Vintage comes to the Ohio Valley

[twault]

Our local shop owner is having his first Vintage tournament on Sunday, May 27th. It will be at Steve's Sportcards in the Ohio Valley Mall, which is right off Interstate 70 in St. Clairsville, Ohio. This will be a sanctioned tournament, with no proxies. It will start around 1:00 p.m. There are no P9s or anything really expensive in the shop, so the prize will be store credit. The amount will depend on the number of people who show up to play. I'm not sure how much the entry fee will be, but I would guess no more than $20 (probably $10).

I talked to one of the owners yesterday. He said that if enough guys play, he would let us decide whether or not we wanted to play sanctioned or unsanctioned in the future. He also seemed open to supporting bigger/better prizes if we have enough on-going support for the format.

So, if there is anyone locally who might be interested, please come play and show your support for Vintage. I have been prodding the owners for months to make this happen, so let's hope for a nice turnout, so that we can continue to build the Vintage scene in the valley.

I will try to have more information later this week.

Thanks!!!

[Hi-Val]

I'd go in a heartbeat, but I'd need proxies. No proxies means people with power are going to destroy the field and nobody will want to come back : (

[Demonic Attorney]

Moved to the Tournament Announcement Forum.  If you plan on making regular announcements for Vintage events, please apply for Tournament Organizer status in the appropriate thread in the Vintage Open Forum.  Thank you.  -DA

[twault]

Sorry mods, I don't know if there will be any Vintage tournaments after that one. I guess it depends on how many people show. If it happens to become a success, I will follow the appropriate steps as recommended.

@Hi-Val

Um, I wouldn't worry too much. The last Vintage tourney in our area was like 3 years ago, and most people brought Standard decks or played Mono-Blue Control, Goblins, or Suicide Black with no power. The sad part is that Standard decks were beating the guys with power. 

I've only seen power twice in a tourney around here. A guy playing Oath had a Emerald, Time Walk, and Library.
Another guy had most of the P9 in some random jank deck, but that was way back in 2001.

Since then, I've acquired 2 moxes (Ruby, Pearl) and most the the essentials. One of my buddies has a Time Walk. The other has 3 Workshops, a Ruby, and a Sapphire (he plays Stax), but he probably won't be able to make it anyway.

So, that's probably all the power you'll see all day, unless some of you out-of-towners show. I don't know anyone else that plays locally who owns any power (but that's not to say that they aren't out there), but I wouldn't expect to see someone wielding a fully-powered Gifts deck.

The Vintage scene tanked a few years ago when another hobby store lost a lot of goods in a flood. The owner lost a bunch of cards, and he didn't have room to host tournaments anymore. Now, there is a new card shop in town, and he's got the space for tourneys.

I would expect that the "field" might be 8 guys if we are lucky. Hopefully, I'll get really lucky by posting on here to all you TMDers!!!!

[Webster]

Also,

For people who will be in the Columbus area on Saturday, May 19th, there will be a side event at Grand Prix Colombus at 7:00 PM for a mox.

It's probably sanctioned which means no proxys.
Entry is $15.
Minimum of 16 participants.

Here's a link for info:  CLICK ME

I'm not going to be there, but I figured people might not know about it so a heads up would be good. Also, from previous type-1 side events at PTs/GPs that I've been to, Italian Legends packs were also distributed for prize support which may or may not happen at this event as well.

[Yare]

I would seriously consider going to this event if

1) You allowed proxies
2) The prize wasn't store credit

Honestly, I think these will be huge hurdles in getting a significant attendance.  As it stands now, I won't be going for these reasons.

[twault]

If it was up to me, I would say 10 proxies, but it's not. The shop doesn't have the prize support, because they are new to the area.

In the last 7 years, I have never seen a power 9 card for sale in any of our local shops within 50 miles.

As I said, we are BUILDING a Vintage scene from the ground up, so it's going to take some time. It's just like deciding to play Vintage....most people don't start out with everything they need.

The owners of the store are really awesome and receptive to ideas. They want to see if there is going to be support for a format, before they go out and drop $350+ on a single card, that would probably not sell in their shop otherwise.

Hence, if there is a good turnout, and the majority want to have proxy tourneys, they will probably allow them in the future.

I will keep you all posted with the status of the tournament and future tournaments...

[Yare]

If it was up to me, I would say 10 proxies, but it's not. The shop doesn't have the prize support, because they are new to the area.

In the last 7 years, I have never seen a power 9 card for sale in any of our local shops within 50 miles.

As I said, we are BUILDING a Vintage scene from the ground up, so it's going to take some time. It's just like deciding to play Vintage....most people don't start out with everything they need.

The owners of the store are really awesome and receptive to ideas. They want to see if there is going to be support for a format, before they go out and drop $350+ on a single card, that would probably not sell in their shop otherwise.

Hence, if there is a good turnout, and the majority want to have proxy tourneys, they will probably allow them in the future.

I will keep you all posted with the status of the tournament and future tournaments...

