Order Info

I'd like to start off by saying that I am a fan of Rizzo's and also of StarCity. Although I missed an occasional Rizzo article, and sometimes didn't read through each one that I did catch, I always was anxious to see him up in the Features area because I knew (most of the time) that I would probably have one hell of a read. So I salute you, John F. Rizzo, and the legacy that has now been lifted from your shoulders.

Now on to what I want to talk about...

Yeah, it had to happen someday. You can't keep going on forever. There is a day in every person's life when they see the end of the road and call it quits.

• The retiring CEO who has enough money to comfortably stay at home with his grandkids.
• The athlete who is past his prime and battling to stay competitive but realizing the reality of age.
• The Magic player who realizes Magic is"just a game."

Unfortunately for the Magic community, no one else saw Rizzo's day coming. When I logged into StarCity earlier this week, I thought the whole Rizzo week was just something cool The Ferrett was doing for one of his best writers. Little did I know that instead of a promotion, I was bearing witness to a tribute and memorial.

Yeah, I liked Rizzo's writing. Who didn't? But what troubles me now is not that I can't read him anymore... But that I don't fully understand his message. Not only do I not understand his message, I am beginning to reevaluate the worth of his writing.

That's right; the worth of his writing.

We learn in English classes that we have to evaluate not only the writing and the content of literature - but also its worth. We have to learn why that particular piece of literature is important to us, and we have to learn to appreciate it. The reason many people don't like reading in their English classes and use Cliff Notes is because they can't comprehend the worth of what they are reading. Sure, something said two hundred years ago in a book might have been important then, but why is it important now? Is it still important? When the answer to that is no, you don't appreciate it.

I'll give you an example of this that can be easily translated into real life:

I read the Sports section every day. Today's sports scores are more important to me now than last week's scores.

I read the Business section every day. Today's stock analysis is more important to me now than last week's stock analysis.

I read the News section every day. Today's news is more important to me now than last week's news.

The worth of literature and everything else for that matter is all that is important.

"The search is all that matters"

Ask yourself these questions:

• Why is it important to be rich and famous?
• Why is it important that we succeed in life?
• Why is it important to read John Rizzo's writing?

I'll have the answer to that later.

Worth in Magic is hard to come by for a writer. There isn't all that much you can write about. Magic doesn't change on a daily basis. It's mostly static.

At least...

...it is now.

The Dojo was a hugely popular website. The reason it was so popular was because every day, tournament reports from across the country were flying in faster than The Dojo could put them up. I had The Dojo as my home page up until and even after it went down. Yeah, I'd open Internet Explorer and see The Dojo loading, and I would hope and wish and pray and cross my fingers that it might be back up again.

But it's not.

The Dojo's worth to the Magic community was astronomical in scale. The Dojo also brought about it's own demise.

For every tournament report The Dojo got in, the worth of The Dojo went up. But for every tournament report The Dojo got in, the closer The Dojo was to dying.

The reason is because The Dojo brought upon the net deck. If you want to know what killed The Dojo, it would probably have been net decks.

After net decks started popping up all over the place, each tournament report The Dojo got became susceptible to actually having little worth, regardless of how well-written the report was or how much content it had. As you get more and more submissions of the same decklists, each one's value decreases, significantly. No one wants to read about the same deck fifty times. What's even worse is that someone who does want to read those articles has no basis of figuring out which of the modified decks is actually the best.

Ever buy shampoo in a drug store or pharmacy?

Ever notice that there's an entire aisle devoted to them?

Ever notice that in the end, you just don't care which one you buy?

Ever wonder which shampoo is the best?

With the advent of net decks, the writing community is stagnant. That's because the tournament community is stagnant. The tournament community is stagnant because of net decks.

Even if you have a deck that beats the net decks, are you going to post"the tech" prior to a big tourney? If you post it, it might become a net deck. You wouldn't want that to happen now, would you?

John?

