TO Report- TMD OPEN 15- 0th Place

[iamfishman]

Well...another TMD Open in the book.  Despite a smaller than average turnout, the field was pretty deep.  Deep to the point that in several rounds there were at least 3 good choices for feature matches.

I can't thank enough both the players for your continued support and Craig Pelletier and Kevin Daly for their judging expertise.  If you guys keep being awesome, I'll keep running these things.

Video of feature matches can be seen here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ray%27s-tourneys

Onward to the data of the event:
76 people - 7 rounds - cut to top 8

Standings after 7 rounds of swiss:

1   Vanvliet, Clark(PND)   18   60.5442
2   Cron, Kevin   18   57.8231
3   Farias, Andrew   17   71.4286
4   Meyst, Rich(TPS)   17   55.7823
5   Menendian, Stephen(MDK)   16   69.0476
6   Scalzo, Anthony(FoW)   16   66.6667
7   Carey, Brian(TSR)   16   63.2653
8   Egan, Michael   16   57.9365
9   Vallas, Nick   16   53.3787
10   Kohler, JP(TSR)   15   60.5442
11   Swatkins, Brian   15   59.1837
12   Limber, Theo   15   55.102
13   Bisesi, Gavin(PND)   15   51.4286
14   Canada, Joseph   15   50.8844
15   Zimmerman, Robert(TDC)   15   49.2517
16   Beaumont, Oliver   15   48.2993
17   Detwiler, Nick(PYR)   15   45.2381
18   Pikula, Chris(PYR)   13   63.8624
19   Lydon, Michael   12   67.6871
20   Brown, Joseph(TDG)   12   63.8889
21   Demars, Brian(MDK)   12   61.9048
22   Martin, Jesse   12   59.2063
23   Houghton, David   12   56.4626
24   Carpenter, Jeff   12   55.7823
25   Joyce, John   12   55.102
26   Friedman, Danny(SMC)   12   54.3537
27   Hornung, Mark(TDG)   12   53.9683
28   Thompson, Nathan(TDC)   12   52.0408
29   Glackin, Ryan(TDG)   12   51.5873
30   Pace, Joe(FoW)   12   49.2063
31   Gacioch, Daniel(TPS)   12   47.9592
32   Orfanello, Matthew   10   53.8776
33   Linsey, Nick   10   46.2963
34   Gans, Jake   9   72
35   Hajduk, Mike   9   55.9524
36   Wolchesky, Elliott   9   55.7823
37   Picozzo, Vito(FoW)   9   55.102
38   Schlossberg, B   9   54.4218
39   Orcutt, Sean   9   51.1111
40   Lessard, John   9   48.7075
41   DelPaggio, Kyle   9   48.2993
42   Mastriano, Paul(MDK)   9   45.7143
43   Forino, Raffaele(TSR)   9   41.4966
44   Merriam, Ross(TPS)   9   41.0884
45   Copes, Bill   8   43.5374
46   Coss, Nick(PYR)   7   65
47   Chitturi, Ashok   6   83.3333
48   Cleveland, Jason   6   58.6667
49   Winger, William   6   56.4815
50   Yergeau, Tony   6   50.3401
51   Bauer, Michael   6   50
52   Michaels, Anthony(SMC)   6   44
53   Rodgers, Jeff   6   43.5374
54   Bergstrom, Daniel   6   38.4127
55   Linsey, Matt   5   48.1481
56   Close, Andrew   4   45.8333
57   Lepage, Brandon   3   77.7778
58   Rao, Mitesh   3   66.6667
59   Szamier, Cory   3   66.6667
60   Hughes, Scott   3   66.6667
61   Mcnally, Matt   3   55.5556
62   Longo, John   3   55.5556
63   Fenton, Greg   3   54.1667
64   Greene, Michael   3   48.1481
65   Masley, Craig(PND)   3   46.9388
66   Byer, Jon   3   46.6667
67   Rudolph, Jeremiah   3   44.4444
68   Pate, Matthew   3   44.4444
69   Owen, Alex   3   44.4444
70   Jaco, Jason(SMC)   3   41.6667
71   Impink, Jack   3   40.7407
72   Materewicz, Chris(TDC)   0   66.6667
73   Cutrone, Michael   0   59.2593
74   Carpenter, Eric   0   48.1481
75   Camejo, Jorge   0   44.4444
76   Hanna, David   0   33.3333

Of those still in the tournament, Craig Masley won the "horse's ass" trophy for being last place among those still in the main event.

In the top 8:
Clark VanVliet defeated Michael Egan
Rich Meyst defeated Steve Menedian
Anthony Scalzo defeated Andrew Farias
Brian Carey defeated Kevin Cron

In the top 4:
Rich Meyst defeated Clark VanVliet
Anthony Scalzo defeated Brian Carey

and in the Finals:
Anthony Scalzo defeated Rich Meyst

(Meaning, for the first time I get to photoshop some Dredge images onto a playmat!)

