T1 Event - Prize Update! - 15 Proxy - 5/23/09 - DAN HERD MEMORIAL SIDE EVENT

[MISTERTREK]

CCGames in conjunction with Alternate Universes is pleased to host our next big T1 tournament in the Philadelphia area!!

Saturday, 5/23/2009 at 10:00 AM


EVENT WILL BE HELD AT ALTERNATE UNIVERSES , BLUE BELL, PA.

***ANNOUNCEMENT***

I was very saddened to learn of the passing of our current Type 1 Champion Dan Herd. It was too soon an end for a dedicated Magic player. Dan and I didn't always see eye to eye, but I knew I could always get a good joke or a good arguement out of Dan. He rarely missed any of my Game Day events and was liked by almost all he came in contact with each month. Dan had started attending my events back in 2002 when I was still at my first Collegeville location. And yes, he was even a hairy wookie back then!

So to honor our fallen champion, the side event at our May Game Day will be dedicated to Dan. All proceeds will be donated to the Daniel Herd Memorial Fund. I am not going to set an entry fee for the side event, but will leave it up to our players to donate whatever cash amount they would like. I will be putting up a list of prizes for the side event as they become available. If anyone is interested in donating a prize for the side event, please contact me by e-mail at ccgames@comcast.net or call me at (484) 369-8276.

I would like to encourage as many players to attend our next event and pay tribute to Dan by playing in the side event.

**Please check our website at www.collegevillecards.com for the current list of prizes for the side event**

MAIN EVENT:

Entry fee: $20

Format: Type 1 with 15 proxies, 5-6  rounds with cut to top 8.

Location: Alternate Universes on Route 202  in Blue Bell, Pa (Visit our web site for directions)

When: Saturday, May 23rd,  2009

Sign-in & deck registration begins at 9am. Round 1 starts at 10am.

Save time at registration by bringing your preprinted deck list. **Please indicate proxied cards.**

Prize structure:

1st place: Unlimited Mox Pearl

2nd place: Unlimited Time Vault

3rd place: Choice of 1 each Windswept Heath, Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Flooded Strand or 2 Revised Duals

4th place: Choice of 1 each Windswept Heath, Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Flooded Strand or 2 Revised Duals

40+ players: 5th place - 8th place: Polluted Delta

Prizes are guaranteed, but will be scaled upward based on attendance.

Be sure to check out our web site for info on our new team play!!
 

Vendor table will be available for purchases and sales.

And, more exciting events will be held throughout the day including a tribute T1 Side Event dedicated to Dan Herd.

Come and join many of the Mid-Atlantic's best Type 1 players. Our events are always fun and competative.

Please visit www.collegevillecards.com for more info and directions. We look forward to seeing you there!
 
 

[MISTERTREK]

I hope as many people will come to play and honor Dan!

[M.Solymossy]

I will Donate a Playset of Japanese Coldsnap Brainstorms.   Let me know how to get them to you.

solymossym(at)Lakeland(dot)edu

[MISTERTREK]

Here is the current prize list for the side event. Thank you to all those that have donated a prize so far. I have several others that have committed to donate a prize and will list them as soon as I receive them.

Please contact me if you would like to donate a prize for this event!

*Beta Taiga
*Playset Foil Japanese Coldsnap Brainstorms - donated by Mike Solymossy
*Foil Textless Cryptic Command - donated by Ron's Comic World
*Foil Trinisphere & Foil Ethersworn Canonist - donated by Over the Edge Games
*2 Giant Alara Reborn Prerelease Wall Posters - donated by Grey Matter

[TD]

*Playset Foil Japanese Coldsnap Brainstorms - donated by Mike Solymossy

That sounds awesome. To bad that card doesn't exist. 

[MISTERTREK]

Prizes for Main Event are now confirmed. Hope to see everyone on the 23rd!

