja.txt

No comment, really.



See you next week,

Shawn "The Discriminator" Jackson
Baskil in way too many places
Proud member of Team Hacked
Send all hate mail, love letters to sjackyl69@hotmail.com