Top 8 Decklists:
Winner:
Anthony Scalzo:
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Undiscovered Paradise
3 City of Brass
1 Dakomar Savage
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Serum Powder
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Bloodghast
4 Bridge from Below
4 Narcomeoba
4 Golgari Grave Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Golgari Thug
3 Ichorid
3 Fatestitcher
2 Sun Titan
1 Flame Kin-Zealot
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Dread Return
Sideboard:
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Nature's Claim
3 Chain of Vapor
3 Firestorm
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

2nd Place:
Rich Meyst:
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Slash Panther
4 Magus of the Moon
3 Goblin Welder
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Sphere of Resistance
1 Trinisphere
4 Tangle Wire
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
2 Ancient Tomb
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Strip Mine
6 Mountain
1 Solemn Simulacrum
Sideboard:
2 Shattering Spree
2 Ingot Chewer
3 Witchbane Orb
2 Precursor Golem
2 Tormod's Crypt
4 Leyline of the Void

Top 4:
Brian Carey:
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Blightsteel Collosus
1 Terrastrodon
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Strip Mine
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Volcanic Island
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
4 Oath of Druids
1 Beast Within
1 Noxious Revival
3 Thoughteize
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
2 Spell Pierce
3 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Echoing Truth
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
Sideboard:
2 Flusterstorm
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Hurkyl's Recal
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Nature's Claim
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus

Top 4:
Clark VanVliet:
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Time Walk
4 Force of Will
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
3 Mana Drain
1 Negate
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Merchant Scroll
3 Night's Whisper
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
2 Thoughtseize
1 Tinker
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Island
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Polluted Delta
2 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Flooded Strand
Sideboard:
4 Yixalid Jailer
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Empty the Warrens
3 Steel Sabotage
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Pyroclasm
1 Fire/Ice

Top 8:
Mike Egan:
2 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Swamp
1 Snow Covered Swamp
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
4 Dark Ritual
1 Cabal Ritual
3 Duress
4 Force of Will
3 Dark Confidant
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Collosus
1 Time Walk
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Mind's Desire
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Necropotence
1 Timetwister
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Lotus Petal
3 Mental Misstep
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Sideboard:
2 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Island
1 Extripate
1 Swamp
2 Hurkyl's Recal
1 Rebuild
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Pithing Needle

Top 8:
Stephen Menedian:
4 Force of Will
4 Preordain
4 Gush
4 Thoughtseize
4 Doomsday
2 Flusterstorm
2 Spell Pierce
1 Duress
1 Laboratory Maniac
4 Mental Misstep
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Fastbond
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Tropical Island
4 Underground Sea
Sideboard:
3 Teferi's Realm
2 Xantid Swarm
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Yixalid Jailer
2 Island
4 Leyline of the Void

Top 8:
Kevin Cron:
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Blightsteel Collosus
1 Voltaic Key
2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
1 Time Vault
4 Force of Will
3 Mental Misstep
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Flusterstorm
3 Mana Drain
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fire/Ice
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 City of Brass
2 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Tropical Island
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
Sideboard:
4 Surgical Extraction
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Forest
2 Nature's Claim
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Flusterstorm
1 Red Elemental Blast

Top 8:
Andrew Farias
4 Dark Confidant
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Pierce
2 Mental Misstep
2 Thoughtseize
2 Mana Drain
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Time Walk
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Jace the Mind Sculptor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Ponder
1 Snow Covered Island
3 Island
4 Underground Sea
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
Sideboard:
4 Energy Flux
2 Dismember
1 Virtue's Ruin
3 Yixalid Jailer
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Extripate
2 Flusterstorm
1 Steel Sabotage

By my count, by the way, that is 7 different decks in one top 8(and the 9th place finisher on tiebreaks was running GW hate bears).  Who says Vintage has no variety?
The winner of TMD Open Bingo was Cruel Ultamatum.  He had 6 of the top 16 and beat out Nick Coss based on tiebreakers.  He has won free admission to TMD Open 16.
In the free side event we had 17 people. In the top 4, Mike Cutrone defeated Matt McNally and Greg Fenton defeated Scott Hughes.  Matt and Scott each won a TMD Open T-Shirt.  Greg defeated Mike in the finals.  Mike won a TMD Open Playmat, and Greg won an English Mana Drain.
In Magic Trivia, four teams competed for glory and prizes.  In the end the scores were:
Team TPS: 2900
Team NH: 3800
Team TDG: 5600
Team FOW: 5700.

Congrats to Team FOW: Nathan Thompson, Joe Pace, Robert Zimmerman(Fun fact...same birth name as Bob Dylan) and Chris Materwicz
The Team Rivalry Competition was even more fierce in how close it was.  Going into the top 8, FIVE of the nine teams were still in contention.  Then, going into the top 4 there was a representative from four different teams, each still in the hunt based on the last three matches of the tournament.  When the finals came, Rich Meyst and Anthony Scalzo were playing both for the tournament title, but also for the team competition- winner takes both.  Anthony won, and so team FOW took down the tournament, the team competion, AND the magic trivia.  How is that for a Trifecta!?!
Day 2 saw a huge drop in attendance.  15 people showed up to play.  Because of the low turnout, and because I had such a great judge that I would have been bored all day, I decided to do the following:
1.) Put 25 into the prize support
2.) Play 4 rounds of swiss
3.) Not take any prize of top 8 spot
That combined with the fact that after paying my judge I gave every remaining cent back in prizes hoepfully made for a prize payout that(despite being low for people like the gentleman who traveled from Georgia) was acceptable based on the circumstances.

