Hello and welcome to another edition of Wednesday Afternoon Schmackdown!

Last Saturday’s Triple Treat tourney was exciting. I can still say despite of Tarmogoyfs running around in every format, Pickles is still blue’s best arsenal. I’ve finished 6th place on the TS Block tournament, only the top 5 were given Lorwyn passes. But that’s life. I had a good play and I’m looking forward getting that prerelease pass for the last time.

Meanwhile in Standard, BG TarmoRack is still at large. Mogg Fanatics are cluttering the field. In Legacy, Threshold and Salvager won the format against pools of Goblins, White Weenie and others.

A scientific breakthrough

Prior to the Etymology article by the GM himself, I think I’ve made one! I’ve just discovered another species that will add to the schmuckerus genealogy.

Sprung out from the muddy banks of Dominarian wastelands, I give you

The Schmuckerus Spectatorus

Note the deep, echoing voice and the “Frankenstein-esque” background music. Now you may ask, what the hell are you talking about?

"These type or organisms looks harmless but opposite if you're aware. They encircle the playing area, first they cheer on their favorite host. Afterwards, they start on giving hints on the benefactor."

Several scenarios can be noted in relation to how spectators affect every game. A very good example is what happened in the Japanese Nationals. The guy may be right when he cried “trample” for his purpose was to only remind the players of Akroma’s overlooked ability, but still, he’s wrong.

Referring to the DCI Universal Floor Rules, it clearly states that:

Spectators are expected to remain silent during matches and are not permitted to communicate with players in any way while matches are in progress. Players may request that a spectator not observe their matches. All such requests must be made through a Judge.

Spectators and members of the press who believe they have observed rules violations should inform a Judge, but must not interfere with the match.

Clear enough?

The reason why I'm bringing this up is that I've seen similar incidents that costed one's game. But how are we going to avoid such? Here are some tips that you might find very useful:

1. Ask them if they could remain silent until the game ends.
2. Before the game begins, ask some of your friends to be spectators as well and to watch over those pesky noisy spectators.
3. If you really, really feel very uncomfortable with spectators watching over you, ask a judge if it's possible to clear them out.

Another breakthrough

Our website (as a whole) has reached 189,096 traffic rank according to Alexa from 800,000 which is very significant.

Give ourselves a round of applause.

Let's keep up the good work. More activities means more traffic.

Source: http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=&url=http://neutralgrounds.net

Check your calendars

Today is "Talk Like a Pirate Day". Funny as it seems, there are people in some parts of the world are actually celebrating this.

Should I say, "Arrgh! Tharmogoyfs ahoy!"

Time for the Schmackdown's Video of the Week

Oops! This is worse than missing Akroma's trample or even paying Slaughter Pact's upkeep cost.

'Nuff said!

This is something you'll never miss

Next week we'll kick off the first edition of Ask DJudge column. If you have questions regarding several Magic rules, just email us at askdjudge@gmail.com. Our judge for the week will try to answer your hardest, leanest, meanest questions. So send those emails!