And so the worth of writing about such decks decreases - because your report or analysis of a deck has less value because it can be used against you. If your report has less value, you have less incentive to write one. If you have less incentive to write one, the chances of you writing one decrease.

Writers have to start finding new angles in order to be more valuable. Anthony Alongi writes multiplayer articles. Zvi writes analyses. Rizzo writes about...?

Yeah; what does he write about?

You know, one thing I'd like to figure out is what exactly does Rizzo write about.

This probably goes back to me not understanding him in the first place.

Or understanding his worth...

Ever wonder why the Magic community sucks?

Rizzo did.

I'll let you guys in on a little secret.

The Magic community doesn't exist anymore.

It's fragmented.

The internet kept it together. Magic on the Internet is currently lackluster.

I'll clue you guys in on something else...

Ready?

Now?

Wait a little while and all will be made clearer.

Back to the story at hand. I've always liked Rizzo's writing. The truth, however, is that the only article of his I have ever read that I actually remembered was"Bringing out the Dead." Unfortunately for me, I had not read Rizzo's earlier writing. I missed out on the tales of Bruce and Searching for Jamie Wakefield, or maybe I just don't remember them. So today I read all the tributes and all the older articles and have now formulated my hypothesis.

Do you guys wanna know?

I'm not telling.

You might be able to figure it out from this:

--- Alex Garamvolgyi
<agaramvolgyi@arpad-baksa-architect.com> wrote:
> I would like to start off by saying that I am a fan
> of your writing. Now I
> would like to argue against some of the stuff you
> said in your last article.

Thanks much; I appreciate it and look forward to getting the beat down.

> 1) Net Decks serve an essential purpose to the Magic
> community, good players
> and bad players alike. Even if you go"Rogue", (not
>"Rouge") you should use
> Net Decks as a tool to your advantage. The only
> real advantage of going
> Rogue is surprise value anyway, even if you are a
> good deckbuilder. Besides,
> if you go to a tournament (i'm talking about PTQs
> particularly) and don't
> expect to win, why are you there? It's a self
> defeating prophecy (I hate to
> be cliche but they're usually true to some point)
> and you probably have
> better ways of spending those few hours and $25,
> like drafting or whatever.

I agree that they are a good tool, but that's the extent of how I use them - a tool to test against and maybe even learn something from. I do expect to win unless I'm with a deck I know to be crappy. Most of the article was written to make people say"hey, why the hell do you go if you think you can't win?" If I can piss a few people off and make them determined to prove me wrong, then that's good times.

> Besides, once a rogue deck becomes popular, it
> becomes a net deck. All net
> decks started out as rogue for the most part.

Yep, it's a vicious cycle.

> 2) The three amigos story: I am completely and
> utterly disappointed, not
> only by your actions (or lack thereof) but everyone
> else's who were present.

I kinda figured that someone would've thought that my inaction was kind of crappy.

> The fact that your friend didn't seem to mind the
> abuse is no reason not to
> get a judge. That kind of behavior is intolerable
> to anyone, especially at
> a frickin' prerelease. I would love for someone to
> pull that s**t with me, I
> would've frickin' killed them. Imagine the next time
> some little kid draws
> an extra card by accident and they start off on him.

I can't disagree that perhaps I should have called a judge, but I made a judgment call. If I had it to do over, it's very likely that I would've told them to shut the hell up and then gone to get a judge if they didn't. Judgment calls are sometimes wrong, and usually are in retrospect.

> They've been made to
> believe that they can get away with it now because
> noone at the last big
> tourney they went to gave a crap. Now that little
> kid who drew an extra
> card is going to start to cry and go home and never
> play Magic again. These
> people are obviously too frickin' stupid to realize
> what they're doing is
> blatantly wrong and will eventually get their asses
> kicked for it, not
> because of karma mind you, (which I don't believe
> in) but because they are
> going to pull that crap on the wrong guy next time.

I hoped that Alex was the"wrong guy," and would whup some ass. I was concerned that by letting it go that they were getting the idea that they could get away with it... Because they did that time.