Standings after 4 rounds of Swiss
1   Carey, Brian   12
2   Jaco, Jason   7
3   Masley, Craig   7
4   Greene, Mike   7
5   Brassard, Scott   7
6   Bedoukian, David   7
7   Kavanaugh, Jim   7
8   Linsey, Nick   6
9   Friedman, Danny   6
10   Bisesi, Gavin   6
11   Linsey, Matt   3
12   Haris, Visna   3
13   Michaels, Anthony   3
14   Moreau, Robert   3
15   Coss, Nick   0
(Note, I came in 2nd Place(10 points) but as I mentioned I didn't take a top 8 spot so I deleted my name)

In the top 8:
Brian Carey beat Nick Linsey
Scott Brassard beat Mike Greene
David Bedoukian Beat Craig Masley
Jason Jaco beat Jim Kavanaugh
In the top 4:
Brian Carey beat Scott Brassard
Jason Jaco beat David Bedoukian
And the top 2 split...for the purpose of the Bye awarded, because Brian Carey had the higher ranking after the Swiss rounds, he would be considered the winner of the event.

Now with all that out of the way, a few discussion points.
#1) The cost of shirts and playmats gets more expensive every event.  For this event they ran $500 for 20 mats and 30 shirts.  This is, then, money toward prizes that I can't distribute elsewhere.  I know players like the shirts and mats, so I don't want to get rid of them.  Also, people have asked to buy them, and I have to tell them that I make a small amount of them so they are more exclusive and thus memorable to win.
I had a thought, though.  What if I made 40 mats and 60 shirts?  This would run me about $900(a little less than double because of the reduced price for buying more in bulk).  Now let's say that I sell 20 of these mats for $30 a piece and 30 of the shirts for $10 each.   Assuming there is enough of a demand that I can get preorders for those extra non-prize mats and shirts, then it would cover the cost of the whole batch and I can give out prizes of mats and shirts without cutting $500 out of the prize pool.  Is the existence of twice as many of the shirts and mats more of a downside than the upside of the extra $500 toward the prize pool and the opportunity for a first come/first serve way of getting a guaranteed shirt and/or playmat?  Discuss.
#2) With the last two Day 2's of Waterbury having such a low turnout, it makes me wonder what I can do to address this issue.  I actually have some ideas, but I will purposefully refrain, as not to bias some of the brainstorming/ideas you all may have.  Sound off on what should be done about TMD Open Day 2s.
#3) Rate the following things that I do, or have done in the past, on a 1-10 scale with 1 being "I don't care at all about it" and 10 being "I love that part of your tournaments"  Additional narrative comments are welcome.
Magic trivia
Free Side Event
Team Rivalry
Feature Matches
Streaming/videos of Feature Matches
Top 16 instead of Top 8
Silly side contests(Last Man Standing, Farthest Traveled Prize, Last Place Prize, etc)
#4) And finally, a yes/no question.  Does the location (Gamingetc, Waterbury Marriott, other location) play a significant role in affecting your decision to come to one of my tourneys.

Thanks again for your time and feedback in helping me continue to run great events.

See you at TMD Open 15.5

Ray

[LemonLyman]

It was a great event Ray, and I had a blast despite taking a series of thorough thrashings and dropping at 0-3.  It was AWESOME to watch Scalzo take down a tournament and watch Team FOW sweep the tournament, team event, and Trivia.

Magic trivia-I very much look forward to Magic trivia and think it's an awesome thing to do while you're waiting for the tournament to finish.  I think alot of people end up waiting at the end of the night because most people don't come to these events by themselves.  I don't know why more than 4 teams didn't sign up, but maybe everybody else doesn't share my opinion.
 
Free Side Event-This is nice to have the option, but wouldn't influence me either way.  i come for the main event, and if i'm playing in this, I'm already having a really bad day. I also think alot of people are obligated to stay in due to the team competition.

Team Rivalry-This is a big part of the event.  It helps keep the tournament relevant when you have a bad day and are out of contention.  And who doesnt like bragging rights?

Feature Matches-i liked this alot and stopped by to watch a few throughout the day, though maybe next time a setup without a table standing on one side would be nice.

Streaming/videos of Feature Matches-I think it's neat to have them recorded for posterity/are too far away to travel.

Top 16 instead of Top 8-They don't do this at alot of tournaments and this always set Waterbury apart.  i was disappointed when it was announced it would be a top 8 cut this time around.

Silly side contests(Last Man Standing, Farthest Traveled Prize, Last Place Prize, etc)-Don't care, doesn't influence me one way or the other
#4) And finally, a yes/no question.  Does the location (Gamingetc, Waterbury Marriott, other location) play a significant role in affecting your decision to come to one of my tourneys.

We talked about the location and what set the event apart on the ride home.  We couldn't really come up with anything.  It was just like..dude..it's Waterbury.  I've missed one or two since I started playing vintage and usually regretted it.

[Womba]

Ray this was an awesome event!!! Congrats to Anthony for finally getting Dredge on TMD Open Playmat....It has been quite the year for the boogeyman of Vintage.

As for your day 2 issues, one of the things I found myself thinking about was the potential to literally make the main event two days. Something like cutting to a top 16 at the end of day one and then having the top 16 play out on Sunday. I think this would keep more people involved and around for day two. It could also "force" for lack of a better term people who didn't make day two but still have a car-mate in the event to play in a day two event. I think making it more like a Vintage GP could help improve attendance for day two.