[TD]

This prize structure is a complete joke and a slap in the face of your loyal players. Mike, I feel like we go through this same thing ever 4-5 months. You have a good prize, then a couple mediocre prizes, and then you host this.

Let me just show you how bad this tournament is.

I did a bit of research and found that the last time you ran a tournament with less than 40 players was October, 2008. That tells me that you can pretty much guarantee 30-35 players to the majority of your events. With that in mind I’d like to just compare your tournament with a recent Pittsburgh event.

Here is the prize structure.

$20 entry fee
Registration begins at Noon and the tournament will begin at 1PM

1st place: Time Walk  2nd Place: Time Vault  3rd place: Time Twister  4th place: Time Twister

If attendance is greater than 35 5th-8th will be awarded promo foils (Vampiric Tutor was given away for the past event!)

First off I’d like to point out an interesting quote.

If attendance is greater than 35 5th-8th will be awarded promo foils (Vampiric Tutor was given away for the past event!)

This shows me two things.
1) They based their prize on a previous event that had in the area of 35 players. (Something you can also do.)
2) They’re happy running this events prize structure if the attendance is less than 35 players. So much so that if they get 35 players they are willing to up the prize support!

Since we’ve established that both your event and this event can expect roughly the same turnout
(Infact they are hoping for 35 players where you are almost guaranteed 35 players)
lets look at the prize support.

Your 1st place – Unlimited Time Vault
doing a search on ebay shows the estimated value of this card being roughly $145.

Their 1st place- Unlimited Time Walk
Estimated Value $280-$300

Right away you can see the first place prize is nearly double.

Your 2nd place- 1x English Mana Drain.
Estimated Value $90

Their 2nd place – Time Vault
Estimated Value $145

Your 3rd & 4th place- 4x fetch lands.
I didn’t bother adding up the value of these because honestly I doubt any of the vintage players competing care about winning a few fetches.

Their 3rd & 4th place- TIMETWISTER
Yes, both 3rd and 4th place will each receive a Timetwister!

Not to mention they are running this event at a $20 entry fee.

I understand that the following month you are going to be running a lotus event. You are probably trying to save some money on this event because of the big purchase for next months event. If this is the cause for such a poor prize structure then why bother even running an event this month? If money is that tight just skip this months event, it less disrespectful to your loyal vintage players.

The only real draw to going to your event is to honor Dan Herd and donate to his family.
 Honestly, there is a much better event solely dedicated to Dan Herds memory on June, 6th. I’d hate to think you are skipping out on your prize because you expect a good turn out for the side event, but this is exactly how this looks.

I hope as many people will come to play and honor Dan!

In addition, AU (the event site) has recently bought a huge collection. They currently have multiple sets of power, bazaars, workshops, and other high end vintage playables more worthy of prize then the joke you have posted. It’s not like you don’t have access to the cards to run a decent event for your players.

Hope to see everyone on the 23rd!

I most certainly will not be at this event with the current prize structure and I strongly urge anyone else considering going to this event to also boycott.
 If you are interested in paying your respects to Dan’s memory and family I suggest attending the Philly event on June, 6th. You can also just contact Nick Coss if you can not make the event but would still like to donate to Dan’s Family.

Mike, I don’t know how you can seriously look at your players with a straight face and announce this event.

Just out of curiosity, I am going to run a poll in the community forums to see how the rest of the community feel about this prize support.
EDIT: here is the link to the poll
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37866.0

[MISTERTREK]

Ok here we go again. My intension was to run a smaller entry T1 event due to two issues. 1) I wanted people to save their money to donate for the side event, and 2)the Lotus event in June, thus the scaled down prize structure. Now when we last talked about this subject, it was pretty much agreed that a 50/50 - 60/40 breakdown was fair. So, for this event I payed $165 for the Vault, $95 for the Drain, and $60 for the Fetch's for a total of $320. If I get 30 players that would be a right around the 50/50 area. ONCE AGAIN CAN BE SCALED UP BASED ON ATTENDANCE. As far as the collection that AU bought, I didnt know about that until late Friday night when I stopped in the store, guess your networking is better than mine. AND you cant compare what Pittsburgh did to mine. That was run by a store and Im guessing that they bought that stuff at an extreme discount. Also, the event that Nick is running is using Dan's collection as prizes. I also feel it was VERY insulting to Dan's memory and me that I am "skipping out" on my prizes just to use that as a reason for people to come to my event.