> hashim Bello once upended an entire table cuz some
> little jerk gave him the
> finger. I want to do the same, not because I'm
> bloodthirsty (which I am)
> but because this is a frickin' game and if you can't
> play by the frickin'
> rules, don't play and don't try to take it out on
> me. I've got other
> problems and if I play Magic to unwind and you're
> fucking irritating me, I
> will tell you. In Basketball, if you start whining
> cuz someone hit you,
> they'll just say"Call the foul then". It means
> call the foul and stop
> whining like a baby. If you're not going to
> get a judge for an
> infraction, then that doesn't give you the right to
> bitch and moan and
> whatever else your sorry little ass wants.

Upending a table might be a tad excessive, but I get the point. However, I am not as bloodthirsty as you seem to be, and it would take a TON of s**t for me to upend a table. Still, sometimes action warrants a severe reaction.

> Thanks for your time, I hope I made you see why you
> were wrong. Remember,
> the next time those guys start with a little kid,
> it's your fault. :)

You're quite welcome. I appreciate you taking the time to drop me a line. Like I said, if I had it to do over, things would likely be different. But I can't.

So, I'll remember that for the next time. I'll take the blame for the little kid, but hopefully I'll be there to help.

Thanks again,

John Friggin' Rizzo

Rizzo wrote an article about a bunch of guys harassing his friend after he drew an extra card at a friggin Prerelease. Rizzo and his friend Alex just sucked it up and did nothing about it. That little thing I was going to clue you in on?

Here it is...

Rizzo's a hypocrite.

All this formulated from one e-mail.

I'll let you in on another secret.

But I'm going to save it for later.

Heh.

Rizzo asked all of us to make the Magic community a better place.

Rizzo failed us.

He failed us, the Magic community, big time.

He wrote about how he failed us and we fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Although that type of behavior is reprehensible, equally reprehensible is allowing it to continue. Which Rizzo did.

Champion of the people?

I think not.

The next Wakefield?

No.

Why?

And now looms the daunting mystery of what I am trying to get to in this poorly-written rant...

Rizzo's writing is worthless to the Magic community.

Rizzo's writing is myopic; Rizzo didn't learn to distinguish between the different types of players in the Magic community.

Rizzo didn't learn to distinguish between the different types of people in the Magic community.

Why?

How do I know this?

Because all of Rizzo's mantras are focused at everyone. His many calls to arms, his many challenges, his writing was always aimed at everyone. Just like real life, the Magic community is not a homogenous mixture of individuals who have the same goals. We are not a community of individuals who are all the same. The reason Rizzo got so much hate mail is because his articles were aimed at too many people. Rizzo's arrogance and cockiness and narcissism masked the underlying problem that Rizzo had tunnel vision and couldn't understand why everyone wasn't on the same page. He couldn't differentiate between the casual player, the pro, the good player, the consistent top 8'er, the guys who just like to draft. Rizzo did all of these because he loved to play the game.

But in all honesty, there are so many ways to love the game. There are people I know who just like to draft. There are people I know who just like to play Constructed. There are people I know who just like to play and win. There are people I know who just like to play and be themselves. There are people I know who just like to play and have fun no matter what.

When you sound that call to arms, make sure the right people are listening.

No net decks?

No ID'ing?

Playing out the tournament even after you lost?

Why? Do you think the serious players are going to like that? Of course not.

If I go to a tournament and spend weeks on a deck that absolutely fails me, should I just suck up the anger and play the rest of the tournament for fun?

Screw that!

I'm going out for a cigarette, I'm going to cool off and I'm going to draft.

Do I need to sit there and keep losing to make you happy, Rizzo?

Do I have to sit there and play it out for fun? Even if I'm not having any?

Do I need you judging me based solely on that decision?

Ask yourself what Rizzo was talking about in all those articles.

Ask him about Bruce.

Ask him about Wakefield.

Ask him why he plays in tournaments.

Ask him why other people play.

