Alot of the players who go to these things don't go to any other events - the reason that sideboards aren't allowed at these things is because these kinds of players feel it's cheating to switch your deck around for someone else's deck. I.E., they don't know any rules about wishes fetching stuff in sideboards - they usually think wishes are banned from sanctioned events too, just like ante cards, as they feel whoever would have the most money would win everything then.
In all the ones I have played in, there would be no reason to sideboard as you only play 1 game. The ones here in ontario have you play a minimum of 10 games in about 3-4 hours, and then after lunch break (usually) the top 32 play in one bracket and the rest in another. Here you play best 2 out of 3.
I used to be friends with a ton of casual players, but just stopped playing Magic with them because my decks that I make (with their cards, no less) are just too competitive.
I have that problem right now. My local group plays a lot of emperor, star, and free-for-all. They get bitter when I lock them out with stax, combo out with dragon or gifts (wont work without flamevault anymore), or smack face in emperor with Oath.
I've taken Grimlong to two of these things, and it's just not fun. I won every single game with an absurd amount of ease in both tournaments - they're usually filled with tons of scrubbiness, and the prize structure is horrible. I stopped attending them, especially when Tendrils of Agony was BANNED by the tournament organizer.
The prize structure here is great. We have moxes, duals, foils, etc. The top 8 in the upper bracket get prizes, and the top 4 in the lower bracket get prizes too (obviously lesser than the top 8 in the other). There is some aggro that shows up, but it really makes you think about how to deal with it.
I considered taking Dragon next time, but it would be too many cards to acquire, and I'm not really interested in showing people why sideboards are a good thing. As well as Force of Wills.
Dragon, masknaught, and oath are probably the top 3 decks most of the time here in that format as not all of the tournaments allow power (different type of play altogether). Combo is usually top in the ones that do allow power.
I didn't see a single Force of Will at EITHER tournament. I mean, I guess I can understand not seeing one the first time around, but when I win easily and explain to everyone how to beat the deck, and they don't, I guess they only have themselves to blame.
Well that's just crappy players. Tons of people here use FOW.
As I stated before, players should not consider these tournaments the same as a normal type 1 tournament. These operate quite differently. For the ones that do not allow power, it makes you change a lot of decks, and makes others totally unviable. For the ones that do allow power, you have to figure out how to build a deck resiliant enough to accomplish its goal without any help from the sideboard for tough matches. So you kicked but with Long, but how would you do against MonoU control without any blue hosers to help you in your sideboard? How are you going to stop dragon from going off turn 3? You can put crypts in, but what will you take out, and will they be dead cards against other decks that show up?
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