Do you enjoy playing T1?

[Smmenen]

There are people on my team *cough* JP *cough* who actuallly don't enjoy playing magic.   T1 has always been a huge thrill to me.  Sometimes its not fun - like when I'm losing.  And the increased tournament scene has certainly made it more likely that I'm going to be choosey when I play.  But if you enjoy playing T1, I don't think there is an excuse for why you aren't showing up to the amazing events like the SCG p9 series.

Let's think about this: the future of this format is in our hands.  We get more than we ask for and our format is much better than most people realize.   Either I'm alot better or the PTQ scene has gotten alot worse - but either way Vintage is waaaay up in the world of constructed magic.  Our player base is very sound, our decks are awesome and well tuned, and our metagame, while diverse, is not nearly as random or incoherent as extended.  Extended is a mess right now and the PTQs are very scrubby.   This is actually a good thing for Extended, but the constraints on what people can build keep Extended from seeming very coherent.  Extended is also about to go to hell at the end of this year when the rotation comes.  

Vintage is fun.  It has all the cool cards and you get to play with new decks using crazy designs.  You can play a ridiculously complex combo deck or a monster control deck.  You can play aggro-control or you can play Prison.  

Put aside the egos, put aside the team rivalry, when you boil it down - the reason I play Vintage and the reason I hope you play Vintage is becuase there is something about it we enjoy at the core.  

This year is going to be an important test.  We have a Vintage Champs.  That's firmly established.  That will continue indefinately.  But SCG has upped the ante.  They have provided a full year round circuit.  Yes the Waterbury does a quarterly event that is quite sweet.  But the SCG series is something that MUST be taken advantage of if you care about vintage.  

Imagine 2006 rolls around and SCG quietly fails to mention any new SCG P9 events.  How would you feel?  It would seem like Vintage peaked, crested and then declined.  There is room for growth.  Vintage has never been more diverse according to Phil Stanton's statistics.  It has never been more understood either.  Sure the level of competition has gone up dramatically, but I'd argue that the prizes have doubled that jump, possibly tripled or quintipled it.  Before, if you lived outside the NE all you had was Origins and Gencon.  Origins has always been horrible and Gencon has always been the real deal.  But now we have so much more.  

Perhaps the problem is that we are way too focused on performance.  This, I thought, would drive tournaments.  But I've got news for you.  We are here.  Vintage is a genuinely competitive format.  It is a genuinely difficult format to master and succeed in.  Vintage is everything we wanted it to be and now its time for you all to pony up.  If you aren't going to SCG Syracuse, I'd like to know why.  I don't want to talk to just VA.  I want to hear from everyone who can go, but isn't and to everyone who is going.   If you enjoy Vintage, why don't you actually SHOW It?  And if you don't, like JP, why the hell are you here?

[Eastman]

yes.

[Jacob Orlove]

I just want to pre-empt any smart-alecky "Oh, I'd go, but I live in Europe" type responses. If you have something to add to the discussion, by all means, go ahead and say what you have to say. If you just want to waste our time, don't.

For me personally, I'll be on the wrong side of the country to make it to 'Cuse, but I will go to the Eudemonia tournament that day. They're having a much smaller series of events, but it's no less worth supporting.

[Vegeta2711]

Short Anwser: usually.

Since I live on the West Coast, I obviously won't be attending.

I enjoy every format, 'cept Sealed, how much I enjoy it is the usual factor of how much I care for the enviroment at a given time. This is why when Extended season comes around I try to play it as much as I can. Honestly I've always enjoyed it the most.

Vintage is intresting, because it's a format I somewhat care about all the time. Unlike every non-draft format, where they become unimportant for X amount of time while each season takes place. The trade-off for me is there are little to no T1 tournies worth going to for me. So I'm mainly intrested in the devlopmental side and some personalities of the format.

Oh and right now my intrest in the format is not much, heh.