I do appreciate the feedback, but quite honestly I have too many other things going on in my life right now (Misty in jail for a year, trying to buy a house, work, etc) to get into a spit ball fight. It just seems like some people play for an entertainment value and others wont play unless they are WOW'd by the prizes. How about I leave August open, and AJ can run an event becuase I'm sure he can do it better than me? I'm sure you can win a few pieces of power before then and use them as prizes. Should I start a poll that AJ bitches too much? Now none of those statements sound very nice, and are examples, but you try listening to that all the time.

What would have been more constructive, would to have picked up the phone and given me a call. Yo Mike, you having a problem with prizes for the next event? Hey I might be able to help you with that and here's a few ideas........

Really, I'm doing the best I can. I'll never be perfect cause I dont spell my name GOD

[Luecifer]

Also, the event that Nick is running is using Dan's collection as prizes. I also feel it was VERY insulting to Dan's memory and me that I am "skipping out" on my prizes just to use that as a reason for people to come to my event.

Allow me to straighten this out. I came to Nick with the idea of running the memorial event for Dan, and we are NOT using his actual cards as prizes. One of his final wishes was for his cards to remain on our collections and Keith Seals, Josh Barkon, Sean Lind and myself are donating our power to run the event and keeping Dan's, as he wished.

Also, to remain on topic for the thread, it seems like the numbers in question and the prize support don't quite gel. I feel that for the amount of regular turnout, the prize support does not warrant the entry fee. If the fee was 15 for said prizes no complaints, or if first place was a workshop, with said prizes included, no complaints again. I am not questioning the service Mike does every month to run these events, it just seems like every few months the same issues come about, and something has to give either way.

[TD]

ONCE AGAIN CAN BE SCALED UP BASED ON ATTENDANCE.

You have never once scaled up your prize support based on attendance! Let me give you an example of what scaling up based on attendance means. If you ran this event as is. 1st place gets a Time Vault. Suppose 55 players show up for the event (which isn't out of the question given your history of tournament turnouts). After Round 1 or 2 you should make an announcement that 1st place is no longer a Time Vault but due to the 55 player attendance first place is now a Mox Sapphire!

That is scaling up the prie support based on attendance. What you like to do is throw more draft sets at 5-8th if we get a lot of people. These are two completely different things.

AND you cant compare what Pittsburgh did to mine.

Actually yes I can. What either of you paid on your power is Irrelevant. The point I am making is that if other TO's are able to consistantly offer much better prize pay out with a greater risk of having a bad turn out, then you should be able to at least match the prize pay out with your guaranteed good turnouts. If you don't like being compared to other TO's in that respect then maybe you should consider upping the ante when it comes to prize support. Its not my fault you rank among the worst TO's when it comes to prizes. It's yours.

I also feel it was VERY insulting to Dan's memory and me that I am "skipping out" on my prizes just to use that as a reason for people to come to my event.

I'm sorry if you feel that way. I personally don't think you are doing that. But I have to tell you it's not so far fetched for someone to look at this event and come to that conclusion.

I do appreciate the feedback, but quite honestly I have too many other things going on in my life right now (Misty in jail for a year, trying to buy a house, work, etc) to get into a spit ball fight.

I said it in my other post and I'll say it again. If this event was to much for you then you shouldn't have even bothered running it. You have a huge Lotus event scheduled in June and I don't think anyone would blame you if you had skipped this month rather then try and make a quick buck with this terrible prize support.

How about I leave August open, and AJ can run an event becuase I'm sure he can do it better than me?

