TMD OPEN 4(WATERBURY) INFO THREAD 9/11/04

[iamfishman]

Well...even though I didn't think I could up the prize support without going to $25 I pulled some strings and produced the following. I think you will all be pleasantly surprised(I am really psyched about the 9-16 place prizes).

Saturday, September 11, 2004
Courtyard by Marriott
63 Grand St.
Waterbury, Ct. 06702

MAIN EVENT - THE MANA DRAIN OPEN 4 (Waterbury)
$20 Entry Fee
Registration 10:00 - 11:00 am.
Tourney Starts at 11:00 am.
Format - Type One with TEN proxies
DOPENESS FACTOR: Equal to the sum of the first 5 numbers that are both perfect squares and perfect cubes
1st Prize - UNLIMITED BLACK LOTUS, PLUS free admission and ROUND 1 BYE into the next MANA DRAIN OPEN, PLUS entry into the yearly Tournament of Champions.
2nd Prize - UNLIMITED MOX SAPPHIRE
3rd Prize - UNLIMITED MOX RUBY
4th Prize - UNLIMITED MOX EMERALD
5th Prize - UNLIMITED MOX PEARL
6th Prize- UNLIMITED TIMETWISTER
7th Prize - LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
8th Prize - LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
9th - 16th Prize - OFFICIAL TMD OPEN PLAY MAT
17th-32nd Prize - 2 Boosters
33rd Prize - Goblin Game
2 highest age 15 and under non-top 8 prize - Windsweapt Heath
3 Last Place Prizes - Foil Lord of Atlantis
Oddest Deck/Card Choice: TBD
First to beat previous champion(Jason Zheng): 4 Xantid Swarm
Play of the day contest: Tropical Island
Magic trivia game: Grab Bags (may contain Visions Vampric Tutor, BB Oriental Swords to Plowshares, Su-Chi, Trinisphere, Windsweapt Heath, Xantid Swarm)
50 Mystery Rare Raffle: 50 Rares (includes BB Maze of Ith, Mana Vault, Tainted Pact, Hurkyl’s Recall, Shadowmage Infiltrator, Blurred Mongoose, Burning Wish, Sacred Mesa)
10 Other Daily Random Raffles: TBD (All sorts of rare and foil goodies)

THAT'S RIGHT...MORE PRIZES THEN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT(Well...Even if it is a really big stick)

Questions comments concerns, please feel free to contact me at iamfishman@hotmail.com, via AIM at PLIKEY, PM ME, or by phone (860) 489-6160.

Thanks,
Ray

[TrixR4Kidz]

Sweet, i'll be there, but only five proxies?? weaaakk

why not like the TMD championship, 5 + 1 dollar every extra proxy?

[Yokomoto]

Oh yea a bunch of us From bROCKtown shall be there, and we shall dominate and we shall lose every match jus so i can get one of those foil lord of alantis's oh yea.

[iamfishman]

Sweet, i'll be there, but only five proxies?? weaaakk

why not like the TMD championship, 5 + 1 dollar every extra proxy?

This is something I will be considering.  Knowing the people involved, the TMD Championship in Syracuse will be an awesomely run event, so if anything is an idication of how the pay-per-proxy system will work, it will be that event.

[TrixR4Kidz]

So there is no way you can update the upcomming waterbury to 5 proxies and 1 dollar each additional?

[iamfishman]

So there is no way you can update the upcomming waterbury to 5 proxies and 1 dollar each additional?

I have had requests to up the proxy limit of my events.
I don't like to change things after they are announced unless there is an overwhelming desire to do so.

What do you guys think?
Should it be 5 proxies?
Should it be 10 proxies?
Should it be 5 proxies + $1 for each additional proxy?

Let's hear your opinions.

[goober]

I think 10 proxy is the way to go, it allows for more people to be competitive without Fish.  I think the larger number of proxies draws a greater crowd as well, which is always a plus.  Just adding my 2 cents.

[Pex]

I like 13 proxies because then you can play:

p9

+

4 cards like: Workshops, Mana Drains, etc.

[TrixR4Kidz]

Either ten proxies, or 5 + 1, either one will get me there instantly, Other then that I don't really have a deck to play...keep us updated what the newest decision will be.

