Magic celebrity is a funny thing.

In reading Geordie Tait's recent article about life around Southern Ontario, he discussed a bit about people's perception of Magic celebrity. He talked about a nice little note he received from Will Brinkman about how Magic celebrity didn't exist, or was a joke, or whathaveyou.

The fact of the matter is that if you recognize either of the names that I mentioned in my previous paragraph, then those two gentlemen are"famous" in our circles.

Famous
a. Celebrated in fame or public report; renowned; much talked of; distinguished in story; - used in either a good or a bad sense, chiefly the former; often followed by for; as, famous for erudition, for eloquence, for military skill; a famous pirate.

There was a time when I didn't read about Magic on the Internet. I didn't know who the"pros" were, or even that there was such a thing, and that people took this game so seriously. I've been playing Magic since Legends, went to the Tempest Prerelease as my first tourney, and been to various tournaments after that. I remember when a kid of maybe fourteen asked me,"What's your rating?" at a Grand Prix Trial in Milwaukee. I said,"I have no idea." That was the truth. I also didn't know what a Grand Prix Trial was; all I knew was that I was at a card tournament in the area.

I played Pat Chapin and edt at a Torment prerelease side draft and didn't know them from any of the other folks around the table. Maybe it would have explained away each of their behaviors if I had.

I remember Origins last year. I saw some bald jerk heckling Pokemon players and thought,"Man, what kind of lowlife does that? I mean, here you have grown men playing Pokemon, of all things, and you're kicking them?"

"Why don't you just throw a medicine ball to Stephen Hawking?"
-Emo Philips

Later that same day, this same bald little man was playing in a team event ($50 entry fee, $1000 in payouts). I heard him walking away from one of his opponents, clearly mocking him, and his opponent mutter,"What an a%**ole."

Sure enough, two rounds later I found myself face to face with the bald aggressor. I decided that I would confine my remarks to Magicese and leave it at that. I had many reasons for this, not the least of which was my teammates. One of my teammates was a passive individual who did not enjoy confrontation or see the point of it - and for his sake, I decided to stay quiet, since it would make him uncomfortable for me to verbally spar with my new opponent. My teammate to my left enjoyed and provoked confrontation, and has no problem with escalating to physical violence (and happens to be trained in the art of beatdown)... And so especially for his sake, now was not the time and place for brawling.

Soooooo...

There we are, playing our third game. It was clear at this point that I was going to win. We were both playing R/G, but my card quality was better. Specifically, my opponent had once again walked into my Beast Attack.

That's when it began.

My opponent (whose name I never caught, as the match slips have team names and not even his teammates were referring to him) says,"Maaaaasterful."

Now, had I not witnessed his previous exchanges with other people and had I not seen him refer to the Pokemon player earlier in the same way... I might have let it go.

But instead, I said,"Listen, I've seen you harassing people all weekend when you were winning... And now you're attempting to do the same to me when you're losing? Unbelievable."

I don't recall his reaction to this, other than to get more belligerent.

Later in the match, he played a spell and I said,"In response, I'd like to..."

He cut me off,"Oh - in response, huh??"

I calmly replied,"Yes. I would like to respond to your spell. You see, your spell goes on the stack. After that, if you pass priority, I have the opportunity to respond. That's what I'm doing."

My opponent began to applaud."He understands the stack." A crowd began to gather."Congratulations!!"

I replied,"Yes... I didn't think that I'd have to explain the rules at table two, but there you have it."

We have now managed to get the attention of several other players, including the Chapin/Benafel/somebodyI'veneveridentified team at table one. It would appear that they know the guy sitting across from me. I thought at this time that this guy must be a fringe Pro or something. Whatever. I don't know him.

The bald guy started asking leading questions to move to some of his prepared lines like,"Where are you from?" and"What's your name" and blah, blah, blah. I was a little more versed in verbal sparring than some of his previous foes and don't give him the satisfaction of the knee-jerk answers.

He started to dig into me personally at one point when I forgot some damage, asking,"Does your family have a history of mental illness or something? Don't you even know how to spell?"

I said,"No, I don't. How do you spell the letter W? Should I write that on my sheet now, or should we continue to play it out?"

There was certainly unsportsmanlike behavior from both sides. I don't condone either of our actions, though I believe I was provoked. He ended up with a warning and I ended up with a caution when all was said and done.

At the conclusion of our match, we exchanged parting pleasantries (this is a family site), and thus ended our meeting.*

After the match, my teammates and I were sitting around discussing and lamenting our opponents. His two teammates seemed to think he was funny and never said anything throughout the match. I guess I'll reserve judgement on them - though by association they have something wrong with them, right?

As we were talking, another gamer leaned in to eavesdrop and decided to add to our conversation. He said,"That's PTR!"

"Who?"

The helpful insider explained that the bald guy was known for being both a Pro and a Jerk. Apparently, he's more Jerk than Pro. Again, I had never heard of him.

Anyway, that anecdote was meant to illustrate our Magic communities' idea of fame. This random gamer knew of"PTR," hereafter known as Petey. I had never met Petey, but I later read numerous reports about him. If I had heard of him, I might have figured that the silent treatment was the way to go for the entire match. Clearly, he thrives off of verbal sparring, and I could have denied him that. He also thrives off of bullying, however, and it's hard to deny someone both.

Knowing your Magic opponent can go a long way to helping you deal with any of the"Magic celebs" when you face them at the table... But that's beside the point. These people are famous. By definition, they are well known in our community by those who are active in it. After having been to Pro Tour: Chicago and various other events and reading many Internet articles, I am pretty much up on the"Who's Who" of Magic.

I know Tim Aten by sight, for instance. I know The Ferrett by sight - which is hard to do if all you have is the StarCityGames photo, believe me. Kai, Finkel, Huey, and Eisel are all recognizable to me when I see them, and I can fill in the rest of their names from what I just gave you.

Why is this? Are they my friends? No.

Do I care how they play, who they play, or about them personally? No.

Then why do I know who they are, and what they look like? Because they are famous.

If you read about Magic on the Internet, you know who they are, because they are the characters. They are the guys who get to play this game for a living. They are the ones who know the"good cards" from the bad ones. They are the ones who help to guide those of you who want to make money at this or at least get better.

I like to watch basketball and I don't like the LA Lakers. But I know who Rick Fox is, and that he's injured. I don't care, but I know. Why? Because he's famous.

The notion that there is no Magic celebrity is hooey. Read any of Oscar Tan's articles and you trip through all of the names that he is dropping. He would not do this if the names were meaningless. Certain Magic players have made a name for themselves in this little corner of the world.

Many of the readers of StarCityGames think they know Geordie Tait or how he would react in certain circumstances. Anyone who reads up on Limited play probably has a personal opinion of Gary Wise. Geordie was surprised to find Gary to be"approachable" and not elitist.

The people who deny Magic celebrity only do so because they don't want famous Magic players on a pedestal. They reason that because the pros and writers are famous in our community (and not the world) that they should carry no weight with the average player. The fact of the matter is, they influence a huge industry - and money talks. Kai says to play Tog? Four Psychatogs from the StarCityGames online store, please, and keep them coming!

At any rate, I thought it ridiculous that there are dissenters that believe there is no such thing as Magic celebrity. There are people in our community who have certain friends and certain relationships only because they have made names for themselves. They are Magic Famous.

There are both fortune and fame at the end of the Color Wheel, for those who strive to seek it.

Good luck to you, savage gamer,
Andrew Cron
cronac@comcast.net

* - Epilogue: My team finished in the money in that particular event. One hundred dollars was our prize - or, as I prefer to look at it, our entry fee and PTR's too.