TMD OPEN 7: 10/15/05->10/16/05, Waterbury,CT

[iamfishman]

DAY 1

Saturday, October 15, 2005
Courtyard by Marriott
63 Grand St.
Waterbury, Ct. 06702
(203) 596-1000

MAIN EVENT - THE MANA DRAIN OPEN 7 (Waterbury)
$20 Entry Fee
Registration: 10:00 - 11:00 am
Tourney Starts at 11:00 am
Format - Type One with TEN proxies+$1 per extra proxy(15 proxies maximum)
Cut to top 16.
DOPENESS FACTOR: Lim x->(The next value in this sequence: 1, 4, 9, 6, 5, 6, 9, 4, 1...)+ of 1/x
1st Prize - UNLIMITED BLACK LOTUS or $625, PLUS free admission and 1 ROUND  BYE into the next MANA DRAIN OPEN, PLUS entry into the bi-yearly Tournament of Champions,
2nd Prize - BETA TIME WALK or $425
3rd Prize - UNLIMITED MOX JET or $325
4th Prize - UNLIMITED MOX EMERALD or $300
5th Prize - UNLIMITED MOX PEARL or $275
6th Prize- UNLIMITED TIMETWISTER or $175
7th Prize - LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA or $150
8th Prize - LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA or $150
9th - 16th Place Prizes - OFFICIAL "TMD OPEN" PLAYMAT*
17th Place- 3D Magic Life Counter
17th-32nd Prize - 3 Foreign Booster Packs
33rd Prize - Playset of Goblin Games
2 highest age 15 and under non-top 8 prize - Foil DCI Voidmage Prodigy
3 Last Place Prizes - A playset of Kamigawa Block and a Core Set booster
Farthest travelled participant: FREE ADMISSION TO MAIN EVENT
Oddest Deck/Card Choice: DCI Textless Fireball
First to beat previous champion(Jason Zheng): DCI Foil Pyschatog
Play of the day contest: Stroke of Genius
MAGIC TEAM SCATTEGORIES(During top 16): Every team wins a prize.  Winning team wins an Italian Legends Booster pack and 6 other boosters. Other prizes to be determined.
50 Mystery Rare Raffle: 50 MYSTERY RARES
8 Other Daily Random Raffles: A SET OF MOX COOKIES(5)
Prize to the highest non-top sixteen finishing female: BB Foreign Serra Angel
Prize to the highest non-top sixteen finishing player with no proxies: Chrome Mox

At 10:00 Type 4 Champs- Win Crazy Carls Stack.
Admission is $1 or any card that Crazy Carl needs for his new stack. (see http://www.themanadrain.com/forums/index.php?topic=24105.0)
Last man standing wins a complete type 4 stack.


DAY 2

Sunday, October 16, 2005
Courtyard by Marriott
63 Grand St.
Waterbury, Ct. 06702
(203) 596-1000

Type 1 Tourney for a Mox Ruby PLUS free admission and 1 ROUND  BYE into the next MANA DRAIN OPEN
10+ proxies(same as day 1)
PRIZE INCREASES AS ATTENDANCE DOES
Registration 10-11:00 AM
Starts 11:00 AM
$15 Entry Fee
20 person minimum

Highlander Tournament for an Italian Legends Mana Drain
PRIZE INCREASES AS ATTENDANCE DOES
Registration 1:00-2:00 PM
Tournament starts after round 3 of Mox tournament
$10 Entry Fee
10 Person Minimum

September 94 Tournament for a TBD Prize from that same era
PRIZE INCREASES AS ATTENDANCE DOES
Registration 3:00-4:00 PM
$10 Entry Fee
September 94 Tournament
The rules are simple: Build a deck with only cards from Dark, Legends, Revised, ABU, Antiquities, or Arabian Nights. 
Up to 25 proxies may be used. 
You can use more current versions of the cards, as long as they were from those sets.
Although, we will still be using current rules(the stack, comabt damage, etc.) since to revert to pre 5the edition rules would be too confusing, we will use the B&R list from Sept. 1994.

