Stax Exchange Weekly Vintage - Blue Duals/Shops Tournaments

[forcethewill]

I don't care who you are bringing back to this event. I'm still winning it

[Prospero]

I don't care who you are bringing back to this event. I'm still winning it

I'm also bringing Kai Budde, Jon Finkel and LSV. 

Whatever happened to quiet confidence?  I'd love to see you win it, but let's let your playing do the speaking here.

[forcethewill]

Yea? ill beat them too!

[Prospero]

Well, it looks like you're going to have to wait till Blue Bell Mr. Hangley.

The event for this week is cancelled, due to Marks closing early on Saturday.  More event dates will be posted later tonight when I get home from work.

[Prospero]

Well, the month of June is a complicated month for New York Vintage.

Next week we have Blue Bell Game Day - so there will be no Saturday Night Vintage, as you should all be driving down to PA to support Nick Coss and his awesome tournaments.

The week after we have N.Y.S.E. IX - so there will be no Saturday Night Vintage, because we have a major N.Y.S.E. event.

The week after that is the weekend of the 4th of July, and the weekend of another Blue Bell Game Day.  This is also the weekend of the "Fight to the Fourth".  I may not survive this.

I'll check around and see if we can manage a Friday or Sunday tournament, but Saturdays for the next three weeks are shot.  Things could be worse though - as this means that for the next three weeks you can play Vintage for power if you so choose.

More information will be posted in the next few days...

[Prospero]

Thread revival!

This Saturday night we have our first Saturday Night Vintage in a few weeks.  Here are the details:

What:

Saturday Night Vintage (7/3) a $10, 15 proxy, non-sanctioned Vintage tournament for a Volcanic Island.

When:

Registration starts at 5:00, round one starts at 5:30.

Where:

Marks Comics & Collectibles
291 North Central Avenue
Valley Stream, NY 11580-2525
(516) 872-5919

I hope to see everybody there!

[forcethewill]

After my side event victory playing oath I may be venturing into the world of force of will

[Prospero]

In the finals of this weeks Saturday Night Vintage Michael Egan defeated James Hangley in a match of champions. 

First place was a Volcanic Island, and second was a sealed, non-searched pack of Revised.  Mark's Comics currently has 30 packs from a sealed box of Revised.  If anyone's interested in picking them up, doing an old school draft, or just looking for some sweet condition old cards, pick them up now.  Congrats to the top 4, and I'll see everybody again next week!

[StrongIslandRob]

Team reality kings will share the top 4 next week again.

[Prospero]

New York Stax Exchange > Reality Kings

It's not even close. 

[forcethewill]

Congrats to big rob and austin for top 4ing. Congrats to Mike Egan for beating me into the ground with lodestone golems. Man its awkward to be on the other end of that. For all that care the pack of revised was stellar 5 basic lands a grey ogre throne of bone and a living artifact

[Therubecube]

New York Stax Exchange > Reality Kings

It's not even close. 

In team quality maybe but the line of business definitely goes to Reality Kings. Floor trading has nothing on that.

[StrongIslandRob]

TY Mr. cube

[Prospero]

There will be a Saturday Night Vintage event this week at Marks Comics.  Marks is running two M11 pre-releases on Saturday (one at 1, the second at 8:30) so if you're looking to do both, you can play in the first release, the Vintage, and depending on the time, the second M11 event.

Hope to see you all there!

[forcethewill]

Actually its 12 430 and 8 something... Just throwing it out there

[Sporkcore]

I don't think I'll be able to make this one. I told Alan I'd help him out for his M11 prerelease, so I don't think I'd be getting out of there till 7 something the earliest.

[H]

I was just told it would be 5 o'clock for Vintage, which is good because i won't be able to make it there earlier due to work.

[Prospero]

Good man.

We're set, and it looks like we're going to have an awesome showing... I'll see everybody in a few hours...

[Cruel Ultimatum]

16 people showed up, James Q. Hangley won with shops...I finished 5th on breakers

[Prospero]

16 people showed up, James Q. Hangley won with shops...I finished 5th on breakers

16 players, missing about 5 regulars, is patently absurd.  The New York community is growing quickly.  I have to say thank you to all the guys who showed up today to come and battle.  I can't believe that we've reached a point where we hit more guys for a weekly event than some tournaments have been getting for power.  I have had my mind blown.  Thank you.

[StrongIslandRob]

Today was a great day was very fun ty nick

[forcethewill]

What an event! Congrats on the blowout!!

