Mike Long
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (August 2015) |
Mike Long | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974 (age 49–50) |
| Alma mater | James Madison University (Class of '97) |
| Years active | 1995-2004 |
| Known for | Pro Tour (Magic: The Gathering) |
Michael Long, known as Mike Long, is a former professional Magic: The Gathering player who was a high-profile figure on the Pro Tour in its formative years.
Early life and education
Long was born in Albany, New York and later lived in Gambrills, Maryland where he attended the Severn School.[1] He attended college at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.[2] At James Madison, he wrestled and played on the James Madison Dukes football team.[3] He began competing at Magic: The Gathering tournaments in 1995.[4] After graduation, Long owned a game store called "The End" in Charlottesville and wrote strategy articles in addition to working on the professional tour. He began using Internet marketing for both his strategy articles and for card sales, and also started a search engine optimization business.[5]
Magic: The Gathering
| Magic: The Gathering career | |
|---|---|
| Pro Tour debut | 1996 Pro Tour New York |
| Winnings | US$ 102,669[6] |
| Pro Tour wins (Top 8) | 1 (4)[7] |
| Grand Prix wins (Top 8) | 1 (4)[8] |
| Lifetime Pro Points | 191[9] |
| Planeswalker Level | 43 (Archmage) |
Magic: The Gathering was released in 1993 and a Pro Tour launched the following year. Long proved to be an early celebrity champion known for his aggressive persona.[10] Long's first individual tournament win was at the Paris Pro Tour during the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 1996–97.[11] During the Paris tournament, Long debuted a "combination deck" called Prosperous Bloom that was notably the first successful combination deck in tournament-level play. During the last game of the finals, Long was playing against Mark Justice and faced losing when Mark played Coercion to find out Mike was holding the only Drain Life in his deck (and his only way to win). Despite this, Mark pulled Cadaverous Bloom instead, thinking Mike could get the Drain Life back with Elven Cache if allowed to generate the "cadaverous mana" for a large Prosperity. Little did he know Mike had sideboarded them out (as he pointed out before draining Mark's life for a total of 44 points).[12] At the 1998 U.S. Nationals, there was controversy when a key card was found on Long's chair during a game.[13] The head judge issued a match loss to Long, who went on to finish second in the tournament. Long won that year's Magic Invitational. The award was the chance to create a new card and inclusion in the card's art.[14] That card, Rootwater Thief, was printed in the Nemesis set.
By his retirement, Long had won a Pro Tour, a Grand Prix, and an Invitational and held the record for being on the most winning national teams and was in the top lifetime money winners. Long's legacy also included one of the first player teams, created while he was still in college.[2] He was responsible for several technical innovations; he designed a Vintage format combo deck, named "Long.dec" for him, that used Burning Wish to fetch Yawgmoth's Will out of the sideboard and set up a kill with Tendrils of Agony. Subsequent Vintage combo decks that use tutoring to set up a Tendrils kill have retained the name although the original deck was rendered unplayable by restrictions. In 2005, former organizer Mark Rosewater nominated Long for the Hall of Fame. This ignited debates over Long's impact on the game. Rosewater wrote, "He was an early pioneer in deck design and had an influence on how deck building technology evolved. He was a tournament organizer. He wrote about the game."[15] Others felt Long did not qualify his entry due to the playing controversies. During the Pro Tour Los Angeles in 2000, Long had been given a warning for improperly shuffling his deck.[16] Darwin Kastle made a further error when he cut Long's deck instead of shuffling.[16][17] During the US Nationals Draft Challenge held at United States Nationals in 2000, Long was disqualified without prize and given a one-month suspension for presenting a deck that was not sufficiently randomized.[18][19] The controversy over Long's place in game history and Long's response are featured in the documentary I Came to Game (2014).[20]
Magic: The Gathering professional appearances
| Season | Event type | Location | Format | Date | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worlds | Seattle | National team | 4–6 August 1995 | 1 | |
| 1996 | Worlds | Seattle | National team | 1996 | 1 |
| 1996–97 | Pro Tour | Atlanta | Sealed Deck | 13–15 September 1996 | 6 |
| 1996–97 | Invitational | Hong Kong | Special | 14–16 February 1997 | 2 |
| 1996–97 | Pro Tour | Paris | Block Constructed | 11–13 April 1997 | 1 |
| 1996–97 | Grand Prix | Washington D.C. | Limited | 26–27 April 1997 | 1 |
| 1997–98 | Invitational | Rio de Janeiro | Special | 29 January–2 February 1998 | 5 |
| 1997–98 | Worlds | Seattle | National team | 12–16 August 1998 | 1 |
| 1998–99 | Invitational | Barcelona | Special | 4–7 February 1999 | 1 |
| 1998–99 | Pro Tour | Los Angeles | Rochester Draft | 26–28 February 1999 | 8 |
| 1999–00 | Pro Tour | Los Angeles | Block Constructed | 4–6 February 2000 | 4 |
| 1999–00 | Invitational | Kuala Lumpur | Special | 2–5 March 2000 | 7 |
| 1999–00 | Grand Prix | Nagoya | Team Limited | 22–23 April 2000 | 3 |
| 1999–00 | Nationals | Orlando, Florida | Standard and Booster Draft | 8–11 June 2000 | 5 |
| 2001–02 | Nationals | Kissimmee, Florida | Standard and Booster Draft | 31 May–2 June 2002 | 5 |
| 2002–03 | Grand Prix | Pittsburgh | Team Limited | 31 May–1 June 2003 | 4 |
Last updated: 31 July 2009
Source: Event Coverage at Wizards.com
References
- ^ "Football". James Madison Dukes. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ^ a b Kushner, David (2006). Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids : how a gang of geeks beat the odds and stormed Las Vegas (Random House trade pbk. ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 0812974387. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ Bluestone Yearbook Staff. "Bluestone : 1993 Football". James Madison University. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ Rosewater, Mark (16 November 2009). "Around the Worlds in Fifteen Years". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
- ^ Henry, Jason (24 April 2016). "COACHELLA 2016: Meet the former 'Magic: The Gathering' champion who brought his Lamborghini to Indio". The Press Enterprise.
- ^ "Lifetime Winnings Leaders". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ "Lifetime Pro Points". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ Pearlman, Jeff (November 17, 1997). "Revenge Of The Nerds Magic Is Played With Cards. It's Wildly Popular. It's Tough To Explain". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ Buehler, Randy (2006). "Hall of Fame: One Man's Ballot". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ^ Flores, Mike (March 15, 2007). "Master versus Master". Magic: The Gathering Magazine. Wizards of the Coast LLC. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ Burn, Seth. "The Rule of Law". Archived from the original on 2000-11-17. Retrieved 2006-12-05.
- ^ Rosewater, Mark (2005-05-10). "All-Star Studded". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ^ Rosewater, Mark (June 27, 2005). "It's a Long Story". Making Magic Magazine. Wizards of the Coast. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ a b Buehler, Randy. "Pro Tour-Los Angeles 2000 Round 14 Feature Match". Retrieved 2006-12-05.
- ^ Dougherty, Robert. "The Anatomy of a Cheating Method". Archived from the original on 2003-02-05. Retrieved 2006-12-05.
- ^ Mindripper OnLine - MAGIC
- ^ Eikefet, Kim. "The Long Controversy". Archived from the original on 2001-06-25. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
- ^ Chalk, Titus (July 11, 2011). "The Exiled". Magic: The Gathering. CoolStuffInc.com LLC. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
