Would you rather have a newcomer face off against an "old pro" or another (relative) newcomer in their first round?
A newcomer to this event is going to face an elimination match in their first round anyway, simply because EVERY round is an elimination round. I see it as a BONUS for a newcomer, as the odds are significantly reduced for them to be facing an "old pro" in their first round. Let's face it, the people with the highest seed points - and getting the byes - are going to be players who win pretty regularly, not "some guy who played a few events and lost in round 2 each time".
There may be changes to the seeding system if this becomes a problem - where we have people with low seed points getting byes. Maybe by raising the bar to a minimum of X seed points needed to secure the bye. Or maybe by resetting seed points to 0 once a quarter. Perhaps even higher seeds get paired first, and newcomers get the byes. It remains to be seen.
yay for this. Year has been pretty sexy for Classic.
Although Xkorpio is well on track to having clinched the poty, there is a small chance that the increased events and the top 8 champs of the winter celebration can propel 2nd place the 16 or 18 points needed to the finish line. Everyone loves a come back story right? ha ha.
great article duders. Hopefully the consistent exposure and the winter champs will continue to grow the format and retain more new players.
My first reaction to this idea: new players keep away!
As I see this, any old-timer will get a pass to round two. Any new player trying to join the community is guaranteed to face a round one elimination match. It really feels like an insiders club.
I understand why you are doing this, but you might think about how this will be perceived from the outside.
A stellar example of where the bar should be set for a great article here on puremtgo. This is the type of writing that acts as a bookmark, requiring 'careful study' of said format..A great resource. I love the disclamer in red too...I'm always irked when, after spending so much time on an article, someone goes.."oh I loved it, but what about..." As you implied, there's no end to that - and it's kinda sad we have to disclose the obvious!
Wizards just announced a bunch of Classic events, and special Classic-only promos, as part of the Holiday Celebration. It's thanks mainly to the work you folks, including Hoff, Hammer, Whiffy, MMogg and the rest, have done that Wizards is giving Classic a Christmas present. Without your efforts, Classic could have been the next Prismatic.
Sigh.... and here I thought I had gotten away from the claws of classic, only for the insidious winter celebration sink its teeth into me. Be seeing you guys in the queues!
I want to do one of these so much. Schedule is tight...
I'll just keep trying and then doing the Tribal events when I don't wake up.
This next ban announcement is going to be interesting. I assume that something is getting banned and not unbanned. The format feels more fair then before the last announcement, but there are still some things that probably should go before more stuff comes back.
I don't think that Mental Misstep will ever come off. The card is just so warping. Every competitive deck will start with 4 x Misstep, etc, blahdy-blooody, whatever. It stifles deck building.
Same with Ancestral Vision. The card is not broken or anything, it is just REALLY good in the strategoes that can utilize it.
We'll see though. I have been wrong before.
Thanks for getting so involved with us on all fronts, man. And thank you for continuing to run these events.
That black "Phyrexian oil" you guys injected into my mind during the last year did its work (I think you guys call it "Classic" in your wicked Phyrexian language!!!). My transformation is about to be finished and I'm about to be "compleat". I hope you evil Phyrexian agents are happy now!!
Joking aside, I'm bookmarking this for future reference. I think I'm going to need this in the early days of 2012. Classic is the inevitable "end" for me, but there are just a few things I must do before becoming an addict.
hum...
very first pile was like 70 green cards and 20 forrest
first deck i built was a uw controlly deck with icy's and island sanctuarys
first deck i won with against the guy who taught me was a ub counter deck
first tournament deck i built was a uw mirror universe deck/ winter orb deck.
My first deck on memory was black/white discard aggro, and used Balance, Dark Ritual, Hippies, mindstabthrulls, hymms rack etc...zuran orbs to, as 'sacrificing in response' was such GROUNDBREAKING tech back then lol...also, it had "Contract from Below" - I played mostly 'ANTE-Only"...and that is still my fav. card of all time.
I just started an account to tell you how great it's been to read your articles for the past few weeks. I have been completely re-energized to play again and am not so bitter about not being able to afford mythics and not being able to compete as a poor student on a budget. I really just wanted to thank you for doing a much, much better job at building on a budget for a casual crowd than the current mothership series. I feel like I can play with fun cards and improve over time to make the competitive decks or even just the semi-competitive ones. I haven't been able to find a competitive home for my glissas since basalisk collar rotated out of standard and I couldn't have instant kills with mortarpod/perilous myr/viridian emissary! Thank you very much and please never give up this casual deck style!
