In the last episode we talked about spoiler, leaks, and WotC playing favourites. This time we're going to review some different stuff, but the theme of WotC playing favourites will carry on throughout the material.
Women in Magic
It's no secret that "geek" shit like traditional games and comic books have been invaded by feminists and liberals in the last ten years, but Magic's cuckoldry has been especially severe. As early as 2012, Patrick "Scarface" Chapin wrote about women in Magic - specifically, a trend he noticed at the time where a handful of women had made it to the top 8s of GP-level events. You can find the article here: http://archive.is/RaRFI
The article is full of the standard feminist shit - stretching numbers, casting all men as rapist neanderthals, usual motte-and-bailey doctrine. But what's really interesting is the woman Chapin spends so much of his time talking about: Jackie Lee. He talks about her performance at GP Baltimore, where she piloted GR aggro to a 3rd place finish - specifically, he mentions that some mistakes she made were treated a lot more harshly than mistakes he and Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa made on camera in that same tournament, simply because she's a woman. After watching half the match myself (not going to put myself through the whole thing - if you thought Wizards' coverage was bad these days, imagine it in 360p at 23fps), I have concluded that this statement is either complete bullshit or a big misrepresentation on Chapin's part. The commentators are completely ideal for Wizards coverage: bland, unfunny, stuttering, and neither has anything to say about the players or their history. One thing Lee did do was be a humourless bitch the few times her opponent tried to crack a joke, but who gives a fuck as long as she's STRONK and EMPOWERED, right?
But wait, there's more. Less than a year after Chapin tirelessly argues in this woman's defence (while at the same time referring to her sex as an obstacle she had to overcome, which somehow isn't misogyny), Lee gets DQ'd from Pro Tour Return to Ravnica. We get this little gem Lee wrote about her experience for TCGPlayer: http://archive.is/xGOJO
>lee puts together a sick draft deck, you go girl!
>wins game 1, keeps a sketchy hand in game 2
>relies on Frostburn Weird for defence, but it gets enchanted by a Stab Wound
>opponent passes to her and writes down the 2 life she loses, but according to Jackie he doesn't say anything
>due to a recent rules change which allows triggers to be missed, she thinks his lack of verbalization counts as him missing the trigger
>even though he wrote down the effects of the trigger
>this happens once more, and then she gets hit by Desecration Demon and they call a judge over to sort out the discrepancy in life totals
>>“Did you see the opponent write down the life total change?” he asked me.
>>“Yes,” I said slowly. I knew this wasn't what the judge wanted to hear, but it was the truth.
>>“Are you aware of the rule that when you notice a life total discrepancy, you must call a judge?”
>>“Yes…” My answer came even more slowly as I tried to recall the new rule. I felt a game loss coming on, but still didn't quite understand how it was my fault for being honest and observant. After all, the rules are intended to protect people who are honest, and the new trigger rules are supposed to reward you for being more observant and meticulous than your opponent.
>>After all, the rules are intended to protect people who are honest
>>protect people who are honest
Lee now works at Wizards as an Associate Game Designer.
Her Twitter isn't very active, but it did give me this photo of her face with some truly horrible . . . tattoos? I think? I would love to do commentary of this entire article because even after Lee has her own soapbox to spin everything on, she STILL can't defend herself, but the best thing is just to read it yourself. I honestly can't make this shit up. Anyway, stay tuned for the next episode chronicling the downfall of everyone's favourite TCG. We've got more feminism, Minecraft in Magic, tranny acceptance, and even literal autism - it's all part of the show on Magic: The Cuckening!