[TheWhiteDragon]

First off, T1 is the hotness.  I won't play any other format.  If a card in the format doesn't sac for 3 of a color of my choice, it's not worth me wasting my time on.  As far as the tourneys, I will try to make it to every one I possibly can, and will definitely be at all the Richmond ones (assuming I'm not shipped off in the Coast Guard by then).  Because of the vast cardpool and varied player base, I believe that T1 is one of, if not the, best format in Magic.  It is highly skill intensive and requires great minds to see potential combos and synergies in new cards with the endless pool of old cards.  Even the most obscure card from way back when can become broken overnight (transmute artifact?).  I am just glad that SCG has finally given the prize support that Type 1 always lacked.

[Magi]

I enjoy playing T1 to the extent that others around me enjoy playing T1.

That might sound a bit weird, so let me explain a bit.

Right now, I don't play any T1 AT ALL. That is because everyone who usually plays T1 with me is busy with the extended season and the upcoming GP Seattle. Thus, when there are only about 2 other people besides me willing to play T1, it just gets boring after a bit playing against the same people over and over with nothing really to play for. Not boring enough to quit the format, but enough to make me want to take a break.

Contrast this to last summer, where I practically lived and breathed Type 1. Why? Because there were tons of power tournaments within driving distance, and everyone played Type 1. There was motivation there to play the format, and within that motivation I had fun, along with everyone else. I'm not even talking about winning and losing, I had fun just staying in the card shoppe till 1 am testing, the road trips and the whole tournament experience, win or lose.

I get a little jealous sometimes because of the support T1 gets on the east coast compared to what it gets out here. That's why I shake my head a bit when someone who has access to those wonderful events like Waterbury and the SCG series doesn't take advantage of them or badmouths them.

Hope this information has been helpful.

[Matt]

No. That's why I quit.

[nataz]

If you aren't going to SCG Syracuse, I'd like to know why. I don't want to talk to just VA. I want to hear from everyone who can go, but isn't and to everyone who is going.

Basically it’s too far away. I drive 6.5 hours to get to Waterbury, and that’s about my wall. It costs me about 60 dollars in gas, 20 dollars in entry fee, and about another 15 for food. That rounds out to a little fewer than 100 dollars per trip.

The closest SCG will double those costs for me easily when you factor in its going to have to be more then one day.

I <3 vintage to the point where I still make time/spend the money to play, even with my school work, fraternity, sports, and a girlfriend, but I still have to balance it out.

For me its better that I save the money and effort I would have spent on SCG, and instead put it into local events (Maine, NH, MA) and then the larger regional events (Waterbury, Boston, etc.), than blow it all at once.

Not to mention that if my team went, we wouldn't be able to get enough power together for everyone with only 5 proxies. That tends to bring down the excitement level also. Who wants to be the guy that has to spend hundreds of dollars, and then play budget?

SCG is doing a great thing, and if I ever can go, I will. But I don't see it in the immediate future.

=-Carter

[the Luke]

I'm not really enjoying it too much right now, and Mike Flores' (Premium) article The Limit of Interactivity really coalesced my feelings towards it.

I understand that Vintage is always going to be the most uninteractive format.  If you enjoy brokenness you enjoy shutting the other player out of the game.  However, the level of interactiveness for the whole format is at an all time low.  In the past, whenever a single deck reached this level of uninteractiveness, it was removed from the metagame, e.g. GAT and Long.

Every decent deck wins very early, or has powerful effects that lock out an opponent's possible interactions.  Decks with interactive primary strategies just don't win:  4cc, Fish, EBA for example.  I really feel that at least one interactive strategy should be top notch for us to have a more fun format.

-Luke

[The Atog Lord]

I love playing Type One. Other formats are fine now and then, and in some limited doses, as prescribed by the season. Type One, however, is always fun. And that is exactly why I am here, why I play. Were Type One not fun, I wouldn't be doing this.

But if you enjoy playing T1, I don't think there is an excuse for why you aren't showing up to the amazing events like the SCG p9 series.