I have been eagerly waiting for the TMD playmat and shirt to have Dredge on it...I will obviously be very interested in getting both a shirt and mat next year, even if I have to buy it....


Magic trivia- 10. I haven't personally participated but I know a lot of people love it...
Free Side Event- 10. Anything that encourages more Vintage seems like a win...
Team Rivalry- 10. I believe team rivalry and the regional rivalries have really helped spark Vintage again, just look at attendance for the Grudge Match events...
Feature Matches- 8. I mean who doesn't love getting a feature match. Especially this year where viewers could watch them....even though me and Demars got no sir'ed....
Streaming/videos of Feature Matches- 9. ^^
Top 16 instead of Top 8- 10. I rather enjoyed the top 16 cut last year. I feel maybe turning it into a day two top 16 cut could really add to the event...
Silly side contests(Last Man Standing, Farthest Traveled Prize, Last Place Prize, etc)- 7. I have only seen the Last Place Prize but I mean who doesn't love free stuff...


The location doesn't matter much to me. Even if you have it in Antarctica like a previously advertised Vintage tournament.....

[JACO]

Ray, this was my first Waterbury, and I had a very good time. As for your questions:
1) For playmats, there seemed a general sentiment that they were an award of sorts. As I mentioned, I would recommend do a limited run for the Top 8 or Top 16 which are kind of like trophies, and then maybe a different run for sale. As far as the t-shirts, I would just sell all of them to help cover the costs of running the tournament. I don't think too many people are super hyped about winning a t-shirt, to be honest.

2) Day 2 attendance sucked, and I would give out prizes for best combined performance for both days to entice more attendace. I know it's hard for many people who have to be back to work Monday, but there was a whole table full of people who came in on day 2 and didn't even play, which is total weaksauce. 

3) For me personally, here's how I would rank the events and related activities that I'm interested in, with a 10 being the most interested:
a) Magic Trivia - 1; I know a bunch of other people are interested in this, but I'm more interested in playing a larger day two tournament, and would be more interested even in Type 4 games.
b) Free Side Event on day 1 - 4; I think if you just did a number of events that were like $10-15 entry 8 person single elims for some prizes that might be more attractive, and you could run a number of them as soon as you get 8 people in queue to fire them off (hint: have people sign up with their cell numbers too so you can call or text them when tournament is starting!). That would have people still playing Vintage like they came for, would regenerate the prize pool, and would have tournaments constantly available.
c) Team Rivalry - 8; this seemed fun and worthwhile, but wasn't hyped up enough before or during the day. Give us some hype and some updates throughout the day how teams are tracking!
d) Feature Matches - 10; a must have
e) Streaming - 8; not a totally necessity, but the more the better
f) Top 16 instead of Top 8 - 1; I don't like this personally but am probably in the minority.
g) Silly Side Contests - ?; I had no idea anything was even going on like this so who knows.

4) Yes, the location matters. GamingEtc as a tourney venue was very nice and clean and open I thought, and had tons of singles. Location definitely affects people's decisions to come. I had to carpool and drive 16-18 hours to get to the middle of Connecticut, which sucks for anybody west of say, Indiana/Ohio, so I'll make this trek once in a while but not all the time. For a huge tournament 6 hours away I probably could have brought a car of 6 rather than a car of 3, if that's any indication. If the East Coast is supposed to be the epicenter of Vintage in the USA y'all motherfuckers need to do a better job of representing than just 76 people. There were almost twice as many at in Indy at the Vintage Champs at GenCon, which gives out the worst prizes. No excuses. I think a traveling 'TMD Open' might be more representative than just an annual tournament in Waterbury. If you need partners around the country let me know; I would be willing to help.

[Will]

Ray, looks like a great event but could I trouble you to ask for a Metagame Breakdown?  I was unfortunately unable to make it out for this due to conflicts with school but I am interested to see what the field was composed of. 

[mikekilljoy]

Ray, again, this was a great event. Here is my 2 cents.

#1) As one of those guys who asked for for playmats/shirts to buy last year (this year I got a little lucky... BLIND CALL 28!), I would probably do some sort of pre-order. Yes, the exclusiveness is nice, but it's also owning a little piece of history.

#2) I know I had plenty to do, being Columbus Day Weekend and football season. I think the latter effected things more than the former, especially for guys like me and Raff.

#3) Magic trivia - 10... even though me/Glackin always finish 2nd by 100 points.
Free Side Event - N/A, since I didn't play.
Team Rivalry - 8
Feature Matches - 8
Streaming/videos of Feature Matches - 8
Top 16 instead of Top 8 - 6
Silly side contests(Last Man Standing, Farthest Traveled Prize, Last Place Prize, etc) - 10, this makes it fun!

#4) No, a TMD Open is a TMD Open. I just need to make sure I get to the .5's now.

[Prospero]

Ray, to respond to your questions:

1.  I don't think that it's a downside for there to be more shirts and mats, though I would imagine that it would be wise to do preorders on both.

I recently had a custom playmat printed at PlaymatWorld.com.  The mat, which is in color, ran me $30, plus shipping.  We sent a copy of the image (either .gif or .jpg) to the printer and had the mat done.  I'd definitely check them out, as they didn't seem to care that I was only having two mats done.  I'd imagine that you'd be able to get a better deal on the playmats, as you're doing more than I did.  Plus, I'd imagine that a color version of the mat would be much more desirable when doing preorders/giving them away at the event.

