MVPLS Vintage Event 10-12-13

[Calvin240sx]

*UPDATED START TIME*

Come out and play some vintage in central PA
Facebook info:


When: saturday Oct. 12th
         start time is gonna be 1130p for registration.
          play begins 12p NOON!

host: Calvin Hodges(Calvin240sx) and MVP Sports and Games

format: unsanctioned vintage(duh!)
               please have a decklist

where: MVP Sports and Games
          50 Redwood Dr.
           Lancaster, PA 17601
           717-435-4964(shop)
           717-419-4572(calvin)

entry fee: $30(10 card prox. 5x free, 2nd 5x $1 each)

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: mox jet or time vault with less than 24
2: $150 credit
3-4: $100 credit
5-8: $50 store credit

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

Hopefully making it out to this shindig

[TakeYourTime]

Come out and play some vintage in central PA
Facebook info:


When: saturday Oct. 12th
         start time is gonna be 1230p for registration.
          play begins 1p

host: Calvin Hodges(Calvin240sx) and MVP Sports and Games

format: unsanctioned vintage(duh!)
               please have a decklist

where: MVP Sports and Games
          50 Redwood Dr.
           Lancaster, PA 17601
           717-435-4964(shop)
           717-419-4572(calvin)

entry fee: $30(10 card prox. 5x free, 2nd 5x $1 each)

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: non-twister p10(mox/walk/vault)
2: mana drain/dual(s)($150-ish value)
3: Dual land/judge promo(s)$100-ish value)
4: dual land/judge promo(s)($80-ish value)
5-8: $50 store credit

I love that the top prize is a piece of P10, as I have pNothing!

Now the real question... Do I take my unpowered deck to practice for Champs or proxy it up?

[vaughnbros]

Come out and play some vintage in central PA
Facebook info:


When: saturday Oct. 12th
         start time is gonna be 1230p for registration.
          play begins 1p

host: Calvin Hodges(Calvin240sx) and MVP Sports and Games

format: unsanctioned vintage(duh!)
               please have a decklist

where: MVP Sports and Games
          50 Redwood Dr.
           Lancaster, PA 17601
           717-435-4964(shop)
           717-419-4572(calvin)

entry fee: $30(10 card prox. 5x free, 2nd 5x $1 each)

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: non-twister p10(mox/walk/vault)
2: mana drain/dual(s)($150-ish value)
3: Dual land/judge promo(s)$100-ish value)
4: dual land/judge promo(s)($80-ish value)
5-8: $50 store credit

I love that the top prize is a piece of P10, as I have pNothing!

Now the real question... Do I take my unpowered deck to practice for Champs or proxy it up?

You don't need proxies, even Dixon top 8ed with no ancestral.

[Samoht]

Come out and play some vintage in central PA
Facebook info:


When: saturday Oct. 12th
         start time is gonna be 1230p for registration.
          play begins 1p

host: Calvin Hodges(Calvin240sx) and MVP Sports and Games

format: unsanctioned vintage(duh!)
               please have a decklist

where: MVP Sports and Games
          50 Redwood Dr.
           Lancaster, PA 17601
           717-435-4964(shop)
           717-419-4572(calvin)

entry fee: $30(10 card prox. 5x free, 2nd 5x $1 each)

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: non-twister p10(mox/walk/vault)
2: mana drain/dual(s)($150-ish value)
3: Dual land/judge promo(s)$100-ish value)
4: dual land/judge promo(s)($80-ish value)
5-8: $50 store credit

I love that the top prize is a piece of P10, as I have pNothing!

Now the real question... Do I take my unpowered deck to practice for Champs or proxy it up?

You don't need proxies, even Dixon top 8ed with no ancestral.

even Dixon? I'm hoping you meant to type Dixon even or otherwise we fighting!

[Calvin240sx]

UPDATED START TIME!
Get some testing done before eternal weekend in 3 weeks! OMG! It's only 3 weekends away!

[TakeYourTime]

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: mox jet or time vault with less than 24
2: $150 credit
3-4: $100 credit
5-8: $50 store credit

If there were to be a top 4 split, what would the value be at <24 and >=24 players?