That is pretty harsh. No one from SCG could ask for a better advertisement, Steve. Some of us -- myself included -- don't exactly have the disposable income to jet ourselves across the country for these sorts of events on a regular basis.

To be honest, implying that attending SCG's events is a requisite for caring about the format is somewhat insulting to those of us who love the format but cannot, for whatever reason, attend these events. Do you honestly think that my not attending the SCG events implies that I do not enjoy the format?

[Triple_S]

My interest in the format is truly waning right now.  This is due to several factors:
1.  More important life issues that are taking precidence
2.  The stagnation of the format at high profile events that has reduced the interactive nature of the format
3.  My increased interest in other formats such as Kamigawa draft, MTGO Prismatic, and Magic Online in general
4.  A greater interest in learning to be a better judge.  Since the best opportunity I have to judge are the SCG Vintage events in Richmond conflicts with my ability to play in the events.

The way I see it, the current format revolves around 3 cards/archetypes in general:  MWS Aggro/Prison, Dark Ritual/Storm/Combo, Control/Welder/Drain.  To increase my interest in the format, I would expect atleast 2 of these problem cards to reinvigorate the format at the highest levels (note, this is not intended to steer the thread into a discussion of restrictions, this just my personal thoughts and feel free to PM with your views if they are different).

[Smmenen]

Rich, Syracuse isn't that far from you.  You can plow back your earnings into come to syracuse

[Dr. Sylvan]

I actually don't like playing Magic, either. JP and I are probably on the same wavelength, here, but I don't pretend to speak for him. I appreciate Magic as a community, and all the interesting lessons about people you can learn by spending time within it. I am also fascinated by the idea of each cardpool, ruleset, and metagame having an equilibrium point. When JP quips about wanting to see Type One evolve into its "ultimate form", I think this is what he is talking about. Type One is the most interesting to me in this sense because the cardpool is deep enough that the equilibrium point is an impossible goal---as soon as you find the balance, there is a response that unbalances it again. Legacy interests me for the same reason, with the added curiosity of trying to be fair, which Type One does not.

There are two times I have enjoyed playing Magic. The recent one was the game of T4 at GenCon. That was insanely good. The other time was in my residential high school (as in: we lived in dorms together) Magic club, where no one had enough cards. There was one Negator on campus and about half a dozen duals outside of my ten, and most of mine were Savannah and Taiga. I had to take my cardpool, evaluate what everyone else was going to build, and then build the antideck without acceleration, without full quartets of rares, without blue, and without having to worry about combo. I spent months on that deck and loved it like most people love their babies.

But in real Constructed, actually playing the game and designing decks isn't even close to that fun for me. I tried to rev up that much interest when I was working on upgrading Enchantress this time last year, but then I noticed that I was losing muchmuchmuch more than I was winning, so it was kind of a futile exercise---real Constructed doesn't have room for slow-and-steady, or decks that are merely synergetic and not broken. And Limited doesn't hold appeal for me because (a) I never wanted to practice as much as I would need to, (b) it takes too long for me to participate regularly, and (c) I'm just not naturally good at picking cards for a deck when I don't know what else will be going with them yet.

I really enjoy writing, analyzing, and as I said, the game's constant struggle for balance and equilibrium is very attractive to my mind. But actually playing it is typically overrated. :-)

[TracerBullet]

The first thing that crossed my mind when SCG announced it's circuit of P9 tourneys was- this is going to be a terribly destructive failure for type one.







We are the niche players.  We are the retired competitive players.  We are the guys with girlfriends, jobs, kids, and lives.  Type one has always had an extraordinarily high entry fee to play to it's fullest, and over the last couple years, that entry fee has only grown.

Guys like us don't necessarily have time to play more than once in a while.  Something I discovered when first trying to hold weekly type one tournements here in LA was that a few tournements with a bad turnout only netted more bad turnouts.  People would come one week, and there wouldn't be enough to pique their competetive spirit, and a different crowd would come the next week and have the same experience.

