TO Report- TMD OPEN 15- 0th Place

[Tobi]

Thanks for the lists!

Some missing cards:

Anthony: 3 cards MD missing
Mike: 1 card MD missing

--> http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=1509

[iamfishman]

Thanks for the lists!

Some missing cards:

Anthony: 3 cards MD missing
Mike: 1 card MD missing

--> http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=1509

Fixed
For Anthony it was 3 Dread Return
For Mike it was 1 Snow Covered Swamp

[Smmenen]

Thanks for the lists!

Some missing cards:

Anthony: 3 cards MD missing
Mike: 1 card MD missing

--> http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=1509

You both misspelled my name again

[Teps]

Thanks for the lists!

Some missing cards:

Anthony: 3 cards MD missing
Mike: 1 card MD missing

--> http://www.morphling.de/top8decks.php?id=1509

This is the third time morphling has uploaded my list wrong.

[iamfishman]

I want to reply to many of the thoughts in this thread but wanted to make sure anyone had a chance to share their thoughts first.  Anyone else want to sound off?

[Nefarias]

1. I personally don't know of anyone that places any significant value in the shirts, but the playmats are great. The only problem of them being looked at as "trophies" is that only 9-16 (and 1st, for next time) get them, so owning one doesn't actually signify that that person Top 8'ed, which is what everyone considers the accomplishment. That said I don't really have an opinion on what should be done about them going forward; that's just my thoughts about them in general.

2. I'm guessing having it right in the Marriot would increase Day 2 attendance again, though I'm not convinced it would be by a significant enough number to justify the extra cost.

3.Magic trivia --- 10. My favorite side event, even though I've only played twice.
Free Side Event --- 8. Well worth the pretty small cut it takes from the main event.
Team Rivalry --- 3. It was a great idea when the whole team thing was huge, but I don't really care about it anymore. That said, I don't think there's a real reason NOT to do it if it pays for itself.
Feature Matches --- 6. Pretty much a staple of any major tournament, so I don't really see a reason not to, but in reality TMD Opens are usually small enough where you can just watch any match you want once you're done with yours.
Streaming/videos of Feature Matches --- N/A. Pretty irrelevant to me because if I ever can't make a TMD Open, I'm pretty sure it'll be for some huge reason and I won't be sitting at home instead.
Top 16 instead of Top 8 --- 4. It can certainly be a nice buffer for when the tourney's big, but IIRC I've twice Top 8'ed when it was a cut to 16 and both times lost in the first playoff round, so I'm personally biased against it (though I'm sure my bias would be the exact opposite if I had made it into the playoffs from a 9-16 slot).
Silly side contests(Last Man Standing, Farthest Traveled Prize, Last Place Prize, etc) --- 7. None of these examples particularly interest me as a player, but if one ever did it would certainly be a cool bonus. The Last Place prize this year was pretty entertaining as a spectator too.

4. Anywhere in New England is a no-brainer for me, location doesn't much matter. NY/NJ/PA I'd have to think about, but would more likely than not go. Anything farther and I probably wouldn't. But as far as venue goes it's not a dealbreaker.

[Tobi]

You both misspelled my name again

This is the third time morphling has uploaded my list wrong.

Hey, don't blame me. I only copy&paste 

Thanks for the missing cards. Lists on morphling are updated.

[Zombie Shakespeare]

Great report. Some day I'm going to attend one of these. Living in SC in not condusive to playing Vintage unfortunately.

Where do you get the playmats printed at?

[Yare]

Steve,

1) In the Top 8, did you win the roll?
2) How much did this matter?

[Smmenen]

Steve,

1) In the Top 8, did you win the roll?
2) How much did this matter?

I didn't win the roll, but it didn't matter that much as I can't beat Magus of the Moon game 1, and he can play it before I can go off.   

On another note, I just want to say that this is one of the greatest Vintage top 8s I've ever seen from a major American tournament, in terms of how diverse it was.  Kevin and I talk about this in our recent podcast, but it was really great to see so many different strategies represented, and the sheer diversity of both strategies and archetypes.  There were 2 Snapcaster decks, 2 Bob decks, Oath, Shop, Dday, and Dredge.   The draw engines were extremely diverse too, with a Night's Whipser deck even making top 8!   And, as for the stereotype of Vintage being all blue decks, I love the fact that the two non-blue decks made the finals!

