Last week ballots for the 2012 Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame were sent out to Magic competitors authors luminaries and community representatives all over the world. Voting for the 2012 Pro Tour Hall of Fame class began on June 25 so the discussion is already well under way. Ballots are due back July 19 the 2012 class will be announced the week of July 23 and the players will be inducted at a ceremony at Pro Tour Return to Ravnica in Seattle this fall. The Hall of Fame is the most prestigious honor a player can earn in Magic: The Gathering and discussion for which eligible players should be included in this celebrated club has been nothing if not heated and passionate.

The far and away favorite to get into the Hall this year is a player with an impressive twelve Grand Prix Top 8s a towering 358 Pro Points and a staggering nine Pro Tour Top 8s: Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa. Always the competitor with @PVDDR's contribution to the game both in the tournament scene and in the community with his articles and videos it would be tough for any voter to leave him off of their ballot. Even if you aren't a member of Team #landsinfront you've got to pay your respects to Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa:

The second sure-fire lock according to most Twitter 'experts' is Kenji Tsumura. While his time with the game was shorter than most (in order to complete his schooling) he is one of only seven players to have reached the top eight of a Pro Tour more than five times. He was the Player of the Year in 2005 and he also won a pair of Limited Grand Prix in the span of one month in June of 2006. The movement to get Kenji into the Hall is strong and I'd be surprised if @KenjiTsumura didn't make it in:

After that things start to get interesting.

With so many great names on the list and only five votes per person the voting breakdown starts to divide. But some names are getting a lot of attention. One such name is 'Baby Huey.' William 'Huey' Jensen is a name that many players are not familiar with but those that played with and against him know just how good he is. He was a Magic master from long ago and while he was not one to self-promote like @JonnyMagic00 or @gabnassif he certainly attained legendary status with his four PT Top 8s eight GP Top 8s and fearsome in-match presence. But if you take it from those who knew him while he was playing you'd be a fool not to vote @HueyJensen into the Magic Hall of Fame:

Championed by such important personalities as Martin Juza (@Juzam_) and Brian David-Marshall (@Top8Games) Masashi Oiso is another name that might slip under many voting radars but @mo_oiso 's contributions to the game cannot be understated. Along with Kenji Tsumura he is the player with the most Top 8s (6) to have never won a Pro Tour. He is the winner of three Grand Prix and at GP Boston in 2005 he became the first Japanese player to win an American Grand Prix. When it comes to trail blazers Masashi Oiso is as good as it gets:

If voting for the Hall of Fame took into account contributions to the community as much as it counts wins and Top 8s Patrick Chapin would have been in the first class. Even so Patrick's four Pro Tour Top 8s (spanning three decades the only player with that achievement) and three Grand Prix Top 8s are impressive in their own right. His Top 4 match at Worlds 2007 against Gabriel Nassif is the stuff of legend and he was one dead Hypnotic Specter away from defeating Uri Peleg in that tournament to add 'World Champion' to his resume.

But it's his writing that truly sets Chapin apart. No writer in the history of Magic has the familiarity with the nuances of competitive play. The moniker 'The Innovator' is no mistake; he has taken self-designed decks into tournaments with great success year in and year out. He has been a leading voice in the Magic community for years and he will continue to deliver deep analysis and wonky control decks for years to come. Here's what some others on Twitter have to say about @thepchapin and his inclusion in the Hall of Fame:

Chapin might be familiar to most but one of the old pros that many new players might not remember is Scott Johns. During his playing career Scott had five PT top 8s including his very first Pro Tour at PT Los Angeles in 1996. He won Pro Tour New York 2000 with Gary Wise (@GaryWise1) and Mike Turian (@mturian) as a part of Potato Nation and he made Top 8 of the Masters tournament in 2001 in Tokyo. In addition Scott is the former editor of magicthegathering.com adding to his street cred. He's a strong contender and should be given careful consideration for the Hall of Fame:

There are a few players that have the statistics to back their inclusion in the Hall of Fame but they have the shadow of past infractions hovering over their heads. Tomoharu Saito certainly has the chops to make it in with five PT top 8s (including a win in Charleston 2006) and a mind-boggling sixteen GP Top 8s (including four wins) to go along with his Player of the Year title in 2007. In fact @TomoharuSaito was voted into the Hall of Fame once before…but was suspended for 18 months following a DQ at GP Florence for stalling.

It's a similar story for Guillaume Matignon (@GuillaumeMatign) and Katsuhiro Mori (@mori_katsuhiro). Both players boast full resumes that include World Championship trophies (Mori in Yokohama 2005 Matignon in Chiba in 2010) but both received lengthy suspensions for rules violations. Will infractions keep these renowned players out of the Hall of Fame just as Pete Rose or 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson remain on the outside looking in to Cooperstown? Or will voters forgive and forget as they did for Bob Maher (@acdbob)? It seems Twitter is against them and the #cheatersneverwin sentiment has gained steam. Here's some of the discussion on the Magic Hall of Fame's most controversial topic:

Not all of those nominated have the endless stream of Tweets dedicated to their cause like Paulo or Patrick. Eligible players like Eugene Harvey Justin Gary (@Justin_Gary) Shouta Yasooka (@yaya3_) Chris Pikula (@meddlingmage) and many more are eligible. Heck even our own Gerry Thompson (@G3RRYT) is eligible this year! Here's some Twitter chatter about some of the name on the undercard for this Hall of Fame heavyweight fight:

Of course this is only the first installment of all the Hall of Fame discussion. After the results roll in I'm sure there will be many more tweets to go through I'll bring them to you in Part II!

In addition to all of the #MTGHOF hubbub a much less contentious and much more entertaining topic arose: @GoRemy's video 'MTG Rap.' The video was an instant viral hit in the Magic community and struck a chord like the Magic community had rarely seen. An instant classic for all of us in the Magic community here's what Twitter had to say about GoRemy's big hit:

You don't know your Tweets are beautiful! Oh oh that's what makes your Tweets beautiful!

Reuben Bresler

@MoxReuby

Video and Coverage Content Associate and Twitter Admiral for StarCityGames.com