If you follow me on twitter (@dieplstks) you've probably come to realize a few things:
1. I'm not very friendly
2. I probably dislike you
3. I probably dislike your writing
4. As much as I dislike your writing, the amount I dislike the "writing" of Jonathan Medina is much, much greater.
5. I'm depressed and pathetic and single, :P
Every week I look forward to the sociology/psychology project that is Jon Medina's article; the man is the Dunning-Kruger effect with a pair of lungs (I'd say with a heartbeat, but I'm not sure if Medina has a heart or if he traded it away for an extra foil at some point to maximize "value"). His most recent series about pimping out your collection/deck (also known as "The Magical Frat House: How to be a Douche") serves to showcase almost all the flaws of the series so I'll just use his most recent one to illustrate my points.
1. Medina does not care about the quality of his writing
This is obvious to anyone who has ever read something ever so I don't really feel the need to expand. However this sentence is a good indication of the whole thing (and from the free preview):
"I had two trades going when David Sharfman walked up with the Counterspell that's pictured above. He waited patiently for me to finish with the other two trades"
2. Medina has basically the worst tone possible
You know how every family has that Uncle that has that side business that's really shady? You know, the one that comes up to you with the big new thing: "Hey, Chris, I started selling these black boxes out of the back of my car, want to help?" Well, if the Magic community was one big (un)happy family, Medina would be that uncle. His knowledge of any subject is only thorough enough to (supposedly) earn a profit, but he acts like the wisest guru that mtg finance has (spoiler: he's not). Look at this fucking shining gem from the most recent article:
"This revelation might put you in panic mode, “If Medina can't tell us how to price this stuff, then who can?!”"
No, I am not kidding. He actually wrote that. Word for fucking word. Without irony. Without even the hint of it being a joke. "If Flores can't tell us how to win states six years ago, then who can?!"
3. Medina is a tool
Do I need to say anything else?
Another very well written post/article, I'm not sure why someone with your talent would waste their time critiquing Medina, but it's interesting to read anyway. I'm going to explore you body of work further, but for now I recommend you trying writing fiction because you have an ear for story and a way with character that most writers simply do not have.
ReplyDeleteThanks, http://www.starcitygames.com/pages/articlefinder.php?keyword=Chris+Mascioli and http://www.gatheringmagic.com/chrismascioli-chasing-kate-why-and-how-i-qualified-for-pro-tour-dark-ascension/ are the only published Magic pieces I have (as well as posts on dieplstks.blogspot.com and dieplstks.tumblr.com) that's published online.
DeleteMost of my non-online writing is on art criticism (mostly for small art periodicals that don't exist anymore), but if I can dig any of it up, I'll throw it on one of my blogs.
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