Vintage in So Cal?

[Aardshark]

Hi all.
I'm a longtime mtg player (on and off since 1995) who "discovered" vintage early last year.  Since then have been focusing my magical pursuits primarly on the format.  I live in San Francisco, and am fortunate to have a vibrant local vintage scene bolstered by Eudemonia's regular power 9 series, with a number of strong players in the Bay Area and Sacramento--a set that does not yet include me (although I'm improving--squeaked a couple of T8s with "starter decks" oath and ichorid, and have moved on to more challenging lists with less success).  Suffice to say, I've enjoyed the format immensely, and hope to continue doing so.

The problem:  I'm contemplating a move to Southern California (specifically Los Angeles) for work.  Searching the tournament boards on this site, I've found no evidence of any tournaments (major or minor) recently held or contemplated anywhere in So-Cal.  I also note that LA players have come up to Eudemonia's vintage tournaments, which doesn't bode well for the existance of LA vintage. 

So my question is: Is there a semblence of a vintage community in LA? Are there any LA tournaments? If not currently, are there enough vintage players in so-cal that a tournament scene might be revived? I'm willing to put some effort into this if there's interest. 

Believe it or not, this is a consideration I'm weighing in deciding whether or not to accept a pending job offer.  Thanks in advance to anyone with info!
- Aardshark (aka aardie on workstation, Galen in rl)

[Akuma]

Sorry, not much of a scene down here. I think the only place that has something once in a while is "Dear Mr. Fantasy" in La Mirada. Vintage players who move here have no one to practice against, so we all just get worse and worse 

[KiL0]

I used to live in NorCal and played t1. I moved to SoCal (Pasadena); I don't play t1 anymore.

There are t1 players in SoCal; just seems like they're spread out though...

[Aardshark]

This is certainly not the response I'd hoped for. 

Akuma, yours was the saddest post I think I've ever seen. I'm coming down for follow-up interviews Wednesday, and now I'm almost hoping they don't go well (I'm not nearly good enough at magic, let alone vintage, to allow it to seriously influence my career decisions).  You seem quite active on here. Do you play at all currently? Do ever travel to tournaments? If I move down I'll probably come up to Berkeley to Eudemonia's tournaments when I can (if I continue improving I'd even consider travelling to some of the major tournaments in the east and mid-west.)  Have you attended these, or would you be interested in doing so? 

Would you be interested in getting together to test? One testing opponent is infinitely better than zero!  (FYI its looking like I'll most likely be living in west LA.) 

What about you KiLO: Would you want to play/test? If vintage tournaments were held would you attend?

Any chance of a fourth LA testing partner???

To everyone (anyone) else--I know nothing about the magic scene in LA generally. What has the tournout for vintage (and legacy) events been like in the past?  Is there's a realistic possibility of stirring up interest in Eternal Magic, perhaps by hosting unlimited proxy tournaments? Has this or anything similar been tried?  If I were to look for a store to host, is La Mirada a good place to start? Note that I could find other non-store options for venues.  Is this just a pipe dream?

If anyone within striking distance of LA reads this: let me know if you'd consider attending an LA event, and under what conditions? What region you'd prefer? What prize structure would be needed to entice you to a tournament.  (For example, how many people on here would come to LA for a guaranteed first place prize of $300 value?) Would people prefer cash or card prizes? Cash is crude, but a little more accessible as I'm not a store. Note that my goal is NOT to make money -- all entry fees would be distributed as prizes in some form -- but to find a nucleus of players to spark interest in the format.

NorCal folks, would you consider coming down for a guaranteed prize structure comparable to Eudemonia's? (Even easier pickings than usual Web & Luis.)

I'll post on SSG to guage interest there when I get a chance, but I thought I'd start here first (you are the ones who will be winning the prizes!).  

Vintage Magic is SUCH an amazing game.  If obstacles like barriers to entry and lack of competition could be overcome, its hard for me to imagine it wouldn't take off. 

As I said before, I'm willing to put some time and money into this.  I just want to find (or make) some LA competition, so that I don't suffer the fate Akuma describes and "just get worse and worse," just as I'm beginning to achieve some competence in the format.

Thanks in advance all!

[Akuma]

I think KiL0's assesment is right, we seem to be too spread out here. I'm actually right next door to KiL0 in Glendale and I think I know who he is even though I have not met him (Ken?).

I usually spend some time at Legacy Comics in Glendale after work. The store hosted an event at my request once, I organized it and it went so so, they wanted it to be sanctioned but in the future I would definitely go unsanctioned with 10 proxies or so (this was before Yugioh took over the weekend). They might be willing to let us use their play area (not very big).

I would definitely be interested in play testing every once in a while. I don't have much spare time but I try to make it to any events that spring up in the area and usually make the trip to Indy for the championship (3/4 times). I would be willing to travel to other tournaments every once in a while, if finances permit.

[LotusHead]

RobertTheSwordsman is down in SoCal somewhere.  He once drove 2 hours in traffic to play Vintage with me while I was visiting friends in Riverside. Robert's a cool dude.

[Elric]

I'm in LA over breaks from school.  I think that "Dear Mr. Fantasy" holds small, unlimited proxy events on Saturday nights into Sunday morning, but since I think it's a 9 or 10 pm start time, I doubt this can expand.  I know RoberttheSwordsman goes to those events, so he'd know more about it.

[Robert the Swordsman]

Dear Mr. Fantazy is actually in Orange County.

Weekly, there are Vintage tournaments on Saturday night (very late, usually starting around 10PM); infinite proxies, $5.00 to enter.

Unfortunately, there really hasn't been much action at all... we've been getting 4-6 people at most for the last few weeks, so admittedly and tragically, the scene is dying.

Still, myself and a few others play as often as we can, so if you're interested, feel free to contact me.

Also, LotusHead: ye be too kind, sir.

[KiL0]

Would you be interested in getting together to test? One testing opponent is infinitely better than zero!  (FYI its looking like I'll most likely be living in west LA.) 

What about you KiLO: Would you want to play/test? If vintage tournaments were held would you attend?

West L.A.? Or do you mean West L.A. county? Once again, it's pretty spread out. That being said, I would like to playtest if it would be possible to find a location and time that works for all the parties involved.

If you do move to SoCal, drop a PM; just in case this thread gets buried or I miss posts.

I think KiL0's assesment is right, we seem to be too spread out here. I'm actually right next door to KiL0 in Glendale and I think I know who he is even though I have not met him (Ken?).

True, we are 'next door.' However, I think we met very briefly at Legacy; TracerBullet (Pat) was there too.

[Aardshark]

West L.A.? Or do you mean West L.A. county? Once again, it's pretty spread out. That being said, I would like to playtest if it would be possible to find a location and time that works for all the parties involved.

Hmm. Not knowing LA geography I didn't realize this had two meanings.  The job I'm most interested in is in Brentwood, so if I get that I'll probably live in Westwood/Venice/Santa Monica etc.  However, another job I'm looking at is in Rosemead, which would be pretty close to KiLO and Akumba (RtS and Elric, not sure where you two are/will be).  (Also, note that I don't actually *have* either of these jobs yet)

I'll certainly PM all of you if this actually happens--and I think it likely will. Even if it doesn't I'll look y'all up next time I'm down south.

Look forward to meeting you all, will be in touch soon.
- Galen