Day 2 began with the biggest headache EVAR. I rolled off my half-chair half-bed creation. I was absolutely exhausted, took a quick warm shower, which only made me more exhausted, drove to Dunkin Doughnuts with Tree for a Bagel Sandwich and Hot Chocolate, which made me almost fall asleep, and finally got to the Marriott at around 9:00.
Fortunately, no one was there yet. There were stuff the Vendors and I each left, and I was afraid the staff would unlock the doors to the room before I got there for some reason. I get the doors unlock and begin to set the place.
Todd arrives shortly after me with a boatload of equipment. Let me just say, if you were at Day 2 and enjoyed the video games, you totally have Todd to thank. He brought three TVs, 2 X-boxes, a hub, a Game Cube, DDR, and probably some other video game stuff that I am forgetting. Also, he brought 2 sets of poker chips for the poker tournament. A lot of Day 2’s success was a result of Todd’s generosity.
Some of the first people to arrive were guests of mine. While I was working at the Marriott, before getting my degree, I befriended the General Manager of the hotel. We became good friends, often grabbing lunch on our lunch break, and I even taught him how to play Magic. Fast forward to the present, which finds him as the Wrestling coach for a local high school. Apparently, he finds out that some of his players, also play magic. As such, he lets them know about my tournament. He told me Friday, before I set the room, that they had a meet on Saturday, but they wanted to come Sunday. We even came to find out that one of them was the brother of a former student of mine. I told him that they would be my guests, on the house, for the Day 2 Mox tourney.
In total, 36 people showed up for the Mox Tourney, which since it brought in $450, I gave away:
1st Place – Signed Mox Pearl
2nd Place – Italian Legends Abyss
3rd Place – BB Foreign Demonic Tutor
4th Place – 4 Signed BB Illusions of Grandeur
5th – 8th Place – 4 booster Packs, (3 foreign)
Here are the round by round results
http://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/Day2SecondChanceResultsbyround.xlsIn the top 8:
Nick Coss defeats Gary Steffens
Jason Riendeau defeats Aaron Janis
Rich Shay defeats Dan Emmons
Corey Mann defeats Marc Perez
In the top 4:
Nick Coss defeats Jason Riendeau
Rich Shay defeats Corey Mann
In the finals:
Rich Shay defeats Nick Coss
And the top 8 Decklists:
Rich Shay
1st Place
Playing Control Slaver
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
1 Pentavus
4 Goblin Welder
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Mindslaver
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Darksteel Citadel
2 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
5 Island
1 Lava Dart
Sideboard:
1 Lava Dart
1 Platinum Angel
2 Echoing Truth
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Rack and Ruin
2 Tormod’s Crypt
3 Red Elemental Blast
Nick Coss
2nd Place
Playing 5/3
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
4 Flooded Strand
4 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Shivan Reef
1 Tolarian Academy
7 SoLoMoxen
1 Mana Crypt
4 Trinisphere
3 Crucible of the World
4 Juggernaut
4 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Sundering Titan
1 Duplicant
1 Triskelion
1 Razormane Masticore
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Platinum Angel
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Fire/Ice
1 Tinker
1 Mystical Tutor
(Yes 61 Cards is correct)
Sideboard:
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Rack and Ruin
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Fire/Ice
1 Tormod’s Crypt
Jason Riendeau
3rd Place
Playing Stax
1 Strip Mine
4 Tangle Wire
4 Trinisphere
1 Tinker
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
3 Meditate
4 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Triskellion
4 Wasteland
4 Smokestack
4 Crucible of Worlds
4 City of Brass
1 Darksteel Ingot
4 Goblin Welder
1 Mana Vault
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Sundering Titan
1 Grim Monolith
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Time Walk
1 Balance
1 Duplicant
Sideboard:
3 Red Elemental Blast
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Mindslaver
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Triskellion
Corey Mann
4th Place
Playing Fish
3 Voidmage Prodigy
4 Grim Lavamancers
4 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Brainstorm
4 Curiosity
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
2 Null Rod
4 Volcanic Island
2 Island
4 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Mishra’s Factory
3 Faerie Conclave
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
2 Misdirection
1 Strip Mine
1 Mox Sapphire
Sidebaord:
3 Stifle
3 Red Elemental Blast
1 Null Rod
3 Waterfron Bouncer
3 Energy Flux
2 Maze of Ith
Aaron Jarvis
5th Place
Playing 5/3 with White
1 Tinker