[chrispikula]

16 people showed up, James Q. Hangley won with shops...I finished 5th on breakers

16 players, missing about 5 regulars, is patently absurd.  The New York community is growing quickly.  I have to say thank you to all the guys who showed up today to come and battle.  I can't believe that we've reached a point where we hit more guys for a weekly event than some tournaments have been getting for power.  I have had my mind blown.  Thank you.

Yes your posts basically telling people not to go to the Kings Games tourney certainly worked.  Mind blowing!

[2nd_lawl]

oh noes interbutt drama, ya dun goofed up, I back-traced your emails and have alerted the cyber-police. The consequences will never be the same. Just saying.

[Prospero]

16 people showed up, James Q. Hangley won with shops...I finished 5th on breakers

16 players, missing about 5 regulars, is patently absurd.  The New York community is growing quickly.  I have to say thank you to all the guys who showed up today to come and battle.  I can't believe that we've reached a point where we hit more guys for a weekly event than some tournaments have been getting for power.  I have had my mind blown.  Thank you.

Yes your posts basically telling people not to go to the Kings Games tourney certainly worked.  Mind blowing!

Chris,

I have had problems with the store in the past and yet I was still willing to go back - in fact, I even posted that I was in the thread for the event.  The expression "all politics is local" applies to Vintage, more so than any other format in Magic.  If you want to play in a PTQ, and you have problems with a T/O or store, there isn't much you can do - PTQ's are limited, and they offer something that not every store has the opportunity to offer.  Vintage is a niche format that revolves highly around the community and the T/O.  If the community has a problem with either, you're probably not going to make it.  People choose to go to my tournaments, just as people chose not to go to Kings Games on Saturday.  I'll say this again, because I mean it and because it's important - if Alex straightened everything out with the guys he needed to, I would support the tournaments and drive guys (literally and figuratively) to the events.  

I have spent the better part of a year spreading the format at every major store on Long Island, loaning cards, getting cards for guys, giving cards away, helping guys build decks, discussing theory, running events, negotiating with stores for space and players/dealers for good prize support, and making sure that the events were well judged, well run, etc.  I own three Vintage decks and quite a bit in other cards - I lent out all three decks and several thousand in other cards at the last major NYSE event.  I lend out decks and cards at every event.  I am not here to make myself seem to be God's gift to Vintage - but I do more for the format than most people, and I think that my players (the guys that I have gotten involved) know that, support that, appreciate that.  There was no real Long Island Vintage scene before I worked to create one, and if players support me because they know me, like me, feel loyal to me, then I can't help that.  It took a year to get a player base of 50-60 guys on the Island.  They owe me nothing, just as they owe Alex nothing.  They choose what they choose, and I will not drive them to Kings Games, just as I will not drive them away.

I have not always been successful and there have been bumps along the way.  Overall I think I've done a pretty good job.  The NY guys who play Vintage may, to some degree, be loyal to me because I am a known entity.  I have provided a good product, they have enjoyed it, they return.  They choose to spend their dollars going to my events, and for that I am appreciative.  I understand that any success could be ephemeral - the community owes me nothing, if I ran things poorly, if I offered poor support, if I didn't do my due diligence in terms of announcements or tournament reports, then I would lose players - and it would be right that I did.  

I have a weekly tournament series.  I have only canceled these events for three reasons in the past:

1.  I was running a major NYSE event.
2.  Nick Coss was running a Blue Bell tournament.
3.  The store needed to close early.

When I posted that I was willing to drive traffic to Kings Games, it meant more than showing up and mentioning it to other guys, it meant canceling an event of my own.  I would have done it - after all, how could I run an event if I said that I would support Kings Games again on that Saturday?  

Alex is successful, has been open for a while, and is a very respected member of the Magic community at large.  If he wants to run Vintage tournaments, he is more than welcome to.  Nothing stopped me from starting - in fact, at one of my first events I had all of 13 players playing for a guaranteed Mox Jet.  I had no help from store owners - it was one on one contact, and work at a base level that I did in order to create what exists on Long Island right now.  I will not support his events as things stand now, though I would if he made some kind of amends with the people involved.  I count Dave Gans as one of my close friends - he is a scholar, a gentleman, and one of the nicest guys that you could hope to meet.  Dave is one of my favorite people.  To be there, with his 13 year old son, and watch as Jake was refused entry as he was was something that I found galling.  I haven't supported that store since then.  It has done nothing to hurt his attendance for his PTQ's and other formats.  I don't understand how this correlates with his Vintage turnout.  I have friends who went to the last event (Vinnie Forino, Mike Lupo, Mike Bauer, Rob Lawrence, David Earley.)  Two of those five came to my Saturday tournament - three didn't play in either to the best of my knowledge.  If Alex has a base crowd of approximately 15 guys, is 11 players multiple standard deviations from the mean?  