2.  If you pushed Waterbury to two days for the main event, I think you'd lose some players (who wouldn't be able to make it out for both days).  What kept me from staying wasn't desire to play on a second day, but the hotel.  The Ramada was sold out that night.  By the time I got around to looking for another hotel one of the guys in my car had dropped out.  

If you manage to get a deal with one of the local area hotels, I'll be there for both days.  I would have been there for both days anyways, had last minute complications not held me back.

Please don't discount that this event was also held on Yom Kippur, which is the highest of holy days for our Jewish friends.  That held some guys back (I can think of three guys who would have been there for day one, at least, had the event not fallen on a Jewish holiday).  

3.  To rank the things that make Waterbury feel like Waterbury:

Magic Trivia: 8 - I stink at this, but I know some people live for it (Ryan Glackin, your ears should be ringing right now).

Free Side Event: 10 - I love this.  This makes the event better for all the people who don't do well in the main.  I can't tell you how thrilled Greg Fenton was to win the side event.  If it weren't for that, he might have viewed the day as a loss, overall.  

Team Rivalry: 9 - Definitely more fun when the Midwest guys come out.

Feature Matches: 10  - Who doesn't want to see great players play against one another?  

Streaming Videos: 10 - I would rank this higher if I could.  This is an excellent idea.  I loved it.  I think this has incredible potential to spread Vintage to new areas.  Please, do this at future events.

Silly Side Contests: 9 - They're fun, but they're not a focal point of the event, for me.

4.  The location absolutely affects my decision to go, but not quite in the sense you meant.  Because your events are held in Connecticut, I am able to make the trip in less than two hours.  If Waterbury's ever moved (to, say, Massachusetts), it would make the event much more difficult to attend, though I probably would anyways.  I would imagine that this point is exacerbated for our Pennsylvanian friends.  The further west you go, the better.  

[Smmenen]

Ray,

I  thought it was an awesome event, and is probably the most fun overall Vintage event in the world given all the extras and ancillary stuff.   

Let me just address a couple of the topics, without addressing every one:

Day 2:

I've stayed for Day 2s before, but it's not enjoyable if we don't get a really strong turnout (IMO).    I remember when we had 120 player Day 1s, and 80 player Day2s.   

If we can't do that, then I suggest you rejigger the formatting to draw more people.  Maybe make Day 2 a Mox prize, or something?  That could draw 30+ players.   

My team decided not to stay for day 2 in advance of the tournament so we could drive 10 hours back to Ohio so people could go to work on Monday.  there was no way around that.

Feature Matches

This is VERY important, I think, in promoting the format.  I'd say a 10. But I think your feature match selection was about as poor as the Vintage Champs this year. 

People don't care about who is on the bubble.  They want to see Demars play Hornung, etc.   I can't believe that wasn't a feature match.  I couldn't believe Wizards didn't make Mastriano v. Shay a feature match at Vintage Champs this year, and I think you should have a different selection process for your feature matches in the future.  People on the web watching don't care about the 9 pointer who is on the bubble.  They want to see the "name" player.

Trivia

I LOVE the trivia, and only wish it was held at a time and place where I could participate and play in top 8

Top 16

I would only do a Top 16 if you reach a certain number of players: like 8 rounds of swiss or something. 

[chrispikula]

Demars/Hornung wasn't a feature match because I was a feature match that round.  I know I ain't what I used to be, but I think I am pretty good value for name recognition, especially if you are trying to bring in new players rather than entertain current vintage players. 

[Smmenen]

Demars/Hornung wasn't a feature match because I was a feature match that round.  I know I ain't what I used to be, but I think I am pretty good value for name recognition, especially if you are trying to bring in new players rather than entertain current vintage players. 

See, if they had Demars/Hornung feature match there, then WE could have been the next round feature match  

My example was merely illustrative.  My impression was that Ray was selecting, at times, bubble matches, instead of relevant (but perhaps not as tournament important) matches between known players.   

[Womba]

Demars/Hornung wasn't a feature match because I was a feature match that round.  I know I ain't what I used to be, but I think I am pretty good value for name recognition, especially if you are trying to bring in new players rather than entertain current vintage players.  

Chris hit it right on the head. He literally is THE MEDDLING MAGE....seems like a name player to me. I also heard that Nick Coss guy, fresh off his Vintage Champs Top 8, is pretty good as well. Paired with the fact that they were both undefeated made it an obvious feature match, as me and Demars were only sitting at 2-1 at that point...Despite wanting to be the feature match, you can't really say Ray choose poorly.....

[chrispikula]

This top 8 actually gives me a lot to think about. Interesting stuff.

[Smmenen]

Demars/Hornung wasn't a feature match because I was a feature match that round.  I know I ain't what I used to be, but I think I am pretty good value for name recognition, especially if you are trying to bring in new players rather than entertain current vintage players.  

Chris hit it right on the head. He literally is THE MEDDLING MAGE....seems like a name player to me. I also heard that Nick Coss guy, fresh off his Vintage Champs Top 8, is pretty good as well. Paired with the fact that they were both undefeated made it an obvious feature match, as me and Demars were only sitting at 2-1 at that point...Despite wanting to be the feature match, you can't really say Ray choose poorly.....