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Vampric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Time Walk
3 Seal of Cleansing
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Memory Jar
4 Goblin Welder
4 Juggernaut
1 Platinum Angel
1 Karn Silver Golem
1 Triskellion
1 Sundering Titan
1 Razormane Masticore
1 Duplicant
3 Trinisphere
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Mishra’s Workshop
7 SoLoMoxen
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
3 City of Brass
(61 Cards)
Sideboard:
3 Rack and Ruin
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Damping Matrix
Dan Emmons
6th Place
Playing Scepter Control
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
3 Orim’s Chant
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Balance
4 Flooded Strand
2 Volcanic Island
2 Island
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Plains
3 Tundra
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Isochron Scepter
2 Disenchant
1 Exalted Angel
3 Fire/Ice
3 Gorilla Saman
3 Ophidian
2 Meddling Mage
Sideboard:
1 Meddling Mage
3 Arcane Laboratory
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Goblin Bombardment
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Rack and Ruin
Marc Perez
7th Place
Playing Sex.dec
3 Birds of Paradise
3 Werebear
4 Eternal Witness
4 Force of Will
4 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
3 Nostalgic Dreams
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Burning Wish
1 Echoing Truth
1 Regrowth
1 Seeds of Innocence
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Island
1 Forest
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Volcanic Island
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
Sideboard:
2 Seeds of Innocence
1 Root Maze
1 Stifle
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Cranial Extraction
1 Simplify
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Damping Matrix
1 Naturalize
2 Carpet of Flowers
1 Chainer's Edict
Gary Steffens
8th Place
Playing U/G Madness
3 Aquameoba
4 Waterfront Bouncer
3 Annul
4 Force of Will
4 Circular Logic
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Arrogant Wurm
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Strip Mine
4 Polluted Delta
2 Windsweapt Heath
2 Tropical Island
4 Forest
4 Island
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
3 Magus of the Unseen
3 Null Rod
3 Stifle
2 Wonder
4 Ground Seal
All in all, the tournament went smoothly.
The highlander got fewer people than I expected. With only 7 people, .(the very generous Dan Richardson volunteered to Judge the event for free(thank you Dan…you are the man). Meeting his generosity halfway, I agreed to still give away the Italian Legends Mana Drain even though we did not meet the required 8 people. I even threw in some booster packs for second.
The Highlander event was truly all about having fun. The 7 competitors were all players who are very competitive, but also very fair. The spirit of the tournament was very casual and yet, the players brought their best game. If their was one event all day I would have like to play in, it would have been this.
Rather than type decklists(since you are typing 75 lines of text per deck). I used my handy dandy scanner.
Here are the decklists:
http://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/BKHighlanderJan162005.JPGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/DRHighlanderJan162005.JPGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/DU1HighlanderJan162005.JPGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/DU2HighlanderJan162005.JPGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/HCHighlanderJan162005.JPGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/JO1HighlanderJan162005.JPGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/JO2HighlanderJan162005.JPGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/PMHighlanderJan162005.JPGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-1/238470/SCHighlanderJan162005.JPGSimon Cooper won the event after a large number of Ben Kowal draws drew everyone to the point of insanity. Dan Richardson came in second.
As far as the Poker Tournament, my brother Rich brought down his laptop with an excellent program to round a Poker tournament, with a timer and automatically incrementing blinds.
The poker tournament got 12 people, with the winner being Anthony Fiore, defeating Brett Attmore in the end.
The tournament was more on the side of tournament and less on the side of gambling for two reasons:
1) The event was not for profit. I gave the dealers a small cut for their help and the rest went all back into the prize support.
2) The prize support was in vendor credit, not cash. Obviously, the government regulates gambling(like bingo) because it wants its cut of the money. Well, if any government official has a problem with my poker tournament, I would be happy to give the state their cut, but I have no idea what the state would do with a played Tundra and a Champs booster pack.
