Tournament Organizers, Proxies, and the new 1.5

[Moxlotus]

I for one am extremely happy to see the 2 lists separate, it should have been done a while ago.  But one thing bothers me.  Will tournament organizers who have been having 10 proxy or unlimited proxy tournaments switch over to new 1.5?

Many organizers do this because few of the attendees have the necessary power, if any, to compete.  Will organizers now just have Vintage-lite tournaments instead?  They will be able to hold sanctioned tournaments and won't have to deal with proxies any more.  This scares me a little bit.  Does anybody else have any opinions or predictions on this?

[brturn]

Moxlotus,

As always, it is the players who decide which formats will succeed and which will fail.  If you desire to play Vintage, make sure your tournament organizers know this, and be vocal in the community.  If you desire to play the new 1.5, make sure to mention this too.

There is room in Magic for many formats!

I will certainly stick with Vintage, not the least of which for the $10K+ investment I already have, but it's just that much more interesting.  Especially with 20+ archtypes battling for supremacy, it's exciting times!

--Bryan

[Yawgmoths_Dummy]

The "new" type 1.5  is both exciting and scary. I too have invested a large sum of money into playing type 1, as have most that come here. I would hate to think Vintage would regress into what it was 3-4 years ago, when there were almost NO Vintage tourneys. Just look at all the competitive power tournies going on now. It would be a bummer knowing I spent all that cash for my power cards just so they could sit in toploaders in a box.

On the brighter side, I think the new 1.5 may promote creative deck building.        With a sizeable card base, without some of the Vintage brokeness, it may encourage new deck ideas, and may turn out to be the most balanced set. It could also spark a new interest with people who have stopped playing Magic, but still have some of thier older cards.

[Whatever Works]

@Moxlotus - I have to agree this is a scary thing, and i made that pretty clear in my topic about how 1.5 was a threat to type 1. This is one of the reasons that really scares me, because the fact that 1.5 is easier to sanction (because proxies arent needed to compete) alone will raise the attendance by almost double (or that has been the case at my local store). Its really a double edged sword in that it could stunt T1 growth, and take budget players away from type 1 (a format where they are limited to curtain decks and capabilities) to suddenly a format where they already have a headstart on, and can easily manage to afford.

This is why supporting type 1.5 is a good, and a scary thing. If type 1.5 does succeed to reach the hype its been designated it curtainly could take alot of store owners who are all about the money (leather/Stok), and they might change to 1.5 tourneys in a effort to gain more money (not that i would miss them), but losing tournements to another format would be dissapointing. The best example for me is when they changed the local tournements at the store i go to in connecticut from type 1 every week to every other week rotating with type 2.

[Raven Fire]

There is room in Magic for many formats!

I'm not sure about that.
Most Magic tournaments are held in small shops that have a limited ability to host events.  These shops usually sell other TCGs as well as miniatures, etc. and many are already running as many tournaments as they can manage.  Unless you have a huge player base, large amounts of floor space, and a few dedicated judges; it's difficult to add more regular events and that means that something else is likely going to get cut.  This doesn't consider the sad fact that there are stores who simply don't like holding events because Magic players have a reputation for selling/trading with each other rather than buying singles from the host store, arguing with judges (and complaining to the DCI if they don't get their way), creating a generally unpleasant atmosphere for non-Magic playing customers, and stealing from both the store and other players.  I know this because I've tried to get some of the local stores to host Magic tournaments and I can't get them to even hold drafts, which seems like an obvious money maker.
Anyway, unless WotC pushes the new format (makes it a part of the pro tour) it won't be as big as Standard/Extended/Block, it won't have the aura of coolness that is T1, and it won't generate revenue like Limited.  Unless a store is already hosting 1.5 events, I don't see that store hosting the new format for anything other than a trial run.

[Whatever Works]

I dont see it as a "new" extra format, but instead as a "new" replacement format for extended which is declining, and essentially dead in the eyes of most of the people who played the format when it originally came out. However, I expect it to be much bigger then extended is currently and sinse it is going to be "the next big thing" (suppossedly) it has the potential to gain interest from players from all formats who want to explore something different. This sudden surge of players (and need for all the cards that the new format will require to be competitive) will only create store owners to have more interest in running such an event, because its clear that most type 1 players (in the New England area) usually have all the cards they want, and are usually looking to "pimp" out there decks, or find the 1-2 sideboard cards they left at home.