Also, it helps a lot that you also share my love for the spine of ish sah/sac effects combo!
I got in just after Revised and The Dark. I had a RG Beatdown deck with Taigas, Scryb Sprites, Kird Ape, Lightning Bolts, and Channel/Fireball just for good measure.
The friends who got me into the game were very much spikes with Moxen and Lotus'....so I got stomped a lot.
EDIT: Hope I don't lose to you in the next Tribal event AJ. :D
It's a little late, and I haven't given it as much thought as I should have. :(
'I think banning anything that says "red" or "goblin" from the elf deck and banning everything that says "green" or "elf" from the goblin deck should cover pretty much everything completely abusive.'
This sounds good, and I'm going to go with that. I'll go post it now.
EDIT:
50th Event Special - Elves vs Goblins
Each player will need 2 decks: an Elf deck and a Goblin deck. First player listed in pairings plays Elves, 2nd player plays Goblins.
Banned:
Elf Decks - any cards that have the words "red" or "goblin" in their abilities.
Goblin Decks - any cards that have the words "green" or "elf" in their abilities.
Other bonuses (TBD) may be presented. I am still working on getting "promos" for this event.
RE: Trash talking - there is some sort of this preconceived notion that if you say anything that could be taken as trash talking the person is just a worthless worm. I will admit there is nothing that gets my juices flowing like someone who wants to talk trash. As long as it doesn't devolve into name calling and whining I think it is fair game. I also must admit all the whining ABOUT trash talking (not in your article - just in general) is as hypocritical as the people citing trash talking in the first place! I don't want to hear about the crying just sack up and deal with it....
If I didn't talk a little trash I would be a different guy, and that just ain't happenin'.
I brought a GWr deck running Serra and Force and fireball (See Keya not alone :p) to a New York Magic tourney and was promptly thrashed first by White Weenie then a blue red control deck using Reverberation and Fork when I managed to finally cast a fireball. My opponents were also pretty rude and one rules lawyered me (without the benefit of a judge present, hey it was '94.) So yeah that was pretty embarrassing.
Perhaps, I'm just going off of the advertisement for the event.
>>
- December 17: Duel Tribal: Elves vs. Goblins. On the occasion of the 50th Tribal event of the Blippian Era, we'll witness the Mother of All Tribal Battles. In order to enter the event, every player will need two decks: an Elf deck and a Goblin deck. The first player listed in the pairings for each round will play with his or her Elf deck, the second player will play Goblins. A special list of banned cards for the event is in development.
>>
If there is going to be a specially banned list, it needs to be done ASAP.
To be fair, it was your own fault for bring in that all-mythics (14!!!!!) Grimgrin Mimic Vat broken combo deck that's been winning all those SCG Opens to the Casual Room.
I want to add it has been confirmed in the official thread listed in the article that the NIX TIX drafts will also have an alternate entry fee of 12tix. This means there is no need to have uncertainty about buying a bunch of packs from the store and holding them anymore.
You can just wait for the cheaper drafts and 'buy' directly in the queue, even if the store isn't carrying the packs. This did change my value strategy and may change yours too.
The Arcbound Ravagers and Skullclamps strip away Bridges so my line of thought was hopefully giving the titan haste to get another land in play so hopefully I have 4 bloodghasts + some number of narcomoeba so maybe I could of gotten 2 stronger trolls or done something else for that game. :)
well, other then the commentery in the video i try not to "slam" peoples play unless its just super crazy bad. I am glad you follow and now play classic, trophy. Keep coming out and keep practicing. dredge is a nutzo deck and its even better when your adept at piloting it. check out the wild dog over on classicquarter.com. That guy is a dredge house. Also NO_1 is a house too, but hes too enamored with commander to play classic, boo.
also side note. why is it that when i choose not to record a Masques block sealed top 8 i make the money? sigh, at least i won 12 packs to draft, so far i o-1ed 2. bah. but i do get an invite to the champs. maybe i can luck into a foil set in top 4 or better.
Would you rather have a newcomer face off against an "old pro" or another (relative) newcomer in their first round?
A newcomer to this event is going to face an elimination match in their first round anyway, simply because EVERY round is an elimination round. I see it as a BONUS for a newcomer, as the odds are significantly reduced for them to be facing an "old pro" in their first round. Let's face it, the people with the highest seed points - and getting the byes - are going to be players who win pretty regularly, not "some guy who played a few events and lost in round 2 each time".