[Samoht]

UPDATED START TIME!
Get some testing done before eternal weekend in 3 weeks! OMG! It's only 3 weekends away!

Have a nice event, can't make the trip if it's firing at noon.

[Calvin240sx]

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: mox jet or time vault with less than 24
2: $150 credit
3-4: $100 credit
5-8: $50 store credit

If there were to be a top 4 split, what would the value be at <24 and >=24 players?

>24 would be roughly $190 each. at <24 it'd be $110


Tom, It's gotta fire at 1230 at worst bro. you usually make that time. lmk if ya still wanna come out.
cheers,
cal

[TD]

Hopefully making it out to this shindig

Josh, be glad that you didn’t make it out to this event. I have been playing in Vintage events all over the east coast for nearly 10 years now and I have to say this tournament was by far the most disappointing event I have ever experienced.

*UPDATED START TIME*
Come out and play some vintage in central PA
Facebook info:
When: saturday Oct. 12th
         start time is gonna be 1130p for registration.
          play begins 12p NOON!

Excited to get back into vintage I decided to make the trek out from NJ to attend this event. With nearly a 3 hour drive ahead of me the 30min time between registration and start time didn’t give me much wiggle room. I arrived at the event at 11:00. A little early but only 30 minutes before registration opens up. I walk into the store, doors wide open, only to find it completely empty. Not a soul in sight. After about a Minute of looking at some cards in the case the store owner walks through the front door of the store and tells me that the store is closed and that I would need to come back in an hour. This seemed strange to me since the event was supposed to start at noon but I obliged and took a drive.

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: mox jet or time vault with less than 24
2: $150 credit
3-4: $100 credit
5-8: $50 store credit

Upon my re-arrival at noon I was happy so see both the store open and some vintage players I recognized hanging about. I immediately paid my entry fee of $30 and registered my deck. It seemed that we were waiting on some players running late (nothing new when it comes to magic). Finally after over an hour of waiting the event was paired at 1:30. Unfortunately we only had 8 players show up for the event. At this point nothing has been said by the TO or the players about prize structure. As far as anyone knows 1st place prize is a Time Vault. In the middle of my first round while I’m in mid game Calvin, who seems to be running things, flashes a crumpled up piece of paper with numbers written on it and says this is the prize breakdown for today. Both of us involved in the game shrug it off and continue our game. I didn’t think anything of it.

Because we only had 8 players we played 3 rounds of swiss with a cut to top4. Up until this point there was no announcement about prize structure changing other than the quick flash of a piece of paper that I guess I was supposed to be able to read and understand while in the middle of a match. I had been playing under the assumption that the prize support advertized was indeed the prize support we were receiving. Just before the T4 started the players who made the cut and the TO started talking about a split involving the credit. When I asked what the breakdown looked like someone told me 1st was $120 in credit. I asked what had happened to the time vault? I was ignored.

After winning the event I reported that I won and was told I had $120 in credit. A bit disgruntled about the whole situation I headed over to the display case to see what my prize options were. Before I could get half way to the case the guy taking match results stopped me and told me that the store wasn’t paying the prizes that he was and he handed me a couple of trade binders and a box of cards to look through.

I for one will never attend an event held by MVPLS again and I strongly urge the vintage community to beware when considering attending any future MVPLS events. I took off from work, spent 6 hours driving, and spent $30 entry fee. The draw of the tournament was a minimum Time Vault pay out. What I got was $120 in "Calvin's collection" credit. A word of advice to MVPLS, If you are going to run an event that you expect people to travel to from out of state you should be prepared to honor the prize structure you advertise regardless of turn out.

-AJ Grasso

*Edit to add Calvin's name as Steve pointed out.8

[personalbackfire]

Hopefully making it out to this shindig

Josh, be glad that you didn’t make it out to this event. I have been playing in Vintage events all over the east coast for nearly 10 years now and I have to say this tournament was by far the most disappointing event I have ever experienced.

*UPDATED START TIME*
Come out and play some vintage in central PA
Facebook info:
When: saturday Oct. 12th
         start time is gonna be 1130p for registration.
          play begins 12p NOON!