[Troy_Costisick]

And, as for the stereotype of Vintage being all blue decks, I love the fact that the two non-blue decks made the finals!

And one of them could be called (dare I say it?) RED!  Or reddish anyway.  It was a great top8.  I'm excited for Vintage's future.

[Nefarias]

Alright Ray, I think we're ready to hear your thoughts. I for one am very interested to read what you have to say.

[Jakgotbak]

This might be a touchy issue for some, but during the top 8 I saw that the streaming matches featured some low-quality proxies.  If we want more players to come into the vintage-with-proxies scene, I don't think this is doing us any favors. I'd encourage people to make an effort to have better proxies-  "Mox Jet" scribbled on a swamp just doesn't make the people watching the streaming matches want to play Vintage.

At least "Mox Jet" scribbled on a swamp makes some kind of sense.  When the Mono-Red MUD player laid a Plains on the table and said, "Magus of the Moon" I just straight up quit watching.

Now... maybe I would've quit watching anyway, as that's pretty much the scoop moment, but using one of your proxies on an eight dollar card just reeks of not even trying.

[iamfishman]

I apologize for the delay in my response.  As I said, I had my personal thoughts on these topics, but didn't want to bias any responses by sharing them before all your feedback.  (Then I forgot about this thread for 2 weeks ).

Regarding the shirts and playmats, I like the idea of doing color ones using the site Nick suggested.  Not sure about the shirts, and whether or not I can legally sell mats and shirts to offset the cost of offering some for free.  A question for those who know the law...does it matter if I can show that I am not making a profit off them?
Getting a bigger day 2 is a tough issue.  Part of me likes the idea of a big vintage event on Saturday and a big Legacy event on day 2 to get a little crossover from each format for each day, but then it isn't a two day Vintage event.  I think Nick has something about getting back in touch with the Ramada, or being back in Waterbury, especially based on comments from this thread: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=43442.msg595995;boardseen#new
All those things I asked you to rate seem to be popular, so I will keep doing them, recorded streaming feature matches, trivia, top 16 cuts(when appropriate) and team rivalry.  I also will try to get back to some of the silly games/prizes that were done in the past like round by round challenges and last man standing and the farthest travelled prize.
Finally, a thought that I have shared with some, but have been unsuccessful about.  I will throw the idea out to this whole forum:
a.) Can I find I venue that can hold 100 people for a vintage event that will charge less than $300 total for the whole day and that isn't a store so it will allow 2 vendors to  come in an sell there?
b.) Can I find two vendors who would pay $250 each(or one vendor who would pay $500) or more who would pay for the right to vend at this event.
If both of these could be a yes(I have been having trouble especially finding a.) than imagine the scenario.  $300 covers the venue and leaves $200 or more for prizes.  I run an event free of charge and we can allow the following tournament.

Awesome Way To Get People Into Vintage Event 2012
Prizes: $200 (or more) worth of stuff split amongst top 8.
Cost to enter: $0(ZERO) but you must bring with you someone who has never played Vintage and supply them a deck.
Net result...this event should get at least 40 players with 40 new players to vintage.  Dealers are happy with their investment since they are vending a decent sized event, and if even 10% of those players introduced to vintage like it and stick with it, we have 4 new vintage players.

What do you all think?

[mikekilljoy]

b.) Can I find two vendors who would pay $250 each(or one vendor who would pay $500) or more who would pay for the right to vend at this event.

If I can get my stuff in order by then, I'd actually attempt to be one.

[Godder]

That Awesome Way To Get People Into Vintage 2012 is awesome...

Re: shirts and playmat sales, are you asking about the actual legality of selling stuff, or the tax issues? I'm not a lawyer or accountant, but can't see why it would be illegal, and tax-wise, typically you work out income and expenses for a year, and only pay tax (if relevant) on the net income (aka profit). Sales tax is not something I'm as familiar with, but usually you would only have to charge that if your turnover is above a certain level (seems unlikely).