Restricted:
Ali From Cairo, Ancestral Recall, Berserk, Black Lotus, Braingeyser, Candleabra of Tawmos, Channel, Chaos Orb!!!, Copy Artifact, Demonic Tutor, Falling Star!!!, Feldon's Cane, Ivory Tower, Library of Alexandria, Mind Twist, Mirror Universe, Mishra's Workshop, Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Recall, Regrowth, Sol Ring, Sword of the Ages(SOOOOOOOOOO POWERFUL), Time Walk, Timetwister, Underworld Dreams, Wheel of Fortune

Banned
Divine Intervention, Sharharazard, Time Vault

Of interests that they are not restricted in this time frame:
Balance, Black Vise, Fastbond, Fork, Mana Vault, Strip Mine

The prize will be based on the number of entrants, but will likely be something cool from one of those sets(LOA, Bazaar, Workshop, Drain, Chains, Etc) provided we get enough people.

Texas Hold'em Tournament(probabbly for a piece of power which will be based on attendance)
PRIZE INCREASES AS ATTENDANCE DOES
Registration 4-5:00 pm
Tournament starts after round 6 of Mox tournament
$10 entry fee

TEAM Magic Trivia(teams may be up to 4 people)
(Using Jeopardy template- 5 categories with questions of varying value.)
Starts at 6:30 pm
Prizes include: Foreign Booster Packs
FREE Entry

Other events (not time specific)
Type 4(and plenty of it)
Halo 2
Other ideas that come up before or on that day

Questions comments concerns, please feel free to contact me at iamfishman2000@hotmail.com, via AIM at PLIKEY, PM ME, or by phone (860) 618-3412.

Cya at Waterbury!

[Meddling Mike]

Ohhh baby, Waterbury's back, I'm clearing my calendar for this one. No gaurd rail can keep me from going to waterbury.

[Machinus]

15 proxies sounds like an appropriate cap. I think most people won't buy that many, but it would certainly make the tournament more profitable.

Selling byes to TOs as prizes is a really good idea. I think they would be best given out as additional prizes for 1st/2nd place in tournaments, but obviously TOs might not go for that. I think it should be up to the players, so that there is like a prize draft for top 4 or something like that, which includes byes. It all depends on what the specific tournament players want, but I think its a great idea.

[Nomad]

Selling byes sounds like a minor earner, we could well subscribe if we get to running another tournament before then.  And there's quite a few tournaments before then.

Given out as a random prize it's pretty much meaningless.

Paypal pre-registrations would be a great idea.  There's nothing solidifies the turnout like paying entry ahead of time...

How about running day 2 Portal legal (not the highlander, it's already a bit of a combo fest) since there's a few folks clamouring for it?

[ctthespian]

I wish everyone luck well in advance.  Sadly I will miss the main event as I well be closing a run of Company, our final perfomance is the 15th.

[bedafile]

Have you asked for a cut from the vendors at the event? 

[Matt]

Bake Sale - make sugar cookies decorated with the five mana symbols. Or make Mox Cookies.

[Machinus]

Bake Sale - make sugar cookies decorated with the five mana symbols. Or make Mox Cookies.

Everyone is a comedian. I laughed a lot at the sugar cookies.

[Outlaw]

O come on, like this Waterbury ain't going to be Outlaw-ed? I'll be there, so... Where do we start a trash talking thread?

[iamfishman]

Paypal pre-regs is a good idea, but would not solve anything...here is why.

The variability in attendance is not between 0 and 225.  It is between 150 and 225.

I would imagine a pre-registration bringing in about 100 pre-regs, but this in no way helps me figure out where between 150 and 225 I will land.  Does this make sense?

I think ultimately the Byes would have to fit somewhere as 1-4th place prizes.  What do you think would be an approrpriate price to charge the TO for this prize(consider what ammount of store credit it would take for you to choose credit over the bye).

Last but not least, I am so gonna see if I could figure out how to make Mox Cookies.

[doomhed]

I cannot explain how awsome this is in any way other than Interpretive dance......I must control myself.


Every living member of My team will be there, as well as our 5 or so lackeys

[Samite Healer]

I don't know if any of the TO's would go for the bye thing, especially not at the prices that were suggested.  A single round bye in the first round doesn't really do anything, and especially doesn't warrant a $15-$30 fee (whoever pays it) when the entrance fee is $20.

Seriously, does one round in eight make a huge difference, especially when half the players are terrible?

The proxy idea sounds like a decent idea - it's one that has been tried and tested before.  However, I don't see that raking in more than about $50 at most since many players are well within the 10 proxy standard that has been around for some time.  Unfortunately, that won't help cover all of the expenses.

I do think that there should definitely be a cap of some sort, and that 20 may be too high.  At that point, there are several consequences and it doesn't make sense because people start to proxy sideboard cards like Rack and Ruin, Rebuild, StP, Coffin Purge, etc.  This makes it annoying to play against, and it also hurts the sales for the vendors - and those are the cards that often have the highest profit margin, not the big cards.

