Magic Schedule for Pax!

arsonisfun

Tom Shea wrote: »

Now you can see that I don't normally play edh. Who would my vampire "general" be?

please tell me so I can build it.

Tom

well, for a laugh-worthy pick you could go with Baron Sengir ...

Oh homelands, why were you so awful?


Garza Zol, Plague Queen looks like a legit vampire legend

atiari

Crovax was a legendary vampire I believe. And then his reformed format "The Ascendant Evincar" or something like that. I don't have my old collection anymore, but I remember them from the Stronghold era. Were pretty good except the casting costs if I recall correctly.

Crovax the cursed

Ascendant Evincar

Mirri the cursed

As you can tell, I loved the Weatherlight crew

GHoooSTS

Ascendant Evincar and Garza Zol are both money generals, I prefer Garza because I like to have access to at least three colours but that's just me.

atiari

I had a quick question about the Super Friday Night Magic...how much time do you think that will take? I see it starts at 6pm, but how long should be budgeted for it? 3 hours, 4 hours, more?

Hippowithwings

Will there be magic dealers in attendance aswell? I am dieing to go diving through a .25 cent crap rare box (one of my favorite pastimes).

atiari

Hippowithwings wrote: »

Will there be magic dealers in attendance aswell? I am dieing to go diving through a .25 cent crap rare box (one of my favorite pastimes).

I see Star City Games as a sponsor of the show...so...maybe? When I went in 08 there were not dealers, just WotC hosting a variety of events.

FoamBrain

Hippowithwings wrote: »

Will there be magic dealers in attendance aswell?

I know there will be at least 2 vendors selling magic (Foam Brain Games, ie my company, and Star City (I assume)). There might be more, but I'm not sure.

Tom Shea

There are several more that I know of as well. Several of which are local.

I will have to see if I can get the edh done. There is still alot to do the next few weeks. Lots of paperwork to do. It will be interesting to see which event is the most popular.

We will be collecting email addresses as well to set up an email list to help us promote PAX next year. A sign up link will be up on the TJ web site soon as well.

stop by and say hello

Tom

Xiryc

Tom Shea wrote: »

Now you can see that I don't normally play edh. Who would my vampire "general" be?

please tell me so I can build it.

Tom

Anowon, the Ruin Sage would be a pretty strong general, if you go straight Black.

FoamBrain

Tom Shea wrote: »

It will be interesting to see which event is the most popular.

I know I want to sneak away to play team minimaster. Its such a crazy fun format

LTAcosta

I just learned how to play magic about a month ago, so I might actually try to check some of this out. The minimaster format does sound pretty fun. How long does it usually last?

atiari

atiari wrote: »

I had a quick question about the Super Friday Night Magic...how much time do you think that will take? I see it starts at 6pm, but how long should be budgeted for it? 3 hours, 4 hours, more?

Hey Tom,

Quoting my earlier post in hopes of a response.

Xiryc

atiari wrote: »

atiari wrote: »

I had a quick question about the Super Friday Night Magic...how much time do you think that will take? I see it starts at 6pm, but how long should be budgeted for it? 3 hours, 4 hours, more?

Hey Tom,

Quoting my earlier post in hopes of a response.

Plan to spend no less than five hours at this. Four rounds plus pack distribution and deck building/registering.

atiari

Xiryc wrote: »

atiari wrote: »

atiari wrote: »

I had a quick question about the Super Friday Night Magic...how much time do you think that will take? I see it starts at 6pm, but how long should be budgeted for it? 3 hours, 4 hours, more?

Hey Tom,

Quoting my earlier post in hopes of a response.

Plan to spend no less than five hours at this. Four rounds plus pack distribution and deck building/registering.

Hrmm. Hoping that's not the case because food is going to be needed before 11pm XD Plus I have other functions to attend. I suppose we'll see what's going on though. Last time I did one of these (about 10 years ago) it was 30 minutes for distro, 30 minutes for building, then 30min/round.