Excited to get back into vintage I decided to make the trek out from NJ to attend this event. With nearly a 3 hour drive ahead of me the 30min time between registration and start time didn’t give me much wiggle room. I arrived at the event at 11:00. A little early but only 30 minutes before registration opens up. I walk into the store, doors wide open, only to find it completely empty. Not a soul in sight. After about a Minute of looking at some cards in the case the store owner walks through the front door of the store and tells me that the store is closed and that I would need to come back in an hour. This seemed strange to me since the event was supposed to start at noon but I obliged and took a drive.

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: mox jet or time vault with less than 24
2: $150 credit
3-4: $100 credit
5-8: $50 store credit

Upon my re-arrival at noon I was happy so see both the store open and some vintage players I recognized hanging about. I immediately paid my entry fee of $30 and registered my deck. It seemed that we were waiting on some players running late (nothing new when it comes to magic). Finally after over an hour of waiting the event was paired at 1:30. Unfortunately we only had 8 players show up for the event. At this point nothing has been said by the TO or the players about prize structure. As far as anyone knows 1st place prize is a Time Vault. In the middle of my first round while I’m in mid game the guy who seems to be running things flashes a crumpled up piece of paper with numbers written on it and says this is the prize breakdown for today. Both of us involved in the game shrug it off and continue our game. I didn’t think anything of it.

Because we only had 8 players we played 3 rounds of swiss with a cut to top4. Up until this point there was no announcement about prize structure changing other than the quick flash of a piece of paper that I guess I was supposed to be able to read and understand while in the middle of a match. I had been playing under the assumption that the prize support advertized was indeed the prize support we were receiving. Just before the T4 started the players who made the cut and the TO started talking about a split involving the credit. When I asked what the breakdown looked like someone told me 1st was $120 in credit. I asked what had happened to the time vault? I was ignored.

After winning the event I reported that I won and was told I had $120 in credit. A bit disgruntled about the whole situation I headed over to the display case to see what my prize options were. Before I could get half way to the case the guy taking match results stopped me and told me that the store wasn’t paying the prizes that he was and he handed me a couple of trade binders and a box of cards to look through.

I for one will never attend an event held by MVPLS again and I strongly urge the vintage community to beware when considering attending any future MVPLS events. I took off from work, spent 6 hours driving, and spent $30 entry fee. The draw of the tournament was a minimum Time Vault pay out. What I got was $120 in random guys collection credit. A word of advice to MVPLS, If you are going to run an event that you expect people to travel to from out of state you should be prepared to honor the prize structure you advertize regardless of turn out.

-AJ Grasso

AJ,
I am sorry you had a bad experience with today's event, though am glad you are hitting up tournaments again. Calvin, who you are referring to as "random guy," is who puts on the events (similar to how to Coss would run events at AUBB back in the day). He does have big a collection and I have always found his selection better than most stores. I'm not sure why today's turnout was that low, as I believe that is the lowest it has ever been. Generally it seems like those tournaments get around low to mid 20's.

Usually his tournaments are quite fun and in my opinion well run. Are they perfect? No, and most tournaments are not. Most tournaments start late. I don't have much to add about him adjusting the prize structure. People have different opinions on what is and isn't acceptable. I think given the circumstances (8 people), it is quite reasonable to adjust prizes. His announcement even states that it is based off 24 people. Perhaps it could have been announced more clear at the event, I'm not sure as I wasn't there. Regardless,  I hope you reconsider and make it out to another tournament some time.

In general I prefer going to Calvin's events as far as vintage goes. They are usually laid back, fun, and well run.

Congrats on winning.

[TD]

AJ,
I am sorry you had a bad experience with today's event, though am glad you are hitting up tournaments again. Calvin, who you are referring to as "random guy," is who puts on the events (similar to how to Coss would run events at AUBB back in the day). He does have big a collection and I have always found his selection better than most stores. I'm not sure why today's turnout was that low, as I believe that is the lowest it has ever been. Generally it seems like those tournaments get around low to mid 20's.

Usually his tournaments are quite fun and in my opinion well run. Are they perfect? No, and most tournaments are not. Most tournaments start late. I don't have much to add about him adjusting the prize structure. People have different opinions on what is and isn't acceptable. I think given the circumstances (8 people), it is quite reasonable to adjust prizes. His announcement even states that it is based off 24 people. Perhaps it could have been announced more clear at the event, I'm not sure as I wasn't there. Regardless,  I hope you reconsider and make it out to another tournament some time.