As I said, that was illustrative, and not a literal, example.   

[Meddling Mike]

Chris hit it right on the head. He literally is THE MEDDLING MAGE....

*single tear*

#1) The cost of shirts and playmats gets more expensive every event.  For this event they ran $500 for 20 mats and 30 shirts.  This is, then, money toward prizes that I can't distribute elsewhere.  I know players like the shirts and mats, so I don't want to get rid of them.  Also, people have asked to buy them, and I have to tell them that I make a small amount of them so they are more exclusive and thus memorable to win.
I had a thought, though.  What if I made 40 mats and 60 shirts?  This would run me about $900(a little less than double because of the reduced price for buying more in bulk).  Now let's say that I sell 20 of these mats for $30 a piece and 30 of the shirts for $10 each.   Assuming there is enough of a demand that I can get preorders for those extra non-prize mats and shirts, then it would cover the cost of the whole batch and I can give out prizes of mats and shirts without cutting $500 out of the prize pool.  Is the existence of twice as many of the shirts and mats more of a downside than the upside of the extra $500 toward the prize pool and the opportunity for a first come/first serve way of getting a guaranteed shirt and/or playmat?  Discuss.

I guess I always looked at the mats as being a trophy of sorts. If you make a large number of them and sell them they might lose that aspect as anybody would have access to them. You would also have to take into account the liability you would be taking upon yourself of not selling them and getting left holding the bag, which I don't think anybody would like to happen.

#2) With the last two Day 2's of Waterbury having such a low turnout, it makes me wonder what I can do to address this issue.  I actually have some ideas, but I will purposefully refrain, as not to bias some of the brainstorming/ideas you all may have.  Sound off on what should be done about TMD Open Day 2s.

You may have tried this in the past, but how about running a big legacy tournament as day 2? I think the two formats have a lot of overlap in the card pool and it might encourage some legacy only players to try out vintage and vice versa.

Magic trivia- (8) It's a really nice distinct feature of your tournaments, it's fun and a nice distraction while you are waiting for Rich Shay to finish top 8.
Free Side Event (10) A really nice means of sharing the wealth. Again, a nice option for folks who carpool and 0-2 drop the main event not having to wait around all day for the rest of their car to scrub out.
Team Rivalry (5) Had more meaning when team rivalry was at it's peak.
Feature Matches (10) Nothing but positive value added here.
Streaming/videos of Feature Matches (10) Nothing but positive value added here.
Top 16 instead of Top 8 (5) It's nice in that it keeps people in contention for longer.
Silly side contests(Last Man Standing, Farthest Traveled Prize, Last Place Prize, etc) (5) I don't mind them as long as they don't cut into the legitimate prize support too much.

#4) And finally, a yes/no question.  Does the location (Gamingetc, Waterbury Marriott, other location) play a significant role in affecting your decision to come to one of my tourneys.

Yes. I come to them all anyways I guess, but I do prefer the Waterbury Marriott. Having the venue, hotel and breakfast all in the same building is very convenient. I also think it might facilitate day 2 a bit more. I guess it would be good to know exactly how much having it at the Waterbury Marriott cuts into your prize support relative to GamingEtc. All other things being equal it would be nice to have everything in one place and not having a Yu Gi Oh tournament running simultaneously.

[The Atog Lord]

I think that playmats are at their best as unique prizes. I have plenty of playmats myself, but I mostly use my old Waterbury playmat with with cards from Gush Oath on it. I do view it as something of a subtle trophy.

Also, have you considered a return to maple syrup chugging contests?

[mikekilljoy]

Also, have you considered a return to maple syrup chugging contests?

Why do I have a feeling that would be a disaster waiting to happen?

[Tha Gunslinga]

What if you had mats for top 8 that were different than the regular ones that were for sale?  Maybe they could have "Top 8" printed on them, or something else.

[Nefarias]

What if you had mats for top 8 that were different than the regular ones that were for sale?  Maybe they could have "Top 8" printed on them, or something else.

I was thinking the same thing. If Prospero's link is economically feasible, perhaps the prize mats could be color and the sale ones B&W?

[Daenyth]

#1) The cost of shirts and playmats gets more expensive every event.  For this event they ran $500 for 20 mats and 30 shirts.  This is, then, money toward prizes that I can't distribute elsewhere.  I know players like the shirts and mats, so I don't want to get rid of them.  Also, people have asked to buy them, and I have to tell them that I make a small amount of them so they are more exclusive and thus memorable to win.
I had a thought, though.  What if I made 40 mats and 60 shirts?  This would run me about $900(a little less than double because of the reduced price for buying more in bulk).  Now let's say that I sell 20 of these mats for $30 a piece and 30 of the shirts for $10 each.   Assuming there is enough of a demand that I can get preorders for those extra non-prize mats and shirts, then it would cover the cost of the whole batch and I can give out prizes of mats and shirts without cutting $500 out of the prize pool.  Is the existence of twice as many of the shirts and mats more of a downside than the upside of the extra $500 toward the prize pool and the opportunity for a first come/first serve way of getting a guaranteed shirt and/or playmat?  Discuss.

Personally I'd like to see the mats stay as prizes only, but perhaps offer the shirts for purchase? I like the exclusivity. This was my first TMD open and it felt like an accomplishment and an award to place high enough to get one of the mats. I think that selling them at future ones would make it have less impact on the people who actually earn them.