Day two shouldn't exist again, as it seems to me that is from where a large part of the financial problem stems.  It is tiring for everyone, the room is small and expensive, the vendors don't really subsidize the cost of the room, there is less time to recover from the weekend/traveling.


Here is an interesting idea that I think I mentioned to you before, Ray.  How about charging two different entrance fees for the tournament, each with a slightly different prize structure.

Example:  If a player pays $20 entrance fee, the top 8 prizes are as follows:

1st:   Unlimited Black Lotus
2nd:  Beta Time Walk
3rd:   Unlimited Mox Jet
4th:   Unlimited Mox Pearl
5th:   Unlimited Timetwister
6th:   Italian Mana Drain
7th:   Italian Mana Drain
8th:   Italian Mana Drain

If a player pays $23 or $25, then the prize structure is as you wrote out before.

This saves you money, while still making it a sweet tournament with excellent prize support.  Of course the structure doesn't have to be exactly the way I wrote it out, but you get the point.  If it was $23 for example, I think most people would pay the extra $3 to have their 6-8 prize upgraded from an IT Drain to a Library or $150 cash, and a Pearl to an Emerald.

Discuss.  I'll be back with more ideas, but I think this one isn't difficult to implement and would work fine, perhaps in addition to the 15 proxy-purchase 5 rule.

[MuzzonoAmi]

If someone can give me a ride up from Cleveland, I'll be there.

And I like the bake sale idea. If it flys, I will make cookies for this, provided I'm there.

[iamfishman]

Before getting into the heart of the matter, first a light hearted announcement.

The 8 random rafflles given each round during Waterbury will be:

A SET OF 5 MOX COOKIES

You heard me correct.  Thanks to a great idea from Matt, the day before Waterbury, Theresa and I will be baking cookies in the shape of the five moxes, then decorating them with the appropriate food coloring and/or frosting.  Each round someone will win one of each.

Now...for the heart of the matter.

The byes was a debatable issue.  One opnion shared with me was:

As for awarding success in other area tournament with byes at waterbury, I don't think it would work. Many people travel very far for your tournaments. Some from canada, new york, jersey, and even further. These folks are already paying a heafty price just to be there, and should not be punished for not being able to win byes at local tournaments they cannot realistically attend.

And another opinion:

Selling byes to TOs as prizes is a really good idea. I think they would be best given out as additional prizes for 1st/2nd place in tournaments, but obviously TOs might not go for that. I think it should be up to the players, so that there is like a prize draft for top 4 or something like that, which includes byes. It all depends on what the specific tournament players want, but I think its a great idea.

And finally:

I don't know if any of the TO's would go for the bye thing, especially not at the prices that were suggested.  A single round bye in the first round doesn't really do anything, and especially doesn't warrant a $15-$30 fee (whoever pays it) when the entrance fee is $20.

Some would pay $15 for a bye, some wouldn't.  Some TO's would go for it, others wouldn't.  It is true, making them be random rafflle prizes also defeats my ideal for doing them, which parallels the idea for offering them in Grand Prixs.  I don't remember where I saw it, but once on WoTC's website(or Magicthegathering.com) it was said that the purpose of byes was to reward and offer an incentive to players who have previously proven themselves in the area(or format) of the Grand Prix.

The first quote(written by Nate Baker) makes a good point of the fact that TO's far from Waterbury might not be so quick to go for purchasing Byes as prizes.  This would make it hard for people from far away to earn the right to have a Bye.

When no other method seemed like it would work, I received an email from the very intelligent Maltarlak who wrote:

Rather than having the store owners commit to a bye for first, give them and the player an option of having it as a prize.  What I mean is that a store can hold a tournament with a mox as a prize, as well as the option to purchase the round 1 bye to Waterbury.  This option to purchase would be left in the hands of the player, with the price being between $10-$15, creating no financial obligation to the TO, and the player having the ability to choose whether he will want the bye or not.  This still allows the bye to be offered as a prize, which will attract more people to the other local tournaments, basically making everyone happy.

Its brilliant in its simplicity.  Basically, any type one tournament on the planet could have a Waterbury Bye as part of its 1st place prize.  The cost of $10(This does not include entry fee) seems fair as it only takes 6 wins to top 16.
Advantages:
The TO makes no obligation, but at the same time, has something else he can advertise to add to the draw of his attendance.
The player has no obligation to take the bye as part of his prize(he may not be planning on going to Waterbury) but can purchase it if he wishes.
The whole, "reward a player who has proven his ability" ideal of a Grand Prix is upheld.

