Type 1: Competitive or Casual

[Gradek]

This topic coalesced from reading Smennen's discussion on how to run tournaments.  After reading all the posts on that topic I came to the realization that the Type 1 tournament scene as we know it is much more of a casual format that many envision.  The reason I say this is due to a lack of power throughout many of the frequenters of these tournaments, thus limiting the ability to define a true metagame.  Even where power is present, many people have limited power (through ownership or 5 proxy rules) and thus end up playing decks that work the best without all the goodies, again limiting the true metagame from being defined.  I see this as a problem for Type 1 as a competitive format because limiting the access of everyone (especially good players) to certain decks skews the matagame and also hurts the decision making process the DCI has for the B&R lists.  For instance, if there was equal access to all decks in tourney's (like type 2) would Groatog been as dominant, or could answers have been found.  
I believe that Smennen is on to something with the unlimited proxy tournament idea.  If enough unlimited proxy tourney's were held, we (the community) could finally get an idea of what the real metagame looks like and could then use that data (which would be much more accurate than the data currently available) to determine which cards need restriction and which do not.

[ize]

I agree, not only on the unlimited proxy idea, but also on the idea that the metagame will be self-adjusting if everyone has equal access to the cards - and to those who persists on not allowing proxies - would you rather win because you are skilled or because you have better cards than your opponent?

[Piggy]

To preface my comments, I agree with the idea of unlimited proxy tourney's.

On the other hand I would not be very happy if it was suddenly accepted globally due to the fact that it would cause a drop in power prices.  Obviously they wouldn't fall through the floor because there is always the pimpness factor, but I can't believe that I would be alone in liquidating my power if all NE tourneys allowed me to proxy whatever I desired.

Granted, it obvously isn't realistic for everyone to simultaneously accept this plan, but a gradual drop in values could be expected.

So I say screw it, everyone slowly start allowing unlimited proxys and people like me can sell our power to people who care more about having an impressive looking deck.  Plus then we get to see how many of these people who whine about not having access to power are actually worth the air they breathe.

[Rapterrant]

Well, they shouldn't allow unlimited proxy. It's all about building the most competetive deck that you can with the cards you can get. I don't want people running arround proxy-ing up the wazoo just because they can and they think their deck might like a Lotus. However I am a fan of price drops, I vow to quit at least once a week because of how much of my cash this has sucked away. There really is no good solution at the moment so it should just be left alone till there is one.