There may be changes to the seeding system if this becomes a problem - where we have people with low seed points getting byes. Maybe by raising the bar to a minimum of X seed points needed to secure the bye. Or maybe by resetting seed points to 0 once a quarter. Perhaps even higher seeds get paired first, and newcomers get the byes. It remains to be seen.
Thanks Pete really appreciate the kind words.
yay for this. Year has been pretty sexy for Classic.
Although Xkorpio is well on track to having clinched the poty, there is a small chance that the increased events and the top 8 champs of the winter celebration can propel 2nd place the 16 or 18 points needed to the finish line. Everyone loves a come back story right? ha ha.
great article duders. Hopefully the consistent exposure and the winter champs will continue to grow the format and retain more new players.
Go Go Go classic!
Seedings - Really?
My first reaction to this idea: new players keep away!
As I see this, any old-timer will get a pass to round two. Any new player trying to join the community is guaranteed to face a round one elimination match. It really feels like an insiders club.
I understand why you are doing this, but you might think about how this will be perceived from the outside.
Otherwise, great recap.
A stellar example of where the bar should be set for a great article here on puremtgo. This is the type of writing that acts as a bookmark, requiring 'careful study' of said format..A great resource. I love the disclamer in red too...I'm always irked when, after spending so much time on an article, someone goes.."oh I loved it, but what about..." As you implied, there's no end to that - and it's kinda sad we have to disclose the obvious!
Wizards just announced a bunch of Classic events, and special Classic-only promos, as part of the Holiday Celebration. It's thanks mainly to the work you folks, including Hoff, Hammer, Whiffy, MMogg and the rest, have done that Wizards is giving Classic a Christmas present. Without your efforts, Classic could have been the next Prismatic.
Good work, and Happy Holidays!
Sigh.... and here I thought I had gotten away from the claws of classic, only for the insidious winter celebration sink its teeth into me. Be seeing you guys in the queues!
This is really comprehensive.
As Lord Erman said above, my end game is to get involved in classic.
I just need to build my collection a bit before that happens.
I love this. Great Job.
I want to do one of these so much. Schedule is tight...
I'll just keep trying and then doing the Tribal events when I don't wake up.
This next ban announcement is going to be interesting. I assume that something is getting banned and not unbanned. The format feels more fair then before the last announcement, but there are still some things that probably should go before more stuff comes back.
I don't think that Mental Misstep will ever come off. The card is just so warping. Every competitive deck will start with 4 x Misstep, etc, blahdy-blooody, whatever. It stifles deck building.
Same with Ancestral Vision. The card is not broken or anything, it is just REALLY good in the strategoes that can utilize it.
We'll see though. I have been wrong before.
Thanks for getting so involved with us on all fronts, man. And thank you for continuing to run these events.
That black "Phyrexian oil" you guys injected into my mind during the last year did its work (I think you guys call it "Classic" in your wicked Phyrexian language!!!). My transformation is about to be finished and I'm about to be "compleat". I hope you evil Phyrexian agents are happy now!!
Joking aside, I'm bookmarking this for future reference. I think I'm going to need this in the early days of 2012. Classic is the inevitable "end" for me, but there are just a few things I must do before becoming an addict.
LE
Nice work Zach and Andy it's great to see all the different decks
hum...
very first pile was like 70 green cards and 20 forrest
first deck i built was a uw controlly deck with icy's and island sanctuarys
first deck i won with against the guy who taught me was a ub counter deck
first tournament deck i built was a uw mirror universe deck/ winter orb deck.
Great stuff!
My first deck on memory was black/white discard aggro, and used Balance, Dark Ritual, Hippies, mindstabthrulls, hymms rack etc...zuran orbs to, as 'sacrificing in response' was such GROUNDBREAKING tech back then lol...also, it had "Contract from Below" - I played mostly 'ANTE-Only"...and that is still my fav. card of all time.
I just started an account to tell you how great it's been to read your articles for the past few weeks. I have been completely re-energized to play again and am not so bitter about not being able to afford mythics and not being able to compete as a poor student on a budget. I really just wanted to thank you for doing a much, much better job at building on a budget for a casual crowd than the current mothership series. I feel like I can play with fun cards and improve over time to make the competitive decks or even just the semi-competitive ones. I haven't been able to find a competitive home for my glissas since basalisk collar rotated out of standard and I couldn't have instant kills with mortarpod/perilous myr/viridian emissary! Thank you very much and please never give up this casual deck style!