Ahkhira

Reccommended round time for MTG is 50 minutes. Plan on one hour per round. Number of rounds is based on attendance: 8 players - 3 rounds
9-16 - 4 rounds
17-32 - 5 rounds
33- 64 - 6 rounds
65-128 -7 rounds
129-226 -8 rounds
Really can't guess on how long the event will go until we know how many players will be there. Hope this helps... Info is straight from the Magic Tournament Rules.

atiari

Well they said 4 rounds Swiss. Regardless of player count. So it's looking like 5 hours is about right afterall.

Ahkhira

That would be a good guess at 4 rounds of swiss.

atiari

Ahkhira wrote: »

That would be a good guess at 4 rounds of swiss.

I'm thinking in the name of expediency that they will simply pair up winners and losers as they come in.

i.e. Harry and Joe, Gary and Amy, Melissa and Doug, and Heather and Timmy are all playing. Joe beats Harry and they report in. Then Melissa and Doug report in next that Melissa won. Joe would be paired with Melissa while Harry and Doug are paired up. Then when the other 2 games report in they are then paired off. Saves a lot of time rather than trying to figure it out based on other factors.

Ahkhira

atiari wrote: »

I'm thinking in the name of expediency that they will simply pair up winners and losers as they come in.

i.e. Harry and Joe, Gary and Amy, Melissa and Doug, and Heather and Timmy are all playing. Joe beats Harry and they report in. Then Melissa and Doug report in next that Melissa won. Joe would be paired with Melissa while Harry and Doug are paired up. Then when the other 2 games report in they are then paired off. Saves a lot of time rather than trying to figure it out based on other factors.

At every MTG event I've ever been to (judging OR playing) the tournament computer does the pairings. This means that ALL the matches have to be reported before the next round can be paired up. The software figures out a lot of stuff, including tiebreaks at the end of the event (i.e. math too complicated for my small skull). The only exception to this that I can think of is 8 man single elimination events. Since we're only running X numer of rounds, these tiebreakers will come into play at some point (I wish I was able to explain how this worked).

festivusr

A friend of mine is really into Magic to the exclusion of other games. He'd like to know if he needs to have a PAX admission pass to play the Magic events, or if they are somehow separate from the convention. I'm assuming he needs a pass; is that correct?

Thanks!

Moe Fwacky

Yes, he needs a PAX pass to participate.

Ahkhira

festivusr wrote: »

A friend of mine is really into Magic to the exclusion of other games.

He's not alone.

atiari

Ok so reading the first post again and info on the official MTG website left me with two other questions:

Is SFNM going to start right at 6pm, as in card distro starting then?

Also, are we being given a standard 40 card land pack, or something else for land?

Ahkhira

There is always a designated "land station" set up where you can grab as much basic land as you need. As to the first question, without checking the OP, if it's draft, yes, cards will be passed out as close to stat time as possible. If anyone needs more info on drafts, how to draft, or ANYTHING, PM me and I will be more than happy to help you out.

EDIT: SFMN is limited (OP says sealed deck), so players will be seated and given product as close to start time as possible. Anyone wanting to play should be in the tournament area before the start time. (I usually show at least 1/2 hour beforehand.)

atiari

Ahkhira wrote: »

There is always a designated "land station" set up where you can grab as much basic land as you need. As to the first question, without checking the OP, if it's draft, yes, cards will be passed out as close to stat time as possible. If anyone needs more info on drafts, how to draft, or ANYTHING, PM me and I will be more than happy to help you out.

EDIT: SFMN is limited (OP says sealed deck), so players will be seated and given product as close to start time as possible. Anyone wanting to play should be in the tournament area before the start time. (I usually show at least 1/2 hour beforehand.)

Things have changed a lot since my last limited tournament The last one I can remember going to was for Tempest. That's right, it has been that long

Tom Shea

We will seat the players to start deck building at 6:00 pm. There is the usual announcements before passing out the packs. Then players will have tme to build their deck. Usually 30 minutes. The head judge may opt for a little more time as well. There will be a land station set up. If you have any questions you should ask a judge.

Five hours is a good estimation of how much time it would take to complete this event. We will have lots of things going on. You could get a league game in between waiting too.

stop by and say hello

Tom Shea

atiari

This is one of those cases where my group and I really want to attend, but we're trying to balance out the time that will be invested with other obligations. Plus dinner. Going from noon till 11pm or so without food might suck a bit...

