Thoughts on US Nationals at GenCon this year?

[KingSquee]

My initial reaction was "cool, that will keep all the ringers out of Block, Vintage, and Legacy champs so that I have a chance to top 8 again!"

(FYI in addition to my Vintage Champs top 8 last year, I made top 8 of Block Champs in '08, losing to some random scrub named Gerry Thompson in the quarter-finals. Mr. Elias made it to the finals before losing to a random scrub named Sam Black, and then made top 8 of Legacy Champs too!)

I obviously have no problem with this announcement. Though I strongly dislike Standard I guess I'll have to make a serious attempt to Q for Nats and score that free badge. Luckily RDW is pretty good in the current metagame.

[Smmenen]

US nationals used to be at Origins every year from 1994 to the late 1990s, so there is a precedent for having it at major gaming conventions.  But it may affect the champs.

[TheBrassMan]

Champs was at Nationals instead of GenCon a few years back, and I had a blast there.  GenCon is an awesome experience, but it's not really catered towards CCG players.  Are they happening at the same time?  That does kind of stink considering last years' 1st and 2nd place players would both be Nat'sing instead.

[KingSquee]

Assuming no changes to the usual schedules for any of the events it would go something like this:

Thursday: Block Champs, Nats Grinders
Friday: Vintage Champs, Day 1 Nats
Saturday: Legacy Champs, Day 2 Nats
Sunday: Top 8 Nats

The bigger question is, should I or any other Eternal aficionado on these boards catch lightning in a bottle, manage to qualify, and get a free badge, do we (or can we, WotC?) skip Nats for Vintage/Legacy Champs? In all likelihood I'd be dead money in Nats so it would definitely deserve some thought.

[Mr. Type 4]

Champs was at Nationals instead of GenCon a few years back, and I had a blast there.

Yeah, i won that one, it was a really good time. 

Pros:+ GenCon should be extra awesome for people involved in Magic because Nats will bring a lot of people out. 

+ the last time it helped spotlight Vintage a little bit as many of the players from Nats that had a remote interest in Vintage walked by and checked out a match or two during their down time. 

Cons: - a handful of people will need to decide which event to attend

- with all the Magic that will be going on there may not be much time for anything else. 

[mikekilljoy]

Cons: - a handful of people will need to decide which event to attend

- with all the Magic that will be going on there may not be much time for anything else. 

And that's a con how? I mean, you are in Indy. It's not like anything else fun is there.

[LordHomerCat]

Well there are lots of other games and rooms around, if you're into that stuff.  Table top games, new CCGs, etc.

I'm with Paul though, Nats + Gencon was awesome.  You had all the best vintage players, and also all the best US Players in general all hanging around, and many of those guys came over and watched some vintage games and got interested in the format.   Where's the downside, really?  A couple people can't play in both, but honestly, most of those people never play Vintage worlds anyway (that is, the West Coast guys; Owen and TK haven't played any vintage events in months, for example).  I would rather see Vintage on day 2, so that everyone who scrubs out could have a chance to play, but I can see Legacy Champs being massive this year in light of the recent SCG tourneys and the semi-pro interest in the format.

Given the choice, I would rather see Vintage Champs at Nats, rather than Nats at Gencon, because Gencon costs a medium fortune to attend.  But, whatever.