This week in Twitter, the public saw a pretty big swing in conversations—from the usual NPH and bannings we have been seeing, to a few announcements directly from Wizards of the Coast themselves.

The first major announcement was within Mark Rosewater’s article this week involving the reprint of Jace, the Mind Sculptor. He was quoted as saying, “But he’s about to rotate and he won’t be coming back.”

I have yet to see the official confirmation, but may have missed it among the flurry of Tweets on the subject. This also appears to mean Jace won’t be receiving the ban hammer and will be sculpting the format until rotation later this year.

Another huge WotC statement was announced involving the extension of National Qualifiers on ratings until the end of this month.

This announcement had a mix of responses and was actually the source of my main topic today involving ratings and qualifying for events. Though some were, I’m sure, happy to hear this, since this gives them some extra time to grind those last few points, just as many were frustrated by the announcement.

As Aaron stated, the issue of not being able to play if one doesn’t want to risk one’s rating is a major factor for some people. I have heard this sentiment echoed through Twitter, and have seen some people announcing that they could not play in Grand Prix: Providence due to this.

After a lot of discussion, it was finally agreed that something needed to change and, as Aaron stated, the process would be slow. There were some great ideas among some of the larger names in Magic that seemed to be some solid solutions for the growing problem.

With a multitude of ideas being thrown around, it seems that the general consensus was that a “window” would be the best way to allow players to maintain byes and qualifiers while not forcing them to stop playing Magic for a month before each event.

The flaws in the current system seem to revolve around variance and luck rather than an actual issue with the rating itself. Unlike chess, Magic has factors other than skill involved, so to base it off the ELO system is somewhat flawed in and of itself.

The other ideas seemed sound in theory, but each was shot down as its flaws were revealed. The current system seems to work for now, but needs a major overhaul in the near future.

The debate seemed to die off after hours of talk on the subject, which, surprisingly, didn’t turn humorous at any point. They were all business on the topic of ratings, and rightfully so, as for some of these guys, this is their business.

There was a solid recommendation among all the debating that I found worthy of note. If you have your rating locked in but don’t want to risk the FNM grind, perhaps helping at your local shop can be a good alternative.

To wrap up the ratings debate, I think it’s important for people to understand how the system works and where the flaws lie. For that, Star City Games has written a pretty comprehensive article involving the current rating system.

Well, before I depart for the week, there are two more small things worth mentioning. As I discussed last week, the pros seem to be on a weight-loss kick, and it seems some of them are really serious.

I also spoke to Conley Woods while getting my face smashed in by one of the best Necrotic Oozes I have ever seen in a limited game, and he said he was down about ten pounds himself.

I’m unsure where these posts started, but Lan D Ho was re-Tweeting them sporadically, and some of them are actually hilarious. Nerd humor at its best, and a welcome addition to this week of serious talk and debate.

Well, that’s all we have for this week on the topic of reprints and ratings. Join me next week to see where the Tweets take us; until then, keep on Tweeting!

Ryan Bushard

@CryppleCommand on Twitter