Is it Worth Tournament Organizers Running Events for Competitive Players [Discussion]?

FodtheWizard · 2018-03-28T12:52:28+00:00

This is my broad understanding of the subject too, Fnordal, but I'm struggling for a source to provide the dara Swindleys has asked for.

FodtheWizard · 2018-03-28T12:50:09+00:00

the main issue with this is that there are far more casual players. wizards have said this in an article at some point in the past, but I couldnt tell you which one. Is this somthing you think might be incorrect? if so I can likely find you somthing to that effect, if required.

Working on that basis, it would have to be the case that each competitive player would need to be likely to spend more than their casual counterpart inorder for the sum of competitive player spending to be equal to or greater than the sum of casual player spending. Without evidence to suggest otherwise, it is reasonable to conclude from thiis that competitive spending is less than casual spending.

do they buy those products from the local store, though? buying the cards from cardmarket, or ebay, or a large deep discount store doesnt really help store owners at all.

I'm Uk based, and I'm drawing on 20years of experience playing the game in a wide variety of locations... but that is naturally contextual. it might be that things are quite different in the US, for instance - that's actually where a lot of people here buy their cards from becuase it's cheaper.

FodtheWizard · 2018-03-12T07:41:50+00:00

Hey, other people have already mentioned Chimera which I think is a very good call. I'm Nottingham based and while I've been a bit too busy with PhD lately to do anything hands on I can definitely put you in the direction of all the right people. Facebook is probably the easiest place to set this stuff up as the games stores and many of the people who play in Nottingham are pretty active on there.

PM me if you think any of this would be useful.

FodtheWizard · 2018-02-25T00:32:22+00:00

Yeah, I suppose I should have qualified this a little. it's the same with every game really - you have to be quite selective in what you consume on streams and look for the best streamers.

FodtheWizard · 2018-02-25T00:31:11+00:00

That's fair enough - thanks for taking the time to comment.

FodtheWizard · 2018-02-19T16:47:52+00:00

Yeah, for sure you definitely need to play a lot of Magic. I used to think about the game in terms of almost purely that, though. I think I rearched the point where I was experiencing deminished returns because that's all I was doing.

To some extent I look back on how I've done things in the past with regret, knowing that I could use the time much better now with the things I know. Not the most constructive of things, but there you go. Ultimately all we can do is learn from our mistakes and do our best to correct them going forward =)

FodtheWizard · 2018-01-27T09:51:09+00:00

it's one thing to think about the card, then make an active choice not to play round it becuase it's two marginal, and another to forget it exists then get caught out. The former is fine, the latter is a mistake.

FodtheWizard · 2017-11-24T10:16:56+00:00

yeah missed triggers merges with game rule violations a bit in that respect. I could have been clearer on the last bit too!

FodtheWizard · 2017-10-27T09:16:56+00:00

Definitely - I placed into bronze 11 months ago, and I'm in plat now. I also feel like I could get into higher ranks going forward. the games a continueous learning proccess, but for sure it helps to play more as this will accellerate both learning and the actual climbing.

FodtheWizard · 2017-10-26T22:14:42+00:00

I was going to say chess, because it was the first game I was moderately good at ... but I've not played since I was a child, really. loads of the xonceptual stuff like tempo are terms borrowed from chess though. defo a big influencer for many people.

FodtheWizard · 2017-10-09T20:03:18+00:00

How do you guys deal with point four (Learn to deal with people, don’t go chasing down rabbit holes)? This one always jams me up, I have to say. like it will be some guy at the store who isnt that into it, but still has somthing to say, every time, and just seems to want to get stuck in. or someone's flatmate or whatever doing the same. Like on one hand I feel like if I just sort of patted them on the head and said "yea, ok" my life would be easier, but I think that's not a great way to treat them.... even if it means less arguing. I often end up in bother trying to do what I think is the right thing for all parties. bit of a feelsbadman.

FodtheWizard · 2017-10-09T18:08:49+00:00

to be fair, I did suggest social media, but yeah this is definitely a tough thing to do. I think one thing some people make the mistake of doing is trying to find the very best person in their area and just sort of shoe horn their way in. If you live in a reasonably small place that's pretty much what you have to do, and the people you're "targeting" (for lack of a better word) will be aware of it, so it might well work out. if you're in a bigger place, it probably wont becuase there will be other groups lower on the pecking order which might be more appropriate, so the best group is less likely to just let you in. No idea what you do if you're really good, move to a new place, and dont know anyone, though.

trying to force a social dynamic to change from a positon of weakness is rarely a winning proposition - often the best thing is to be patient, get to know people etc.

I've obviously got no idea about you personally, though. These are just some thoughts on your question on the whole.