To make sure this system is not abused, however, the following must be provided as proof that the person did, in fact, win the tournament:
The tournament must have a thread posted on TMD(or some other reliable site) with a post from the TO stating that the person was the winner.
OR
I receive an email from the TO stating that the player won the event.

I will need the player's full name and email address.

The sooner this information is received, the better, however all information must be confirmed by me prior to October 10 for it to be accepted.

Does anyone see a problem with this method.  If there are no good reasons not to go forward, I believe I will put it into effect as of Monday.

[Dante]

Not that I will ever go to Waterbury (as I live in Chicago), but is there a limit of byes per person?  I.E. If someone wins 3 local tournies over a couple of months, will he have the option for 3 byes? 

just the first thing that came to mind....

[Meddling Mike]

Does anyone see a problem with this method.  If there are no good reasons not to go forward, I believe I will put it into effect as of Monday.

How about a minimum attendance clause of some sort? Some tourneys end up with dismal attendance due to a non-garaunteed  prize structure/dismal location/etc. but the tourney still goes on despite the fact that there's only 10 people in the event.

I also agree with Dante that there should be a distinct limit on how many byes a player can attain.

[iamfishman]

Since my post last night, I have received three good opinions between here and the other forum.  Someone asked if a player could acquire more than one bye.  I would say anything more than one would be a little unfair.  For that reason, I player could only get a bye in round 1.

With regard to the number of people in a tournament for which the first place winner can purchase a bye seperate from any prize the TO is giving, the following will stand:
1.) The tournament must have at least 25 people.
2.) If the tournament has between 25 and 49 people, the winner may purchase a bye for $10.
3.) If the tournament has between 50 and 74 people, the winner AND/OR the 2nd place finisher may purchase a bye for $10 each.
4.) If the tournament has 75+ people, the top 4 players may purchase a bye for $10(this will probabbly mainly be SCG events)

ALSO, a TO can still offer byes as prizes in one of two ways.  They can purchase either a round one bye without entry for $10 or a round one bye with entry fee for $30.  These can only be use as prizes for:
1.) Part of a first or second place prize if the tournament has between 25 and 49 people.
2.) Part of a top 4 place prize if the tournament has between 50 and 74 people.
3.) Part of a top 8 place prize if the tournament has 75+ people.

So as you can see, the bye rewards a merit based award, as intended, whose cost can be on the shoulders of either the player or TO, and which can go down further in the top 8 only as the size of the event increases. 

This is version 2.0 of the bye plan.  The feedback I have gotten so far has helped so far.  Any other comments before I finalize this plan? Speak no or forever hold your piece.

[Dozer]

I'm in Europe, and will have no chance of attending Waterbury tournaments any time soon... but maybe someday someone will, so can Europeans get Waterbury byes, too? In concept and execution, this is the sweetest and most awesomest idea ever.

[iamfishman]

I'm in Europe, and will have no chance of attending Waterbury tournaments any time soon... but maybe someday someone will, so can Europeans get Waterbury byes, too? In concept and execution, this is the sweetest and most awesomest idea ever.

That's correct...any European tourney of 25 or more people gives you the opportunity in one of two forms to get a Waterbury Bye.

[The M.E.T.H.O.D]

It wouldn't bother me much if the prize support was cut down.

Waterbury is about the good times and making t8 is about the bragging rights, I would have not trouble with only T4 prizes, hell only Top2 prizes.

[Kowal]

My favorite waterbury featured a beta mox for first and a library for second.  Now, while I think the Waterbury Legacy has grown beyond that, I still wouldn't care if the prize structure was bad.  If you give out ANYTHING, you've got a better structure than the World Champs.

[iamfishman]

Ok ladys and gents...I decided to finalize some things once and for all.  I have about 7 or so announcements about how things are gonna go down at Waterbury...but...in the style of magicthegathering.com releasing one card from an upcoming set at a time: I'm going to announce one thing every day until I run out of stuff to say.(Maybe I want to see if I can make your head asplode in anticipation.)

Thus, onto today's announcement.