Overall, I decided I would make two changes the next time around. First, the dealers would not also be players. Although, they were on the up and up and they were two of the first people out, it might rise suspicion if they win. My main reason for letting them play was just to get as many people into the event as wanted to play. Additionally, I would run the event a little bit later in the day. I hypothesize that several people who would have played in the poker tournament where busy either playing in the Mox event or the Highlander.
The Magic Trivia was held right after the Highlander event ended. There were 4 teams, Team Jacob Orlove(consisting of just Jacob Orlove), narrowly got beat out by the team of Jeff Anand, Diannah The Untouchable Valkarye Warrior Princess, Aaron Rubinslein, and some other person I am forgetting right now. The other 2 teams also gave it their all, and so each team received 6 foreign booster packs to split amongst themselves with the winning team also getting the Cursed Scroll.(The prizes were slightly modified after accidentally giving out the intended prizes for Trivia during day 1).
Some questions were debatable, and I am going to force myself to double and triple check my work for the next Waterbury.
There ended up not being an video game tournaments, just tons of people enjoying the games all day. There was a lot of Halo 2, DDR and James Bond played throughout the day, and I think all enjoyed having the video games there.
After non-stop moving for 36 hours(with the exception of a few hours of uncomfortable sleep.), I got to relax with a game of type 4. I drafted the almost all instant deck. Unfortunately, the game didn’t go long as BigChuck Mindslaved me, and then Tainted Pacted me to death on my turn.(I couldn’t cast the Pact since I already used a spell that turn.)
I cleaned up as the remaining few people played some games of Type 4. Eventually, I got everything cleaned up at around 9:00pm. It took some incredibly creative Geometric planning, but I literally fit everything in my car in such a way that I felt like I was driving a low-rider. This is a dangerous thing to do in Waterbury.
I drove and dropped off a TV borrowed from my Sister, and me and Tree proceeded back up to Torrington. We got there unloaded the car, and that was that. TMD OPEN 5 WAS IN THE BOOKS.
A lot of people also asked me if I would increase the prize support for having 200 people. Many people also asked me if I would do a Day 2 again. I wish to answer these questions together since they are in some ways related.
The first question is one I hear all the time. My profit margin is a lot less than most people believe, when they see me thumbing through a stack of twenties. Please keep in mind the following.
1.) I am not a business, this gives me a number of significant differences.
a.) I make no money on vending. Where as some stores can make money even from breaking even on attendance, based on their vending sales, I cannot.
b.) Even if vending and attendance break even, stores that host tournaments still profit from name recognition and higher future attendances.
c.) Not being a vendor, I pay the same incredibly high prices on power cards as you guys out there. Include all my prizes down to top 33, and the gazillion prizes I give during the day and you would be amazed at how they add up.
2.) I have to pay a lot of money to rent a room in a major hotel for two 24 hour periods.
3.) I have tons of other expenses too numerous to go into including postage, copying, supplies, etc.
4.) I expected to lose money on Day 2.
5.) I think I deserve to make a little profit, after all, I am putting in 36+ hours of work just during that weekend, and much more with all the planning put into Waterbury. I would imagine, though, what I do get for my time is not half of what people think I make after paying all my expenses.
Day 2 was a tremendous amount of effort and very stressful. Also consider that I lost money on the day since I broke even or lost money on every event held throughout the day, and the room rental for the day alone was quite a bit. Additionally, getting all the stuff together for the videogames, poker, setting the room for an extra day, and quite simply an extra day of running around, made day 2 EVEN MORE WORK than day 1.
After all that, there is no way I could imagine having to go to work on a Monday and teach all week, on so little sleep/energy.
That being said, I think Day 2 is VITAL when you have a day 1 that attracts people from Canada, Virginia, Michigan, ETC. Day 1 has become so all about the Main Event that I didn’t have time for all the more fun, laid back events that were the original inspiration for my tournaments 5 years ago. So would I do day 2 again? Yes, but probably only if Waterbury can be held on a weekend where the following Monday is a day off from school.(Hint, Hint, I’m looking at the weekend before my spring vacation and maybe a Labor Day Sept. 3-4 Waterbury)
With that little bit of speculation, I will end this part two of my Waterbury report. I hope you all had a terrific time at Waterbury, and look forward to putting on the next one.
Thank you all,
Ray Robillard