Once again drawing upon my prior experience...would someone be allowed to stop by the table and drop off some food and drinks? Depending on the judge, in the past it was sometimes allowed and other times not. Pre-releases were pretty good about allowing meal drop offs, mainly because they are quite are strict as like a Pro Tour qualifier. I figure it can't hurt to ask.

Tom Shea

We won't mind having food delivered to the room. We don't want matches going on with open food or drink on the tables. Accidents can ruin another players fun which we don't want to see. I am not sure if the venue and the pax show itself have any rules/restrictsions requrarding food in general. I will have to ask that question. We are trying to make this event very player friendly and we do understand the balance of time that many of you have or don't have. That is the main reason why we don't have tons of events that require large blocks of time.

The intro pack league is probably the best in terms of fliexibility for players as you can play a match during our open hours. Please keep in mind that the magic room is open until 11:00. We will be doing 8 man booster drafts, and type 2 single elimation style as they form. If you bring us 8 players that wanted to play legacy under the same situation we would be happy to run that event too. This show is going to be FUN.


Stop by and say hello

Tom Shea

atiari

Well, I know my group is mainly looking at the SFNM because we need something that takes place when the expo show floor is closing. We're a media outlet and have a lot of important meetings during show hours, but want to kick back and have some fun when the show winds down for the night. I intend on asking the people I pick up our media badges from about food being brought in. Worst case scenario, we can have our intern pick up food from inside the convention center for us!

imavapor96

Will there be opportunities to play and learn for people who have never played but are very interested in learning? I saw it mentioned that some decks will be available for purchase at PAX. Will everything a newbie needs be available?

Tom Shea

PAX is the place for someone to learn about magic. We will have people teaching and demoing magic all day. There are lots of events that newbies will enjoy.

see you there

Tom

Ahkhira

I LOVE teaching people about Magic!!! We were all new to the game once! Newbies are very welcome to ask all sorts of questions and try out the game! I can't wait for PAX, and I'm hoping to meet lots of new players!!!

Tom Shea

It won't be long now. We are packing as I am writing this. We do hope to see all of you there.

stop by and say hello

Tom Shea

itzerokewl

Even though I've played Magic for a long time, it's been so long since I've played I'll feel like a n00b, but I'm excited about learning the new game mechanics and see how WotC has improved the game!

Jon007

Will the Magic events take Visa/MC? Or just cash? Trying to plan my ATM visits...

Deefuzz

Wow this sucks. I wont be able to attend any of the casual newbie events because the ones listed on the schedule conflict with the panels I am wanting to attend.

Oh well I will still try to stop by and see if I can get a demo from someone or something.

SpYkMo

Deefuzz wrote: »

Wow this sucks. I wont be able to attend any of the casual newbie events because the ones listed on the schedule conflict with the panels I am wanting to attend.

Oh well I will still try to stop by and see if I can get a demo from someone or something.

i'm no superstar magic lord or anything, but if you want to set up a meeting, i'll be glad to show you some basics.
send me an email SpYkMo@gmail.com
i'll be there all day friday. i'm planning on going to the keynote at 3 pm,the penny arcade panel at 4 pm. possibly round 1 of the omegathon at 5:30pm , the concerts friday night
Saturday i cant get there til after 3 pm. i wanna check out the college humor thing @ 4, and the sat night concerts
Sunday all day. i want to try to get to the penny arcade panel at 1pm or the x-play show also at 1, and the closing ceremony at 5.

atiari

Deefuzz wrote: »

Wow this sucks. I wont be able to attend any of the casual newbie events because the ones listed on the schedule conflict with the panels I am wanting to attend.

Oh well I will still try to stop by and see if I can get a demo from someone or something.

Super Friday Night Magic will be pretty newbie friendly. Everyone is on level footing in a draft 6pm Friday

LordDax

FNM is a great place to start BUT sealed/drafting takes a little bit of practice. Its a kind of trial by fire and one of the most interesting ways to learn to play in a swiss tourney. For some great info on how to get into sealed play check out this older WoTC column "Magic Academy" from Jeff Cunningham:

Your First Sealed Deck

Lindsey Lohan

Jon007 wrote: »

Will the Magic events take Visa/MC? Or just cash? Trying to plan my ATM visits...

I'd like to know this as well....Tom?