First...on the matter of Byes.  Starting today, and effective for any tournament anywhere in the world, the following will be the case:

The top finishers(top is a relative word based on the size of the event) of ANY Type 1 Tournament in the world will be rewarded with the ability to purchase a round one bye at the upcoming Waterbury TMD Open seperate from any prize the TO is giving, The following guidelines are to be considered:
1.) The tournament must have at least 25 people.
2.) If the tournament has between 25 and 49 people, the winner may purchase a bye for $10.
3.) If the tournament has between 50 and 74 people, the winner AND/OR the 2nd place finisher may purchase a bye for $10 each.
4.) If the tournament has 75+ people, the top 4 players may purchase a bye for $10(this will mainly be SCG events)

To make sure this system is not abused, however, the following must be provided as proof that the person did, in fact, win the tournament:
a.)The tournament must have a thread posted on TMD(or some other reliable site) with a post from the TO stating that the person was the winner.
OR
I receive an email from the TO stating that the player won the event.

b.)I will need the player's full name and email address.

The sooner this information is received, the better, however all information must be confirmed by me prior to October 10 for it to be accepted.  Payment must also be made by this date.

ALSO, a TO can still offer byes as prizes in one of two ways.  They can purchase either a round one bye without entry for $10 or a round one bye with entry fee for $30.  These can only be use as prizes for:
1.) Part of a first or second place prize if the tournament has between 15 and 39 people.
2.) Part of any top 4 place prize if the tournament has between 40 and 64 people.
3.) Part of any top 8 place prize if the tournament has 65+ people.

Any TO's wishing to purchase a bye must contact me prior to the day of the event for which the bye is being offered, though payment doesn't have to be received until after the tournament takes place, since if the tournament does not meet the minimmum number of players and the bye cannot be awarded, the TO will not be charged.

So as you can see, the bye is a merit based award, as intended, whose cost can be on the shoulders of either the player or TO, and which can go down further in the top 8 only as the size of the event increases. 

Tomorrow: Proxies

[iamfishman]

Guess its time for another announcement:

PROXIES
As far as proxies go, each player will be entitled to 10 proixes included in the basic admission cost.  In addition, players may pay $1 per proxy for the ability to play additional ones with the maximum number of total proxies being 15.  Prior to the start of the tournament, when you bring up your decklist, a waterbury associate(not someone playing in the event) will check to see that you have the cards that are proxied indicated on your decklist.  At this time, you will present your deck to show the indicated number of proxies and pay at that time for additional ones past 10.  There are some who would be tempted to cheat this system.  Let it be said that each round there will be at least one random deck check(now possible with increased help).  Any player who is found to have more proxies than indicated on his decklist and/or paid for will receive a disqualification without prize.  This may sound severe, but keep in mind that this is simply to prevent deception and people from abusing a privilege intended to benefit Waterbury and newer players(who may need slightly more proxies).  As long as you are on the up-and-up, you have nothing to worry about.

Tomorrow: TBD Prizes

[iamfishman]

Prizes updated!

Of particular note is the change from Day 1 Magic Trivia to Magic Scattegories.

Picture this, you are working with a team of you and two others.  I give you the following categories and the following letters all chosen at random:

                                                     L                                          P                                     C
Last name of magic artist:
Card from Ice Age:
Set Name:
Blue Instant:
Keyword ability:

What can you come up with that fits each Category/Letter combination.  1 pt is given for each answer that is unique from all other teams answers, so the most obvious answer is not always best.  Also, doubles, like Bazaar of Baghdad(double B), are worth two points.

Take 2 minutes...then scroll down to see what I came up with(don't cheat).


























                                                     L                                          P                                     C
Last name of magic artist:            April Lee                                                                    Carl Critchlow?
Card from Ice Age:                     Lapiz Luli Tailsaman                  Pale Bears                      Cold Snap
Set Name:                                 Legions                                 Prophecy                        Chronicles
Blue Instant:                                                                         Prophetic Bolt                  Capsize
Keyword ability:                                                                                                           Cycling

Tomorrows announcment: September 94 Tourney

[iamfishman]

September 94 Tournament

What would it be like if you were able to take a time-machine back to September 1994, knowing all that you know now about tempo, card advantage, etc.

A "Dark and Back" Tournament is going to take place at 4:00 pm on Day 2.  The rules are simple: Build a deck with only cards from Dark, Legends, Revised, ABU, Antiquities, or Arabian Nights.  For this tournament, since it is all about fun decks, up to 25 proxies may be used.  And yes, you can use more current versions of the cards, as long as they were from those sets.