Type One players want to go to a few, BIG tournements because that's all many of us really have time for.  I love going to GenCon every year because that's the only time I can get back east from out here and have an excuse to do it.  I imagine many people share my feelings on that, perhaps to a lesser degree, but still with the same enthusiasm- Ray's Waterburys seem to be consistently the best organised and most fun tournements I hear about.  Many players don't have time to go to monthly tournements that are several hours away and will require something in the range of 50$ minimum to attend.

We're a niche game.  Type One is simply limited by the cost required to play, and even if it weren't, the idea would persist that it is.  We do not have the same player base as the PTQ/GPT circuit, and as such, shouldn't have scheduled our tournements as though we do.  And as Steve pointed out, this will likely become a huge black eye on the face of type one if it should fail.



Now, all that being said, if it were within 200 miles of where I live, I'd be playing.... Ya panzies.

Pat

[BigChuck]

We are the niche players.  We are the retired competitive players.  We are the guys with girlfriends, jobs, kids, and lives.  

I'd just like to echo these sentiments. As far as Syracuse goes, I've driven there before to play, and had a blast, and I would recommend everyone do so, but as far as me personally, other things in my life, particularly the girlfriend and job, are simply of a higher priority. I have also been losing interest in constructed magic in general, as the recent sets have been very good draft sets, in my oppinion, and the games are so much more involved. Broken things are fun, but, if I wanted to goldfish, I don't need to go to a tournament.

[JACO]

To answer the questions presented, I have always thought Type 1 is the best and most fun format, and I support it whenever I am able. If the support and player base on the West Coast was like that of the East Coast (or even Germany or Italy, for that matter), I would be glad to stake my own personal collection as prizes on a week to week or month to month basis to start another 'Grand Prix' type circuit. The problem is, the West Coast is so spread out, and the lack of commitment to travel so startling, that this would be futile.

But if you enjoy playing T1, I don't think there is an excuse for why you aren't showing up to the amazing events like the SCG p9 series.

And the increased tournament scene has certainly made it more likely that I'm going to be choosey when I play.

If we all must support the SCG tournaments, and the scene we love, then why would you, being someone who has professed his love for said tournaments, "be more choosey" when you are going to play? That strikes me as quite contradictory. I would think that because you love the format so much, as you claim to, that you would wish to support it at every passing chance you could, and continue to possibly reel in the prizes and accolades for Team Mean Deck. Are the people out East really becoming that "choosey" that they just ignore the Power tournaments that are going on all around them?

Some of us -- myself included -- don't exactly have the disposable income to jet ourselves across the country for these sorts of events on a regular basis.

Not all of us are getting our masters or doctorates, have no financial burden, or have the income to support a lifestyle of travelling to remote locations for prizes that usually amount to about $350. As many people have said, the travel costs are prohibitive, and I'm sure this is what effects a great many people, especially on the West Coast, where large tournaments are rarely held (and where not a single SCG 'Grand Prix' style tournament is being held, where the prize structure really gets people out in droves).

My question to everybody who DOES travel to all or most of the SCG/Waterbury class tournaments is this; are you independently wealthy, or do you live on a stipend from your parents, or do you have some other self-sufficient means of income that allows you to freely travel and to support your habits of routinely spending $50-100+ in travel expenses to play for a $350 prize (or occasionally a $650+ prize like an Unlimited Black Lotus)? I'm certainly not jealous, but rather curious, because I would like to see what type of lifestyle allows for such behavior from people who are typically in the 16-30 age demographic that most of us fall in to. How many people own their own house (have a mortgage), or are married, or are supporting others, or any combination of the above?

[Hi-Val]

I'm able to travel to SCG events because I live pretty frugally and have a very generous team that basically lends me 95% of a deck before the tournament. I don't have many other expenses other than college and usually the events fall when I have a little disposable income that isn't being sucked up by girls or drinking. Being able to split hotels, gas, etc. between six people is really what facilitates me attending these.