Also, it helps a lot that you also share my love for the spine of ish sah/sac effects combo!
I got in just after Revised and The Dark. I had a RG Beatdown deck with Taigas, Scryb Sprites, Kird Ape, Lightning Bolts, and Channel/Fireball just for good measure.
The friends who got me into the game were very much spikes with Moxen and Lotus'....so I got stomped a lot.
EDIT: Hope I don't lose to you in the next Tribal event AJ. :D
It's a little late, and I haven't given it as much thought as I should have. :(
'I think banning anything that says "red" or "goblin" from the elf deck and banning everything that says "green" or "elf" from the goblin deck should cover pretty much everything completely abusive.'
This sounds good, and I'm going to go with that. I'll go post it now.
EDIT:
50th Event Special - Elves vs Goblins
Each player will need 2 decks: an Elf deck and a Goblin deck. First player listed in pairings plays Elves, 2nd player plays Goblins.
Banned:
Elf Decks - any cards that have the words "red" or "goblin" in their abilities.
Goblin Decks - any cards that have the words "green" or "elf" in their abilities.
Other bonuses (TBD) may be presented. I am still working on getting "promos" for this event.
No Most Endangered prize.
Nice article - thanks for that.
RE: Trash talking - there is some sort of this preconceived notion that if you say anything that could be taken as trash talking the person is just a worthless worm. I will admit there is nothing that gets my juices flowing like someone who wants to talk trash. As long as it doesn't devolve into name calling and whining I think it is fair game. I also must admit all the whining ABOUT trash talking (not in your article - just in general) is as hypocritical as the people citing trash talking in the first place! I don't want to hear about the crying just sack up and deal with it....
If I didn't talk a little trash I would be a different guy, and that just ain't happenin'.
P.S. - I like the grimgrin deck :D
<3,
Zach/the_hoff
I brought a GWr deck running Serra and Force and fireball (See Keya not alone :p) to a New York Magic tourney and was promptly thrashed first by White Weenie then a blue red control deck using Reverberation and Fork when I managed to finally cast a fireball. My opponents were also pretty rude and one rules lawyered me (without the benefit of a judge present, hey it was '94.) So yeah that was pretty embarrassing.
Perhaps, I'm just going off of the advertisement for the event.
>>
- December 17: Duel Tribal: Elves vs. Goblins. On the occasion of the 50th Tribal event of the Blippian Era, we'll witness the Mother of All Tribal Battles. In order to enter the event, every player will need two decks: an Elf deck and a Goblin deck. The first player listed in the pairings for each round will play with his or her Elf deck, the second player will play Goblins. A special list of banned cards for the event is in development.
>>
If there is going to be a specially banned list, it needs to be done ASAP.
Isn't it a little late to be asking for bans now? The game is this next weekend.
To be fair, it was your own fault for bring in that all-mythics (14!!!!!) Grimgrin Mimic Vat broken combo deck that's been winning all those SCG Opens to the Casual Room.
I mean really, what were you thinking?
I want to add it has been confirmed in the official thread listed in the article that the NIX TIX drafts will also have an alternate entry fee of 12tix. This means there is no need to have uncertainty about buying a bunch of packs from the store and holding them anymore.
You can just wait for the cheaper drafts and 'buy' directly in the queue, even if the store isn't carrying the packs. This did change my value strategy and may change yours too.
A clarification:
The Arcbound Ravagers and Skullclamps strip away Bridges so my line of thought was hopefully giving the titan haste to get another land in play so hopefully I have 4 bloodghasts + some number of narcomoeba so maybe I could of gotten 2 stronger trolls or done something else for that game. :)
well, other then the commentery in the video i try not to "slam" peoples play unless its just super crazy bad. I am glad you follow and now play classic, trophy. Keep coming out and keep practicing. dredge is a nutzo deck and its even better when your adept at piloting it. check out the wild dog over on classicquarter.com. That guy is a dredge house. Also NO_1 is a house too, but hes too enamored with commander to play classic, boo.
also side note. why is it that when i choose not to record a Masques block sealed top 8 i make the money? sigh, at least i won 12 packs to draft, so far i o-1ed 2. bah. but i do get an invite to the champs. maybe i can luck into a foil set in top 4 or better.
Mine was BW Walls and Angels. I thought Tainted Field and Serra Angel and Angelic Wall were the best cards ever made...
...
...I still do >.>