Also, we are going to truely pretend it is Septemeber 1994. Although, we will still be using current rules(the stack, comabt damage, etc.) since to revert to pre 5the edition rules would be too confusing, we will use the B&R list from Sept. 1994.

As such, here are the following Banned and Restricted lists for that time frame.

Restricted:
Ali From Cairo
Ancestral Recall
Berserk
Black Lotus
Braingeyser
Candleabra of Tawmos
Channel
Chaos Orb!!!
Copy Artifact
Demonic Tutor
Falling Star!!!
Feldon's Cane
Ivory Tower
Library of Alexandria
Mind Twist
Mirror Universe
Mishra's Workshop
Mox Emerald
Mox Jet
Mox Pearl
Mox Ruby
Mox Sapphire
Recall
Regrowth
Sol Ring
Sword of the Ages(SOOOOOOOOOO POWERFUL)
Time Walk
Timetwister
Underworld Dreams
Wheel of Fortune

Banned
Divine Intervention
Sharharazard
Time Vault

Of interests that they are not restricted in this time frame:
Balance
Black Vise
Fastbond
Fork
Mana Vault
Strip Mine

If you are nostalgic for the days when decks were all about Bolts, Kird Apes, Nether Void, Racks, Vises, Juzams, Sinkholes, ETC come for this one and have a blast.  I have already built two decks for it, since we play it at my local store, even though I won't be playing at the Waterbury event.  It is sooooooooooo much fun.

The prize will be based on the number of entrants, but will likely be something cool from one of those sets(LOA, Bazaar, Workshop, Drain, Chains, Etc) provided we get enough people.

Tomorrow: Win Crazy Carl's Type 4 Stack!

[Jacob Orlove]

I have one minor rules-related suggestion. Can we please, please, please have players lose from being at 0 life at the end of the phase (instead of immediately), but keep everything else the same? I really want to play my Mirror Universe!

[iamfishman]

I feel ya Jacob.  That was my very first instinct when I thought of this format.  Unfortunately, if we change that 1 little state based effect, everything else would have to change.  We don't want to start making exceptions.

[Jacob Orlove]

I agree that the old rules are literally unusable, but I think we could make just that one change without having to give up on the current rules system. Just change 420.5a (A player with 0 or less life loses the game.) to "A player with 0 or less life loses the game if it is the beginning of a phase." That way, you have until the end of the current phase (beginning, 1st main, attack, 2nd main, end) to get back above 0 life, and you lose as soon as both players pass priority and the game moves to the next phase. We'd have to advertise it beforehand, but no one is going to just show up with a deck legal for this format--everyone who is going to play will have read the announcement by then.

[Nomad]

Of particular note is the change from Day 1 Magic Trivia to Magic Scattegories.

Picture this, you are working with a team of you and two others.  I give you the following categories and the following letters all chosen at random:

                                                     L                                          P                                     C
Last name of magic artist:
Card from Ice Age:
Set Name:
Blue Instant:
Keyword ability:

What can you come up with that fits each Category/Letter combination.  1 pt is given for each answer that is unique from all other teams answers, so the most obvious answer is not always best.  Also, doubles, like Bazaar of Baghdad(double B), are worth two points.

Take 2 minutes...then scroll down to see what I came up with(don't cheat).

I like this idea.  It should reduce the domination of certain people usually in the audience and make it a little more participant (maybe) too.  I may have exceeded my time limit a bit, but was pleased to get very few clashes with your answers, so there's definitely variety to be had.
Here:

   (R.K.) Post   Cressfield?
Legions of Lim Dul Pyknite   Crown of the Ages
Legends Planeshift Chronicles
Leap   Power Sink   Condescend
Landwalk   Plainswalk   Cannot be the target of spells or abilities**

**C'mon, you know they'll keyword it eventually...

[ctthespian]

I agree that the old rules are literally unusable, but I think we could make just that one change without having to give up on the current rules system. Just change 420.5a (A player with 0 or less life loses the game.) to "A player with 0 or less life loses the game if it is the beginning of a phase." That way, you have until the end of the current phase (beginning, 1st main, attack, 2nd main, end) to get back above 0 life, and you lose as soon as both players pass priority and the game moves to the next phase. We'd have to advertise it beforehand, but no one is going to just show up with a deck legal for this format--everyone who is going to play will have read the announcement by then.

Also be forewarned that Chaos Orbs will be there...  We should have the erratas on hand when people try to spread there cards out when it's announced.  That's a big no no.