I told you how I feel about running an event in August in the Lotus poll you made a few months back. Vintage Worlds is that month along with the Pittsburgh event. If AU is willing to let me use there venue I'd me more than happy to run an event there at the end of August if it is to much work for you.

Should I start a poll that AJ bitches too much?

Now you're just acting like a child but I'll humor you...

I wouldn't have to Bitch at you ever few months if you would actually run some decent events for the players. I appreciate the fact that you run these events nearly every months but I hate when you try to rip off your players with prizes like this.
By the way, I'm not the only one bitching about your prize support, I'm just the only one willing to let you know it sucks. If you don't believe me look at the poll I posted. I in no way mentioned you. I just stated the pure stats of the event and let the community decide. Only a few hours in and 14 members of of this forum agree that this events prize support isn't worth going to.
Here is the link again for reference...
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37866.0

What would have been more constructive, would to have picked up the phone and given me a call. Yo Mike, you having a problem with prizes for the next event? Hey I might be able to help you with that and here's a few ideas........

The whole point of this is that I shouldn't need to call you up and bitch at you. You shouldn't need to have to scale up prize support if the attendance is good. You should have enough trust and confidence in your player base to run events with decent prizes. You don't need to "wow" us every month. You just need to not screw us every month. It shouldn't be to much to ask for a $300-$350 first place value each month. Instead were get hit with events like this where as you said the total value is near $320.

[InfectedMushroom]

I already have this day requested off, but I will not attend if the prize structure stays as is. I really can't see attending a tourney at 20 dollars that has poor prize support. It's more about the act of offering poor prize support and not expecting people to be upset. With 30-35 people attending, a piece of power is hardly out of the question for first prize. Really, I can't see any less than 75% of the entry fees going to prizes. Good tournaments and prizes sell themselves. If you offer good prizes, more people will come and purchase merchandise from your store in addition to keeping some of the entry fees.

[mr.grim]

1. Poor prize support will in turn lead to  poor event turnouts. I drive a long way to play in your vintage events,with support like this I dont feel its worth the drive.
2.As it pertains to the event that Nick is doing for Dan. Just so ya know.... The day that Dan passed Jon and myself talked to Nick and requested that he would hold the event, that was also as per Dan.

Imo. I think the prize support should amount to around 70% of the entry. and for the love of god stop with the draft sets. WE play type one not type 2. I do feel that the forces were a step in the right direction. Tho something like a fetch land or usefull one of would be better!!!! 

In ending I like the bb events overall and would like to continue to attend them. Just keep in mind the better you support your players,the better your turnouts and revenue will be!!!!!

                     .......Grim.......

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

not to be a jerk to you at all mike but I agree with AJ...the prize is wack

[XxtSundaybxX]

Personally I DO play the game just to have fun, however that doesnt mean i only play for fun. You run great events Mike, but I also do agree with AJ and the rest.  Aj and I had a chat about this yesterday. I mean being that I live so close its not a big deal, but considering the entry fee, the gas for the drive, food, cards one might need to purchase to play in the event, all that adds up to a minimum of 50 or so dollars per event and just to win a timevault($145) just doesnt seem worth it. Now like i said i dont come to your events strictly to win my money back but not every one wants to make theyre trip worth while.

[RitNecroWin]

$2 Entry?! ... That's wacky.... wish I lived closer.... Of the few I've been able to make it to, BBs are always well run and a blast to play in!

[personalbackfire]

Entry fee: $2 (Yep, not a typo)

Sounds good, I will be there!

[Iron_Chef]

I've been reading this thread and as both a player, a TO and a dealer, I think i bring a unique perspective to the discussion.  Mike, I think you could have explained what you wanted to achieve this event in a less confusing way.  Both your main events and the side event that is being donated to Dan's Trust Fund are important, and you shouldn't need to sacrifice one event in the name of the other.  If you want to maximize attendance (and also the amount people will donate as entry fees) then lowering the prize structure and entry fee of your monthly event was a great idea, and it shows how important it is to you that something be done at a Blue Bell event to remember Dan.