#2) With the last two Day 2's of Waterbury having such a low turnout, it makes me wonder what I can do to address this issue.  I actually have some ideas, but I will purposefully refrain, as not to bias some of the brainstorming/ideas you all may have.  Sound off on what should be done about TMD Open Day 2s.

As others have pointed out, there were many many things conflicting with day 2 (holiday, sports games, long travel distance to get to work on Monday).
I like the suggestion someone made about offering an extra prize for combined day1/day2 performance. Maybe make it team based? Whichever team performs best over both of the days gets a prize.

#3) Rate the following things that I do, or have done in the past, on a 1-10 scale with 1 being "I don't care at all about it" and 10 being "I love that part of your tournaments"  Additional narrative comments are welcome.
Magic trivia
Free Side Event
Team Rivalry
Feature Matches
Streaming/videos of Feature Matches
Top 16 instead of Top 8
Silly side contests(Last Man Standing, Farthest Traveled Prize, Last Place Prize, etc)

Trivia - I didn't stay for this since my carpool was ready to leave, so n/a
Side event - 8 - I think that it gives people more incentive to stay and play more vintage! Keeping people in the venue longer can only be a good thing.
Team Rivalry - 6 - I didn't really get into it a ton, but I'm sure given time I would
Feature matches - 10 - I love it! Keep it up
Streaming/recording matches - 11 - It was fantastic to be able to go over matches after the fact that I missed during the event. I'd be very sad if this didn't come back
Top 16 vs 8 - 7 - Personally I would have liked to see a top 16 playoff, but I don't feel strongly about it.
#4) And finally, a yes/no question.  Does the location (Gamingetc, Waterbury Marriott, other location) play a significant role in affecting your decision to come to one of my tourneys.

[/quote]

Yes it does. My teammate has some connections in stratford who kindly put us up during the event. Without that, I probably wouldn't be able to justify the cost of a hotel for the weekend and wouldn't have come.

[mr.grim]

Once apon a time....
When I went to my first tmd open I was told it was the allstar game for vintage.
Sell the fuck out of shirts! just stop with white ones. 

As for the mats they need to be the championship titles for thr top 8 or 16.

[Meddling Mike]

Also, have you considered a return to maple syrup chugging contests?

Why do I have a feeling that would be a disaster AWESOME TIME waiting to happen?

Fixed that for you.

[Ufactor]

A raffle is the halfway point between exclusivity and profit.  Doing this for a highly limited number of shirts and playmats would keep the allure of winning something (raffles *are* essentially luck-based games) and also make it accessible for those who did not finish in at the top.  The numbers are also there, obviously, for a shirt that costs x but sells y tickets at z dollars a piece!

[chrispikula]

This might be a touchy issue for some, but during the top 8 I saw that the streaming matches featured some low-quality proxies.  If we want more players to come into the vintage-with-proxies scene, I don't think this is doing us any favors. I'd encourage people to make an effort to have better proxies-  "Mox Jet" scribbled on a swamp just doesn't make the people watching the streaming matches want to play Vintage.

[Meddling Mike]

This might be a touchy issue for some, but during the top 8 I saw that the streaming matches featured some low-quality proxies.  If we want more players to come into the vintage-with-proxies scene, I don't think this is doing us any favors. I'd encourage people to make an effort to have better proxies-  "Mox Jet" scribbled on a swamp just doesn't make the people watching the streaming matches want to play Vintage.

Did you mean to say that you don't think the current guidelines are adequate Current Guidelines or that you think these guidelines are not being adequately enforced? If you mean the latter I agree wholeheartedly. If you mean the former I'd be curious as to how you would recommend we encourage them to use better proxies? Ideally everybody would get busy with some nail polish remover and a Q-tip and make up some high quality proxies, but it's hard to force people to have proxies of that caliber.

[chrispikula]

This might be a touchy issue for some, but during the top 8 I saw that the streaming matches featured some low-quality proxies.  If we want more players to come into the vintage-with-proxies scene, I don't think this is doing us any favors. I'd encourage people to make an effort to have better proxies-  "Mox Jet" scribbled on a swamp just doesn't make the people watching the streaming matches want to play Vintage.

Did you mean to say that you don't think the current guidelines are adequate Current Guidelines or that you think these guidelines are not being adequately enforced? If you mean the latter I agree wholeheartedly. If you mean the former I'd be curious as to how you would recommend we encourage them to use better proxies? Ideally everybody would get busy with some nail polish remover and a Q-tip and make up some high quality proxies, but it's hard to force people to have proxies of that caliber.

I guess I'm not sure. I was very lucky when I got back into Vintage because I had a friend make me some extremely high quality proxies (people almost always think they are real cards).  I just know that having better looking proxies would make things more fun and potentially increase popularity. Not sure I have a good solution.  I think that someone who can make good "fakes" could probably make a lot without charging very much for them, but I'm not sure on the legality of that. 

[Cruel Ultimatum]

This might be a touchy issue for some, but during the top 8 I saw that the streaming matches featured some low-quality proxies.  If we want more players to come into the vintage-with-proxies scene, I don't think this is doing us any favors. I'd encourage people to make an effort to have better proxies-  "Mox Jet" scribbled on a swamp just doesn't make the people watching the streaming matches want to play Vintage.