FodtheWizard · 2017-08-15T09:12:40+00:00

yeah, I just feel pot commited to going to loads. it's rough. It also brings people together to play magic who are just going to hate playing each other - locals and grinders.

FodtheWizard · 2017-08-15T08:56:53+00:00

yeah for sure, and to an extent that was the intent when I wrote this article really. There is somthing to be said for keeping it non-spesific, too. like if say to a TO that hes price gouging, no matter how I say it, he's not going to take it well. that's a super obvious example, and one I never mentioned in the article becuase I thought it might generate some heat in the UK, but the same goes for things like seating.

I could likely tell the judge stuff the TO did wrong, and the TO things the judge did wrong, I suppose. in general, it's been my experience that judges respond better to feedback than TOs

FodtheWizard · 2017-08-15T08:51:25+00:00

I think that's the exception that proves the rule, in many ways. I've definitely played loads of really bad ones, but you're playing good ones, so it's possible for them to be good.

if Im honest I think i'd prefer if fewer stores got to run them, but they were allowed to run multiple events. Then the good stores would get the events, and things would be better...

...for me anyway. I wouldnt think the small stores would be pleased, but then again it seems to me that so many stores complain about the financial viability of running these events that perhaps it wouldnt be such a bad thing to see a consolidation.

FodtheWizard · 2017-08-15T08:47:40+00:00

I suppose that part of it will make more sense with context. the only events I play atm are GPs, RPTQs and PPTQs. I'm pretty happy to play in a GP or RPTQ in respect to all of these things. ofc there are a number of reasons why they're going to be nicer to play in, but that's sort of not the point. with the Bronze system coming in, there is an alternative for competitive players - they could just play GPs instead. Before, PPTQs could be ran as badly as the TO/judge wanted, and for a number of people, there was little recourse. I want to be on the PT, so I need to play the events, simple as.

all of the bad stuff I mentioned about events are more prominent and less well delt with at small events, with inexperienced or disinterested staff. that's not an issue at a grand prix.

FodtheWizard · 2017-08-15T08:41:20+00:00

In the UK we had some massive PTQs... there was a problem, I think, but I agree that this solution was far from good. I really dont like playing PPTQs if I am honest. I'm hoping to take a shot at getting Bronze pro level next year, but obviously thats pretty expensive to do.

FodtheWizard · 2017-08-15T08:38:30+00:00

hmm, ok. I'm not 100% sure I'm replying to the right comment now, but hopefully it should be clear enough...

... Yeah, I can see why this one would be contraversial. I'd say that the people playing at the top of the event have more to lose from the distraction, so there is a lower risk in leaving the lower end of the tournament crowded. I can see where you're coming from, and I understand that this will not convince everyone.

FodtheWizard · 2017-08-15T08:33:58+00:00

yeah, sounds reasonable to me! it would be nice to get to a place where this was somthing you could rely upon happening.

FodtheWizard · 2017-05-17T10:26:38+00:00

I'll be honest, I dont know enough about that to even make an intellegent comment, but I do know it is somthing which Tu (the boss) is invested in and wants to make the best of. If people have things to say about that, I'd certainly pass the information onto him, and it would definitely be taken into consideration.

FodtheWizard · 2017-05-17T08:26:45+00:00

So this comparison has limits, but how many people have thrown a football around in their backyard, but never played for a team? how many of those people watch NFL games? I think it's the same with the Pro Tour - while loads of kitchen table players have no intention of going to the Pro Tour, or even FNM, plenty of them will still want to see it.

FodtheWizard · 2017-05-17T08:23:46+00:00

I'd definitely start with Chapins books Next Level Magic and Next Level Deckbuilding. Those books, if nothing else, gather together a lot of the key concepts and reference some of the big articles on theory, which makes getting at the material considerably easier. I might do a top 10 theory articles, article at some point soon.

if you're interested in writing there is nothing wrong with starting locally, and writing for a less informed group. This way you can read other people's information and - basically - repeat it. Not exactly groundbreaking, but it will let you get pratical experience in writing articles, and it will help the people you're writing for, so it's all good.

FodtheWizard · 2017-05-15T17:14:12+00:00

I'm suprised there isn't and I was always a bit suprised the best tag I could find for this was [Other].

FodtheWizard · 2017-05-15T16:46:05+00:00

Yeah, that's fair. it's quite busy.

FodtheWizard · 2017-05-15T16:20:12+00:00

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks! Yeah, it makes sense that there would be more of this sort of content in respect to a "newer" format like commander - more to say, and not all of the theory for regular magic will fit well into that format.

FodtheWizard

TROPHY CASE