So far as are the prizes worth the entry?  In their current form, I would say no.  I voted no on the poll created by TD because I personally don't think TO's should give away prizes worth 50% of the total entry fees taken in.  Another important factor is player perception.  If a TO gives away 50% of the entry fees in prizes, but those prizes include a set of beta, would players be as critical?  I think when the first place prize isn't enough by itself to motivate players to attend (I am not personally motivated by Time Vault as a prize because I already own one) then the amount given away vs. the entry fees becomes more important.  I don't agree with making your event entry fee $2.00, because there is no point in giving away hundreds of dollars in cards and taking a huge loss.  I enjoy the events held at Blue Bell, and I think you deserve to make money running these tournaments.

So, for this event I payed $165 for the Vault, $95 for the Drain, and $60 for the Fetch's for a total of $320.

Knowing this, I think that a $15 entry fee is appropriate based on between 30 and 35 players, and if Mike makes his entry fee $15 I will personally encourage everyone to attend and play in both the main event and in the side event.  Making a few hundred dollars BEFORE EXPENSES is absolutely fine, and anyone who disagrees really doesn't understand the effort, time, and money that we TO's put into our events.

Mike, to be able to give away a better selection of prizes at your tournaments, I suggest that you look to the community of vintage players that you have built in this area.  Many of them have extra pieces of power and other expensive vintage playable cards that would be great prizes.  I know that most players would have no problem selling you a random UL mox for $230-$250 if they knew it would be used as a prize and given back to the community in that way.  Make it clear that you need to buy cards to use as prizes, and I'm sure that players will come to you AND be happier with prizes at future tournaments.

/opinion
/rant

-Nick

[John Jones]

I completley agree with Nick.

You don't have make your entrance fee 2$. You should make money and I don't think that TD wants you to lose money either. I think he is just saying your take being 50% is kinda rough on the players when most of us are used to a 70-80% payout. To be honest though, a timevault (regardless of tournament entry fee) is not something that would make me come from school back home to play in a vintage tournament, though I might just to play in the side event. But when I think of time vault for prizes, I think of it as the 2nd place prize, not first. When I think 1st I think, Power, shops, sets of duals, and even really pimp shit like a set of foil welders (that would be the sexiest tournament ever) is more appropriate for the Vintage players.

Also, the draft sets are comparable to guru swamps at Chicago. Completley irrelevant to vintage.

[mr.grim]

Mr. Coss very well put!! In fact you get the gold star of the day!
Mike there is no reason to do a $2 entry fee ,thats past insane its dumb in fact.

15 bucks little man put that ....lol....my bad! damn that kevin Smith.

[TD]

I completley agree with Nick.

You don't have make your entrance fee 2$. You should make money and I don't think that TD wants you to lose money either. I think he is just saying your take being 50% is kinda rough on the players when most of us are used to a 70-80% payout. To be honest though, a timevault (regardless of tournament entry fee) is not something that would make me come from school back home to play in a vintage tournament, though I might just to play in the side event. But when I think of time vault for prizes, I think of it as the 2nd place prize, not first. When I think 1st I think, Power, shops, sets of duals, and even really pimp shit like a set of foil welders (that would be the sexiest tournament ever) is more appropriate for the Vintage players.

Also, the draft sets are comparable to guru swamps at Chicago. Completley irrelevant to vintage.

This is exactly my stance on the issue.

Mike I think you misunderstood again. No one wants to see you lose money on your events. A $2 entry fee is suicide. If you think that is going to get people to come to the event you are wrong. The people who were going to come to this event are going to go regardless of your entry fee (within reason). The people who dont go to this event are not going because of the exact points John made above. Personally, It would take me just under 2 hours of driving each way to attend your event. It is not worth it to me to drive nearly 4 hours(there and back), spend my entire day in PA, pay for gas, food, and entry fee(although in this case it is no longer an issue), for a 1 in 30 chance at a $145 prize. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way as I've spoken to many players the past few days. John even makes this same point above.