Did you mean to say that you don't think the current guidelines are adequate Current Guidelines or that you think these guidelines are not being adequately enforced? If you mean the latter I agree wholeheartedly. If you mean the former I'd be curious as to how you would recommend we encourage them to use better proxies? Ideally everybody would get busy with some nail polish remover and a Q-tip and make up some high quality proxies, but it's hard to force people to have proxies of that caliber.

I guess I'm not sure. I was very lucky when I got back into Vintage because I had a friend make me some extremely high quality proxies (people almost always think they are real cards).  I just know that having better looking proxies would make things more fun and potentially increase popularity. Not sure I have a good solution.  I think that someone who can make good "fakes" could probably make a lot without charging very much for them, but I'm not sure on the legality of that. 

One solution would be to hand them out as door prizes, granted that is a lot of work for the TOs. If i heard correctly that is what ELD did in the past and I still see a decent amount of people using them.

[sorcutt]

Needed more "whoever eats this Smokestack wins a t-shirt" events! 

Another solid event Ray.  Thank you for hosting it.  Also my actuarial friend was kind of pissed that he got the Dopeness Factor wrong, lol. 

[Meddling Mike]

This might be a touchy issue for some, but during the top 8 I saw that the streaming matches featured some low-quality proxies.  If we want more players to come into the vintage-with-proxies scene, I don't think this is doing us any favors. I'd encourage people to make an effort to have better proxies-  "Mox Jet" scribbled on a swamp just doesn't make the people watching the streaming matches want to play Vintage.

Did you mean to say that you don't think the current guidelines are adequate Current Guidelines or that you think these guidelines are not being adequately enforced? If you mean the latter I agree wholeheartedly. If you mean the former I'd be curious as to how you would recommend we encourage them to use better proxies? Ideally everybody would get busy with some nail polish remover and a Q-tip and make up some high quality proxies, but it's hard to force people to have proxies of that caliber.

I guess I'm not sure. I was very lucky when I got back into Vintage because I had a friend make me some extremely high quality proxies (people almost always think they are real cards).  I just know that having better looking proxies would make things more fun and potentially increase popularity. Not sure I have a good solution.  I think that someone who can make good "fakes" could probably make a lot without charging very much for them, but I'm not sure on the legality of that.  

One solution would be to hand them out as door prizes, granted that is a lot of work for the TOs. If i heard correctly that is what ELD did in the past and I still see a decent amount of people using them.

Well, there's a pretty good reason ELD stopped making those proxies. As you can see making and selling them tends to cause issues with WotC's legal department. I remember GamingEtc. used to make a series of proxies they sold as well, but they weren't usable as they didn't actually Magic cards with a Magic card back to them. It's sort of a tough balance between keeping the game working properly from a visual standpoint by having real cards and good proxies and making Vintage as accessible as possible. I know exactly where you are coming from though, I hate when people play proxies in tournaments that aren't up to snuff with the guidelines. It makes things very difficult and you're an asshole if you actually call a judge about inadequate proxies and people think you're just trying to mize a win.

[voltron00x]

This might be a touchy issue for some, but during the top 8 I saw that the streaming matches featured some low-quality proxies.  If we want more players to come into the vintage-with-proxies scene, I don't think this is doing us any favors. I'd encourage people to make an effort to have better proxies-  "Mox Jet" scribbled on a swamp just doesn't make the people watching the streaming matches want to play Vintage.

Did you mean to say that you don't think the current guidelines are adequate Current Guidelines or that you think these guidelines are not being adequately enforced? If you mean the latter I agree wholeheartedly. If you mean the former I'd be curious as to how you would recommend we encourage them to use better proxies? Ideally everybody would get busy with some nail polish remover and a Q-tip and make up some high quality proxies, but it's hard to force people to have proxies of that caliber.

I guess I'm not sure. I was very lucky when I got back into Vintage because I had a friend make me some extremely high quality proxies (people almost always think they are real cards).  I just know that having better looking proxies would make things more fun and potentially increase popularity. Not sure I have a good solution.  I think that someone who can make good "fakes" could probably make a lot without charging very much for them, but I'm not sure on the legality of that.  

One solution would be to hand them out as door prizes, granted that is a lot of work for the TOs. If i heard correctly that is what ELD did in the past and I still see a decent amount of people using them.

Well, there's a pretty good reason ELD stopped making those proxies. As you can see making and selling them tends to cause issues with WotC's legal department. I remember GamingEtc. used to make a series of proxies they sold as well, but they weren't usable as they didn't actually Magic cards with a Magic card back to them. It's sort of a tough balance between keeping the game working properly from a visual standpoint by having real cards and good proxies and making Vintage as accessible as possible. I know exactly where you are coming from though, I hate when people play proxies in tournaments that aren't up to snuff with the guidelines. It makes things very difficult and you're an asshole if you actually call a judge about inadequate proxies and people think you're just trying to mize a win.

Keep in mind that its no longer necessary to have cards with a Magic back, thanks to Inn.

[Diakonov]

Can I make a suggestion?  Consider the old GamingEtc. proxies:



If we simply produced these with no text on them at all, players could write in the text themselves.  Mana symbols could be added as well, and so forth.  That way there is absolutely no copyright infringement from the producer, and it is very clear what the proxy represents within the guidelines.