Magic: the Gathering scheduled events at PAX Prime
Cascade Games has posted the menu of Magic events they'll be running all show, parallel to the Magic World Championship and other Wizard of the Coast-run events. Magic events will take place in the Annex, on the Lower Level and Level 1.
View all of the details at: http://blog.cascadegames.com/magic-the-gathering/pax-prime-2015/
The Cascade Games page will be the authority on what events will be run, and it may update with new info between now and showtime.
Also, don't forget that The Lady Planeswalker Society will also be in this space, as the officially designated group teaching Magic to all new players.
EDIT: Here's all of the official stuff that Wizards of the Coast will also be running in the same area, including the Battle For Zendikar spoiler announcements, the Party, the track of Magic-specific Panels, etc. http://t.co/njUC5ot7tI
View all of the details at: http://blog.cascadegames.com/magic-the-gathering/pax-prime-2015/
The Cascade Games page will be the authority on what events will be run, and it may update with new info between now and showtime.
Also, don't forget that The Lady Planeswalker Society will also be in this space, as the officially designated group teaching Magic to all new players.
EDIT: Here's all of the official stuff that Wizards of the Coast will also be running in the same area, including the Battle For Zendikar spoiler announcements, the Party, the track of Magic-specific Panels, etc. http://t.co/njUC5ot7tI
Lackey on
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I'm just curious what happened to all the fun/unique events.
This is the event list by the people that run the side tournaments for every PAX. The company that owns Magic, Wizards of the Coast, should have their panel(s) and party, etc as well.
He replied several times here, for more details:
https://www.facebook.com/CascadeGames/posts/1063619367002465
Personally, I think that offering ROE drafts at basically half of their market value, and you get a free PAX-unique Garruk playmat for playing, and(<--trying to confirm) tickets towards their prize wall is a rather compelling package. Don't forget that the only way to get the Gideon Pinny Arcade pin is to play in these events, get tickets, and redeem them at their prize wall.
Also, since I foolishly forgot to link it originally, here's all of the official stuff that Wizards of the Coast will also be running in the same area, including the Battle For Zendikar spoiler announcements, the Party, the track of Magic-specific Panels, etc. http://t.co/njUC5ot7tI
Thanks for the links to FB and the WotC pages.
EDIT: sorry, that was for Prime 14. Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up.
Your best bet would be at the Hyatt Olive 8 Hotel 3rd floor ballroom, probably in the evenings.
I've made my voice very clear on the FB thread and on reddit that the lack of event diversity (specifically there being zero constructed events) is extremely disappointing.
If you do want to host your own event, let me know and I can lend assistance. I'm a TO for a small local community and can actually run/sanction the event as well. I'm also a L1. I think Modern would be a good target event type (though I'm preferable to Legacy - but I understand that has a much smaller draw).
Saturday is going to be the busiest Magic day (with all the stuff WotC is going to be doing) so be sure to plan around that.
1) Do we even have the room to run two tournaments side by side? I'd feel comfortable with room for twenty people per tournament but from what Lackey said I'm not sure if we can get it.
2) What constructed format? My inkling would be to go with standard since more people would have decks for a convention like this.
3) Prize support for constructed. One box per 8 people? Similarly for sealed?
4) Cost? What to do with extra money? I think Child's Play is where any extra money should go.
Did I miss anything?
Sunday evening sounds like the optimal choice as well.
Ignoring having enough space for a moment, having 2 events side-by-side creates a lot of overhead. If you haven't ran a large-ish event before, I think it's much safer to just run one and see where it goes. If you're looking to participate in the event that you're running, it further compounds the effort - it can be absolutely exhausting because as soon as you're done playing, you're handling event tasks and then as soon as you're done with those, the next round is starting. It's basically a marathon from start to finish for you.
Standard or Modern would both be fine IRT getting a decent turn-out I think.
That's a pretty basic formula, but it can be literally whatever you feel is adequate while weighing entrance fees. A box per 8 players is a 4-pack-per-person payout. You could half that payout to reduce entry fees pending where you think interest will lie. The next big question comes with prize distribution... but that's a big discussion with no "correct" answer.
Also keep in mind that the larger the prize payout, the more boxes you need to get. If you're already doing sealed and you're giving out a box per 8 players, then you're talking about needing 10 boosters per player. That adds up to A LOT of product very quickly. I'm not sure where you're traveling from, but this should factor into your plan.
Gamers Helping Gamers is another very valid choice: http://www.gamershelpinggamers.org/about
But since you're not looking to make money, for the first time, just worry about matching up entry fee with prize payout. Once you decide on the prize support you want to have, then it becomes a pretty basic formula for determining the cost of the event if you're looking to effectively break even.
(# players * booster packs per player ) = total # of booster packs required
(total # boosters / 36 ) = # booster boxes needed
(your cost per booster box * # booster boxes needed ) = your total cost
(your total cost / # players ) = price per player
Those are definitely the high points for decisions that need to be made to figure out the event parameters.
There are other practical issues for running the event though, such as:
These sorts of events can quickly become victims of their own success. Running a 16 person event your first time out is pretty easy. If that jumps to 40+ people, you could become overwhelmed VERY quickly without having expertise to fall back on.
Deciding if you need a cap is another thing to consider in order to ensure a positive event for everyone.