That's the whole point though: you won't get a good turnout unless the owner does these things.  Additionally, you can get better prize support (see: cash) if you have more players.  You cannot build anything resembling a true Vintage environment if you do not allow proxies, period.  Honestly, infinite proxies would be a better way to go if you're trying to build a metagame.

[twault]

If it was up to me, I would say 10 proxies, but it's not. The shop doesn't have the prize support, because they are new to the area.

In the last 7 years, I have never seen a power 9 card for sale in any of our local shops within 50 miles.

As I said, we are BUILDING a Vintage scene from the ground up, so it's going to take some time. It's just like deciding to play Vintage....most people don't start out with everything they need.

The owners of the store are really awesome and receptive to ideas. They want to see if there is going to be support for a format, before they go out and drop $350+ on a single card, that would probably not sell in their shop otherwise.

Hence, if there is a good turnout, and the majority want to have proxy tourneys, they will probably allow them in the future.

I will keep you all posted with the status of the tournament and future tournaments...

That's the whole point though: you won't get a good turnout unless the owner does these things.  Additionally, you can get better prize support (see: cash) if you have more players.  You cannot build anything resembling a true Vintage environment if you do not allow proxies, period.  Honestly, infinite proxies would be a better way to go if you're trying to build a metagame.

I completely understand. I will be doing everything I can to make Vintage competitive here. Ten proxies is usually a good starting point, but it's not enough for decks like Stax and Slaver. I'm not opposed to unlimited proxies, but I think people would be annoyed when some kid shows up with an all-proxied deck. A playset of Force of Wills, Underground Seas, and Polluted Deltas cost nearly $300, so it's not an easily accessible format by any means. Proxies need to happen in the future, so I'm working on it.

[Tin_Mox5831]

I'll make you a deal Doug. If you come to this I'll play 100% unpowered. Oh wait, Ichorid does that anyway!  Just a quick sidebar, if I ever decide to unload my power, I intend to do it through these guys via tournaments. The competition certainly won't be on par with The Soldiery, but you folks should all come. Maybe I'll rock my 'Phids. Then again, maybe not. You won't know unless you show.

Later,
Dave

[twault]

Thanks to all you guys that showed up to play! I think 11 guys for the first Vintage tournament was a pretty good number, considering it was a non-proxy event. Dave, aka Tin Mox, it was nice to meet you. I was the guy you beat down in the last round.

In case you were all wondering...

First place was a Vial Goblin deck (no power). Second Place went to Dave, playing a Hulk Flash deck (unpowered, I believe?). Third went to another Hulk Flash variant (again, I think unpowered). Fourth went to Stax (fully powered). Fifth & Sixth were Oath (with a few pieces each). I'm not sure how the rest of the field finished after that...

Hope to see you all there next month!

[Tin_Mox5831]

Nice to meet you as well! I can confirm that both the Hulk Flash lists were unpowered. I left my babies at home for the day, but the tourney was lots of fun anyway. Chris' deck was very aggressive with Pacts, Street Wraith, etc, whereas my deck was a dedicated Turn 2-3 build with an absurd disruption package. Also, Chris ran the Disciple kill, while I opted for Kiki-Jiki due to the girth of my disruption's slots. Duress and Cabal Therapy were champs as always, and Merchant Scrolls really helped to tie the deck together.

In your face, Doug "Chicken Little" Linn! Not one shred of Power in the Top 3. You better come to the next one!

Peace,
Dave

[Hi-Val]

Haha, well Dave, I'll try and make it to it! I want to play 1996 Keeper with maindeck Detonate : D If I'd seen your challenge earlier, I'd have come out, definitely!

If you're strapped for prize support, you can always give away 80% of the door entry in cash money. That's what we do at the Soldiery and practically everyone ever has taken the money.

[Yare]

Any word on the next one of these?

[Tin_Mox5831]

As far as I know, the next Vintage tourney is still scheduled for this Sunday, June 17th @ 2:00 PM. It'll still be sanctioned most likely, but I know that most of the regular patrons are working to change that ASAP. It's a nice place and could really develop into a good scene with a move to proxy tournaments.

I'll double-check the info and post again as soon as I know something concrete. Hope to see some of you there. I'll likely be rocking a pink shirt and a pink scorepad, so introduce yourself if you see me.

Later,
Dave

[Yare]

As far as I know, the next Vintage tourney is still scheduled for this Sunday, June 17th @ 2:00 PM. It'll still be sanctioned most likely, but I know that most of the regular patrons are working to change that ASAP. It's a nice place and could really develop into a good scene with a move to proxy tournaments.

I'll double-check the info and post again as soon as I know something concrete. Hope to see some of you there. I'll likely be rocking a pink shirt and a pink scorepad, so introduce yourself if you see me.

Later,
Dave

You guys realize SCG Roanoke is on Saturday, right?

[Tin_Mox5831]

Nope, been living under a rock for a few months and shielding my eyes from the banner flashing just above my line of vision on the screen. In short, we do in fact know. 

The info I gave in my last post is accurate, by the way. I called today and confirmed. We'll be playing for store credit as well as DCI Yixlid Jailer promos. Good luck finding a more reasonable entry fee too, as it's a scant $5.00 to enter!

Later,
Dave