I think the format is boring as balls right now. I am not going to Cuse because there's nothing I feel like playing outside of DARGON and I don't have the money. I think the boringness is because CHK gave us only a few morsels compared to Mirrodin block. We have a dearth of new, playable cards right now and it's making the format stagnate. If something really neat like Mindslaver comes out in Saviors and creates another archetype, we score, otherwise, we have to wait a while for things to be neat again.

[Phantom Tape Worm]

Some of us -- myself included -- don't exactly have the disposable income to jet ourselves across the country for these sorts of events on a regular basis.

I presume this was aimed at me.

My question to everybody who DOES travel to all or most of the SCG/Waterbury class tournaments is this; are you independently wealthy, or do you live on a stipend from your parents, or do you have some other self-sufficient means of income that allows you to freely travel and to support your habits of routinely spending $50-100+ in travel expenses to play for a $350 prize (or occasionally a $650+ prize like an Unlimited Black Lotus)? I'm certainly not jealous, but rather curious, because I would like to see what type of lifestyle allows for such behavior from people who are typically in the 16-30 age demographic that most of us fall in to. How many people own their own house (have a mortgage), or are married, or are supporting others, or any combination of the above?

Well, if you're really that interested, I make up an interesting demographic of magic players...

I am a 26 year old realtor from Northern Virginia.  
I am not yet independently wealthy.  I still have to work for a living just like everyone else.
I spend most of my days meeting with clients, making phone calls, showing houses, negotiating contracts, listening to motivational tapes, and working out.
I recently purchased a house, and I do have a mortgage to pay every month.
I am single with a steady girl friend who demands a large amount of my time; we actually went out this evening and celebrated not only valentines day, but also her 49th b.day as well.

I'm really pretty normal for my demographic group, ie. mid/late 20's
working
home owner
g.friend


Regardless, I will be attending SCG syracuse.  I am flying out for the event.  Given the amount of time I spend on this site, the relationships I have with the people here, the impact type 1 has had on my time and even my own personal development, I feel as though I would be missing a tremendous opportunity if I didn't go.

These events make being part of this community all worth while for me.  I think of all the time I put into type 1, be it playtesting, reading, or even just thinking about the format.  These trips are the culmination of all that...  

Every time I fly out to a tourney it costs me about $300, which is a significant sum of money.  But the fact is, this hobby of mine is very meaningful to me (it damn well better be given the amount of time I have invested), and to meet everyone associated with it, to interact with everyone that I would otherwise just read text from; I know that's not something that I'll always be able to do.  There will come a time when people move on; people leave the format, TMD shuts down, vintage fades out.  Before any of that happens I want to enjoy this community that I am a part of, and I'm willing to pay a premium for these experiences.

Do I enjoy playing type 1?  HELL YEAH!

[Pyromaniac]

My interest in the format is truly waning right now.  This is due to several factors:
{break}
The way I see it, the current format revolves around 3 cards/archetypes in general:  MWS Aggro/Prison, Dark Ritual/Storm/Combo, Control/Welder/Drain.  To increase my interest in the format, I would expect atleast 2 of these problem cards to reinvigorate the format at the highest levels (note, this is not intended to steer the thread into a discussion of restrictions, this just my personal thoughts and feel free to PM with your views if they are different).

This is roughly the same idea I have of the format atm. I can't really say I've truly enjoyed the last few tournaments I've played, because the format (face it...) is getting dumber and dumber with less and less player interaction. It's gonna be down to a goldfish race for decks in a while.

I'm currently testing extended for GP Eindhoven, and I have to say I'm generally having more fun playing that that playing type 1 I still miss the broken cards though, because broken plays are a big part of what makes T1 fun.

[Zherbus]

I enjoy playing Type 1... when I can actually play it. I don't mean when I can get time to play it, though that is a factor, but when some decks in the format give you zero control over the game. Losing to a Belcher god-hand? A Trinisphere-Mana Screw lock? Winning via Tinker-whatever turn 1... That's not playing type 1, thats just watching it.