Do not count on Internet -- plan to do any pairings without getting online. But we'll have a printer at our TT Tourney Admin table that you'll be able to use to print out pairings.
Sanctioning it is just a convenient byproduct of being able to use WER for all the built-ins.
The downside, of course, is requiring internet access as well as needing a laptop in the first place.
Is it no longer possible to have people sign up for DCI numbers using physical cards and then submitting the information later? Also, it is possible to enter event results in WER after the fact isn't it? I know running a large event by hand is rather tedious, but imo running an event with 32 players or less by hand is fine and even 64 players is doable with patience.
No. The system changed a while back. People can sign up for DCI #'s on their own and they can do so via smart phone (if they can access the web and check their email). However, the software still needs a connection to "look up" any DCI number (new or otherwise) that isn't in its local database (which is likely going to be 100% of the participants). Then there are the people w/ DCI #'s that just don't remember them that you need to look up -- which you can do w/ WER as long as you're connected.
It's definitely possible to do this after the fact. I've done it with smaller tournaments. It's a PITA and, as you said, very tedious... but it's certainly possible.
The other problem, as I briefly alluded to in a post above, is that you lose all the tiebreakers and it gets hard to determine the actual rank at the end of the event. If you're just planning to pay out per record, (4-0, 3-1, etc) that obviates this as a pain point, but figuring out the needed prize support (and thus cost per player) is a bit trickier since it's not deterministic exactly how many 3-1's, 2-2's there will be at the end pending pair ups/downs and any draws. So there's a trade-off there that needs to be accounted and planned for.
These are all things that can be worked around, but I'm just trying to iterate through all the decision points and potential issues ahead of time to prevent as many surprises as possible.
Oh okay, so what do I do with all these leftover DCI sign up cards lol?
It is possible to calculate tiebreakers by hand, although it has the same tedium problem. Yeah, just run it with WER, it makes life simpler.
Literally just throw them away.
Sure, there's a formula for calculating it... but I doubt you'll want to do that. See Appendix C of the MTR: http://www.wizards.com/contentresources/wizards/wpn/main/documents/magic_the_gathering_tournament_rules_pdf1.pdf
Maybe someone has some other spreadsheet or fillable PDF file. I haven't gone fishing for one myself.
Considering PAX closes at 12 midnight, and the tournament starts around 7pm we will probably have to distribute prizes FNM style using number of wins as the metric because I'm not sure if we can fit the number of rounds requires to determine a proper winner. Plus this works out better for the less skilled players anyway. We're here to play Magic with a bunch of people we don't normally play Magic with. I am working on securing some sweet prizes, worst case we'll have booster packs.
@Lackey in terms of advertising, are there any restrictions? You guys said you could have a signup sheet at the tabletop desk on Sunday, would I be able to have a big poster you guys could hang? What about sponsorship? For example, I might be able to get a LGS to give product at a discount, but they might want me to announce that they've provided the product.
PAX. PAX. PAX. Boom.
PAX. PAX. PAX. Boom.
1) there's no constructed being offered at all -- give players an option that isn't similar to other offerings
2) you spend time with deck construction that could go into the bulk of another round
1) The event will be four rounds of standard constructed.
2) The tournament will be at 7pm, Sunday August 30th.
3) The tournament location is the Hyatt Olive 8 Hotel 3rd floor ballroom.
4) You can signup all Sunday in the tabletop tournament area, payment will be taken starting at 6pm by myself.
5) All entry fees will go towards prizes, which will be booster packs. If there is anything extra it will go towards Child's Play, but I will be trying really hard for there to not be anything extra.
6) Exact prizes are to be determined, but payout will be based on record with 2-0 or better getting packs.
7) Player cap is 56 people.
8) Price will be around $10 (to be finalized with prizes).
Think of this as an FNM tournament with some awesome people. So tell all of your friends and let's fill this up!
Let me know if you have any concerns or questions.
Speaking of the tournament, I have secured prizes. Entry will be $10 per person and the prizes pool will be at the rate of 36 packs of Magic Origins per eight people who sign up. Tentative (not final!) payout is: 4 packs for 2-0, 8 packs for 3-0, and 12 packs for 4-0. I just need to finalize how draws work.
As an example, if people are 2 wins 1 loss going into the final round, if there's a winner, one will end up at 3-1 and the other at 2-2. So if I read your tentative prizes correct, that's 8+4 = 12 packs for the pair of them, so 2-1-1 (two wins 1 loss 1 draw) should end up at 6 packs each to have the same 12 packs available. If you paid 7 packs each for 2-1-1, players might be tempted to Intentionally draw, and then play a couple games, with the winner taking 9 and the loser taking 5, or something. Or on the flip side, if they each got 5 for 2-1-1, if they were coming close to a draw near the end of the round, one might concede on the promise of getting 6 each instead of 5 each.
And then once you figure out the 1 draw numbers, you can try to use those to figure out the multiple draw scenarios. (Let me know if that doesn't make sense, and I'll take a few minutes to figure it all out based on your 4/8/12 structure. . . lunch at work is ending, so I don't have time right now.)
Or is 2 wins going to be the min payout, and if you have 2+ wins, THEN a draw will be worth an extra 2 packs?