There were two major issues with this event. Your customers being unhappy with the prize support, and your customers being unhappy with your rake. Both can be fixed with out you losing over $300.

I feel that you should be guaranteeing a minimum of $280 in prize to first place (rough low end value of a mox). I also feel that you should make a profit on your tournament for your time and expenses. I strongly disagree with your 50-60% share of the entry fees. It has been discusses a great deal in the poll I posted what the right take should be for a TO. I think 20% is reasonable, given your situation of not having access to dealer prices and not owning your own store, plus the fact that you have a loyal player base I think the Blue Bell players would be fine with seeing you take 25% of the entry fees. I talked to a friend on the phone and he brought up a good point. You should be capping your profit as well. If you get 60 players rather than 40 players you would be making a great deal more on your 25% take while still doing roughly the same amount of work. You should take 25% of the entry fees up to a certain value. Once that value is reached then you should put the rest into the prize pool. If you could have made $250 by going to work instead that day then maybe $300 should be that cap.

I hope this made it a little clearer for you Mike. 

[RitNecroWin]

WOW... didn't read all of this drama when I posted earlier... I just thought Mike was losing his mind!.... This is NOT right at all for the players to have made all of this public; I'm sure it could have been handled within PMs or a phone call!
-But it has been, and I have to say it's not right to Mike to take a huge dip on this event. Mike have you considered a prize scale? - I would urge you to consider that and I think everyone could walk away happy... just a thought...

Blue Bells are really great and really well run events... I think everyone needs to respect Mike a little more than this for the hard work that goes into events like this: Keep these issues private in the future! - AND PLEASE quote this and say something rude and it will just further support that this format will eventually die as players keep crapping on the people who keep it alive.

[ashiXIII]

WOW... didn't read all of this drama when I posted earlier... I just thought Mike was losing his mind!.... This is NOT right at all for the players to have made all of this public; I'm sure it could have been handled within PMs or a phone call!
-But it has been, and I have to say it's not right to Mike to take a huge dip on this event. Mike have you considered a prize scale? - I would urge you to consider that and I think everyone could walk away happy... just a thought...

Blue Bells are really great and really well run events... I think everyone needs to respect Mike a little more than this for the hard work that goes into events like this: Keep these issues private in the future! - AND PLEASE quote this and say something rude and it will just further support that this format will eventually die as players keep crapping on the people who keep it alive.

I disagree that this is an issue that should've been kept quiet. It's an issue that affects everyone who attends or would considering attending a Blue Bell. (Mike, the players, any judges, and even the store.)

Having a worthwhile discussion while getting input from everyone it affects would be impossible in PM. This is definitely something that should be done in a public forum, as it's not just an issue between TD and Mike, but an issue with the entire community.


Mike, I understand what John and AJ are saying. It's not worth their day to compete for a $150 first place prize. I understand that, even if it's not my stance. I play Vintage for fun, and would make the trip even for a first place of $150. If I wanted to make money that day, I'd just stay home and play poker. It's way more +EV, but that doesn't mean I don't mind being shafted on the prize. I wouldn't attend on principle if I thought there wasn't enough of the entry fees going back into the prize structure.

I hope we can work this whole thing out before the event. There's no need for you to be ridiculous and lower the entry fee to $2. Maybe back to $20, give out a mox for first and the Time Vault for second, and hold the Drain or maybe give it to 3rd if there's enough of a turn out, and don't give the Deltas out. Whatever. It's up to you to figure out what works, not me. Just some ideas.


All that being said, I don't think I'll be at this event because it happens to fall on a really awkward date for me.