That said, I would love to attend more high profile events but it's not that easy.

I'm 27 years old, married, and have a job that demands that I be on call a large amount of the time. This means that most of the time, I can't leave a 30 minute radius of my office. PTW took a very convenient career path in that while he needs to be available via cell often, he doesn't ever have to drive into the office to put out fires that cost $750 a minute.

I also HATE driving. Don't get me wrong, I love my car but I'm only good for being in it an hour at a time at most. Once it gets longer than that, I get miserable. This probably stems from driving to TN, MI, and upstate NY a lot. It just sucks.

I can't go to Richmond because 1) I don't have the money to fly there, 2) I CANNOT take the extra time off to drive there, 3) I WILL not drive there, 4) It will likely fall on a weekend where I absolutely need to be on call, 5) My wife hates magic so my only option is to leave her at home and for an entire weekend, that never blows over well. You can substitute wife for girlfriend and it was still the same. Girls hate magic, to most of them it's 'gay'.

I can't go to Syracuse for the same reasons, even if the drive is half the time. I consider Waterbury a blessing to me as well as the hotspot that is New England. Since my time is limited, whenever a weekend that I'll have time pops up, I know I can play.

To be honest, implying that attending SCG's events is a requisite for caring about the format is somewhat insulting to those of us who love the format but cannot, for whatever reason, attend these events. Do you honestly think that my not attending the SCG events implies that I do not enjoy the format?

I agree Rich. Stephen's statement is insulting to me as well. To say that *I* don't enjoy or support the format is strong. It goes beyond being controversal to get attention. Some people don't realize the luxeries they have until they lose them.

Now, all that being said, if it were within 200 miles of where I live, I'd be playing.... Ya panzies.

Syracuse: 356.8 miles Approximate Travel Time: 5 hours 37 mins (SCG:P9)

Richmond: 595.1 miles Approximate Travel Time: 9 hours 9 mins (SCG:P9)

Waterbury: 177.4 miles Approximate Travel Time: 3 hours 10 mins (TMD Open)

Indianapolis: 1039.1 miles Approximate Travel Time: 15 hours 59 mins (Gencon)

Chicago: 1093.5 miles Approximate Travel Time: 16 hours 49 mins (SCG:P9)  

Assuming you don't have the job and wife constrictions I have (meaning you're not willing to lose your job or hinder your marriage over a game), which of the above would you regularly attend?

[Toad]

I used to really enjoy playing Type One. Now I find the metagame to be extremely boring and I don't play a lot. I actually find Extended and Standard to be much more interesting because there are far more interactions between players. A Type One game often looks like goldfishing nowadays and I don't like that.

[Shock Wave]

Every time I fly out to a tourney it costs me about $300, which is a significant sum of money. But the fact is, this hobby of mine is very meaningful to me (it damn well better be given the amount of time I have invested), and to meet everyone associated with it, to interact with everyone that I would otherwise just read text from; I know that's not something that I'll always be able to do. There will come a time when people move on; people leave the format, TMD shuts down, vintage fades out. Before any of that happens I want to enjoy this community that I am a part of, and I'm willing to pay a premium for these experiences.

Do I enjoy playing type 1? HELL YEAH!

I'd like to echo those sentiments. Without this sort of commitment and enthusiasm, T1 would never have garnered the interest that it currently has. TMD has obviously played a big part in bringing together the people who really love this game. I consider myself to be in that category. Here's why:

- through my semesters of school, which were absolutely brutal (50-60 hr weeks), I still managed to set aside a few days a month to play in any events within a 6hr drive.
- I'm now done school, unemployed, broke as shit, and I still attend the same venues that have been supporting the format with great events. How, you ask? Well, it's a combination of government cheques and selling whatever prizes I win, in order to pay for my entrance fee and trip fees. I won a Workshop last week so that'll pay for my trip to Syracuse!