Rizzo's problem is that he thinks everyone plays for the same reasons he does. When you go into a tournament, there is only one reason to play and that is to win. If I wanted to play for fun, I wouldn't need a TO to take $25 from me. I'd just have a seat somewhere and play with my friends.

Dear Rizzo,

It's okay to tell everyone you're playing in the tournament for fun. I know you don't really want to win.

Love,
Bruce

Why did Rizzo hate net decks and ID'ing?

He hated them because that meant you were at the tournament to win instead of to have fun.

Dear Phil Jackson,

I'm sorry I didn't use all the tools at my disposal to win that playoff series, but I still had a lot of fun. See you next year in Spring Training.

Love,
Michael Jordan

Dear Mike,

It's okay. At least you had fun and that's what tournaments are about. You can go back to the playground and be competitive there if you like. This is just a game after all. Don't worry about the fact that everyone else is trying to win. It's not like there's money involved or anything like that.

See you in Spring Training,
Phil Jackson

Rizzo plays Magic for fun and he plays in tournaments for fun.

When I play for fun, I always bring a Level 3 Judge and a timer.

Do you, Rizzo?

"Thanks for being patient with my son."

Why? Why did you have to be patient with his son, John? Decency? Respect? Because it was the right thing to do? Or was it because Bruce told you to be nice to him?

Did it ever occur to you (and I believe I e-mailed you about this) that a tournament is supposed to be about competition and winning? Did it ever occur to you that maybe this kid shouldn't have been in the tournament in the first place?

If you really were patient you would have played some more games with that kid afterwards, or on some other day. You just chickened out.

Hypocrite.

Rizzo once again proved to be a hypocrite when he didn't help this kid become a better player. He did the only sensible (by that, I mean not being a jerk ) thing that would get him out of the situation with minimal pain - in this case emotional.

What kind of community would just let their kids enter and exit a tournament like that? Why weren't you there helping him with his deck afterwards?

What kind of community has to actually thank someone for being nice to their kid? Shouldn't that just be common sense?

Is that why Rizzo left?

Or is there no Magic community and that's why Rizzo left?

Or is it that Rizzo couldn't understand the Magic community is not a homogenous blob of nice guys... And that's why he left?

Rizzo's writing are worthless to the Magic community because the Magic community as he envisions it does not exist.

In all the tributes that I have read, not one person mentions that Rizzo made them a better player. Not one.

Every person did talk about how Rizzo deeply affected them and changed their lives. Rizzo's legacy in Magic may not be on par with Wakefield. Rizzo after all, never made an archetype or infused a color with passion like Wakefield did. But Rizzo's legacy on the people of Magic may be even more important.

And now we have to distinguish our lives from Magic and look back and see whether or not Rizzo the Magic writer or Rizzo the Man affected us and how.

What we have to understand now is the importance Magic has in our lives.

If Magic is very important to you and big part of your life, then Rizzo is your hero.

If you like playing for fun and it's not that big a part of your life, you should still probably read Rizzo but not for the Magic content. Rizzo's views on life and his great writing are what you need to focus on.

If you're a tournament player who likes to win, you should still probably read Rizzo... But not for the Magic content. Rizzo's views on life and his great writing are what you need to focus on. Rizzo doesn't have a clue about tournaments.

Yeah, Rizzo's a good writer. His writing is pretty worthless to the Magic community... But his writings on life are on the money. He has a good head on his shoulders and may not be the moral voice of the Magic community, but he is a moral voice of the real community.

I said he was a hypocrite to the Magic community but he is not a hypocrite to the real community. For all I've said, Rizzo was patient with that kid. Rizzo didn't raise hell when his friend was being harassed. Rizzo did bail on Magic and hasn't regretted it.

Rizzo, if you're reading this. I salute as a man. Your morals are what we should all strive for.

Your Magic career however, leaves something to be desired. :)

P.S. I want you to drop me a line. I need to tell you something before I write my next article.

Heh. <---Someone's gotta do it.

-Alex Garamvolgyi