[InfectedMushroom]

I must say as well that $2.00 is a bit low. People were just disappointed about the prize structure and rake. You absolutely deserve to make a little cash for running this, but as you have seen, people will pay the $15.00 entry fee for a good first and second prize. It was not the intent to guilt trip you into losing money to make people come. Vintage players do want you to succeed, otherwise our format would die. There just needs to be balance between entry fee and prizes.

There are people out there willing to sell a Mox cheap for a prize if it is going towards a quality tournament. It wasn't the intent for you to lose money, but discussing this situation on the forum is healthy, as the TOs and players can work together to find the best solution for both parties. Let's not forget the reason this is being held for either...as well as on June 6th.

[MISTERTREK]

Ok, after some psycological counseling and help from friends, I have been able to change the prize structure for the event, while keeping the entry at the original $20 level. I hope that this is more acceptable. Once again, I apologize for any issues that all the posts have caused. But please feel free to offer suggestions in the future. I really don't spell my name GOD, and never have all the answers.

I have a thought for next year about recruiting players for a "prize committe" to help get your input as to what you'd like to see as prizes. I'll make more announcements about this later in the year.

Finally, prizes for the side event have also been updated, and we are of course still asking for donations from anyone who would like to contibute ANYTHING.

Hope to see you on the 23rd!

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

hell yeah yo IM HERE


p.s. mike...i love you...oh yeah AJ, Joe, and Allen too

[MISTERTREK]

hell yeah yo IM HERE


p.s. mike...i love you...oh yeah AJ, Joe, and Allen too

Josh, I love you too, but not in the same way that I think you love that trio! LOL

[TD]

hell yeah yo IM HERE


p.s. mike...i love you...oh yeah AJ, Joe, and Allen too

Josh, I love you too, but not in the same way that I think you love that trio! LOL

I'm getting aroused.

Hey, Mike, I just wanted to say great job with the new prize support. This looks excellent compared to the original. I'm glad after some criticism (or yelling, screaming, and crying depending on how you look at it) you were able to change the prize support for your players. It may not have been the best way to get it done but I'm glad to see you were willing and able to listen to your players and make the necessary changes to keep these tournaments a success.

[dark burn]

Mike, cool prizes again.  I didnt care either way about the 1st place time vault.  The EV of vintage tournies is so over the top above any other magic event that asking for more feels greedy.  Running my own buisness and doing the books for another, 50% prize payout is fine with me.  I attend every event of yours that I can.  Im not trying to dredge this up or anything, just stating my opinion.

Anyway, have you considered making the side event swiss format?  It seems that a lot of people will be playing in the side event, and it would be a bit more fun.  I know there are definately problems with this.  The tourny would go longer, and something would have to be worked out with the top 4-8.  The easiest for top 8 would probably just be swiss+1.  If you do make it swiss, its like having another tournament on the same day.  I dont know how possible this would be with time constraints and other factors, or if anyone else even agrees with me.

Like I said before, Ill be playing in your events just about every time they are held.  Thanks again.

[MISTERTREK]

1 week until the event. Champion and Team standings are now updated on our web site! Hope to see everyone.

PS.....still accepting prize donations for the Dan Herd Memorial side event. LMK if you have something you would like to donate.

[MISTERTREK]

Tomorrow is the day for the event. Don't forget about the memorial side event to honor Dan Herd. The list of donated prizes for the side event so far is:

*Bazaar of Baghdad signed by Richard Garfield - donated by Alternate Universes
*Beta Taiga - CCGames
*Italian Mana Drain - donated by the Forino family
*Foil Textless Cryptic Command - donated by Ron's Comic World
*Foil Trinisphere & Foil Ethersworn Canonist - donated by Over the Edge Games
*2 x Windswept Heath - donated by Jason Koresko
*2 Giant Alara Reborn Prerelease Wall Posters - donated by Grey Matter

We will be accepting additional prize donations throughout the day tomorrow before the event if anyone else would like to add something else to the prize pool. We may switch to a swiss event if time allows. Please come out and support a great cause.