Do I enjoy playing T1? Hell yeah!

[Grand Inquisitor]

Although I agree that the metagame is a bit stagnant, I really feel that netdecking is at an all time high.  I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but it is ripe for teams willing to innovate, and this in and of itself makes the format worth playing.  As for the social aspects, I remarked to Eastman last Saturday that my tourney results have been slipping for a number of reasons, but although I'm performing worse, I'm having as much, if not more fun due to being able to see friends at these events.

For those of us who were around near the "beginning" (I'm thinking summer/fall 2002), it's amazing how the influence of the format and TMD have slowly engulfed the entire east coast.  At Z's first tournament there was solid Hadley representation, Binghamton, and then a smattering of players from NH and MA.  As Hadley's grew in popularity we'd start to draw in people from RI, CT, and even New Jersy sometimes.  Now Waterbury's pull people from as far north as Canada and ME, as far west as OH, and south into the Mason Dixie.

A year or so ago, I'd never think of going down to VA to play, but now I'm considering attending the next SCG, and I am EXTREMELY conservative with how I use my discretionary spending.

People have already mentioned the geographical, monetary, and social constraints of this phenomena, but I'm interested to see how far it extends before it begins to retract again.  Hopefully that turning point won't be the sign of decline in this format, but merely an equilibrium.

[bebe]

I must say that i'm less enamoured of Vintage now than I ever was. As a very early supporter of the venue in Toronto, i have seen all the highs and lows. I started playing with Gary Wise, Paul McCabe, Gabe Tsang, Gary Krakower and others long ago and have consistently been driven to establish tournament environments and venues. I initiated with the support of a few store owners a number of viable tournaments. But my problem has always been the lack of appreciation shown by members of this community on our area. That coupled with the acceleration of the format and the advent of heavy net decking has turned me off. There was atime when i could say that Toronto was truly innovative and charting the emergence of new decks in our area and playing against them was fun. The enjoyment is no longer there. I will attend the odd tournament these days with yet another rogue deck ( to be ridiculed and still win ) but I ahve other pursuits. I enjoy testing and creating decks much more than piloting them these days.
I have begun painting miniatures and assembling armies in my spare time and I have to say that it is more rewarding overall so I will be attending even fewer tournaments. I'm not even sure that I'll attend the next Vintage Ontario Championships although I have a new rogue monster ready to go. Pweople are taking the game too seriously for me lately and the joking and comraderie that bI enjoyed is just not there anymore.

[rvs]

I like T1 because most of my friends play that format, and because I like the tournament-atmosphere around it. It _is_ competative, yet friendly at the same time.

And ofcourse, I love playing with design mistakes

[Saucemaster]

I love Type 1.  It's the most ruthless format in the game.  I love that if I blink for even a second, if I make just one mistake, the game can be over.  I love that our decks are among the most complex in the history of the game, and that you can play any given matchup hundreds of times and still find yourself in new and unprecedented situations.  I love that we have a format that, when the abomination that is Meandeck Tendrils was unleashed on it, more or less shrugged and said, "Yeah, I can handle that."  I love that our format is comprised of decks that smash themselves to pieces against each other in the first two turns, and that the rest of the game is a scramble to see who can scrounge up their remaining resources the fastest and take first advantage of the ensuing ruin.

I love the SCG events.  I've been to one since I moved out east, and if all goes well, I'll be at Syracuse, too.  I'm 26, I have an apartment whose rent, I'm sure, is more than the mortgages of most people on these boards who don't live in California or one of the major (East- or West-) coastal metropolitan areas, and I have a fiancee.  I have a decent job, but I'm not making a lot of money.  I can afford to attend these events for a few reasons: 1) My fiancee, while she couldn't care less about Magic itself, loves that I've got something to challenge myself with, and (I suspect just as importantly) loves that I win.  2) Being on a team helps defray a lot of the expenses involved in traveling long distances to attend tournaments.  3) As long as I'm pulling in a profit or breaking even on these events (obviously this won't last that long), then I have really no reason *not* to go.  And 4) years of living on an incredibly tight budget when I was putting myself through college taught me how to find money in my budget where it doesn't look like any exists to be found.  I can be very frugal if necessary, and like PTW, I love the game enough that I can commit to finding the money for it.