[Outlaw]

I most defintely vote 5 proxies plus 1$ for each additional, it will widen the playing field.  With only 5 proxies we'll all see Madness and Fish as dominant % more then they already are.

-=Outlaw

[Mixing Mike]

Tally another for 5 Proxies + $1 for each additional proxy.

[iamfishman]

Well...we had a lot of people vote for 5 proxies +$1 per.
That being said...I still don't think I will do that, opting for something else instead.  Here is a little background of my rational.

Waterbury, though it has become the biggest type one event evar, never had that goal in mind.  I set up the first Waterburys, as I was starting to get discouraged with the PTQ and Grand Prix scene.  I would go to these tournaments filled with corupt judges, sinister people, money grubbin TO's, where the average player could have no fun as the room was filled with pompous pricks whose heads were taking up all the table space.  I wanted to create an enviroment where there was little to no negativity(do I sound like an idealistic hippie or what), where everyone was there to have a good time.  

Also, I felt that prize distribution for most events was poorly seeded, only rewarding the same top 8 players(who were usually the same people over and over again).  I like events where you could keep the cost low and provide as much for that cost TO AS MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE as possible.
I therefore enjoy doing things like the trivia contest, and prizes down to top 32, etc.

I want Waterbury to be just as much for the little guy as the competitive player.  Sure...we can have a very competitive 32 person tourney full of Jeff Anands, Carl Winters, and Steve M.s, (obligatory shout outs)but then we would just have round 7 and 8 of a PTQ again.  Its EVERYONE including the more casual or newer players that makes Waterbury what it is.  Lets not forget that.

Ok...all that lecturing being said.  I griped alot with the idea of raising the entry to even $20(despite SCGs $30). It was a tough cal because I was looking at it from the point of view of the average local casual player who really make Waterburys the largest out there and I would hate to lose them to that admission increase.

As such, what would 5 proxies + $1 per really do?  Well...It would widen the gap between competitive and casual players because competitive players may have to pay 1 or 2 extra dollars, or none at all, but the newer/casual player has to pay an additional $10+ to have all the proxies they need to play any deck they wish.  This $10+ is ABOVE AND BEYOND the $5 increase which already affects the casual player more than anyone else to begin with.

Accordingly, I don't want to raise the entry fee anymore than I have to(for fear of becoming like a Grand Prix priced event), so I have decided at this point to simply make the event 10 proxy instead of five, with no additional cost.  This change has been reflected in the initial post.

Thank you for your time.
Ray

[iamfishman]

###UPDATE###

Those 9-16th place prize playmats have gotten quite desireable.

While at Gencon...I met many many artists on Sunday, and asked them to sign each of the eight playmats that I will be giving away as prizes.

This means that each playmat now features an autograph from ALL 17 of the following artists!!!

Jeff Easley
LA Williams
Ed Beard Jr.
Mark Zug
Jeff Menges
April Lee
Scott Fisher
D. Alexander Gregory
Arnie Swekel
Ben Thompson
Bradley Williams
John Matson
Mark Poole
Rebecca Guay
Susan Van Camp
Chippy
Brian Snoody

If I do say so...these things look awesome.  Best part is...you won't even have to worry about losing one to a Team Shortbus Member, because...as quoted from this weekend

"Our team doesn't come in at only 9-16th"
     - Shortbus Member

[johnstown713]

Damn I wish I could have gone to Gencon.  Thnos eare some serious playmats.  Forget the Lotus I want one of those.  I am so there.

[TrixR4Kidz]

that is such an awesome prize, I'm sure that will excite several people, I know I personally would love to have one of those bad boys

Nothing compares to waterbury, best tournies ever... see ya there

[CountingGardens]

Yep, that IS a great prize, Too bad theres no Brom signature   .   Now that would be a cool signature.  But I don't think he draws magic cards anymore, hmm ah well.

[iamfishman]

The full color flyer is now online...link to it for a quick easy to read reference.

http://moobius.com/iamfishman/AA%20MAGIC%20FLYER19.ppt

And thanks to Moobius for the upload.