I ran an event that was scheduled instead of canceling it.  The Kings Games tournament was announced with five days notice.  I did not promote the Kings Games tournament, or drive people to go.  I could be an asset to Alex, but I choose not to be.  Let me repeat myself one more time - I would support Kings Games again if the issues at hand were taken care of.  I never get to play Vintage anymore - I wouldn't mind being able to play in an event or two once in a while.  I will not do this until my friends are taken care of.  I am not working to hurt him.  I can't help that he had 11 guys show up for the tournament.  If he works to create a community, and is successful, then I will be happy for him.  I have spent the better part of a year doing precisely that.  

If players come to my events over his, I can't help that either.  I offer a product and it has been successful.  If another T/O shows up and offers a better product, then it is right that I should effectively be driven out of business.  It's business.  I would, however, remind you that there was no Vintage scene here before I took several steep losses and spent an inordinate amount of time creating it.  

If he straightens things out with Jake, then I would help him as much as I could.  My loyalty is to my friends before it's to a T/O though, and I won't be changing that.  I'm sorry that his event was not a success.  I have chosen to keep my dollars away from Kings Games for as long as this goes on.  I apologize, but without action on his part, this isn't going to change.

[Prospero]

Also, I'd like to apologize for the comment from yesterday.  I didn't intend it to be offensive, but I now see that it could certainly be looked at that way.  I didn't know how many had shown up for the Kings Games tournament, and I actually was happy that I had my best turnout yet for a weekly event.  I wasn't looking to rub salt in any wounds - I didn't think of the Kings Games tournament when I posted it.

[chrispikula]

"The Kings Games tournament was announced with five days notice."

Did you mean to say it was announced on these forums with five days notice?  It certainly wasn't "announced" with 5 days notice.  If you want Alex to be more cognizant of these forums and care more about catering to the people on them, you are not off to a very good start.

I think you handled yourself in a really unclassy way in this series of events. I also think you are letting a single episode that happened to a personal friend of yours possibly ruin the possibility of there being a successful series of events in Brooklyn.  You might be right. Maybe Alex is a terrible TO.  But I'd think it is better for the vintage community to let a few more people decide that for themselves. I'm sure if someone heard something bad about your tourneys, you would really like having a shot at having them come out and experience one for themselves. 

I think it is great that you've done so much for the local scene. I like your tourneys and plan on attending more of them. And I disagree with your assertion that that the players "owe you nothing and owe Alex nothing". It sounds to me like they probably actually do owe you a little bit, you have worked hard to give them good tourneys to play in.  I just don't think any of this gives you a free pass.  You are working to hurt him.  Saying bad things about his tourneys on here, given your position in the Vintage tournament scene, is going to hurt him. 

Note that, although I do live in Brooklyn, I'm not biased here. I can only go to one event per month for the most part, and whether it is in Brooklyn or on Long Island isn't that big of a difference to me.  I've enjoyed your tourneys.  I've known Alex a long time but he is not really a friend of mine. 

[forcethewill]

"Did you mean to say it was announced on these forums with five days notice?  It certainly wasn't "announced" with 5 days notice.  If you want Alex to be more cognizant of these forums and care more about catering to the people on them, you are not off to a very good start"

I mean it is a vintage event it would be in his best intrest to post them here. I mean if i had to post a vintage event i wouldn't post it on a standard forum or on a website that people may or may not no exists. I would think that the place to post it would be on TMD due to the vintage community that play in the area and check these forums regularly. It just seems logical i could be wrong

[Prospero]

Chris and I have spoken and worked things out and this is now a dead issue.

[mikekilljoy]

"The Kings Games tournament was announced with five days notice."

Did you mean to say it was announced on these forums with five days notice?  It certainly wasn't "announced" with 5 days notice.  If you want Alex to be more cognizant of these forums and care more about catering to the people on them, you are not off to a very good start.

Nick, I know you are saying it is a dead issue, but I have to comment on this.

Chris, yes, Alex did not announce this in any way, shape, or form, prior to it being posted here. I am (or was) on his mailing list for some odd reason and have been given as little as a one day notice on events. So, I don't know where it was ever announced, but if it is not on his mailing list, then I have not idea where else anyone would ever find it.