I do think there's a threshold, though, beyond which the game would simply be taking too much from the rest of my life.  If I can't find a way to make my work schedule jive with Syracuse, I'm not going to be able to go; if it means that it starts to strain my relationship with my fiancee, then obviously Magic loses that fight.

[Razvan]

I don't understand the people that keep saying that player interaction is at its lowest... I look around, and I don't see it. At Waterbury, since it's one of the few venues that both the Americans and Canadians make it at, I have been involved in 8 rounds of pure intensity, with most matches... actually, let me just put it this way...

I had to go to the washroom after round 1. I consistently failed, but managed to do so after round SIX, and didn't think about it until then. This means two things:

1) The matches were long, taking almost the whole allotted time.
2) The matches were interesting enough, intensive enough, to not make me think about anything else.

Why in the name of all living Hell do people keep thinking that player interaction is at its lowest? That the format is boring?

I swear to God, whoever said that "only boring minds get bored" must have been right. Now, there's quite a range of gray between apathy and Steve Menendian kind of excitement to play the game, and as long as more people are around Steve than around the other end, we will be okay... but I swear to God...

[M.Solymossy]

type 1 is currently the only format i play, and i REFUSE to go into any other format.  i LOVE type 1.  I started following TMD in early 2003, back when everything was Suicide, Sligh, or Fully-powered Keeper.   I have watched the format grow, and have watched moxes go from 100 dollars to 400 a piece.  

I started playing competitive magic in the summer of 2004 when the local area announced power tournaments.  I was still a scrub playing a budget deck.  but I LOVED It.

I LOVE the fact that decks can kill you before you play a spell.  I love that workshop-trinisphere exists.   I play control slaver, and have for the last 7 months, and will continue to.  even though i HATE trinisphere, i love the fact that a player can play it on me first turn.    Oh shit, what do i do?  I either counter it or play through it.
Oh you're playing a storm deck?  Well i better counter the right spell, or i'm toast.  Oh shit, you duressed me!?  fuck.

things like that i LOVE.  people argue about player interaction, but i think the metagame is fairly balanced right now.   The idea of every deck in the format is to limit player interaction.  The exception is aggro, in which they just attempt to roll through you.

I can't make syracuse cuz i live in milwaukee, and i'm 18, poor, and in college.  i will make any and all star city chicago events though.

[Pern]

I haven't enjoyed playing competitive Type 1 for some time.
The entry fees are too expensive, and the decks are beyond me.
I'm not that good a player, and I don't have the time to playtest.

The raising of the stakes in Type 1 has completely killed the Hadley scene.
There are many Fridays and Saturdays here
when there simply isn't a tourney for lack of participants.
The serious players won't come out to play a $5 tourney for packs.
The scrubs won't come out if there aren't a bunch of people playing,
of if the admission is $15.

The last time I totally enjoyed Type 1 was last summer at Grand Inquisitor's house,
when a bunch of us played round-robin all day.

Type 4, now, Type 4 is a blast.
Highlander also is much like the Type 1 of old,
when people remembered that this is a game,
and played it to have fun.

Judging Type 1 is cool, though,
because I enjoy the card interactions and the social stuff.

[thorme]

... and still find yourself in new and unprecedented situations.

I do love Type 1, but the above snippet from Saucemaster actually explains why Limited is my favorite.  Champions drafting, for example, is a really well balanced format where drafting skill and play skill matter a TON more than luck.

Having said that, Type 1 has a certain allure that no other format can match.  The spells are just amazing, the tempo is insane, and the decks are so sexy when pimped.