The DCI has said, and I quote, "One of our goals is to promote the maximum number of viable deck archetypes." That being said, does it make sense to SEVERELY cripple The Academy Deck? I think not. Apparently the DCI doesn't consider the BANNING of Tolarian Academy and Windfall detrimental to the viability of The Academy Deck. That just does not sit well with me. The DCI gave the following explanations for their decisions to BAN these cards:
"Tolarian Academy. Simply put, Tolarian Academy gives too much for too little cost. Given the plethora of good artifacts with casting costs of 0 and 1, Tolarian Academy could yield tremendous amounts of mana for the cheap price of playing a land. The "Academy" deck quickly dominated all forms of Magic play from Classic to Standard. The card was not banned in the Urza cycle only because there have not yet been enough tournaments run in this format."
OK, there is no arguing the fact that Tolarian Academy is an incredibly efficient card. But that is what most players want! You don't build a deck full of $HIT cards! You build it with cards that work together to give you maximum efficiency. That is why The Academy Deck worked, because it was a superbly engineered deck that had an incredible synergy between all of its components. The Tolarian Academy was the focal point of its engine. Why should a card be BANNED for its quality? Furthermore, the claim that it "dominated all forms of Magic play" is utter bull$it! What about Sligh? Sligh took as many, if not more, tournament wins as The Academy did. But is the DCI going to ban Jackal Pup? Are they going to get rid of Ball Lightning? Are they going to attempt to DESTROY Sligh? Of course not! Sligh is acceptable for some reason. Does the DCI just have something against combo decks? When Prosbloom was huge they BANNED Squandered Resources in an attempt to kill its speed. Now The Academy Deck comes along, sometimes referred to as "Prosbloom II" and Tolarian Academy gets BANNED almost immediately! WHAT THE F@*K!?!?
"Windfall. Like Tolarian Academy, Windfall gives too much for too little--in this case, cards instead of mana. At just U2 to cast, Windfall can, in the right deck, yield up to seven cards for its caster. Windfall was another key ingredient in the "Academy" decks since it too took advantage of the number of good artifacts with low casting costs."
Here we go again! Another stab in the back of The Academy Deck! Why didn't these bastards at the DCI just say... "OK, here is the new Banned and Restricted list:"
The DCI went on to state...
"Some have argued that the "Academy" deck has not yet truly dominated the Standard environment, though few have claimed it won't ever need to be banned. We decided to ban it now because we only have one more opportunity to ban and restrict cards before Regionals and Nationals, and we need to see what the "Academy-free" environment is like. Banning these cards now gives us three months in the new environment before the April 1, 1999 changes."
This BAN-NOW-ASK-QUESTIONS-LATER attitude being adopted by a paranoid DCI is exactly what is contributing to the downfall of what used to be one of the most interesting and exciting games ever. This tendency of the DCI to BAN cards simply because they might be too efficient is disturbing to say the least. Fight for your right to play something NEW and EXCITING!!! Join the campaign to UNBAN THE ACADEMY today!!!
"The Academy" played by Jeremiah Johnson |
4 Mind Over Matter 4 Stroke of Genius 4 Time Spiral 4 Windfall 2 Meditate 2 Intuition 2 Brainstorm 2 Power Sink 1 Capsize |
4 Mana Vault 4 Voltaic Key 2 Mox Diamond 4 Lotus Petal 2 Claws of Gix 4 Tolarian Academy 2 Ancient Tomb 13 Island |
Sideboard: 2 Wasteland 2 Meekstone 2 Winter Orb 4 Propaganda 2 Power Sink 1 Capsize 2 Turnabout |
That is my Academy Deck. Come January 1, it will be entirely illegal for tournament play. Please join me in the fight to UNBAN TOLARIAN ACADEMY so that I, and others like myself, can continue playing this EXCELLENT new deck archetype!
WIZARDS OF THE COAST, Magic, and the mana symbols are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. �1998 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (but who the F@*K really cares anyway? These bastards are F@*king us like bitches, taking our money, and leaving us with no tourney level decks to play with besides mindless portal-style creature rush decks!)