In general I prefer going to Calvin's events as far as vintage goes. They are usually laid back, fun, and well run.

Congrats on winning.

Steve,
Granted, Calvin's collection is very nice, but the fact that I was mislead into thinking I had store credit was just the icing on the cake. I would have never invested the time and money into going to this tournament to win credit from someone I don't know who is trying to break into dealing. Also while most tournaments do start late, most tournaments don't tell you that deck reg. starts before the venue even opens and that the event will fire when the venue opens and even when they do run late they generally don't go off an hour and a half past the posted start time. That being said I wasn't even upset about it, I was just happy to be playing magic again. I was mostly using that as yet another reference to outline how poorly this event was run for anyone who plans on traveling to a Calvin tournament in the future to consider.

As far as the prize structure is concerned I agree with you. It would be very reasonable to adjust the prize structure down with only 8 players attending. The fact of the matter is he very clearly, and I can quote the OP if you'd like, stated he would be giving away a Time Vault if attendance was less than 24 players.

Prizing t8 with 24 players:
1st: mox jet or time vault with less than 24

The guaranteed prize support was also a big factor into my decision to make the long trip out to this event. If I had made it there and Calvin pulled the players aside before the event and explained the circumstances and asked about reworking the prize structure it would have been a different story. He didn't do that. He took my money, took my deck registration sheet, he paired and started the round as normal. I'm sorry Calvin didn't get the turnout he expected, and I'm sorry if giving out the time vault would have meant he'd be taking a hit, but don't punish the players who did come out to support your event. My whole point is if you are going to try and attract players to travel to your event with nice prizes. As a TO you should be prepared to give out those prizes.

The fact of the matter is I attended this tournament to try to win a Mox or a Time Vault. I won the event and did not receive the Time Vault as advertised.  

[Calvin240sx]

First, I want to publicly apologize to the 8 men who showed up to jam this wknd(especially to AJ). Low attendance or not, this was run even looser than usual.

Second, AJ, you will be awarded a time vault(as per our convo).

Third, I will be going back to a tiered prized structure in the future(guaranteed prizing at each tier). Pleasing everyone, or as many as possible, has been a goal which has yet to be attained as everyone has their own opinions on how it should go.

Lastly, if you actually have something to say(suggestion, complaint, prizing, etc....) don't be shy to hit me up. I'm on FB, twitter, yahoo, here, motl. I'm all ears if it's constructive especially. I've gotten a few today and it's been quite nice, so thank you guys.

TO report will go up sometime tonite.

Thank you all,
Cheers,
Cal

[Oath Breaker]

I was not there and can not add a lot to what has been said, but I will say this.
 Given the choice of actual store credit, or picks from Calvin's collection, you go with Calvin 100% of the time. MVP is a great store if you need Standard cards, but Calvin's collection is by far the greatest collection of Legacy to Vintage cards I have ever seen amassed! Need Beta power, yeah he's got it, need 40 Scalding Tarns, yup, got that also!
See you all on the 26th in Harrisburg!
Kevin

[brianpk80]

The Lancaster events are always great and I would have been there if something hadn't come up at the last minute.  I like the laid back atmosphere and later start times since it's a long drive, and the prize support is always generous with a collection that emphasizes Vintage the most.  Walk in, see three Moxen, 7 FoW's, 10 fetchlands, 6 Mayors of Avabruck, 5 Standstills, 3 Cliques, and an AEther Spellbomb in the piles by the binders.  It's always Type 1, from big to small.  

As I see it, there's no financial reason to support Vintage over other formats as a TO so you have to really be invested in Vintage for love of the game to do it.  We're lucky to have a lot of tournaments in the Northeast but it's not something to take for granted.  I've seen scenes rise and fall and don't want to see TO's getting burned because that becomes a disincentive to running events which negatively impacts players.  If that means from time to time, 2nd place is a Tundra instead of an Underground, that seems fine.  Glad the situation appears to be resolved & looking forward to Harrisburg.  -B