MTG thread

Strasky's G2 looks a lot better with 4 Nissa coming in from the board.

Final : Yasooka vrs Dang




Presently 1-1

Mono red derp wins a GP. Yay.

You aren't speaking of Pro Tour Dragon's of Tarkir and it's clearly R/G winner I hope.

Atarka's Command x4 and Become Immense, so R/g?

SCG 'States' is such a funny tournament. It's basically just an IQ/Super IQ level of event, but yet they get way more players due to the naming. I top8d standard on saturday, and I 'won' modern on sunday, so now I'm the arkansas 'state champion' of modern! lol. The format I have played maybe a dozen games of, and with a deck I had never played before (infect) I've got basically a box of packs, a playmat and a medal now. Had it just been a regular super or elite IQ, I'd have a bunch of cash in my pocket instead heh. There were 84 for standard and 48 for modern. I say I 'won' because it was all buddies in the top 4, so we split packs but I gave up a few packs for the official win for the SCG points.

We've got a guy who goes to every state championship every year, and has since State Championships first existed. He has gotten 2nd place so many times that the ribbing has become pretty amazing on the local boards every time. Even with 3903219420234 state championships a year now, he *still* can't get past 2nd place. And he's been to the PT several times off of PTQ wins/Grand Prix finishes/Rating Qualification under the old system, so it's not like he's bad; states is just the hill he goes to die on.

Yeah, pretty sure the shop I go to for Boardgame Night is going to be overrun by people who never normally play there this Game Day

enzie_sl said:

SCG 'States' is such a funny tournament. It's basically just an IQ/Super IQ level of event, but yet they get way more players due to the naming. I top8d standard on saturday, and I 'won' modern on sunday, so now I'm the arkansas 'state champion' of modern! lol. The format I have played maybe a dozen games of, and with a deck I had never played before (infect) I've got basically a box of packs, a playmat and a medal now. Had it just been a regular super or elite IQ, I'd have a bunch of cash in my pocket instead heh. There were 84 for standard and 48 for modern. I say I 'won' because it was all buddies in the top 4, so we split packs but I gave up a few packs for the official win for the SCG points.

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Agreed. I won Alabama Standard states and our TO just used the minimum payout unlike many of the surrounding states who made each day 1ks in addition to the stock prizes.

I wish it was somehow different then an IQ, like when they qualified you for nationals. If starcity gave a 'regional' invite for the top 8, and hosted a nicer tournament for regionals, for example. As it is, states and regionals are literally just re-named super or elite IQs. Plus, TCG runs their own states as well.. it's all kind of lame really.

It's a marketing thing.

I'm pretty sure the day is coming soon where TOs are going to have to start offering better prizes to separate themselves from the herd. IQs are already roughly as popular in my area as PPTQs since the payout is basically the same, and the invitational slot actually means more than an RPTQ invite. With PPTQs happening every damn weekend, numbers are starting to drop off because they don't feel special anymore. The smallest one I've seen so far has been 17 people, and the largest in the Atlanta area topped out somewhere in the 60s. Most are between 25-40 players, but the cost to run them hasn't gone down from the old PTQs where 100+ was the norm. Something is going to need to change.

The payout for the SCG States Washington was 10 boxes and they took in at least $3000 in entries. Now I can understand 10 boxes as payout if the venue were being rented, but it wasn't AFAIK and they ran it in their store so staffing overhead wasn't a factor, plus judges are paid shit for the work they do. In the end my estimate is the store pocketed at least 2/3 of the entry fees.

I have toyed with the idea of running my own tournament series in Seattle since I know a few places that will give me cheap rental, but WotC puts in so many barriers it isn't funny.

Which is what I meant when talking about barriers. Hell, even as a store there are barriers. Mox Boarding House, Card Kingdom's second store, still had to jump through all the attendance hoops to get enough product to run prereleases which is hilarious.

Xalara_sl said:

The payout for the SCG States Washington was 10 boxes and they took in at least $3000 in entries. Now I can understand 10 boxes as payout if the venue were being rented, but it wasn't AFAIK and they ran it in their store so staffing overhead wasn't a factor, plus judges are paid shit for the work they do. In the end my estimate is the store pocketed at least 2/3 of the entry fees.

I have toyed with the idea of running my own tournament series in Seattle since I know a few places that will give me cheap rental, but WotC puts in so many barriers it isn't funny.

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Judges aren't paid shit. It's not something that we do for profit, that's for damn sure, but compensation is reasonable (usually $75 cash per level at a minimum) for local events. Break even for the minimum payout for a $30 PPTQ or IQ is roughly 24-25 players when you factor in prizes and paying 2 judges (one of whom has to be L2 for PPTQs). We work events because we enjoy it and it's a fun way to participate in the community, and if we're being totally honest because working local events is the only way to get staffed on Opens and GPs. Compensation at those has improved considerably since GP foils went away. An L2 working a GP is making roughly $250 per day, plus boxes. That covers travel and then some.

Now, if you're suggesting that the prizes should have been better... yes, I agree. A 100 player tournament should have given out more in prizes than that.

Mist_sl said:

30 dollars for a constructed PPTQ? Holy shit that's alot of money.

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$25-30 is normal entry to the best of my knowledge. When you figure $250 cash and roughly a case of product in payout, that puts the break even right around the mid 20s for player number.

Anyone get themselves a play mat? I was 2nd place going into top 8 with UW control that I threw together yesterday with a heavy anti-control sideboard (75% of the decks that showed were control. I faced none of them.) and terrible shit like 3x mainboard pacifism. Shit like Stratus Casterx2 and Spellsnatcherx3 in the board. Lost first round of top 8 to RG midrange/dragons. Roflstomped G1 but lost G2 and 3 due to bad draws. Can only counter 8 dragons and pacify/encase/shift/stance/banish 8-12 more threats before you run out of steam when you don't hit a single draw spell, board wipe, or win con >.<. Really wanted that mat but at least the top 8 promo is fucking gorgeous. BU control took it down. Would have been such a great match up. Such is life.

Reality Shift x4 was everything I wanted it to be though. Had many a blowout off of a courser reveal with it. G1 I also Scorn'd a lethal Stormbreath when he had open mana and I had no dragon. Much confidence so wow. We were the last game so half the store was watching. It felt kinda bad.