Last week was a barren wasteland as far as the Twitterverse was concerned. There was very little talk of anything important, and even less humor, which left us with nothing to discuss. This week was a flurry of Tweets—most of it devoid of any actual card-playing at all.

First, I'll catch up on what small amount of news we did have last week, most of which involved a "pro" weight-loss program.

What seemed like a good, solid plan fueled by some big names quickly turned into a fun game of slander and rumors between Conley Woods and LSV.

Has this gone too far? Bad taste? Will anything actually come of it? Will we be seeing slimmer competition at the top tables, or is this all just them blowing smoke? Only time will tell, but this seems to be a big year for weight loss and change, so perhaps this is more than just words.

There was also the hum of card discussion still trailing from the release of the full spoiler. One of the conversations involves one of my favorite cards and personal call shots for this set—yet another Worldwake rare, Death's Shadow.

As I stated before, there wasn't much to cover from last week, but I still found these things worth mentioning and didn't want them totally left out. Moving onto the far more exciting and controversial topics of the current week, we find a plethora of topics in both Magic and current events.

To start the week off, we finally found the culprits behind the godbook leak from a few weeks back. With the origin of the godbook known, it was only a matter of time until the roots were traced back to the guilty. To the surprise of many, the leak came from some very well-known names, including the Guillaumes. With such high-profile names involved, there was quite the stir on Twitter debating not only the punishment but also putting WotC's trust in question.

These Tweets sum up the general consensus of the #MtG Twitter community, as a lot of questions have arisen, many still unanswered. With such high-level players being the ones to receive such information, it seems Wizards has indeed stirred up a hornet's nest. How long have pro-level players been receiving such information? Has this affected the integrity of the game? Does this have anything to do with the rise of certain players to the top-ranked Level 8 pro tiers?

Without such answers and with what seems to be a pretty hush-hush response from Wizards, it seems it may be some time before we find any answers. For now, we have had a three-year banning handed out to last year's World Champion and an addition three eighteen-month bans to Wafo-Tapa and two others. Is this enough to deter future leaks, or is this just a slap on the wrist? Taking away the two major names' livelihood certainly is detrimental, but what about the others who seem less reliant on the game? Details are blurry at best for now, but expect more on the subject in the future weeks.

In other news not #MtG-related, it appears that the manhunt for Osama Bin Laden is over. News trickled in early this week regarding the mass murderer's demise, which all seemed to stem from this post.

The news seemed to boost the spirits at first, but quickly brought a backlash of people who at this point are wondering if all the lives and money expended were really worth the trouble. The #MtG Twitterverse had infinite comments lined up regarding the subject, both positive and negative. Quickly, though, as with most topics of discussion, the jokers came out poking fun at the incident.

The possible bannings are still on the airwaves from time to time as Jace and his Wingmen still dominate the format. Will we see a banning? Most people are still fifty/fifty, with very little commitment either direction. With the new set looking to bring a plethora of new decks, it seems that we may be able to get out from under the thumb of the Wallet Sculptor soon.

Speaking of new decks, the price of a once-bulk rare, Splinter Twin, has risen to $8 to $10 and is sold out on almost every site. With the new set offering a Pestermite of sorts in the form of the new Blue Exarch, it seems that the combo deck may have some potential. Whether it lives up to all the hype is yet to be seen, but for now, Splinter Twin seems to be the talk of the town for new decks.

To wrap up the week, we had a heated debate today on the EV of online Magic playing. Since all the poker players seem to have nothing left to crunch numbers on, they've moved to Magic, and some of the bigger names seem to be involved.

This conversation continued for hours, discussing the merits of all the online draft formats and payouts for each. The main focus seemed to revolve around what format had the best value in order to continue assuming you have the same picks for each and whether player skill of opponents changed in each format. This was a very interesting read from some great minds transferring poker knowledge to the #MtG scene.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week of turmoil and backlash. It seems the public is awaiting WotC's next move, and until then, everything is all left to speculation. With so little in the form of actual card discussion, I imagine many are keeping lists close to the chest, as we are looking at a completely new format starting next week. Expect some updates in the form of SCG Opens and PTQs in the coming weeks.

Until next week, keep on Tweeting!

Ryan Bushard

@CryppleCommand on Twitter